God gives rules to *Israel’s people
An EasyEnglish Bible Version with Notes (1200 word vocabulary) on the Book of Numbers
Jackie Gray
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This is the story of *Israel’s people. They were travelling from Egypt to the country called Canaan. They were in the *desert for 40 years.
Moses was the man that the *Lord chose to guide the people of *Israel out of Egypt. Aaron was the brother of Moses. He was the first *priest that the people of *Israel had.
v1 The people of *Israel were in the *Desert of Sinai. It was the second day of the second month of the second year after they left Egypt. Moses was in the *Tent of Meeting. The *Lord said to Moses, v2 ‘Put the people into *tribes and *families and count them. Make a list. Write the name of each man on the list. v3 You and Aaron must count in each *tribe the names of all the men. They must be more than 20 years old. Write only the names of those men who can join the army. v4 The most important man from each *tribe must help you. v5 These are the men who must help you: Elizur, who is the son of Shedeur. He is from the *tribe of Reuben. v6 Shelumiel, who is the son of Zurishaddai. He is from the *tribe of Simeon. v7 Nahshon, who is the son of Amminadab. He is from the *tribe of Judah. v8 Nethanel, who is the son of Zuar. He is from the *tribe of Issachar. v9 Eliab, who is the son of Helon. He is from the *tribe of Zebulun. v10 Elishama, who is the son of Ammihud. He is from the *tribe of Ephraim. Gamaliel, who is the son of Pedahzur. He is from the *tribe of Manasseh. Joseph was the grandfather of Ephraim and Manasseh. v11 Abidan, who is the son of Gideoni. He is from the *tribe of Benjamin. v12 Ahiezer, who is the son of Ammishaddai. He is from the *tribe of Dan. v13 Pagiel, who is the son of Ocran. He is from the *tribe of Asher. v14 Eliasaph, who is the son of Deuel. He is from the *tribe of Gad. v15 Ahira, who is the son of Enan. He is from the *tribe of Naphtali.’
v16 The *Lord said that Moses must choose these men from among the people. They were leaders of their *tribes. v17 These men helped Moses and Aaron. v18 On the first day of the second month, they said that all the people must come together. The people were in *tribes and *families. They made a list of all the men who were more than 20 years old. v19 In the *Desert of Sinai, Moses counted the people.
v20 The men in the *tribe of Reuben came first. Reuben was the first son of Jacob. All the men who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v21 There were 46 500 men from the *tribe of Reuben. v22 Next was the *tribe of Simeon. All the men who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v23 There were 59 300 men from the *tribe of Simeon. v24 Next was the *tribe of Gad. All the men who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v25 There were 45 650 men from the *tribe of Gad. v26 Next was the *tribe of Judah. All the men who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v27 There were 74 600 men from the *tribe of Judah. v28 Next was the *tribe of Issachar. All the men who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v29 There were 54 400 men from the *tribe of Issachar. v30 Next was the *tribe of Zebulun. All the men who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v31 There were 57 400 men from the *tribe of Zebulun. v32 Ephraim was a son of Joseph. All the men from this *tribe who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v33 There were 40 500 men from the *tribe of Ephraim. v34 Manasseh was a son of Joseph. All the men from this *tribe who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v35 There were 32 200 men from the *tribe of Manasseh. v36 Next was the *tribe of Benjamin. All the men who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v37 There were 35 400 men from the *tribe of Benjamin. v38 Next was the *tribe of Dan. All the men who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v39 There were 62 700 men from the *tribe of Dan. v40 Next was the *tribe of Asher. All the men who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v41 There were 41 500 men from the *tribe of Asher. v42 Next was the *tribe of Naphtali. All the men who were more than 20 years old were on the list. These men could join the army. v43 There were 53 400 men from the *tribe of Naphtali.
v44 Moses, Aaron and the 12 men who were the leaders of the people counted the men. v45 They counted all the men who were more than 20 years old. These men could join the army. v46 There were 603 550 men.
v47 The name for the people in the *tribe of Levi was *Levites. Moses and Aaron did not count the *Levites. v48 The *Lord said to Moses, v49 ‘You must not count the *tribe of Levi. You must not put the *Levites on the list. v50 Their work is in the *Tent of the *Lord. They must carry the *tent everywhere. They must carry everything from the *Tent of the *Lord. They must *camp on all the sides of it. v51 When the people move to another place, the *Levites must pack the *Tent of the *Lord. When the people make a new *camp, they must put the *Tent of the *Lord up again. If any other person touches the *Tent, he must die. v52 All the other people of *Israel must *camp in *tribes. Each man must *camp with his own *tribe. Each *tribe must put up its own *flag. v53 The *Levites must *camp on all the sides of the *Tent of the *Lord. This will make it safe. Then the *Lord will not be angry with the people.’
v54 The people of *Israel did all that the *Lord said.
v1 The *Lord said to Moses and Aaron, v2 ‘The people of *Israel must *camp on all the sides of the *Tent of the *Lord. They must not be near to it. They must *camp in *tribes. Each person must be with his own *tribe. Each *tribe must have its own *flag.
v3 The people of Judah must be on the east side of the *Tent of the *Lord. They must have their *flag with them. The leader of the *tribe of Judah is Nahshon. He is the son of Amminadab. v4 There will be 74 600 people in his *tribe.
v5 The *tribe of Issachar will *camp next to them. The leader of the *tribe of Issachar is Nethanel. He is the son of Zuar. v6 There will be 54 400 people in his *tribe.
v7 The *tribe of Zebulun will be next. The leader of the *tribe of Zebulun is Eliab. He is the son of Helon. v8 There will be 57 400 people in his *tribe.
v9 There will be 186 400 men on the east side. They will march first.
v10 The people of Reuben must be on the south side of the *Tent of the *Lord. They must have their *flag with them. The leader of the *tribe of Reuben is Elizur. He is the son of Shedeur. v11 There will be 46 500 people in his *tribe.
v12 The *tribe of Simeon will *camp next to them. The leader of the *tribe of Simeon is Shelumiel. He is the son of Zurishaddai. v13 There will be 59 300 people in his *tribe.
v14 The *tribe of Gad will be next. The leader of the *tribe of Gad is Eliasaph. He is the son of Deuel. v15 There will be 45 650 people in his *tribe.
v16 There will be 151 450 men on the south side. They will march second.
v17 The *Levites must march after the armies of Judah and Reuben. The *Levites must carry the *Tent of Meeting. Each man must be in his own place. They must march with their *flag.
v18 The people of Ephraim must be on the west side of the *Tent of the *Lord. They must have their *flag with them. The leader of the *tribe of Ephraim is Elishama. He is the son of Ammihud. v19 There will be 40 500 people in his *tribe.
v20 The *tribe of Manasseh will *camp next to them. The leader of the *tribe of Manasseh is Gamaliel. He is the son of Pedahzur. v21 There will be 32 200 people in his *tribe.
v22 The *tribe of Benjamin will be next. The leader of the *tribe of Benjamin is Abidan. He is the son of Gideoni. v23 There will be 35 400 people in his *tribe.
v24 On the west side, there will be 108 100 men. They will march third.
v25 The people of Dan must be on the north side of the *Tent of the *Lord. They must have their *flag with them. The leader of the *tribe of Dan is Ahiezer. He is the son of Ammishaddai. v26 There will be 62 700 people in his *tribe.
v27 The *tribe of Asher will *camp next to them. The leader of the *tribe of Asher is Pagiel. He is the son of Ocran. v28 There will be 41 500 people in his *tribe.
v29 The *tribe of Naphtali will be next. The leader of the *tribe of Naphtali is Ahira. He is the son of Enan. v30 There will be 53 400 people in his *tribe.
v31 On the north side, there will be 157 600 men. They will march last with their *flag.’
v32 There were 603 550 people of *Israel. Moses and Aaron counted the people in their *tribes. v33 They did not count the people of Levi. The *Lord said that they must not count these people.
v34 The people of *Israel did everything that the *Lord had said to Moses. They *camped in *tribes. And they marched in *tribes. Each *tribe had its own *flag.
v1 This is the story of the *family of Aaron and Moses, when the *Lord talked to Moses. The *Lord talked to Moses on the mountain called Sinai.
v2 The names of the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. v3 The sons of Aaron were the *priests for the people of *Israel. The *Lord chose them. v4 Nadab and Abihu died in the *Desert of Sinai because they gave a gift to the *Lord. But their gift was not right. Nadab and Abihu did not have any sons. Eleazar and Ithamar were the only *priests for the people of *Israel while Aaron was alive.
v5 The *Lord said to Moses, v6 ‘Bring the *tribe of Levi to Aaron. They must help him. v7 They must work for him and all the people of *Israel. They must work in the *Tent of Meeting. v8 They must do this work for the people of *Israel. v9 The *Levites are for Aaron and his sons. v10 Aaron and his sons will be the *priests. If any other person comes near the *Tent of the *Lord, he must die.’ v11 The *Lord also said to Moses, v12 ‘I will not take the first son of every woman of *Israel. I will take all of the *Levites instead. v13 I killed all of the first-born children of the *Egyptians. Then the first-born of every person and animal of *Israel became mine. Now, I will not have the first-born child. I will have instead, all the *Levites. They are for the *Lord.’
v14 The *Lord said to Moses in the *Desert of Sinai: v15 ‘Put the *Levites in their *families and count them. Count every male who is more than one month old.’ v16 Moses counted them as the *Lord said. v17 The names of the sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath and Merari. v18 Gershon had two sons. Their names were Libni and Shimei. v19 Kohath had 4 sons. Their names were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. v20 Merari had two sons. Their names were Mahli and Mushi. These were the sons and grandsons of Levi.
v21 The people of Libni and Shimei belonged to the *family of Gershon. v22 There were 7500 males in this *family. They were more than one month old. Moses counted them. v23 They had to *camp on the west side, behind the *Tent of Meeting. v24 The leader of the family of Gershon was Eliasaph the son of Lael. v25 They had to work with the cloth of the walls and doors of the Lord's *Tent. v26 They had to work with the cloth of the inside and outside walls. Also they had to work with the *altar cloth of the *Tent of the *Lord.
v27 The people of Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel belonged to the *family of Kohath. v28 There were 8600 males in this *family. They were more than one month old when Moses counted them. They had to work in the *Tent of the *Lord. v29 They had to *camp on the south side of the *Tent of Meeting. v30 The leader of the *family of Kohath was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. v31 They had to work with the *Covenant Box, the table and the *lampstands. They had to work with the *altar and the tools that the *priests used. Also they had to work with the curtain from the door of the Lord's *Tent. v32 Eleazar the son of Aaron was the leader of the *family of Kohath.
v33 The people of Mahli and Mushi belonged to the *family of Merari. v34 There were 6200 males in this *family. They were more than one month old when Moses counted them. v35 The leader of the *family of Merari was Zuriel, the son of Abihail. They had to *camp on the north side of the *Tent of Meeting. v36 They had to work with all the boards and cloth for the *Tent of the *Lord. v37 They also had to work with the boards and cloth for the *Tent of Meeting.
v38 Moses, Aaron and the sons of Aaron had to *camp in front of the *Tent of Meeting. They had to *camp on the east side. They were the only people who could go into the *Tent of the *Lord. Any other person who went near the *Tent of the *Lord must die. v39 There were 22 000 *Levites that Moses and Aaron counted.
v40 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘Count all the males of the people of *Israel. Count every male who is more than one month old. Count only the first-born males. Make a list of their names. v41 Do not use the first-born males of all the people. Use the *Levites instead. Count the first-born animals. Do not use the first-born animals of all the people. Use the animals of the *Levites.’
v42 Moses counted all the first-born males of the people of *Israel as the *Lord had said. v43 He counted 22 273 first-born males who were more than one month old. He made a list of their names.
v44 The *Lord said to Moses, v45 ‘Use the *Levites. Do not use the first-born males of the people. Use the animals of the *Levites but do not use the animals of the people. The *Levites are for the *Lord. v46 There are 273 more first-born males of the people than there are of the *Levites. The people must buy them back from the *Lord. v47 The people must pay 5 pieces of money for each first-born male. The money must be the same weight as the money from the *Tent of the *Lord. v48 They must give the money to Aaron and his sons.’ v49 Moses did as the *Lord said. v50 There were 1365 pieces of money. v51 Moses gave the money to Aaron and his sons.
v1 The *Lord said to Moses and Aaron, v2 ‘Count the people of the *tribe of Kohath in their *families. v3 Count the men who work in the *Tent of Meeting. Count them if they are between 30 and 50 years old.
v4 These men must work with everything that is special in the *Tent of Meeting. v5 When the people are ready to move, Aaron and his sons must go into the *Tent of Meeting. They must take down the curtain that is in front of the *Covenant Box. They must cover the *Covenant Box with the curtain. v6 They must cover the curtain with leather. On the top of this, they must put a blue cloth. Then, they must put in pieces of wood so that they can carry the *Covenant Box.
v7 They must put a blue cloth on the table. The bread must remain on the table. They must put plates, bowls and dishes on the table. They must put jars for the *wine on the table. v8 Then they must cover all this with a red cloth. On the top of the red cloth, they must put leather. Then they must put in pieces of wood so that they can carry the table.
v9 They must cover the *lampstand and the tools with a blue cloth. They must also cover the jars for the oil with the blue cloth. v10 Then they must cover all this with the leather. They must carry it on a board.
v11 They must cover the gold *altar with a blue cloth. They must cover the blue cloth with leather. Then they must put in pieces of wood so that they can carry the *altar. v12 They must cover all the tools from the special place with a blue cloth. They must cover the blue cloth with leather. They must carry all this on a board.
v13 They must remove the ashes from the *bronze *altar. They must cover the *bronze *altar with a *purple cloth. v14 They must put all the tools on the *bronze *altar. They must cover all of this with leather. Then they must put in pieces of wood so that they can carry the *altar.
v15 Aaron and his sons must do all this work. Then the people will be ready to move. The men in the *tribe of Kohath must come and carry everything from the *Tent of Meeting. They must not touch anything that is special. If they do, they must die.
v16 Eleazar, who is the son of Aaron, must keep the oil for the light. He must keep the *incense and the *grain gift. He must keep the special oil. The special oil marks everything that the *Lord chooses. Eleazar must work with the whole *Tent of Meeting. He must work with everything in it.’
v17 The *Lord said to Moses and Aaron, v18 ‘Do not let the *tribe of Kohath be separate from the *Levites. v19 You do not want them to die. They might die if they come near any *holy thing. This is what you must do: Aaron and his sons must go into the *Tent of the *Lord. They will tell each man what work he must do. They must tell each man what he must carry. v20 The people in the *tribe of Kohath must not look at anything that is special. If they do, they will die.’
v21 The *Lord said to Moses, v22 ‘Count the people of Gershon in their *families. v23 Count the men who work in the *Tent of Meeting. Count them if they are between 30 and 50 years old.
v24 Their work is to carry everything. v25 They must carry the *Tent of Meeting, the curtains and the leather. v26 They must carry all the cloth and the ties that the *priests use in the *Tent of Meeting. v27 They must do everything that Aaron and his sons ask them to do. Aaron and his sons must tell them what they must carry. v28 This is the work for the *descendants of Gershon. Ithamar is the son of Aaron. Ithamar will tell them what they must do.’
v29 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘Count the *descendants of Merari in their *families. v30 Count the men who work in the *Tent of Meeting. Count them if they are between 30 and 50 years old. v31 Their work is to carry the boards and the pieces of wood that make the *Tent of Meeting. v32 They must carry everything. They must carry the ties that the *priests use in the *Tent of Meeting. Tell each man what he must carry. v33 This is the work of the *descendants of Merari. Ithamar, the son of Aaron, will tell them what they must do.’
v34 Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the people counted the *descendants of Kohath. v35 They counted all the men who worked in the *Tent of Meeting. They counted them if they were between 30 and 50 years old. v36 They counted them in *families. There were 2750 men. v37 Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the people counted them because the *Lord had told Moses to do this.
v38 Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the people counted the *descendants of Gershon. v39 They counted all the men who worked in the *Tent of Meeting. They counted them if they were between 30 and 50 years old. v40 They counted them in *families. There were 2630 men. v41 Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the people counted them because the *Lord had told Moses to do this.
v42 Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the people counted the *descendants of Merari. v43 They counted all the men who worked in the *Tent of Meeting. They counted them if they were between 30 and 50 years old. v44 They counted them in *families. There were 3200 men. v45 Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the people counted them because the *Lord had told Moses to do this.
v46 Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the people counted the *Levites in their *families. v47 They counted all the men who worked in the *Tent of Meeting. They counted them if they were between 30 and 50 years old. v48 They counted them in *families. There were 8580 men. v49 They told each man what his work was. They told him what he must carry.
v1 The *Lord said to Moses, v2 ‘Speak to the people of *Israel. Send any person with an illness of the skin away from the *camp. Somebody may have an illness that makes water. Any person like that is not *holy. Any person who has touched a dead person is not *holy. v3 Send these people away. They must not make the *camp, where the *Lord lives with the people, *unholy.’ v4 The people of *Israel did what the *Lord had said to Moses. They sent these people outside the *camp.
v5 The *Lord said to Moses, v6 ‘Tell the people of *Israel: “A person is bad when he does wrong things to another person. v7 He must tell the wrong thing that he did. He must pay the person the right amount and one fifth more. v8 But the person may have died. Then, if he has no *family, the gift is for the *Lord. The person who did a wrong thing must give the gift and a male sheep to the *priest. It is a special gift to the *Lord. v9 All of the special gifts to the *Lord are for the *priest. v10 The *priest will keep them.” ’
v11 The *Lord said to Moses, v12 ‘A man might think that his wife is doing something wrong. v13 She might be having sex with another man. The husband might not be sure about this. His wife might have kept it secret. v14 If the man thinks this, he may be angry. v15 He must take his wife to the *priest. He must also take flour to the *priest. He must not put oil or *incense on the flour. It is a special gift to the *Lord because the man is angry with his wife.
v16 The *priest will make the wife stand in front of the *altar. v17 He will take a jar with special water in it. He will put dirt from the floor of the *Tent of Meeting in the water. v18 The *priest will undo the hair of the woman. He will put the gift of flour in her hands. The *priest will hold the jar of dirty water. v19 The *priest will speak to the woman. Everything that she says must be true. He will tell her that the dirty water will not hurt her. But, if she has had sex with another man, it will hurt her. v20 If she has had sex with another man, v21 the dirty water will make her female parts decrease. Her stomach will become very big. v22 This will happen when she drinks the dirty water. The woman must say, “I agree.”
v23 Then the *priest must write everything on a special paper. He must use the dirty water to wash everything off the special paper. v24 The *priest must make the woman hold the jar of dirty water. v25 He must take the gift of flour from the woman. He must hold it up as a gift to the *Lord. Then he must put it on the *altar. v26 He must burn some of the flour on the *altar. Then the woman must drink the dirty water. v27 If the woman has had sex with another man, the water will give her a pain. Her female parts will decrease. Her stomach will become very big. People will think very badly about her. v28 If the woman has no pain, she is not *guilty. She can give birth to children.
v29 A man may be angry. He thinks that his wife is having sex with another man. This is what must happen then. v30 The woman must stand in front of the *altar. The *priest must tell her what she must do. v31 The husband will not be *guilty. The woman will have a pain if she is *guilty.’
v1 The *Lord said to Moses, v2 ‘Tell the people of *Israel this: “If a person wants to make a special promise to the *Lord, he must be separate from the people. He will be a *Nazirite. v3 He must not drink *wine or *vinegar. He must not eat fruit called grapes. v4 He must not eat the seeds of the *grape. He must not eat the skin (what covers the *grape outside).
v5 He must not cut his hair. He must be different all the time that he is separate from the people. He must let the hair on his head grow long. v6 He must not go near a dead body while he is separate from the people. v7 His hair will be long. So you will know that he belongs to the *Lord. So, he must not go near a dead body. He must not go near it even if the dead person is from his *family. v8 While the person is separate from the people, he belongs to the *Lord.
v9 He may be with a person when that person dies. Then he is not *holy. The *Nazirite must cut all the hair from his head 7 days after the person dies. Then he will be *holy. v10 On day 8, he must bring two doves (birds) to the door of the *Tent of Meeting. He must give them to the *priest. v11 The *priest must burn one of them. He must give the other one as a gift to the *Lord. It is a gift to the *Lord because the *Nazirite should not have been near a dead body. On the same day, he must give his head and his hair to the *Lord again. v12 He must give himself to the *Lord for the time that he is separate from the people. He must bring a male sheep that is one year old as a gift to the *Lord. This is a gift because he did something wrong.
v13 When a man ends his special promises to the *Lord, he will stop being a *Nazirite. The people must bring him to the door of the *Tent of Meeting. v14 He must bring a male *lamb (which is a young sheep). And he must bring a female lamb as a gift because of his *sins. Both lambs must be one year old. They must be *perfect. He must also bring a *ram (which is a male sheep). It must be *perfect. v15 He must bring *grain, *wine and a basket of bread. He must make the bread with nothing in it that will make it rise. He must also bring cakes and biscuits. He must mix the flour with oil to make the cakes. The biscuits must have oil on them. Everything is a gift to the *Lord.
v16 The *priest will give the gifts to the *Lord. v17 He will give the basket of bread, the *grain and *wine to the *Lord. He will kill the *ram. And he will give it to the *Lord.
v18 The person must stand at the door of the *Tent of Meeting. He must cut off his long hair. He must put the hair in the fire that is burning the other gifts.
v19 The *priest will put a loaf of bread and a biscuit into his hands. Also he will put a boiled shoulder of the *ram. v20 The *priest will give them to the *Lord as a special gift. The other parts of the *ram are for the *priest. All the gifts are special. When the *priest has done this he can drink the *wine.”
v21 These rules are for a person who makes a special promise to the *Lord. If he promises to give more, he must *keep his promise.’
v22 The *Lord said to Moses, v23 ‘Tell Aaron and his sons this. They must use these words when they ask the *Lord to help the people.
v24 “The *Lord will be good to you and he will keep you safe.
v25 The *Lord will make his face shine on you. The *Lord will be very kind to you.
v26 The *Lord will look at you and he will give you *peace.”
v27 Aaron and his sons must say my name. They must ask me to help. Then I will *bless the people of *Israel.’
v1 When Moses had raised the *Tent of Meeting, he marked it for the *Lord with oil. He gave the *Tent and everything in it to the *Lord. He marked the *altar and all the tools with oil. He gave the *altar and all the tools to the *Lord. v2 Then the 12 leaders who helped Moses to count the people brought gifts to the *Lord. v3 They brought 6 *carts, one *cart for every two leaders. They brought 12 *oxen, which are big cows. That was one *ox for each leader. Everything was a gift to the *Lord.
v4 The *Lord said to Moses, v5 ‘Take the gifts from the leaders. Give them to the *Levites. The *Levites can use them for their work.’
v6 Moses took the *carts and the *oxen and he gave them to the *Levites. v7 He gave 2 *carts and 4 *oxen to the *descendants of Gershon. v8 He gave 4 *carts and 8 *oxen to the *descendants of Merari. Ithamar was the son of Aaron. He had to tell the *descendants of Gershon what work they should do. He had to tell the *descendants of Merari what work they should do. v9 Moses did not give any *carts or *oxen to the *descendants of Kohath. The *descendants of Kohath had to carry everything that was special on their shoulders.
v10 When Moses marked the *altar with oil, the leaders brought gifts. They put their gifts in front of the *altar. v11 The *Lord said to Moses: ‘A leader must bring a gift to the *altar every day. They must do this for 12 days.’
v12 On the first day, Nahshon, the son of Amminadab from the *tribe of Judah brought his gift. v13 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v14 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v15 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb. (A *bull is a male cow.) The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v16 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v17 He also brought 2 *oxen, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v18 On day two, Nethanel, the son of Zuar, from the *tribe of Issachar brought his gift. v19 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v20 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v21 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb that was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v22 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v23 He also brought 2 *oxen, which are big cows, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v24 On day three, Eliab, the son of Helon, from the *tribe of Zebulun brought his gift. v25 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v26 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v27 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb. The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v28 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v29 He also brought 2 *oxen, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v30 On day 4, Elizur, the son of Shedeur, from the *tribe of Reuben brought his gift. v31 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v32 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v33 He brought one young *bull, which is a male cow, one *ram and one male *lamb. The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v34 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v35 He also brought 2 *oxen, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v36 On day 5, Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, from the *tribe of Simeon brought his gift. v37 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v38 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v39 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb. The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v40 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v41 He also brought 2 *oxen, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v42 On day 6, Eliasaph, the son of Deuel, from the *tribe of Gad brought his gift. v43 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v44 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v45 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb. The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v46 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v47 He also brought 2 *oxen, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v48 On day 7, Elishama, the son of Ammihud, from the *tribe of Ephraim brought his gift. v49 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v50 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v51 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb. The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v52 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v53 He also brought 2 *oxen, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v54 On day 8, Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, from the *tribe of Manasseh brought his gift. v55 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v56 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v57 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb. The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v58 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v59 He also brought 2 *oxen, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v60 On day 9, Abidan, the son of Gideoni, from the *tribe of Benjamin brought his gift. v61 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v62 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v63 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb. The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v64 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v65 He also brought 2 *oxen, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v66 On day 10, Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, from the *tribe of Dan brought his gift. v67 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v68 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v69 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb. The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v70 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v71 He also brought 2 *oxen, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v72 On day 11, Pagiel, the son of Ocran, from the *tribe of Asher brought his gift. v73 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v74 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v75 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb. The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v76 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v77 He also brought 2 *oxen, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v78 On day 12, Ahira, the son of Enan, from the *tribe of Naphtali brought his gift. v79 He brought one *silver plate and one *silver dish. Both of these had flour and oil in them. v80 He brought one gold dish. This was full of *incense. v81 He brought one young *bull, one *ram and one male *lamb. The *lamb was one year old. The *priest burned these animals. v82 He brought one male goat because of his *sins. v83 He also brought 2 *oxen, which are big cows, 5 *rams, 5 male goats and 5 male *lambs. The *lambs were one year old.
v84 The leaders of the people brought these gifts to the *altar when Moses marked it with oil. They brought 12 *silver plates, 12 *silver dishes and 12 gold dishes. v85 The *silver plates and dishes weighed the right amount. v86 They filled the 12 gold dishes with *incense that weighed the right amount. v87 They brought 12 young *bulls, 12 *rams and 12 male *lambs for Moses to burn. They were one year old. They also brought *grain. They brought 12 male goats because of their *sins. v88 There were also another 24 *oxen, 60 *rams, 60 male goats and 60 male *lambs.
v89 When Moses went into the *Tent of Meeting, he heard the voice of the *Lord. The sound came from above the top of the *Covenant Box. Moses spoke to the *Lord.
v1 The *Lord said to Moses, v2 ‘Tell Aaron this. When he lights the *lamps they must shine towards the front of the *lampstand.’
v3 Aaron did as the *Lord said. He put the *lamps so that the light shone to the front. v4 The *Lord told Moses how to make the *lampstand. He told Moses that he must make it with gold. Moses did as the *Lord said.
v5 The *Lord said to Moses, v6 ‘Separate the *Levites from the people and make them *holy. v7 *Splash special water on them. Tell them that they must cut the hair from their bodies. And they must wash their clothes. v8 Then they must bring a young *bull and a gift of flour and *oil. You must bring another young *bull as a gift because of their *sins. v9 Bring all the people together and bring the *Levites to the front of the *Tent of Meeting. v10 The people must put their hands on the heads of the *Levites. v11 Aaron must give the *Levites to the *Lord. They are a special gift from the people to the *Lord. They must work for the *Lord.
v12 The *Levites must put their hands on the heads of the two *bulls. They must use one as a gift to the *Lord because of their *sins. They must burn the other one. This will make the *Levites *holy. v13 The *Levites must stand in front of Aaron and his sons. Aaron and his sons will give them as a special gift to the *Lord. v14 This will separate the *Levites from the people. They will belong to the *Lord.
v15 After this, they must do their work in the *Tent of Meeting. v16 They will belong to the *Lord. They will take the place of the first-born sons of the people. v17 When the *Lord killed the first-born males of Egypt, he took every first-born male of *Israel. They belonged to him. v18 The *Levites belong to the *Lord in the place of the first-born males of the people of *Israel. v19 The *Lord gave them to Aaron and his sons. Their work is in the *Tent of Meeting. If the people of *Israel go near the special place, the *Levites will keep them safe.’
v20 Moses, Aaron and all the people of *Israel did what the *Lord said. v21 The *Levites made their bodies clean and they washed their clothes. Aaron gave them to the *Lord as a special gift. v22 Then the *Levites went to work in the *Tent of Meeting. Aaron and his sons told them what work they should do.
v23 The *Lord said to Moses, v24 ‘*Levite men who are more than 25 years old must work in the *Tent of Meeting. v25 When they are 50 years old, they must stop working. v26 The old men can help the young men. The old men must not work alone. This is how the *Levites must work.’
v1 The *Lord spoke to Moses in the *Desert of Sinai. It was the first month of the second year after the people of *Israel left Egypt. v2 This is what the *Lord said: ‘The people of *Israel must remember the *Passover at the time that I tell them. v3 At sunset on day 14 of this month, they must remember the *Passover and all its rules.’
v4 Moses told the people of *Israel that they must remember the *Passover. v5 The people of *Israel did this on day 14 of the first month. They were in the *Desert of Sinai. The people did everything that the *Lord told Moses to do.
v6 Some of the people could not remember the *Passover at this time. They were not *holy because they had touched a dead body. They came to Moses and Aaron. v7 They said to Moses, ‘We are not *holy. We touched a dead body. Why can we not remember the *Passover with the people?’
v8 Moses said to them, ‘I will ask the *Lord about this.’
v9 The *Lord said to Moses, v10 ‘Tell the people this. If any of them touched a dead body, they are not *holy. They can remember the *Passover. If any of them are away from their homes on a journey at the proper time, they can remember the *Passover. v11 They must remember the *Passover at sunset on day 14 of the second month. They must eat the *lamb and the bread. They must eat the plants that they use to cook with. v12 They must not break any of the bones of the *lamb. They must not keep any of the food until the next morning. v13 But perhaps a *holy person who is at home does not remember the *Passover. Then he is wrong. He must be separate from the people. He will be *guilty of doing wrong things.
v14 These rules are for the people of *Israel and for any other people who are living with them.’
v15 On the day that Moses raised the *Tent of Meeting, a cloud covered it. The cloud covered the *Tent of Meeting from evening until morning. It looked like a fire. v16 At night, it looked like a fire. During the day, it looked like a cloud. v17 When the cloud went up, the people of *Israel went on their journey. When the cloud came down, they made a *camp. v18 When the *Lord told them to, the people moved on their journey. When the *Lord told them to, they made a *camp. When the cloud was over the *Tent of Meeting, they stayed in their *camp. v19 When the cloud was over the *Tent of Meeting for a long time the people obeyed the *Lord. v20 Sometimes the cloud was over the *Tent of Meeting for a few days. Then the people obeyed the *Lord. The *Lord told the people when they should move. They stayed in the *camp until then. v21 Sometimes the cloud stayed over the *Tent of Meeting from evening until morning only. If the cloud went up in the morning, the people moved on their journey. If the cloud went up at night, the people moved on their journey. v22 If the cloud stayed over the *Tent of Meeting for two days, the people stayed in the *camp. If the cloud stayed over the *Tent of Meeting for a month, the people stayed in the *camp. If the cloud stayed over the *Tent of Meeting for a year, the people stayed in the *camp. When the cloud went up, they moved on their journey. v23 The people obeyed all that the *Lord said to Moses.
v1 The *Lord said to Moses, v2 ‘Make two *silver *trumpets. When it is time to take the *camp to pieces, make a noise with the *trumpets. This will get the people together. v3 When the people hear the sound from the *trumpet, they must go to the door of the *Tent of Meeting. v4 Perhaps the sound is from one *trumpet. Then only the leaders of the people must go to the door of the *Tent of Meeting. v5 When the sound is one short sound, the *tribes on the east of the *Tent of Meeting must move out. v6 When they hear the next short sound, the *tribes on the south of the *Tent of Meeting must move out. Short sounds on the *trumpet tell the people that they must move out. v7 To get the people together make a different sound on the *trumpet.
v8 The sons of Aaron, who are the *priests, must use the *trumpets. This is a rule for now and all time. v9 When the people are at war with an enemy, they must make a sound on the *trumpet. Then the *Lord will hear and he will save the people from their enemies. v10 At happy times when the people bring gifts to the *Lord, they must make a noise with the *trumpet. The *Lord will hear and he will remember the people.’
v11 On day 20 of the second month of the second year the cloud went up from the *Tent of Meeting. v12 The people of *Israel started on their journey away from the *Desert of Sinai. The cloud stopped moving in the *Desert of Paran. v13 The people of *Israel marched as the *Lord told them to. The *Lord spoke to Moses.
v14 The *tribe of Judah went first. They carried their *flag. Nahshon the son of Amminadab was their leader. v15 Nethanel the son of Zuar was the leader of the *tribe of Issachar. v16 Eliab the son of Helon was the leader of the *tribe of Zebulun. v17 Next marched the *descendants of Gershon and *descendants of Merari. They carried the *Tent of Meeting. It was in pieces.
v18 The *tribe of Reuben marched next. They carried their *flag. Elizur the son of Shedeur was their leader. v19 Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai was the leader of the *tribe of Simeon. v20 Eliasaph the son of Deuel was the leader of the *tribe of Gad. v21 The *descendants of Kohath marched next. They carried everything that was very special for God. The people of *Israel had to raise the *Tent of Meeting before the *descendants of Kohath arrived.
v22 The *tribe of Ephraim marched next. They carried their *flag. Elishama the son of Ammihud was their leader. v23 Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur was the leader of the *tribe of Manasseh. v24 Abidan the son of Gideoni was the leader of the *tribe of Benjamin.
v25 The *tribe of Dan marched last. They carried their *flag. Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai was their leader. v26 Pagiel the son of Ocran was the leader of the *tribe of Asher. v27 Ahira the son of Enan was the leader of the *tribe of Naphtali. v28 This was how the people of *Israel marched.
v29 Hobab was the son of Reuel the *Midianite. Reuel was the father of the wife of Moses. Moses said to Hobab, ‘The *Lord said that he would give us this country. We are going there. It will be a good country for us. Come with us. And have a piece of everything that is good in this place. The *Lord has promised that everything will be good for the people of *Israel.’
v30 Hobab said, ‘No, I am going back to my own country. I am going back to my own people.’
v31 ‘Please come with us’, Moses said. ‘You know the best places in the *desert for us to *camp. You can be our guide. v32 Come with us. Then you can have a piece of everything that is good. The *Lord will give us everything that is good.’
v33 The people of *Israel travelled from the mountain called Sinai. They travelled for three days. The *Covenant Box went in front of them. It went to find a place for them to rest. v34 They travelled during the day. The cloud of the *Lord was above them.
v35 Each time that the people moved on, Moses said, ‘Rise up *Lord! Remove your enemies. Make those who do not like you go away.’ v36 When the people stopped moving, Moses said, ‘Come back *Lord. Come back to the thousands of *families of *Israel's people.’
v1 The *Lord was angry. He heard the people of *Israel. They were speaking bad words about their problems. He sent fire that burned among them. It burned one end of the *camp. v2 The people asked Moses to help them. Moses prayed to the *Lord and the fire stopped. v3 They called the place Taberah because fire from the *Lord burned there.
v4 Some of the people who were travelling were not people of *Israel. These people wanted to eat meat. They said bad things and the people of *Israel wanted to eat meat. v5 They said, ‘We remember that we ate fish and vegetables in Egypt. They did not cost us anything. v6 But now we only have the food that the *Lord gives us. We are not happy. Now we are not strong. We do not want to eat that food.’ v7 The food that the *Lord gave to the people was like small seeds. The colours of the seeds were yellow and white. v8 Every morning the people picked up the seeds from the ground. They made them into flour. They cooked the flour in pots. They made it into cakes. The cakes were like the bread that the people made with oil. v9 At night, the air became wet and seeds fell on the land.
v10 People from all the *tribes were at the door of the *Tent of Meeting. They were speaking bad words. Moses heard them. He was not happy because the *Lord was angry with the people. v11 Moses said to the *Lord, ‘Why have you brought trouble to me? I am your servant. What have I done to make you so angry? Why must I be the leader of all these people? v12 Did I make all these people? Were they born to me? Why do you tell me that I must be like a nurse to them? Must I carry them to the country that you promised to their *ancestors? v13 Where can I get food for all these people? They cry in front of me. And they say, “Give us meat to eat.” v14 I will not be the leader of all these people. It is too much for me to do. v15 Must I do this? Let me die now before I do everything wrong.’ v16 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘Bring to me 70 leaders of the people. They must come to the door of the *Tent of Meeting. They must stand there with you. v17 I will come down and speak with you. I will take some of the power that I gave to you. I will give it to the 70 leaders. And they will help you lead the people.
v18 Tell the people that they must make themselves ready for tomorrow. Then they will eat meat. They said that they were happier in Egypt. They could eat meat there. Tell them that the *Lord heard them. The *Lord will give them meat. They will eat it. v19 They will not eat meat for a few days only. v20 They will eat meat every day for a month. They will eat it until it makes them sick. They turned away from the *Lord. They said, “Why did we leave Egypt? It was better there.” ’ v21 Moses said to the *Lord, ‘There are 600 000 people here. You say that you will give them meat every day for a month. v22 They do not have enough animals for this. Are there enough fish in the sea for this?’
v23 The *Lord answered Moses, ‘Perhaps you think that I am not powerful. You will see if this happens.’ v24 Moses went. And he told the people what the *Lord had said. He brought 70 leaders to stand round the *Tent of Meeting. v25 The *Lord came down in the cloud and he spoke with Moses. The *Lord took some of the power from Moses. He put the power on the 70 leaders. For a little time, the 70 leaders *prophesied.
v26 Two men who were leaders did not go to Moses. They stayed in the *camp. The *Lord put the power on them and they *prophesied in the *camp. Their names were Eldad and Medad. v27 A young man ran to Moses and said, ‘Eldad and Medad are *prophesying in the *camp.’
v28 Joshua was the son of Nun. He helped Moses. He said to Moses, ‘Stop them, sir.’
v29 Moses answered, ‘Are you thinking about my importance? I would like the *Lord to put his power on all the people. Then they could all *prophesy.’ v30 Moses and the leaders returned to the *camp.
v31 The *Lord made the wind blow. It blew quails in from the sea. The birds flew near the ground as far as a person could walk in any direction. v32 All day, all night and all the next day the people caught the quails. Each person caught many quails. They put them on the ground round the *camp to get dry. v33 When the people were eating the meat from the quails the *Lord was angry. He sent a very bad illness on the people. v34 The people called the place Kibroth Hattaavah. There they buried the people who wanted to eat meat.
v35 The people travelled to Hazeroth and they stayed there.
v1 Moses had married a woman who was a *descendant of Cush. Miriam and Aaron spoke against this. v2 They said that the *Lord did not speak to the people only by Moses. He spoke by them also. The *Lord heard what they said.
v3 Moses did not think that he was better than any other man on the earth.
v4 The *Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, ‘Come to the *Tent of Meeting.’ They did as the *Lord said. v5 The *Lord came down in a cloud. And he stood at the door of the *Tent of Meeting. He said to Aaron and Miriam, ‘Come to me.’ So they went to the *Lord. v6 He said, ‘Hear what I say. When there are special people among the people of *Israel to speak for me, I show myself to them. I speak to them in dreams. v7 It is different when I speak to Moses. He is the leader of all the people of *Israel. v8 I speak clearly to him. I have shown myself to him. You should be frightened to speak against Moses.’ v9 The *Lord was angry with Aaron and Miriam. He went away from the *Tent of Meeting. v10 When the cloud went up from the front of the *Tent of Meeting, Miriam had an illness. Her skin was white. Aaron saw that Miriam had an illness on her skin. v11 He said to Moses, ‘Please do not do bad things to us. We did things that were wrong. We know that. v12 Do not let Miriam be like a baby that is born dead. The baby died because his body did not grow.’ v13 Moses said to the *Lord, ‘Please take the illness away from her.’ v14 The *Lord answered Moses, ‘If her father puts water from his mouth on her face, bad things will happen to her for 7 days. Put her outside the *camp for 7 days. After 7 days, she can come into the *camp.’ v15 Moses put Miriam outside the *camp for 7 days. During this time, the people did not move on.
v16 Then the people went from Hazeroth and they *camped in the *Desert of Paran.
v1 The *Lord said to Moses, v2 ‘I am giving the country called Canaan to the people of *Israel. Send one man from each *tribe into the country called Canaan. They must explore the country.’
v3 Moses did as the *Lord said. He sent one man from each *tribe. They went from the *Desert of Paran into the country called Canaan. Each man was a leader of his *tribe. v4 From the *tribe of Reuben, he sent Shammua the son of Zaccur. v5 From the *tribe of Simeon, he sent Shaphat the son of Hori. v6 From the *tribe of Judah, he sent Caleb the son of Jephunneh. v7 From the *tribe of Issachar, he sent Igal the son of Joseph. v8 From the *tribe of Ephraim, he sent Hoshea the son of Nun. v9 From the *tribe of Benjamin, he sent Palti the son of Raphu. v10 From the *tribe of Zebulun, he sent Gaddiel the son of Sodi. v11 From the *tribe of Manasseh, which was a *tribe of Joseph, he sent Gaddi the son of Susi. v12 From the *tribe of Dan, he sent Ammiel the son of Gemalli. v13 From the *tribe of Asher, he sent Sethur the son of Michael. v14 From the *tribe of Naphtali, he sent Nahbi the son of Vophsi. v15 From the *tribe of Gad, he sent Geuel the son of Maki. v16 Moses sent these men to explore the country called Canaan. Moses changed the name of Hoshea the son of Nun to Joshua.
v17 Moses sent the men to explore the country called Canaan. He said: ‘Go north from here. Go into the hill country of Canaan. v18 Have a look at the country. Find out if the people who live there are strong or weak. Find out if there are many people or a few. v19 Find out if the country is good or bad. Do the people live in towns or villages? If they live in towns, do the towns have walls on all sides of them? v20 Is the ground good or bad? Are there any trees in the country? Try to bring back some fruit called *grapes from the country called Canaan.’ Now it was the time for the first *grapes to be ready to eat. v21 The men went north and they explored the country. They explored from the *Desert of Zin in the south to Rehob in the north. Rehob is near Hamath Pass. v22 They went through the Negev to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai were of the *family of Anak. They lived at Hebron. Hebron was 7 years older than Zoan. Zoan was in Egypt. v23 The men came to the Valley of Eshcol. They cut a branch from a plant. The branch had *grapes on it. Two of the men carried a piece of wood between them. They put the *grapes, some fruit called figs and fruit called pomegranates on the piece of wood. v24 They called the place Valley of Eshcol because of the *grapes that they found there. v25 After 40 days, the men returned to Moses and the people of *Israel.
v26 Moses, Aaron and the people of *Israel were at Kadesh. The men told them about the country. They showed the people the fruit that they had brought from the country called Canaan. v27 They said to Moses, ‘We explored the country where you sent us. It is rich and it grows good food. v28 The people who live in that country are powerful. The cities are very big. We saw people who are of the *family of Anak. v29 The people of Amalek live in the Negev. The *Hittites, the *Jebusites and the *Amorites live in the hill country. The *Canaanites live by the sea and by the River Jordan.’
v30 Caleb told the people that they should stop speaking bad words. He said, ‘We should attack the people of Canaan and take the land. We can do it.’
v31 The other men who had explored the country called Canaan said, ‘We cannot attack the people in Canaan. They are stronger than us.’ v32 These men also spoke bad words about the country called Canaan to the people of *Israel. They said: ‘The land does not grow enough food to feed the people who already live there. All the people that we saw were very big. v33 We saw very big men of the *family of Anak. We felt as small as insects called grasshoppers. And we looked very small to these people.’
v1 The people wept all night. v2 All the people spoke bad words to Moses and Aaron. They said, ‘It would have been better if we had died in Egypt or in the *desert. v3 Why did the *Lord bring us to this country to die? The very big people in Canaan will take our wives and children. It would be better for us to go back to Egypt.’ v4 They said to each other, ‘We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.’
v5 Then Moses and Aaron threw themselves onto the ground in front of the people. Their faces were on the ground. v6 Joshua was the son of Nun. Caleb was the son of Jephunneh. They were sad. They tore their clothes because they were sad. v7 They said to the people of *Israel, ‘The country that we explored is very good. v8 If the *Lord is happy with us, he will take us into that country. It is a rich country and it grows good food. He will give it to us. v9 Do not go against the *Lord. Do not be frightened of the people who live there. We will beat them. They are not safe. The *Lord is with us.’ v10 The people wanted to throw stones at Moses and Aaron. They wanted to kill them. Then the bright light of the *Lord appeared in the *Tent of Meeting. All the people saw it. v11 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘These people turn away from me all the time. I did great things for them. But still they will not believe me. v12 I will kill them all with an illness. I will make you the father of a great *nation. I will make you stronger than they were.’ v13 Moses said to the *Lord, ‘The people in Egypt will hear about this. You brought the people of *Israel out of Egypt by your power. v14 The people in Egypt will tell the people in Canaan that you killed all your people. The people in Canaan already know that you are with your people. They know that your cloud is over the people. They know that you lead them as a cloud during the day and as fire during the night. v15 If you kill all the people of *Israel now, the people of the other *nations will say, v16 “The *Lord could not bring the people into the country that he promised them. So he killed them in the *desert.”
v17 Now *Lord, I pray to you, show us your power. Do what you promised. You said, v18 “I, the *Lord, do not get angry very easily. I love the people. I do not hurt them when they do wrong things. But, if the people are very bad, I will do bad things to them. I do bad things to children, grandchildren and great grandchildren for things that their parents did wrong.” v19 Because you love these people, do not be angry with them. Love them as you have always loved them. You have loved them ever since you brought them out of Egypt.’ v20 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘I will not be angry with the people, because you have asked me not to be angry with them. v21 But I live and my power covers the earth. v22 That is why none of these people will go into the country called Canaan. They will die. They saw my bright light. They saw me do great things in Egypt and in the *desert. They do not obey me. They make me angry. v23 None of them will ever go into the country called Canaan. v24 My servant Caleb did not do bad things. He will go into the country called Canaan. His *family will live in it. v25 The *Amalekites and *Canaanites live in the valleys of the country called Canaan. Tomorrow you must turn back and go towards the *desert. Go along by the Red Sea.’
v26 The *Lord said to Moses and Aaron, v27 ‘These people speak bad words all the time. I hear what they are saying about me. v28 Tell them that I have heard them. I will do as they ask. v29 Every person that Moses counted will die in this *desert. He will die if he spoke bad words. v30 Not one of them will go into the country that I promised to give to the people of *Israel. Caleb and Joshua are the only men who will go into the country. v31 The people in Canaan will not take your children. The children will go into the country called Canaan and they will live there. v32 But you will die in the *desert. v33 Your children will stay in the *desert for 40 years. They will be *shepherds until you are all dead. v34 You will know that I am angry. This will happen because you did not obey the *Lord. This will happen for 40 years. That is one year for each day that you explored the country called Canaan. v35 I will do these things to all the people who spoke bad words about me.’
v36 The men who explored the country called Canaan spoke bad words about it. This made the people speak bad words. v37 These men became ill and died. v38 Only Caleb and Joshua did not die.
v39 When Moses told the people of *Israel, they were very sad. v40 Early the next morning they went to the high hill country. They said, ‘We did not obey the *Lord. We will go to the place that the *Lord promised to give to us.’
v41 Moses said, ‘You are still not obeying the *Lord. What you are doing is not right. v42 Do not go to the high hill country. The *Lord is not with you. Your enemies will beat you. v43 When you fight the *Amalekites and the *Canaanites you will die. The *Lord will not be with you because you did not obey him.’
v44 But the people did not listen to Moses. They went towards the high hill country. Moses and the *Tent of Meeting did not go with them. v45 The *Amalekites and the *Canaanites attacked them. They sent the people of *Israel back to Hormah.
v1 The *Lord said to Moses, v2 ‘Tell the people of *Israel this. When they go into the country called Canaan, they must obey my rules. v3 They can give me a cow, a sheep or a *lamb (young sheep). They can give a *ram (male sheep). They can give a *bull (male cow). The animal can be a gift for the things that they do wrong. Or it can be a special gift. They are food gifts. The smell of them as they burn will make the *Lord happy. v4 The person who gives the gift must also give a gift of flour. He must mix the flour with oil. v5 The person who gives the gift of a *lamb must also give a gift of *wine.
v6 The person who gives a gift of a *ram must also give a gift of *grain. The gift of *grain must be flour that he has mixed with oil. v7 The person must also give a gift of *wine. The smell of them as they burn will make the *Lord happy.
v8 A person can give a *bull as a gift for the things that he did wrong. Or it can be a special gift. v9 The person who gives the gift of a *bull must also give a gift of *grain. The gift of *grain must be flour that he has mixed with oil. v10 The person must also give a gift of *wine. The smell of them as they burn will make the *Lord happy.
v11 The people must do the same for each cow or sheep or *bull or *lamb or *ram. v12 They must do this for every animal that they give as a gift to the *Lord. v13 All the people of *Israel must do this when they give a gift to the *Lord. The smell of them as they burn will make the *Lord happy. v14 A stranger who is living in your country may want to give a gift to the *Lord. He must do the same as you do now, and for all future time. v15-16 These rules are for the people of *Israel and for all people who live with them. These rules are for now and for all future time.’
v17 The *Lord said to Moses, v18 ‘Tell the people of *Israel this. When they go into the country called Canaan, they must obey my rules. v19 When they eat the food from the country they must give a gift to the *Lord. v20 They must make a cake with the first *grain from the country. v21 They must do this now and for all future time.’
v22 The people might not obey a rule. They might not know that they are doing something wrong. v23 It might be any of the rules that the *Lord gave to Moses. v24 Then all the people must give a young *bull as a gift to the *Lord. They must also give *grain and *wine. The smell of these gifts as they burn will make the *Lord happy. They must also give a male goat because they have done something wrong. v25 The *priest will bring the gifts from the people to the *Lord. Then the *Lord will not be angry with the people when they do not obey him. v26 The *Lord will not be angry with the people of *Israel. He will not be angry with people who live with them.
v27 A person might do a wrong thing. He might not know that it was wrong. He must give the *Lord a gift of a female goat that is one year old. v28 The *priest will bring the gift to the *Lord. Then the *Lord will not be angry with the person because of the wrong thing that he did. v29 This rule is for the people of *Israel and for all the people who live with them. v30 A person might do wrong things because he wants to. He must go away from the *camp. He must go away from all the other people. v31 The *Lord will be angry with this person.
v32 When the people of *Israel were in the *desert, a man was picking up sticks on the day of rest. v33 The people who found him took him to Moses and Aaron. v34 They were not sure what to do with the man. So they put him in a *tent. Men stood at the door of the *tent so he could not leave it. v35 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘This man must die. All the people must take him outside the *camp and they must kill him.’ v36 So the people took the man outside the *camp. They threw stones at him until he died.
v37 The *Lord said to Moses, v38 ‘Tell the people of *Israel that they must put *tassels on the corners of their clothes. They must put the *tassels on soft blue *rope. They must do this now and for all future time. v39 The *tassels will help them to remember that the *Lord gave them rules. The rules are to stop them doing wrong things. v40 When they see the *tassels they will obey my rules. They will be special. v41 I am the *Lord God who brought them out of Egypt.’
v1 The *ancestors of Korah were Izhar, Kohath, Levi. Dathan and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. On was the son of Peleth. These men did not want to obey the rules. v2 And 250 men who were leaders of the people of *Israel were with them. v3 They all came to Moses and Aaron and they said, ‘All the people of *Israel are special, and the *Lord is with them. So, you should not say that you are better than the people.’
v4 When Moses heard this, he threw himself on to the ground. He prayed to the *Lord. v5 Moses said to Korah and all the other men, ‘Tomorrow the *Lord will show all of us who is special. He will show us which person is near to him. He will make the person that he chooses come near to him. v6 Korah, get some pots. v7 You and your men must put fire and *incense in them. The person that the *Lord chooses is special. You and your men are not obeying the rules.’
v8 Moses also said to Korah, v9 ‘Listen, you *Levites. The *Lord separated you from the people so that you can be special. You must work for him. v10 Now you want to be *priests as well. v11 You are not speaking bad words about Aaron. You are speaking bad words about the *Lord.’
v12 Then Moses said to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, ‘Come here.’ They said, ‘No, we will not. v13 First, you take us away from Egypt where we were safe. Now you want to tell us what we should do. v14 You have brought us into the *desert. You have not made us rich and happy. We will not come.’
v15 Moses was angry. He said to the *Lord, ‘Do not take any gifts from these men. I did not take anything from them. I did not do anything wrong to them.’ v16 Moses said to Korah, ‘Tomorrow, you and your men must come to the *Tent of Meeting. Aaron will be there. v17 Each of you must take a pot and put *incense in it. You must put the pots on the *altar.’ v18 So, each man took a pot. He put *incense and fire in it. They stood with Moses and Aaron at the door of the *Tent of Meeting. v19 Then the bright light of the *Lord appeared to all the people. v20 The *Lord said to Moses and Aaron, v21 ‘Stand away from these men so that I can kill them.’
v22 Moses and Aaron fell to the ground and they said, ‘Will you be angry with all the people? It is only one man who is doing wrong things.’
v23 The *Lord said to Moses, v24 ‘Tell the people that they should stand away from the *tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’
v25 Moses got up from the ground. He went to Dathan and Abiram. The leaders of the people of *Israel went with him. v26 Moses said to the people, ‘Move away from the *tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Do not touch anything that is theirs. If you touch them, you will die. They did wrong things.’ v27 So the people moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were standing with their wives and children at the door of their tents.
v28 Then Moses said to the people, ‘You will know that the *Lord chose me to lead you. This is how you will know. v29 If these men die in a usual way, then the *Lord did not choose me. v30 See if the ground opens. See if these men and their *families fall in. See if they die. Then, you will know that they did wrong things.’
v31 When Moses finished speaking, the ground opened. v32 Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their *families fell into the ground. v33 They went alive into the ground. The ground closed over them and they died. v34 The people of *Israel ran away. They were shouting, ‘The ground will eat us too.’
v35 Then fire came from the *Lord. It killed the men who were holding the pots of *incense.
v36 The *Lord said to Moses, v37 ‘Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron, that he must take the pots out of the fire. They must throw the fire away. The pots are special. v38 Those men *sinned and so they died. Take their pots. And hit the pots until they are flat pieces of metal. Lay the pieces of metal on the *altar.’ v39 So Eleazar lifted the pots up. He hit them until they were flat. He put the flat metal on the *altar. v40 Then the people would know that only people of the *family of Aaron could burn *incense on the *altar.
v41 The next day the people of *Israel were not happy. They said that Moses and Aaron killed Korah, Dathan, Abiram and their *families. v42 When they turned towards the *Tent of Meeting, a cloud was covering it. There was a bright light. v43 Moses and Aaron went to the front of the *Tent of Meeting. v44 The *Lord said to Moses, v45 ‘Get away from the people so that I can kill them.’ Moses and Aaron fell to the ground. v46 Moses said to Aaron, ‘Put *incense and fire from the *altar in your pot. Go to the people. Make a gift to the *Lord for them. Be quick. The *Lord is angry and bad things and illnesses are starting to happen to the people.’ v47 The bad things and illnesses started to happen. But Aaron did what Moses said. v48 He stood between the people who were living and the dead people. The bad things and illnesses stopped. v49 14 700 people died because of these things. v50 Aaron went back to Moses at the door of the *Tent of Meeting.
v1 The *Lord said to Moses, v2 ‘Tell the people of *Israel that they must give you 12 sticks, one from each of the *tribes. Write the name of the leader of one *tribe on each stick. v3 On the stick from the *tribe of Levi write the name of Aaron. v4 Take the stick to the *Tent of Meeting and put them in front of the *Covenant Box. v5 The stick that I choose will begin to grow. This will stop the people of *Israel speaking wrong words about you.’
v6 Moses spoke to the people of *Israel. The leaders gave him 12 sticks. v7 Moses put the sticks in front of the *Covenant Box that was in the *Tent of Meeting.
v8 The next day, Moses went to the *Tent of Meeting. He saw that the stick of the *tribe of Levi was growing. It had the name of Aaron on it. It was growing flowers and almonds. (Almonds grow on trees and people eat them.) v9 Moses brought all of the sticks out of the *Tent of Meeting. Each leader took his own stick.
v10 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘Put the stick that belongs to Aaron in front of the *Covenant Box. Then the people will remember this. They will die if they speak wrong words.’ v11 Moses did as the *Lord said to him.
v12 The people of *Israel said to Moses, ‘We will die. v13 Any person who comes near the *Tent of Meeting will die. We are all going to die!’
v1 The *Lord said to Aaron, ‘The *Levites work in the *Tent of Meeting. If they do wrong things, I will do bad things to you and your *family. v2 Bring the people of your *tribe to the *Tent of Meeting. v3 They must do the work in the *Tent of Meeting. You must tell them what they should do. They must not go near the *altar. If they do, you will die. They will also die. v4 The *Levites must work in the *Tent of Meeting. No other people must come near the *Tent of Meeting when you are working in there.
v5 You must work in the *Holy Place and at the *altar. If you do this, I will not be angry with the people of *Israel again. v6 I chose the other *Levites as a gift to you to work in the *Tent of Meeting with you. v7 But only you and your sons will be *priests. You will work at the *altar. I am making you *priests as a gift from me. Any other person who comes near the *Holy Place must die.’
v8 The *Lord said to Aaron, ‘I am giving to you and your *family pieces of the gifts that the people give to me. I am giving you the pieces that the people do not burn. They are for you and your *family, now and for always. v9 You must have a piece of all the gifts. v10 All the men in your *family must eat the gifts. The gifts are *holy.
v11 Also, I will give a piece of any special gifts to your sons and your daughters. Any person of your *family who is *holy can eat the special gifts.
v12 I will give to you the best oil, the best *wine and the best *grain. v13 I am giving you the best pieces of the oil, *wine and *grain gifts. Any person of your *family who is *holy can eat them.
v14 Everything in Israel that belongs to the *Lord is yours. v15 Every first-born animal and male child that the people give to me I will give to you. But you must buy them from me. v16 When they are one month old you must buy them for 5 pieces of *silver.
v17 You must not buy the first-born of an *ox (a big cow) or a sheep or a goat. These animals are *holy. *Splash the blood from these animals on the *altar and burn the fat from them. The smell will make the *Lord happy. v18 The meat is for you. v19 I will give to you and your *family all the special gifts that the people of *Israel give to me. This is my promise to you and your *family.’
v20 The *Lord said to Aaron, ‘There will be nothing in the country for you to give to your *family. I am all that you need.
v21 The people of *Israel give me one tenth of everything. I will give it to the *Levites because they do my work in the *Tent of Meeting. v22 The people of *Israel must not go near the *Tent of Meeting. If they do, they must die. They must die because they did not obey my rules. v23 The *Levites must go into the *Tent of Meeting and do the work. This rule is for now and always. v24 I will give the *Levites the gifts that the people of *Israel give to me. That is why I say, “The *Levites do not have anything that is their own.” ’
v25 The *Lord said to Moses, v26 ‘Tell the *Levites this. When they receive a gift from the people of *Israel they must give one tenth of it to the *Lord. v27 This gift will be the same as when a farmer is giving *grain or *wine to me. It will be special. v28 They must give the special gift to Aaron. He will give it to the *Lord. v29 This special gift is *holy.
v30 Tell the *Levites: “The piece of the gift that they give to the *Lord must be the best piece.” v31 They can eat the other piece of the gift because they do the work in the *Tent of Meeting. v32 They must be careful not to eat the gift before they give the best piece to the *Lord. Then they will not die. If they do not obey this rule, they may die.’
v1 The *Lord said to Moses and Aaron, v2 ‘Tell the people of *Israel that they must bring a cow. It must be *perfect. It must not have done any work. v3 They must take it outside the *camp. They must kill it and give it to Eleazar the *priest. v4 Eleazar must take some of the blood from the cow. He must *splash it 7 times in front of the *Tent of Meeting. v5 He must watch while the people burn the cow. They must burn all of it. v6 He must take some wood, some plants and some red *wool. He must throw them on the fire. v7 Eleazar must wash himself and his clothes with water. Then he can come into the *camp. The people must say that he is not *holy until evening. v8 The man who burns the cow must wash himself and his clothes with water. The people will say that he is not *holy until evening.
v9 A man who is *holy must pick up the ashes from the cow. He must put them in a *holy place outside the *camp. The people of *Israel must keep them. They must use them when they make the water *holy. They must use the *holy water to wash when they do wrong things. v10 The man who picks up the ashes must wash himself and his clothes. He will not be *holy until evening. This rule is for the people of *Israel and for all the people who are living with them.
v11 Any person who touches a dead body will not be *holy for 7 days. v12 He must wash himself on day 3 and day 7. Then he will be *holy. If he does not wash himself on day 3 and day 7, he will not be *holy. v13 A person might touch a dead body. If he does not wash himself he will make the *Tent of Meeting *unholy. He will not be *holy and he will not be a special person of the *Lord.
v14 This is the rule when a person dies in a *tent. Any person who is in the *tent will not be *holy for 7 days. v15 Any pot in the *tent that does not have a lid will not be *holy.
v16 This is the rule when a person dies outside the *tent. Anyone who touches the dead person will not be *holy for 7 days. He will not be *holy if he touches a human bone or a *grave.
v17 The person must take some ashes from the cow. He must mix them with water. v18 A man who is *holy must put some plants into the water. He must *splash the water over the *tent. He must *splash the water on the person who touched the dead person, or the human bone or the *grave. v19 He must *splash the person who is not *holy on day 3 and day 7. On day 7 he will make the person *holy. On day 7 the person who is not *holy must wash himself and his clothes. In the evening, he will be *holy. v20 The person who is not *holy might not wash himself and his clothes. Then he will not be a special person of the *Lord. Because the *priest did not *splash *holy water on him he will not be *holy. v21 This rule is for now and for always. The man who *splashes the *holy water must wash his clothes. Any person who touches the *holy water will not be *holy until evening. v22 A person who is not *holy must not touch anything. Anything that he touches will not be *holy until evening.’
v1 In the first month, the people of *Israel came to the *Desert of Zin. They *camped at Kadesh. Miriam died there and the people buried her.
v2 The people did not have any water. They came to Moses and Aaron. v3 They said to Moses, ‘When the *Lord killed our brothers in front of the *Tent of Meeting, he should have killed us. v4 You should not have brought us to this *desert. We are all going to die. v5 You should not have brought us from Egypt to this place. There is no food and no water for us to drink.’
v6 Moses and Aaron went from the people to the front of the *Tent of Meeting. They threw themselves on to the ground. Their faces were on the ground. The special light from the *Lord came to them. v7 The *Lord said to Moses, v8 ‘Get the stick. Get your brother Aaron and get the people of *Israel. Talk to the rock that is in front of you. Water will come from it. It is for the people and for the animals. They can drink it.’
v9 Moses got the stick from in front of the *Covenant Box. v10 Moses, Aaron and all the people stood in front of the rock. Moses said to the people, ‘It seems that we must get water from this rock for you!’ v11 Moses lifted up his arm. He hit the rock twice with his stick. Water poured from the rock. The people and the animals drank the water. v12 The *Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘You did not believe in me enough to show the people that I am *holy. So you will not lead them into the country that I am giving them.’ v13 The name of the place where this happened was the water of Meribah.
v14 Moses sent men from Kadesh to the king of Edom. They said, ‘This message is from the people of *Israel. You know how difficult our life has been. v15 Our *ancestors went to Egypt. We lived there for many years. The people in Egypt were bad to us. v16 We spoke to the *Lord. And he heard us. He sent an *angel and he brought us out of Egypt. Now we are in Kadesh. Kadesh is on the edge of your country. v17 Please let us go through your country. We will travel on the road. We will not touch your food or drink your water. We will pass through your country.’ v18 The king of Edom said, ‘You must not travel through my country. If you do, we will attack you.’ v19 The people of *Israel said, ‘We will stay on the road. If our animals drink your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through your country.’ v20 The king of Edom said, ‘No you must not travel through our country.’ Then the people in Edom came out to attack the people of *Israel. v21 The people of *Israel turned away from Edom.
v22 All the people of *Israel went from Kadesh to the mountain called Hor. v23 When they were at the edge of Edom, the *Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. v24 He said, ‘Aaron will not go in to the country that I am giving to the people of *Israel. Because you did not obey me, he will die. v25 Aaron and his son Eleazar must climb up the mountain called Hor. v26 Moses must take the *priest’s clothes from Aaron and put them on Eleazar. Aaron will die there.’ v27 Moses, Aaron and Eleazar climbed up the mountain called Hor. The people of *Israel watched. v28 Moses took the *priest’s clothes from Aaron. He put them on Eleazar. Then Aaron died. Moses and Eleazar walked down the mountain. v29 The people of *Israel were sad for 30 days because Aaron died.
v1 The king of Canaan was Arad. He lived in Negev. He heard that the people of *Israel were coming. He attacked the people of *Israel. He caught some of the people of *Israel. v2 The people of *Israel said to the *Lord, ‘If you let us catch the people of Canaan, we will destroy their cities.’ v3 The *Lord heard the people of *Israel. They attacked and caught the people of Canaan. They destroyed all their cities. The name of the place was Hormah.
v4 The people of *Israel travelled round the edge of Edom to the Red Sea. The people were angry. v5 They said to the *Lord and to Moses, ‘You should not have brought us from Egypt to die in the *desert. There is no bread. There is no water. We do not like the food that the *Lord gives us.’ v6 Then the *Lord put snakes among the people. They bit the people and many of the people died. v7 The people said to Moses, ‘We were wrong. Please ask the *Lord to take the snakes away from us.’ Moses spoke to the *Lord for the people.
v8 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake out of *bronze. Put the snake on a stick. If a snake bites a person, the person must look at the *bronze snake. Then he will not die.’ v9 Moses did what the *Lord said. Then when the snake bit anyone, he looked at the *bronze snake. Then he did not die.
v10 The people of *Israel *camped at Oboth. v11 Then they travelled to Iye Abarim. They *camped in the *desert. v12 Then they *camped in the Zered Valley. v13 Then they *camped on the north side of the River Arnon. The River Arnon separates the *Moabites and the *Amorites. v14 In The *Book of Wars, the *Lord says, ‘Waheb in Suphah and the valleys of the River Arnon. v15 The sides of the valleys. They lead the way to the town called Ar on the edge of Moab.’ v16 After this, they went to a place called Beer. Here the *Lord said to Moses, ‘I will give the people water.’ v17 The people of *Israel sang a song, ‘Well, give us water and we will sing about it. v18 We will sing about the well that the kings and the leaders of the people dug with their *poles and sticks.’ The *poles and sticks showed their importance. After this the people went from the *desert to Mattanah. v19 They went from Mattanah to Nahaliel. They went from Nahaliel to Bamoth. v20 They went from Bamoth to the valley of Moab. They *camped below the top of the mountain called Pisgah.
v21 The people of *Israel said to Sihon, the king of the *Amorites, v22 ‘Please let us go through your country. We will travel on the road. We will not touch your food or drink your water. We will pass through your country.’ v23 Sihon would not let the people of *Israel travel through his country. Sihon and his army marched to Jahaz. They attacked the people of *Israel. v24 The people of *Israel fought against the army of Sihon. They took the land from the River Arnon to the River Jabbok. v25 They took all the cities of the *Amorites. They took Heshbon and all the places round about it. v26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon, the king of the *Amorites. This king had fought against the king of Moab. He took the land as far as the River Arnon from the king of Moab. v27 So the people who say clever things say, ‘Come to Heshbon and build it up again. Build the city of Sihon again. v28 The army of Sihon went out from Heshbon like a fire. It destroyed the city called Ar in the country of Moab. It destroyed the hills of Arnon. v29 It is sad for you, people of Moab. Sihon has killed the people of Chemosh. Your god has let the king of the *Amorites put the people in prison. v30 Now, we have killed them. We have destroyed Heshbon as far as Dibon. We have killed them from Nophah to Medeba.’ v31 So, the people of *Israel stayed in the country of the *Amorites. v32 Moses sent men to find the best way to attack Jazer. The people of *Israel attacked Jazer. They made the *Amorites leave the country. v33 Next, they travelled towards Bashan. Og, the king of Bashan marched out to meet them. He wanted to attack them. They met at Edrei.
v34 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not be afraid of Og. I will give him, his army and his land to you. Attack him the same way that you attacked Sihon, the king of the *Amorites.’
v35 The people of *Israel attacked Og, his sons and his army. They took the land called Bashan.
v1 The people of *Israel travelled to Moab. They lived in *tents at the side of the River Jordan. On the other side of the river was the city called Jericho. v2 Balak was the son of Zippor. He saw what the people of *Israel did to the *Amorites. v3 Balak was frightened. v4 The *Moabites said to the leaders of Midian, ‘These people will destroy us as an *ox destroys the grass. He destroys the grass when he eats it.’ Balak was the king. v5 He sent men to get Balaam who was the son of Beor. Balaam was near the river at Pethor. Pethor was his home. Balak told them that they should say to Balaam, ‘Many people have come from Egypt. They want to take our land. v6 They are more powerful than I am. Put a *curse on them. Then maybe I will be more powerful than I already am. Then I can send them away from our land. When you *bless people, it is good for them. When you *curse people, they fail. I know that.’
v7 The leaders of Moab and Midian went to find Balaam. They took the money for the *curse with them. They found him. And they told him what Balak said. v8 Balaam said to them, ‘Stay here tonight. I will talk to the *Lord. Tomorrow I will tell you what he says.’ The leaders of Moab and Midian stayed with Balaam. v9 The *Lord spoke to Balaam. He said, ‘Who are the men that are staying with you?’
v10 Balaam said, ‘Balak, who is the king of Moab, sent me a message. v11 He said, “Many people have come from Egypt. They want to take the country called Moab from us.” He asked me to put a *curse on them. He wants to fight them and to send them away.’
v12 The *Lord said to Balaam, ‘Do not *curse these people. They are special people. I have *blessed them.’ v13 The next day, Balaam said to the men from Moab, ‘Go back to Moab. The *Lord told me that I should not go with you.’ v14 The men went back to Moab. They told Balak that Balaam would not come with them.
v15 Balak sent many more men to Balaam. v16 They said to him, ‘Balak says, “Do not let anything stop you coming to me.” v17 Put a *curse on these people. Then Balak will give you anything that you want.’ v18 Balaam said to them, ‘No, not even if Balak gives me his house, all his gold and his *silver. I will only do what the *Lord says.’ v19 Balaam said, ‘Stay here tonight as the other men did. I will talk to the *Lord.’ v20 That night, the *Lord spoke to Balaam. He said to him, ‘Go with these men. Only do what I say.’
v21 In the morning, Balaam put a blanket on his *donkey. (A *donkey is like a small horse.) He went with the men to Moab. v22 The *Lord was angry because Balaam went with the men. He put an *angel on the road to stop Balaam. Balaam was riding on his *donkey. Two servants were with him. v23 The *angel was holding a *sword. The *donkey saw the *angel. So it tried to leave the road and to go into a field. Balaam hit the *donkey to make it go back to the road.
v24 Then the *angel stood on a narrow road. There were walls on each side of the road. v25 When the *donkey saw the *angel, it pushed towards the wall. Balaam had his foot fixed between the *donkey and the wall. Balaam hit the *donkey again.
v26 The *angel moved and he stood in another narrow place. There was no space to turn round. v27 When the *donkey saw the *angel it lay down on the road. Balaam was angry. He hit the *donkey with his stick. v28 The *Lord made the *donkey speak. It said, ‘What have I done? Why have you hit me 3 times?’
v29 Balaam said to the *donkey, ‘You have made me look silly. If I had a *sword, I would kill you.’ v30 The *donkey said to Balaam, ‘I am your own *donkey. Do I usually do things like this to you?’ Balaam said, ‘No.’ v31 Then the *Lord let Balaam see the *angel who was standing in the road. Balaam lay down with his face on the road.
v32 The *angel said to him, ‘Why have you hit your *donkey 3 times? I have come here to stop you. What you are doing is wrong. v33 If the *donkey had not turned from me 3 times, I would have killed you. I would not have killed the *donkey.’
v34 Balaam said to the *angel, ‘I am bad. I did not know that you were standing in the road to stop me. If you are angry, I will go back.’ v35 The *angel said to Balaam, ‘Go with the men. Say to them only what I tell you.’ So Balaam went with the men from Moab.
v36 Balak went to the town called Arnon to meet Balaam. v37 Balak said to Balaam, ‘I will not give you anything because you did not come to me quickly.’
v38 Balaam replied, ‘I am here now. I can only say to you what the *Lord tells me.’
v39 Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth. v40 Balak killed cows and sheep. He gave some to Balaam and some to the men who went to get Balaam. v41 The next day Balak and Balaam went to Bamoth Baal. Balaam saw some of the people of *Israel.
v1 Balaam said, ‘Build 7 *altars here. Kill 7 *bulls (male cows) and 7 *rams (male sheep).’ v2 Balak did this. Balaam and Balak gave a gift of a *bull and a *ram on each *altar.
v3 Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stay here with your gift. I must go away. Perhaps the *Lord will speak to me. Then I will tell you what he says.’ Balaam went to the top of a hill.
v4 Balaam said to the *Lord, ‘I made 7 *altars. I killed 7 *bulls and 7 *rams. I put a *bull and a *ram on each *altar.’
v5 The *Lord told Balaam what he should say to Balak.
v6 So Balaam went back to Balak. Balak and the men were standing by his gift.
v7 Balaam spoke his message, ‘Balak, the king of Moab brought me from Aram. He said “Come and *curse the people of *Israel.”
v8 I cannot *curse these people because the *Lord does not *curse them. I cannot speak bad words to these people because the *Lord does not speak bad words to them.
v9 I look at them when I am on the hills. I see people. They are separate from us. They know that the *Lord *blesses them.
v10 There are too many of them for me to count. I would like to be like them. I would like the *Lord to *bless me before I die.’
v11 Balak said to Balaam, ‘What have you done to me? I brought you to *curse these people and you have *blessed them.’
v12 Balaam said, ‘I must say what the *Lord tells me.’
v13 Balak said to Balaam, ‘Come with me to a different place. You can see the people of *Israel and *curse them for me.’
v14 They went to the field of Zophim on the top of the mountain called Pisgah. They built 7 *altars. They killed 7 *bulls and 7 *rams. And they put a *bull and a *ram on each *altar.
v15 Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stay here with your gift while I talk with the *Lord.’
v16 The *Lord told Balaam what he should say to Balak.
v17 So Balaam went back to Balak. Balak and the men were standing by his gift. Balak said, ‘What did the *Lord say?’
v18 Balaam spoke his message, ‘Balak, son of Zippor listen to me.
v19 The *Lord is not a man. He does not speak words that are not true. If he makes a promise, it happens.
v20 He told me that I must *bless the people of *Israel. He has *blessed them, so I must do it too.
v21 The *Lord is with the people of *Israel. He *blesses them. Bad things will not happen to them in the future. v22 The *Lord brought them out of Egypt. He fights for them. v23 Nobody can *curse the people of *Israel. Other people will say about them, “See what the *Lord has done.” v24 The people of *Israel are like a *lion. (A *lion is a big wild animal.) It eats the animals that it has killed. It does not rest until it can eat them. It also drinks their blood.’
v25 Balak said to Balaam, ‘Do not *curse the people of *Israel and do not *bless them.’ v26 Balaam said, ‘I told you, “I must do what the *Lord tells me to do.” ’
v27 Balak said to Balaam, ‘Let me take you to a different place. Perhaps the *Lord will let you *curse the people of *Israel from this place.’ v28 Balak took Balaam to the top of the mountain called Peor. From there they could look over the *desert. v29 Balaam said, ‘Build 7 *altars here. Kill 7 *bulls and 7 *rams.’ v30 Balak did as Balaam asked him to. He gave a *bull and a *ram on each *altar.
v1 Now Balaam knew that the *Lord wanted him to *bless the people of *Israel. So he stopped looking for ways to change this. He looked over the *desert. v2 He saw that the people of *Israel had *camped in *tribes. The *Lord spoke to him. And the *Lord told him what he should say. v3 And so he said, ‘This is the message of Balaam the son of Beor. It is the words of a man. This man understands what the *Lord says. v4 This man can hear the *Lord. This man sees a picture as in a dream from the *Lord.
v5 The *tents of the people of *Israel are beautiful.
v6 They are like gardens on the side of a river. They are like plants that the *Lord puts in the ground. They are like trees at the side of the water.
v7 They will always have plenty of water to plant their seeds. Their king will be more powerful than Agag. The *Lord will *bless their land.
v8 The *Lord brought them out of Egypt. They are strong. They attack other people and they win the war.
v9 They are like a *lion. (A *lion is a big wild animal.) When they are sleeping, no other person is brave enough to wake them. The *Lord *blesses those who *bless them. The *Lord *curses those who *curse them.’
v10 Balak was angry with Balaam. He raised his fist to Balaam. He said, ‘I asked you to come here and *curse the people of *Israel. You have *blessed them three times. v11 Go home. I said that I would give you money. The *Lord has stopped you getting my money.’
v12 Balaam said to Balak, ‘I said this to the men that you sent to get me. v13 Even if Balak gives me all his *silver and all his gold, I must obey the *Lord. v14 Now I am going home. But let me tell you what *Israel’s people will do to you and to your people in the future.’
v15 Balaam spoke, ‘This is the message of Balaam the son of Beor. It is the words of a man. This man understands what the *Lord says. v16 This man hears the *Lord. This man sees a picture as in a dream from the *Lord.
v17 I see in the future that a king will come from the people of *Israel. He will be like a bright star. He will attack the leaders of Moab. He will attack the people who were born from Sheth (Seth).
v18 He will attack his enemies in Edom and Seir. The people of *Israel will grow strong.
v19 A king will come from the people. And he will kill any people who remain.’ v20 Then, in the dream picture, Balaam saw Amalek. He said, ‘Amalek was the most powerful of all the countries. The *Lord will destroy it now and for always.’ v21 Then he saw the *Kenites. He said, ‘The place where you live is safe. It is as safe as the home of a bird on the side of a rock. v22 But Assyria will destroy you.’
v23 Then Balaam said, ‘Almost nobody can live when the *Lord does these things! v24 Ships will come from the north. They will bring people from Cyprus who will destroy Assyria and Eber. Then the *Lord will destroy them.’ v25 Balaam returned to his home. And Balak went back to his own city.
v1 The people of *Israel were staying in Shittim. The men began to have sex with the women from Moab. v2 The women from Moab took the men of *Israel to watch them give gifts to the god of Moab. The men of *Israel ate Moab food. And they prayed to the god of Moab. v3 So the *Lord was angry with them. v4 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘Kill all the leaders of these people. Do this during the day, not at night. Then I will not be angry.’
v5 Moses told the leaders of the people of *Israel that they must kill the men. They must kill the men who prayed to the god of Peor.
v6 A man brought a *Midianite woman to his family. Moses and all the people could see them. Moses and all the people were at the door of the *Tent of Meeting. They were weeping. v7 Phinehas, who was the grandson of Aaron, took a *sword. v8 He went into the man’s tent. And he pushed the *sword through the body of the man and the *Midianite woman. Then, the bad things and illnesses that were hurting the people of *Israel stopped. v9 24 000 people died when these things happened.
v10 The *Lord said to Moses, v11 ‘Because of what Phinehas did I am not angry with the people of *Israel. He did not want the people to pray to any god except me. v12 Tell him that I am making a promise to him now and for all future time. v13 He and his *family will always be *priests. This is because of what he did for me.’ v14 The name of the man whom Phinehas killed with the *Midianite woman was Zimri. He was the son of Salu. Salu was the leader of a *family from the *tribe of Simeon. v15 The name of the *Midianite woman was Cozbi. She was the daughter of Zur. Zur was a leader of a *Midianite *family.
v16 The *Lord said to Moses, v17 ‘The *Midianites are your enemies. You must kill them. v18 This is because they were not honest. Because of them, the men prayed to the god of Peor. And it is because of what happened with Cozbi, the daughter of a leader in Midian.’
v1 When the bad things and illnesses stopped, the *Lord said to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron, v2 ‘Count all the people of *Israel. Count into *tribes the names of all the men who are more than 20 years old. Write only those men who can join the army.’ v3 Moses and Eleazar took the men to the *desert of Moab on the side of the River Jordan. v4 They said to the leaders, ‘Count all the men who are more than 20 years old.’ These are the names of the people of *Israel who came from Egypt:
v5 The *tribe of Reuben. (Reuben was the first son of Jacob.) The *families of Hanoch and Pallu. v6 The *families of Hezron and Carmi. v7 There were 43 730 men in this *tribe.
v8 The son of Pallu was Eliab. v9 The sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were the men who did not obey Moses and Aaron. Korah led them. v10 The ground opened. Korah, Dathan, Abiram and their *families fell into the hole and they died. A fire killed 250 other men. v11 There were more people in the *family of Korah.
v12 The *tribe of Simeon. The *families of Nemuel, Jamin and Jakin. v13 The *families of Zerah and Shaul. v14 There were 22 200 men in this *tribe.
v15 The *tribe of Gad. The *families of Zephon, Haggi and Shuni. v16 The *families of Ozni and Eri. v17 The *families of Arodi and Areli. v18 There were 40 500 men in this *tribe.
v19 Er and Onan were from the *tribe of Judah. They died in Canaan. v20 The *tribe of Judah. The *families of Shelah, Perez and Zerah. v21 The *families of Hezron and Hamul. v22 There were 76 500 men in this *tribe.
v23 The *tribe of Issachar. The *families of Tola and Puah. v24 The *families of Jashub and Shimron. v25 There were 64 300 men in this *tribe.
v26 The *tribe of Zebulun. The *families of Sered, Elon and Jahleel. v27 There were 60 500 men in this *tribe.
v28 Joseph was the father of Manasseh and Ephraim.
v29 The *tribe of Manasseh. The *families of Makir and Gilead. v30 The *families of Gilead were Iezer and Helek. v31 Asriel and Shechem. v32 Shemida and Hepher. v33 Zelophehad was the son of Hepher. He did not have any sons. The names of his daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. v34 There were 52 700 men in this *tribe.
v35 The *tribe of Ephraim. The *families of Shuthelah, Beker and Tahan. v36 Eran was the son of Shuthelah. v37 There were 32 500 men in this *tribe. These two *tribes came from the sons of Joseph.
v38 The *tribe of Benjamin. The *families of Bela, Ashbel and Ahiram. v39 The *families of Shupham and Hupham. v40 The *families of Ard and Naaman came from Bela. v41 There were 45 600 men in this *tribe.
v42 The *tribe of Dan. The *families of Shuham. v43 There were 64 400 men is this *tribe.
v44 The *tribe of Asher. The *families of Imnah, Ishvi and Beriah. v45 The *families of Heber and Malkiel came from Beriah. v46 There was also a daughter called Serah. v47 There were 53 400 men in this *tribe.
v48 The *tribe of Naphtali. The *families of Jahzeel and Guni. v49 The *families of Jezer and Shillem. v50 There were 45 400 men in this *tribe.
v51 There were 601 730 men of the people of *Israel. v52 The *Lord said to Moses, v53 ‘I will give the land to the *tribes. v54 The big *tribes will have a big piece of land. The small *tribes will have a small piece of land. v55 Cut the land into pieces. Give it to the *tribes in this way. v56 All the *tribes must have some land.’
v57 The *tribe of Levi. The *families of Gershon, Kohath and Merari. v58 The *families of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi and Korah. Kohath was the father of Amram. v59 The name of the wife of Amram was Jochebed. Amram and Jochebed were the parents of Moses, Aaron and Miriam. v60 Aaron was the father of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. v61 Nadab and Abihu died. They gave wrong gifts to the *Lord.
v62 There were 23 000 *Levite men who were more than one month old. Moses did not count them because he did not give them any land.
v63 Moses made a list. And he counted all the *tribes when the people were in the *Desert of Moab. They were at the side of the River Jordan. The place was across the river from the city called Jericho. v64 Moses did not count any of these men when he counted the people the first time. This happened in the *Desert of Sinai. v65 The *Lord had told the people that they would die in the *desert. The only men still alive were Caleb and Joshua.
v1 Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah were the daughters of Zelophehad. They belonged to the *tribe of Manasseh. v2 They went to the front of the *Tent of Meeting. They stood in front of Moses, Eleazar and all the leaders of the people. v3 They said, ‘Our father died in the *desert. He did not die because he was a friend of Korah. He died because he did wrong things. He did not have any sons. v4 Please give us some land that belongs to our *tribe. Then the people will not forget our father.’
v5 Moses spoke to the *Lord about this. v6 The *Lord said to Moses, v7 ‘What the daughters of Zelophehad said is right. You must give them some land from the land that belongs to the *tribe of Manasseh. Give them everything that belonged to their father.
v8 Tell the people this. Sometimes a man only has daughters. He may die. Then, everything that belonged to him must be theirs. v9 Sometimes a man who dies has no daughters. Everything that belonged to him will belong to his brothers. v10 Sometimes a man with no children has no brothers. He may die. Then, everything that belonged to him will belong to the brothers of his father. v11 Sometimes the man with no children may have no brothers of his father. Then everything that belonged to him will belong to another person in his *family. This is a rule for all the people.’
v12 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘Go up the Abiram mountains. Look at the country that I am giving to the people of *Israel. v13 When you have done this, you will die. v14 This is because you and Aaron did not obey me in the *Desert of Zin. Aaron died and you will die.’
v15 Moses said to the *Lord, v16 ‘*Lord, please choose another man to be the leader of the people of *Israel. v17 Choose a man who will listen to you. Choose a man who will lead the people to war. So then they will not be like sheep who do not have a *shepherd.’
v18 The *Lord said to Moses, ‘Take Joshua, who is the son of Nun. Put your hands on him. v19 Make him stand in front of Eleazar the *priest and all the people of *Israel. Tell Joshua and all the people this. He will be the leader when you die. v20 Tell the people that they must obey him. v21 Eleazar the *priest will use everything that is *holy. He will know what I am saying. He will tell Joshua. Then the people of *Israel must obey Joshua.’
v22 Moses did as the *Lord told him. He took Joshua and he made him stand in front of Eleazar the *priest. v23 He put his hands on Joshua. He made him the new leader. This is what the *Lord told Moses to do.
v1 The *Lord said to Moses, v2 ‘Tell the people of *Israel that they must give their gifts to the *Lord at the proper time. The smell of the gifts when they burn will make the *Lord happy. v3 Every day, they must give the *Lord two *perfect *lambs. The *lambs must be one year old. v4 They must give one *lamb (young sheep) in the morning and one *lamb in the evening. v5 They must give the *Lord a gift of *grain or flour that they have mixed with oil. v6 This is the gift that they first gave the *Lord at the mountain called Sinai. It was a smell that made the *Lord happy. v7 They must also give the *Lord a gift of *wine. They must pour the *wine at the *altar. They must do this every morning. v8 They must do the same every evening. The smell of the gift when it burns will make the *Lord happy.
v9 On the day of rest, they must give a gift of two *perfect *lambs. The *lambs must be one year old. They must also give *grain and *wine. v10 They must give this gift as well as the gift that they give every day.
v11 On the first day of every month, they must give a gift of two young bulls (male cows). They must give one *ram (male sheep). They must give 7 male *lambs. The *lambs must be one year old. All the animals must be *perfect. v12 With each *bull and the *ram, they must give a gift of flour that they have mixed with oil. v13 With each *lamb, they must give a gift of flour that they have mixed with oil. They must burn this gift. The smell of the gift when it burns will make the *Lord happy. v14 They must give a gift of *wine with all the animals. They must give these gifts on the first day of every month. v15 With these gifts, they must also give one male goat. This is a gift when the people do wrong things.
v16 On the fourteenth (14th) day of the first month the people must remember the *Passover. v17 Day 15 is the start of a week when they must eat the flat bread. They must not put anything in the bread to make it rise. They must do this for 7 days. v18 On the first day, they must meet together. They must not do any work. v19 They must give the *Lord a gift of two young *bulls, one *ram and 7 male *lambs. The animals must be *perfect. The people must burn the animals. v20 With the *bull and the *ram they must give a gift of *grain that they have mixed with oil. v21 With the 7 *lambs, they must give a gift of *grain that they have mixed with oil. v22 They must also give a gift of a goat. The goat is because of their *sins. v23 They must give these gifts with the gifts that they give each day. v24 They must give these gifts every day for 7 days. The smell of them as they burn will make the *Lord happy. v25 On day 7, the people must meet together. They must not do any work.
v26 On the first day, the people must give the *Lord new *grain. They must pick the plants, and they must meet together. They must not do any work. v27 They must give a gift of two young *bulls, one *ram and 7 male *lambs. v28 With the *bull and the *ram they must give a gift of *grain that they have mixed with oil. v29 With the 7 *lambs they must give a gift of *grain that they have mixed with oil. v30 They must also give a gift of a goat. The goat is because of their *sins. v31 They must also give *wine with these gifts. The animals must be *perfect.
v1 On the first day of the seventh month, the people must meet together. They must not do any work. It is a day for them to make music on their *trumpets. v2 They must give the *Lord a gift of one young *bull, one *ram and 7 male *lambs. The *lambs must be one year old. The animals must be *perfect. v3 With the *bull and the *ram they must give a gift of *grain that they have mixed with oil. v4 With the 7 *lambs they must give a gift of *grain that they have mixed with oil. v5 They must also give a gift of a goat. The goat is because of their *sins. v6 They must give these gifts, and the gifts of *grain and *wine that they give each day and each month. The smell of these gifts as they burn will make the *Lord happy.
v7 On the tenth day of the seventh month, the people must meet together. They must not do any work. On that day they must not make music on their *trumpets. v8 They must give the *Lord a gift of one young *bull, one *ram and 7 male *lambs. The *lambs must be one year old. The animals must be *perfect. v9 With the *bull and the *ram they must give a gift of *grain that they have mixed with oil. v10 With the 7 *lambs they must give a gift of *grain that they have mixed with oil. v11 They must also give a gift of a goat. The goat is because of their *sins. They must give these gifts, and the gifts of *grain and *wine that they give each day and each month.
v12 On the fifteenth (15th) day of the seventh month, the people must meet together. They must not do any work. They must meet together for 7 days. v13 They must give the *Lord a gift of 13 young *bulls, two *rams and 14 male *lambs. The *lambs must be one year old. The animals must be *perfect. v14 With each of the *bulls and each of the *rams they must give a gift of *grain that they have mixed with oil. v15 With the 14 *lambs they must give a gift of *grain that they have mixed with oil. v16 They must also give a gift of a goat. The goat is because of their *sins. They must give these gifts, and the gifts of *grain and *wine that they give each day and each month.
v17 On the second day, they must give 12 young *bulls, two *rams and 14 male *lambs. The *lambs must be one year old. The animals must be *perfect. v18 With these animals they must also give gifts of *grain and *wine. v19 They must also give a gift of a goat. The goat is because of their *sins. They must give these gifts, and the gifts of *grain and *wine that they give each day and each month.
v20 On the third day, they must give 10 young *bulls, two *rams and 14 male *lambs. The *lambs must be one year old. The animals must be *perfect. v21 With these animals they must also give gifts of *grain and *wine. v22 They must also give a gift of a goat. The goat is because of their *sins. They must give these gifts, and the gifts of *grain and *wine that they give each day and each month.
v23 On the fourth day, they must give ten young *bulls, two *rams and 14 male *lambs. The *lambs must be one year old. The animals must be *perfect. v24 With these animals they must also give gifts of *grain and *wine. v25 They must also give a gift of a goat. The goat is because of their *sins. They must give these gifts, and the gifts of *grain and *wine that they give each day and each month.
v26 On the fifth day, they must give 9 young *bulls, two *rams and 14 male *lambs. The *lambs must be one year old. The animals must be *perfect. v27 With these animals they must also give gifts of *grain and *wine. v28 They must also give a gift of a goat. The goat is because of their *sin