Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹The LORD spoke further to Moses, saying,

²"Make two trumpets of silver; you shall make them of hammered work. You shall use them to summon the congregation and to have the camps move out.

³When both are blown, all the congregation [that is, all adult males] shall gather before you at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).

⁴However, if a single trumpet is blown, then the leaders, heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.

⁵When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side [of the tabernacle] shall set out.

⁶When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps on the south side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. They shall blow an alarm whenever they are to move out [on their journeys].

⁷When the assembly is to be gathered, you shall blow [the trumpets in short, sharp tones], but without sounding an alarm.

⁸The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and the trumpets shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations.

⁹When you go to war in your land against the enemy that attacks you, then sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.

¹⁰Also in the day of rejoicing, and in your appointed feasts, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifice of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God."

¹¹On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year [since leaving Egypt], the cloud [of the Lord's presence] was lifted from over the tabernacle of the Testimony,

¹²and the Israelites set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud [of the Lord's guiding presence] settled down in the Wilderness of Paran.

¹³So they moved out for the first time in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses.

¹⁴The standard of the camp of the sons of Judah, according to their armies, moved out first, Nahshon the son of Amminadab was [commander] over its army,

¹⁵and Nethanel the son of Zuar was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar;

¹⁶and Eliab the son of Helon was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Zebulun.

¹⁷Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, moved out.

¹⁸Next the standard of the camp of the sons of Reuben, according to their armies, moved out, with Elizur the son of Shedeur [commander] over its army,

¹⁹and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon,

²⁰and Eliasaph the son of Deuel was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Gad.

²¹Then the Kohathites moved out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before they arrived.

²²Next the standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim moved out, according to their armies, with Elishama the son of Ammihud [commander] over its army,

²³and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh,

²⁴and Abidan the son of Gideoni was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.

²⁵Then the standard of the camp of the sons of Dan, according to their armies, which formed the rear guard for all the camps, moved out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai [commander] over its army,

²⁶and Pagiel the son of Ochran was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Asher,

²⁷and Ahira the son of Enan was [commander] over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali.

²⁸This was the order of march of the sons of Israel by their armies as they moved out.

²⁹Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are going to the place of which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will be good to you, for the LORD has promised good [things] concerning Israel."

³⁰But Hobab [Moses' brother-in-law] said to him, "I will not go; I will return to my own land and to my family."

³¹Then Moses said, " Please do not leave us, for you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us [as we make our trek through the desert].

³²So if you will go with us, it shall be that whatever good the LORD does for us, we will do the same for you."

³³So they set out from the mountain of the LORD (Sinai) three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went in front of them during the three days' journey to seek out a resting place for them.

³⁴The cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵Whenever the ark set out, Moses said, "Rise up, O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered; And let those who hate You flee before You."

³⁶And when the ark rested, Moses said, "Return, O LORD, To the myriad (many) thousands of Israel."

¹Now the people became like those who complain and whine about their hardships, and the LORD heard it; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.

²So the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire died out.

³He named that place Taberah (the place of burning), because the fire of the LORD burned among them.

⁴The rabble among them [who followed Israel from Egypt] had greedy desires [for familiar and delicious food], and the Israelites wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat?

⁵We remember the fish we ate freely and without cost in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.

⁶But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing at all [in the way of food] to be seen but this manna."

⁷The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium.

⁸The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes with it; and it tasted like cakes baked with fresh [olive] oil.

⁹When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna fell with it.

¹⁰Now Moses heard the people weeping [in self-pity] throughout their families, every man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses regarded their behavior as evil.

¹¹So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have placed the burden of all these people on me?

¹²Was it I who conceived all these people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your arms as a nurse carries the nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers'?

¹³Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep before me and say, 'Give us meat, so that we may eat.'

¹⁴I am not able to carry all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.

¹⁵So if this is the way You are going to deal with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness."

¹⁶Accordingly, the LORD said to Moses, "Gather for Me seventy men from among the elders of Israel whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers; bring them to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and let them stand there with you.

¹⁷Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not have to bear it all alone.

¹⁸Say to the people, 'Consecrate (separate as holy) yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept [in self-pity] in the ears of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For we were well-off in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.

¹⁹You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,

²⁰but a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and is disgusting to you—because you have rejected and despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept [in self-pity] before Him, saying, "Why did we come out of Egypt?"'"

²¹But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 [fighting men] on foot [besides all the women and children]; yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, so that they may eat it for a whole month!'

²²Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be collected for them to be sufficient for them?"

²³The LORD said to Moses, "Is the Lord's hand (ability, power) limited (short, inadequate)? You shall see now whether My word will come to pass for you or not."

²⁴So Moses went out and spoke to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy men from among the elders of the people and stationed them around the Tent (tabernacle).

²⁵Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took some of the Spirit who was upon Moses and put Him upon the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied [praising God and declaring His will], but they did not do it again.

²⁶But two men had remained in the camp; one named Eldad and the other named Medad. The Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the Tent), and they prophesied in the camp.

²⁷So a young man ran and told Moses and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying [extolling the praises of God and declaring His will] in the camp."

²⁸Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, "My lord Moses, stop them!"

²⁹But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!"

³⁰Then Moses went back into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

³¹Now there went forth a wind from the LORD and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall [so they flew low] beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits (three feet) deep on the surface of the ground.

³²The people spent all that day and all night and all the next day and caught and gathered the quail (the one who gathered least gathered ten homers) and they spread them out for themselves around the camp [to cure them by drying].

³³While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck them with a very severe plague.

³⁴So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah (the graves of greediness), because there they buried the people who had been greedy [for more than the manna that God provided them].

³⁵From Kibroth-hattaavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth.

¹Now Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);

²and they said, "Has the LORD really spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken also through us?" And the LORD heard it.

³( Now the man Moses was very humble (gentle, kind, devoid of self-righteousness), more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)

⁴Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle)." And the three of them came out.

⁵The LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tabernacle, and He called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward.

⁶And He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD will make Myself known to him in a vision And I will speak to him in a dream.

⁷"But it is not so with My servant Moses; He is entrusted and faithful in all My house.

⁸"With him I speak mouth to mouth [directly], Clearly and openly and not in riddles; And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?"

⁹And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Miriam and Aaron, and He departed.

¹⁰But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned and looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

¹¹Then Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, I plead with you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned.

¹²Oh, do not let her be like one dead, already half decomposed when he comes from his mother's womb."

¹³So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "Heal her please, O God, I plead with You!"

¹⁴But the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may return."

¹⁵So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought in again [and declared ceremonially clean from her leprosy].

¹⁶Afterward the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel. From each of their fathers' tribes you shall send a man, every one a leader among them."

³So Moses sent spies from the Wilderness of Paran at the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the Israelites.

⁴These were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

⁵from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

⁶from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

⁷from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

⁸from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea [that is, Joshua] the son of Nun;

⁹from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;

¹⁰from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;

¹¹from the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;

¹²from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;

¹³from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;

¹⁴from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;

¹⁵from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

¹⁶These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua (the LORD is salvation).

¹⁷Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up this way into the Negev (the South country); then go up into the hill country.

¹⁸See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many,

¹⁹and whether the land in which they live is good or bad, and whether the cities in which they live are [open] camps or fortifications,

²⁰and what the land is, whether it is fat (productive) or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. Make an effort to get some of the fruit of the land." Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

²¹So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob [a town in Lebanon], at Lebo-hamath [in the far north].

²²When they had gone up into the Negev (the South country), they came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai the descendants of Anak were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

²³Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes), and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two of them, with some of pomegranates and the figs.

²⁴That place was called the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes) because of the cluster of grapes which the sons of Israel cut down there.

²⁵When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days,

²⁶they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the land's fruit.

²⁷They reported to Moses and said, "We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

²⁸But the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified (walled) and very large; moreover, we saw there the descendants of Anak [people of great stature and courage].

²⁹[The people descended from] Amalek live in the land of the Negev (South country); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the [Dead] Sea and along the side of the Jordan."

³⁰Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession of it; for we will certainly conquer it."

³¹But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are too strong for us."

³²So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we went, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

³³There we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

¹Then all the congregation [of Israel] raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night.

²All the Israelites murmured [in discontent] against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, "Oh that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness!

³Why is the LORD bringing us to this land [of Canaan], to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?"

⁴So they said one to another, "Let us appoint a [new] leader and return to Egypt."

⁵Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites.

⁶Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes [as a sign of grief],

⁷and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, "The land through which we passed as spies is an exceedingly good land.

⁸If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.

⁹Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them."

¹⁰But all the congregation said to stone Joshua and Caleb with stones. But the glory and brilliance of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) before all the sons of Israel.

¹¹The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me disrespectfully and reject Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the [miraculous] signs which I have performed among them?

¹²I will strike them with the pestilence (plague) and dispossess them, and will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they."

¹³But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up these people from among them,

¹⁴and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, LORD, are among these people [of Israel], that You, LORD, are seen face to face, while Your cloud stands over them; and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

¹⁵Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations (Gentiles) that have heard of Your fame will say,

¹⁶'Because the LORD was not able to bring these people into the land which He promised to give them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.'

¹⁷But now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying,

¹⁸'The LORD is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting (avenging) the wickedness and guilt of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].'

¹⁹Please pardon the wickedness and guilt of these people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You have forgiven these people, from Egypt even until now."

²⁰So the LORD said, "I have pardoned them according to your word;

²¹but indeed as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD.

²²Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My [miraculous] signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice,

²³will by no means see the land which I swore to [give to] their fathers; nor will any who treated me disrespectfully and rejected Me see it.

²⁴But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land into which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.

²⁵Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valley; tomorrow turn and set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea."

²⁶The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

²⁷"How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who murmur [in discontent] against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they are making against Me.

²⁸Say to them, 'As I live,' says the LORD, 'just what you have spoken in My hearing I will most certainly do to you;

²⁹your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, even all who were numbered of you, your entire number from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me.

³⁰Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, not one of you shall enter the land in which I swore [an oath] to settle you.

³¹But your children whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will know the land which you have despised and rejected.

³²But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness.

³³Your sons shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness (spiritual infidelity), until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness.

³⁴According to the number of days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], forty days, for each day, you shall bear and suffer a year for your sins and guilt, for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement because of your sin].

³⁵I, the LORD, have spoken. I will most certainly do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed [by war, disease, and plagues], and here they shall die.'"

³⁶As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and made all the congregation murmur and complain against him by bringing back a bad report concerning the land,

³⁷even those [ten] men who brought back the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the LORD.

³⁸But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

³⁹Moses spoke the Lord's words to all the Israelites, and the people mourned greatly.

⁴⁰They got up early in the morning and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, "Look, here we are; we have indeed sinned, but we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised."

⁴¹But Moses said, "Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD, when it will not succeed?

⁴²Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the LORD is not among you.

⁴³For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, because you have turned away from following the LORD; therefore the LORD will not be with you."

⁴⁴But [in their arrogance] they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country; however, neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses left the camp.

⁴⁵Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and struck the Israelites and scattered them as far as Hormah.

¹Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Speak to the Israelites and say to them, 'When you come into the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,

³then make an offering by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a freewill offering or in your appointed feasts, to make a sweet and soothing aroma to the LORD, from the herd or from the flock.

⁴The one who presents his offering shall present to the LORD a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil,

⁵and you shall prepare wine for the drink offering, a fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.

⁶Or for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil.

⁷And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the LORD.

⁸When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice, in fulfilling a special vow or peace offering to the LORD,

⁹then you shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil;

¹⁰and you shall bring as the drink offering one-half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the LORD.

¹¹'Thus shall it be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats.

¹²According to the number that you prepare, so shall you do to everyone according to their number.

¹³All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in presenting an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁴If a stranger lives as a resident alien with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the LORD, just as you do, so shall he do.

¹⁵As for the assembly, there shall be one [and the same] statute for you [of the congregation] and for the stranger who is a resident alien with you, a permanent statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD.

¹⁶There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the stranger who lives with you as a resident alien.'"

¹⁷Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁸"Speak to the Israelites and say to them, 'When you enter the land to which I am bringing you,

¹⁹then, when you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering (heave offering) to the LORD.

²⁰You shall lift up a cake made of the first of your [ground grain which has been made into] dough as an offering [to the Lord]; as an offering from the threshing floor, so shall you lift it up.

²¹From the first of your dough (ground grain) you shall give to the LORD an offering throughout your generations.

²²'But when you unintentionally fail and do not observe all these commandments, which the LORD has spoken to Moses,

²³even all that the LORD has commanded you through Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandments and onward throughout your generations,

²⁴then it shall be, if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat as a sin offering.

²⁵Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven, for it was an error and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their error.

²⁶So all the congregation of the Israelites will be forgiven as well as the stranger who lives among them as a resident alien, because all the people were involved in the error.

²⁷'Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a female goat one year old as a sin offering.

²⁸The priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who commits an error when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him so that he may be forgiven.

²⁹You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, whether he is native-born among the Israelites or a stranger who is living among them as a resident alien.

³⁰But the person who does [anything wrong] willfully and defiantly, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one is blaspheming the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].

³¹Because he has despised and rejected the word of the LORD, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; [the responsibility for] his wickedness and guilt will be upon him.'"

³²Now while the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man who was gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

³³Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation;

³⁴and they put him in custody, because it had not been explained [by God] what should be done to him.

³⁵Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man shall certainly be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp."

³⁶So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³⁷The LORD said to Moses,

³⁸"Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them to make for themselves tassels on the hems of their garments throughout their generations, and put a cord of blue on the tassel of each hem.

³⁹It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, so that you do not follow after [the desires of] your own heart and eyes, [desires] after which you used to follow and play the prostitute,

⁴⁰so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy (set apart) to your God.

⁴¹I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God."

¹Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben, took action,

²and they rose up [in rebellion] before Moses, together with some of the Israelites, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of distinction.

³They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"

⁴And when Moses heard this, he fell face downward;

⁵and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to Him, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; the one whom He will choose He will bring near to Himself.

⁶Do this: Take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company,

⁷then put fire in them and place incense on them in the presence of the LORD tomorrow; and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi."

⁸Then Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi,

⁹does it seem but a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

¹⁰and that He has brought you near [to Him], Korah and all your brothers, sons of Levi with you? Would you seek the priesthood also?

¹¹Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD; but as for Aaron, who is he that you murmur against him?"

¹²Then Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said [defiantly], "We will not come up.

¹³Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us?

¹⁴Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!"

¹⁵Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Pay no attention to their offering! I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them."

¹⁶Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company are to appear before the LORD tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron.

¹⁷Each of you take his censer and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer."

¹⁸So they each took his own censer and put fire on it and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹Then Korah assembled all the congregation against Moses and Aaron at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). And the glory and brilliance of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

²¹"Separate yourselves from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately."

²²But they fell on their faces [before the LORD], and said, "O God, God of the spirits of all flesh! When one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?"

²³Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴"Say to the congregation, 'Get away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'"

²⁵Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.

²⁶And he said to the congregation, "Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away in all their sin."

²⁷So they got back from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents with their wives and their sons and their little children.

²⁸Then Moses said, "By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works; for I do not act of my own accord.

²⁹If these men die the common death of all mankind or if what happens to everyone happens to them, then [you will know for sure that] the LORD has not sent me.

³⁰But if the LORD creates an entirely new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up, along with all that belongs to them, and they descend alive into Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), then you will understand that these men have spurned and rejected the LORD!"

³¹As soon as Moses finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split open;

³²and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all the men who supported Korah, with all their possessions.

³³So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.

³⁴All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, "The earth may swallow us also."

³⁵Fire also came forth from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

³⁶Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁷"Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, that he is to pick up the censers from the midst of the blaze for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad.

³⁸As for the censers of these people who have sinned at the cost of their lives, have the censers made into hammered sheets as a plating for the altar [of burnt offering], for they were presented before the LORD and they are sacred. They shall be a [warning] sign to the sons of Israel."

³⁹So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the Levites who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out [into broad sheets] as a plating for the [bronze] altar [of burnt offering],

⁴⁰as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that no layman—that is, one who is not of the descendants of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the LORD; so that he will not become like Korah and as his company—just as the LORD had said to him through Moses.

⁴¹But on the next day the entire congregation of the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have caused the death of the people of the LORD."

⁴²When the congregation was assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned and looked at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory and brilliance of the LORD appeared.

⁴³Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle),

⁴⁴and the LORD spoke to Moses saying,

⁴⁵"Get away from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately." Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces [in silence before the LORD].

⁴⁶Moses said to Aaron, "Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the LORD; the plague has begun!"

⁴⁷So Aaron took the burning censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had [already] begun among the people; and he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.

⁴⁸He stood between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to an end.

⁴⁹But those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died because of Korah.

⁵⁰Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), for the plague had been brought to an end.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Speak to the sons of Israel and get rods from them, a rod for each father's household, from all their leaders according to their fathers' households, twelve rods. Write every man's name on his rod,

³and write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi [his ancestor]; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers' households.

⁴You shall then deposit them in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) in front of [the ark of] the Testimony, where I meet with you.

⁵It shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will bud, and I will no longer hear the constant grumblings of the Israelites, who are grumbling against you."

⁶So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader according to their fathers' households, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

⁷So Moses deposited the rods before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony (tabernacle).

⁸Now on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and the rod of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had sprouted and put out buds and produced blossoms and yielded [ripe] almonds.

⁹Moses brought out all the rods from the presence of LORD to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his rod.

¹⁰But the LORD said to Moses, "Put Aaron's rod back before the Testimony [in the ark], to be kept as a [warning] sign for the rebellious and contentious, so that you may put an end to their murmurings [of discontent] against Me, so that they do not die."

¹¹And Moses did so; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did.

¹²The sons of Israel said to Moses, "Look, we perish, we are doomed, all doomed!

¹³Everyone who approaches, who approaches the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?"

¹So the LORD said to Aaron, "You and your sons and your father's household (family) with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary [that is, through your service as priests you will atone for the offenses which the people unknowingly commit when brought into contact with the manifestations of God's presence]; and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood [that is, your own unintentional offenses].

²But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father (ancestor), so that they may join with you and serve you [as assistants], while you and your sons with you are before the Tent of the Testimony [the Holy Place where only priests may go, and the Most Holy Place which only the high priest may enter].

³And the Levites shall attend to your duty [as assistants] and to the duties of all the tent (tabernacle); only they shall not approach the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

⁴They shall join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting—all the service of the tent—and no stranger [no layman, anyone who is not a Levite] may approach you [and your sons].

⁵So you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar [of burnt offering and the altar of incense], so that there will no longer be wrath on the Israelites [as with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram].

⁶Behold, I Myself have taken your fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are a gift to you, given (dedicated) to the LORD, to do the service for the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).

⁷Therefore you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar [of burnt offering and the altar of incense] and [of the Holy of Holies] within the veil, and you are to serve. I am giving you the priesthood as a bestowed service, but the stranger (outsider, layman) who approaches shall be put to death."

⁸Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, "Now behold, I [the LORD] have entrusted you with My heave offerings, even all the holy gifts of the Israelites, I have given them to you as a portion, and to your sons as a continual allotment.

⁹This shall be yours of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every offering of the people, every grain offering and sin offering and guilt offering, which they shall render (give) to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.

¹⁰You shall eat it as the most holy thing; every male [of your family] shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

¹¹This also is yours: the heave offering of their gift, including all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you as a continual allotment; everyone in your household who is [ceremonially] clean may eat it.

¹²All the best of the fresh [olive] oil, and all the best of the new wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to the LORD, I give them to you.

¹³The first ripe fruits of all that is in the land, which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours; everyone in your household who is [ceremonially] clean may eat it.

¹⁴Every devoted thing in Israel [everything that has been promised to the Lord with an oath] shall be yours.

¹⁵Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether it is man or animal, which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours; nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall most certainly redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

¹⁶And their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem, according to your valuation, for the [fixed] price of five shekels in silver, in accordance with the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

¹⁷But the firstborn of a cow or of a sheep or of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy [and belong to the LORD]. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a sweet and soothing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁸Their meat shall be yours, like the breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh.

¹⁹All the offerings of the holy things, which the Israelites offer to the LORD I have given to you and to your sons and your daughters with you as a continual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of salt [that cannot be dissolved or violated] before the LORD to you and to your descendants with you."

²⁰Then the LORD said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in the land [of the Israelites], nor have any portion [of land] among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

²¹"Behold, I have given the Levites all the tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).

²²The Israelites shall never again approach the Tent of Meeting [the covered sanctuary, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies], or they [who do] will incur sin and die.

²³Only the Levites shall perform the service of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that the Levites shall have no inheritance [of land] among the children of Israel.

²⁴But the tithe of the Israelites, which they present as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, 'They shall have no inheritance among the children of Israel.'"

²⁵Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁶"Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you take from the Israelites the tithe which I have given to you from them as your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe [paid by the people].

²⁷Your offering shall be credited to you as the grain from the threshing floor or as the full produce from the wine vat.

²⁸Likewise you shall also present an offering to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the Israelites; and from it you shall give the Lord's offering to Aaron the priest.

²⁹Out of all your gifts, you shall present every offering due to the LORD, from all the best of it, even the sacred part from them.'

³⁰Therefore you shall say to them, 'When you have offered the best from it, then the rest shall be credited to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat.

³¹You may eat it anywhere, you and [the members of] your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).

³²You will bear no sin because of it when you have offered the best of it; but you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the children of Israel, or you will die [because of it].'"

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

²"This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded: 'Tell the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed.

³You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence.

⁴Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of it toward the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) seven times.

⁵Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its waste, shall be burned (reduced to ash).

⁶The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet [material] and cast them into the midst of the burning heifer.

⁷Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and afterward come into the camp, but he shall be [ceremonially] unclean until evening.

⁸The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening.

⁹Now a man who is [ceremonially] clean shall collect the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the Israelites shall keep it for water to remove impurity; it is [to be used for] purification from sin.

¹⁰The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. This shall be a perpetual statute to the Israelites and to the stranger who lives as a resident alien among them.

¹¹'The one who touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean for seven days.

¹²That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water [made with the ashes of the burned heifer] on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.

¹³Whoever touches a corpse, the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from Israel [that is, excluded from the atonement made for them]. Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

¹⁴'This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be [ceremonially] unclean for seven days.

¹⁵Every open container [in the tent], which has no covering tied down on it, is unclean.

¹⁶Also, anyone in the open field who touches one who has been killed with a sword or who has died [of natural causes], or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.

¹⁷Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for the purification from sin, and running water shall be added to them in a container.

¹⁸A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the people who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one who was killed or the one who died [naturally] or the grave.

¹⁹Then the clean person shall sprinkle [the water for purification] on the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day, and on the seventh day the unclean man shall purify himself, and wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be [ceremonially] clean at evening.

²⁰'But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water for purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

²¹So it shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity [on another] shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.

²²Furthermore, anything the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be [ceremonially] unclean until evening.'"

¹Then the Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month [in the fortieth year after leaving Egypt]. And the people lived in Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there.

²Now there was no water for the congregation, and they gathered together against Moses and Aaron.

³The people contended with Moses, and said, "If only we had perished when our brothers perished [in the plague] before the LORD!

⁴Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness to die here, we and our livestock?

⁵Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates, and there is no water to drink."

⁶Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) and fell on their faces [before the LORD in prayer]. Then the glory and brilliance of the LORD appeared to them;

⁷and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁸"Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock in front of them, so that it will pour out its water. In this way you shall bring water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their livestock drink [fresh water]."

⁹So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him;

¹⁰and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. Moses said to them, "Listen now, you rebels; must we bring you water out of this rock?"

¹¹Then Moses raised his hand [in anger] and with his rod he struck the rock twice [instead of speaking to the rock as the LORD had commanded]. And the water poured out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank [fresh water].

¹²But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not believed (trusted) Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, you therefore shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

¹³These are the waters of Meribah (contention, strife), where the sons of Israel contended with the LORD, and He showed Himself holy among them.

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: "Thus says your brother Israel, 'You know all the hardship that has come upon us [as a nation];

¹⁵that our fathers (ancestors) went down to Egypt, and we lived there for a long time, and the Egyptians treated [both] us and our fathers badly.

¹⁶But when we cried out to the LORD [for help], He heard us and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

¹⁷Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through a field or through a vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king's highway, not turning [off-course] to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.'"

¹⁸But [the king of] Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through my territory, or I will come out against you with the sword."

¹⁹Again, the Israelites said to him, "We will go by the highway [trade route], and if I and my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it. Only let me pass through on foot, nothing else."

²⁰But the king of Edom said, "You shall not pass through [my territory]." And Edom came out against Israel with many people and a strong hand.

²¹Thus [the king of] Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.

²²Now when they set out from Kadesh, the Israelites, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

²³Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,

²⁴"Aaron will be gathered to his people [in death]; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you [both] rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor;

²⁶and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. So Aaron will be gathered to his fathers, and will die there."

²⁷So Moses did just as the LORD had commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

²⁸After Moses stripped Aaron of his [priestly] garments and put them on Eleazar his son, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

²⁹When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept (mourned) for him thirty days.

¹When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev (the South country) heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim [the route traveled by the spies sent out by Moses], he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.

²So Israel made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed hand over these people to me, then I will utterly destroy their cities."

³The LORD heard the voice of Israel and handed over the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah (dedicate to destruction).

⁴Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the [branch of the] Red Sea [called the Gulf of Aqabah], to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient, because [of the challenges] of the journey.

⁵So the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, nor is there any water, and we loathe this miserable food."

⁶Then the LORD sent fiery (burning) serpents among the people; and they bit the people, and many Israelites died.

⁷So the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, so that He will remove the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent [of bronze] and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten will live when he looks at it."

⁹So Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it on the pole, and it happened that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

¹⁰Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped at Oboth.

¹¹They journeyed on from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness facing Moab, toward the sunrise.

¹²From there they set out and camped in the Wadi Zered.

¹³From there they journeyed on and camped on the other side of [the river] Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the boundary of the Amorites; for [the river] Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴That is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: " Waheb in Suphah, And the wadis of the Arnon [River],

¹⁵And the slope of the wadis That stretches toward the site of Ar And leans to the border of Moab."

¹⁶From there the Israelites went on to Beer, that is the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together and I will give them water."

¹⁷Then Israel sang this song, "Spring up, O well! Sing to it,

¹⁸The well which the leaders dug, Which the nobles of the people hollowed out With the scepter and with their staffs." And from the wilderness Israel journeyed to Mattanah,

¹⁹and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down on the wasteland.

²¹Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,

²²"Let me pass through your land; we will not turn away [from the road] into field or vineyard; we will not drink the water of the wells. We will go by the king's highway until we have crossed your border."

²³But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border. Instead Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel.

²⁴Then Israel struck the king of the Amorites with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the boundary of the Ammonites was strong.

²⁵Israel took all these cities, and settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its towns.

²⁶For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.

²⁷That is why those who use proverbs say, "Come to Heshbon, Let the city of Sihon be built and established.

²⁸"For fire has gone out of Heshbon, A flame from the city of Sihon; It devoured Ar of Moab And the lords of the heights of the Arnon.

²⁹"Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Moab! You are destroyed, O people of [the god] Chemosh! Moab has given his sons as fugitives [that is, survivors of battle], And his daughters into captivity To Sihon king of the Amorites.

³⁰"We have shot them down [with arrows]; Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon, And we have laid them waste as far as Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba."

³¹Thus Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.

³²Now Moses sent men to spy out Jazer, and they overthrew its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

³³Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

³⁴But the LORD said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have handed over him and all his people and his land to you; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon."

³⁵So the sons of Israel killed Og and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left to him; and they took possession of his land.

¹The Israelites journeyed, and camped in the plains of Moab, on the east side of the Jordan [River] across from Jericho.

²And Balak [the king of Moab] the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

³So Moab was terrified because of the people, for they were numerous. Moab was overcome with fear because of the sons of Israel.

⁴Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Now this horde will lick up all that is around us, just as the ox licks up the grass of the field." And Balak the son of Zippor was the king of Moab at that time.

⁵So he sent messengers to Balaam [a famous prophet-diviner] the son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the [Euphrates] River, in the land of the descendants of his people, to call for him, saying, "There is a people who have come out of Egypt; behold, they cover the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me.

⁶Now please come, curse these people for me, for they are too powerful for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know [your reputation] that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed."

⁷So the elders of Moab and of Midian departed with fees for divination (foretelling) in hand; and they came to Balaam and told him the words of Balak.

⁸Balaam said to them, "Spend the night here and I will bring word back to you as the LORD may speak to me." So the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam [that night].

⁹God came to Balaam, and said, "Who are these men with you?"

¹⁰Balaam said to God, "Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me:

¹¹Hear this, the people who came out of Egypt cover the surface of the land; come now, curse them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out.'"

¹²God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people [of Israel], for they are blessed."

¹³Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the leaders of Balak, "Go back to your own land [of Moab], for the LORD has refused to let me go with you."

¹⁴The leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak, and said, "Balaam refused to come with us."

¹⁵Then Balak again sent leaders, more numerous and [men who were] more distinguished than the first ones.

¹⁶They came to Balaam, and said to him, "Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, 'I beg you, let nothing hinder you from coming to me.

¹⁷For I will give you a very great honor and I will do whatever you tell me; so please come, curse these people [of Israel] for me.'"

¹⁸Balaam answered the servants of Balak, "Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God.

¹⁹Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the LORD will say to me."

²⁰God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them, but you shall still do only what I tell you."

²¹So Balaam got up in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.

²²But God's anger was kindled because he was going, and the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

²³When the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way and His drawn sword in His hand, the donkey turned off the path and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back toward the path.

²⁴But the Angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a [stone] wall on this side and a [stone] wall on that side.

²⁵When the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she pressed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against it, and he struck her again.

²⁶The Angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.

²⁷When the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, so Balaam was angry and he struck the donkey [a third time] with his staff.

²⁸And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?"

²⁹Then Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now!"

³⁰The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life until this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?" And he said, "No."

³¹Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and lay himself face down.

³²The Angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your behavior was obstinate and contrary to Me.

³³The donkey saw Me and turned away from Me these three times. If she had not turned away from Me, I would have certainly killed you now, and let her live."

³⁴Balaam said to the Angel of the LORD, "I have sinned, for I did not know that You were standing in the way against me. But now, if my going displeases You, I will turn back."

³⁵The Angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but you shall speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the border at the Arnon [River], at the farthest end of the border.

³⁷Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not urgently send word to you to call you? Why did you not come to me [immediately]? Am I really unable to honor (pay) you?"

³⁸So Balaam said to Balak, "Indeed I have come to you now, but am I able to say anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak."

³⁹And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.

⁴⁰Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and to the leaders who were with him.

⁴¹Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal; from there he saw a portion of the Israelites.

¹Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams here."

²Balak did just as Balaam had said, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

³Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me; and whatever He shows me I will tell you." So he went to a desolate hill.

⁴Now God met Balaam, who said to Him, "I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on each altar."

⁵Then the LORD put a speech in Balaam's mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus."

⁶Balaam returned to Balak, and behold, he was standing by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the leaders of Moab.

⁷Balaam took up his [first] discourse (oracle) and said: "Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram (Syria), from the mountains of the east, [saying,] 'Come, curse [the descendants of] Jacob for me; And come, [violently] denounce Israel.'

⁸"How shall I curse those whom God has not cursed? Or how can I [violently] denounce those the LORD has not denounced?

⁹"For from the top of the rocks I see Israel, And from the hills I look at him. Behold, the people [of Israel] shall dwell alone And will not be reckoned among the nations.

¹⁰"Who can count the dust (the descendants) of Jacob And the number of even the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God], And let my end be like his!"

¹¹Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but here you have [thoroughly] blessed them instead!"

¹²Balaam answered, "Must I not be obedient and careful to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?"

¹³Balak said to him, "Come with me, I implore you, to another place from where you can see them, although you will see only the nearest and not all of them; and curse them for me from there."

¹⁴So he took Balaam to the field of Zophim to the top of [Mount] Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

¹⁵Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offering while I go to meet the LORD over there."

¹⁶Then the LORD met Balaam and put a speech in his mouth, and said, "Go back to Balak and you shall speak thus."

¹⁷When Balaam returned to Balak, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?"

¹⁸Balaam took up his [second] discourse (oracle) and said: "Rise up, O Balak, and hear; Listen [closely] to me, son of Zippor.

¹⁹"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not make it good and fulfill it?

²⁰"Behold, I have received His command to bless [Israel]. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

²¹"God has not observed wickedness in Jacob [for he is forgiven], Nor has He seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with Israel, And the shout of their King is among the people.

²²"God brought them out of Egypt; They have the strength of a wild ox.

²³"For there is no enchantment or omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel. At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what has God done!

²⁴"Behold, a people rises up like a lioness And lifts itself up like a lion; He will not lie down until he devours the prey And drinks the blood of the slain."

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"

²⁶But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not say to you, 'All that the LORD speaks, that I must do?'"

²⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, "Please come; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there."

²⁸So Balak brought Balaam to the top of [Mount] Peor, that overlooks the wasteland.

²⁹And Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams here."

³⁰Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.