Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹The LORD spoke further to Moses, saying,

²“Make yourself two trumpets of silver, you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and breaking camp.

³Now when both are blown, all the congregation shall meet you at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

⁴But if only one is blown, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall meet you.

⁵And when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched on the east side shall set out.

⁶Then when you sound an alarm the second time, the camps that are pitched on the south side shall set out; an alarm is to be sounded for them to break camp.

⁷When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow the trumpets without sounding an alarm.

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

⁹And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you will be thought of by the LORD your God, and be saved from your enemies.

¹⁰Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”

¹¹Now in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the testimony;

¹²and the sons of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran.

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

¹⁴The flag of the camp of the sons of Judah, by their armies, set out first, with Nahshon the son of Amminadab, over its army,

¹⁵and Nethanel the son of Zuar, over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar;

¹⁶and Eliab the son of Helon 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, set out.

¹⁸Next the flag of the camp of Reuben, by their armies, set out with Elizur the son of Shedeur, over its army,

¹⁹and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon,

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

²¹Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy objects; and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival.

²²Next the flag of the camp of the sons of Ephraim, by their armies, set out, with Elishama the son of Ammihud over its army,

²³and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh;

²⁴and Abidan the son of Gideoni over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.

²⁵Then the flag of the camp of the sons of Dan, by their armies, which formed the rear guard for all the camps, set out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai over its army,

²⁶and Pagiel the son of Ochran over the tribal army of the sons of Asher;

²⁷and Ahira the son of Enan over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali.

²⁸This was the order of marching for the sons of Israel by their armies as they set out.

²⁹Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will do you good, for the LORD has promised good concerning Israel.”

³⁰But he said to him, “I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.”

³¹Then he said, “Please do not leave us, since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will be as eyes for us.

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

³³So they moved on from the mountain of the LORD three days’ journey, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD going on in front of them for the three days, to seek out a resting place for them.

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

³⁵Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, “Rise up, LORD! And may Your enemies be scattered, And those who hate You flee from Your presence.”

³⁶And when it came to rest, he said, “Return, LORD, To the myriad thousands of Israel.”

¹Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the ears of the LORD; and the LORD heard them and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some at the outskirts of the camp.

²The people then cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire died out.

³So that place was named Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them.

⁴Now the rabble who were among them had greedy cravings; and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?

⁵We remember the fish which we used to eat for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;

⁶but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna!”

⁷Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium.

⁸The people would roam about and gather it and grind it between two millstones, or pound it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make loaves with it; and its taste was like the taste of cake baked with oil.

⁹When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna would come down with it.

¹⁰Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each one at the entrance of his tent; and the anger of the LORD became very hot, and Moses was displeased.

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 put the burden of all this people on me?

¹²Was it I who conceived all this people? Or did I give birth to them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’?

¹³Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat so that we may eat!’

¹⁴I am not able to carry all this people by myself, because it is too burdensome for me.

¹⁵So if You are going to deal with me this way, please kill me now, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my misery.”

¹⁶The LORD therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their 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 put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it by yourself.

¹⁸And you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, “Oh that someone would 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 for a whole month, until it comes out of your nose and makes you nauseated; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ”

²¹But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am included, are six hundred thousand on foot! Yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’

²²Are flocks and herds to be slaughtered for them, so that it will be sufficient for them? Or are all the fish of the sea to be caught for them, so that it will be sufficient for them?”

²³Then the LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S power too little? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.”

²⁴So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD. He also gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and positioned them around the tent.

²⁵Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took away some of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. Yet they did not do it again.

²⁶But two men had remained in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other, Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (and 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 informed Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

²⁸Then Joshua the son of Nun, the personal servant of Moses from his youth, responded and said, “My lord Moses, restrain them!”

²⁹But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the LORD’S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!”

³⁰Then Moses returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.

³¹Now a wind burst forth from the LORD and it brought quail from the sea, and dropped them beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side all around the camp, and about two cubits deep on the surface of the ground.

³²And the people spent all that day, all night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quail (the one who gathered least gathered ten homers) and spread them out for themselves all around the camp.

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 the people with a very severe plague.

³⁴So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy.

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

¹Then 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, “Is it a fact that the LORD has spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the LORD heard this.

³(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any person who was on the face of the earth.)

⁴And the LORD suddenly said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “You three go out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went out.

⁵Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward,

⁶He said, “Now hear My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will make Myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.

⁷It is not this way for My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My household;

⁸With him I speak mouth to mouth, That is, openly, and not using mysterious language, And he beholds the form of the LORD. So why were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?”

⁹And the anger of the LORD burned against them and He departed.

¹⁰But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous.

¹¹Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not hold us responsible for this sin by which we have turned out to be foolish, and by which we have sinned.

¹²Oh, do not let her be like a dead person, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb!”

¹³So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “God, heal her, please!”

¹⁴But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had only spit in her face, would she not be put to shame for seven days? Have her shut outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may be received again.”

¹⁵So Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.

¹⁶Afterward, however, the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Send out men for yourself to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.”

³So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel.

⁴These then 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 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, from 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;

¹⁵and from 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.

¹⁷When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country.

¹⁸See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many.

¹⁹And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are the people in open camps or in fortifications?

²⁰And how is the land, is it productive or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? And show yourselves courageous and get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

²¹So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath.

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

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

²⁴That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut off from there.

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

²⁶they went on and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

²⁷So they reported to him and said, “We came into the land where you sent us, and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

²⁸Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And indeed, we saw the descendants of Anak there!

²⁹Amalek is living in the land of the Negev, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will certainly prevail over it.”

³¹But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, because they are too strong for us.”

³²So they brought a bad report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature.

³³We also saw the Nephilim there (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 raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night.

²And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness!

³So why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

⁴So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”

⁵Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.

⁶And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;

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

⁸If the LORD is pleased with 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 is gone from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”

¹⁰But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

¹¹And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people be disrespectful to Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst?

¹²I will strike them with plague and dispossess them, and I 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 this people up from their midst,

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

¹⁵Now if You put this people to death all at once, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,

¹⁶‘Since the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

¹⁷So 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 mercy, forgiving wrongdoing and violation of His Law; but He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’

¹⁹Please forgive the guilt of this people in accordance with the greatness of Your mercy, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

²⁰So the LORD said, “I have forgiven them in accordance with your word;

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

²²Certainly all the people who have seen My glory and My 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,

²³shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who were disrespectful to Me see it.

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

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

²⁶The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron again, saying,

²⁷“How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel which they are voicing against Me.

²⁸Say to them, ‘As I live,’ declares the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you;

²⁹your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all your numbered men according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me.

³⁰By no means will you come into the land where I swore to settle you, except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

³¹Your children, however, whom you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected.

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

³³Also, your sons will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your bodies perish in the wilderness.

³⁴In accordance with the number of days that you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall suffer the punishment for your guilt a year, that is, forty years, and you will know My opposition.

³⁵I, the LORD, have spoken, I certainly will do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. They shall be worn out in this wilderness, and there they shall die.’ ”

³⁶As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and led all the congregation to grumble against him by bringing a bad report about the land,

³⁷those men who brought the bad report of the land also died by a plague in the presence of 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.

³⁹Now when Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people mourned greatly.

⁴⁰In the morning, however, they got up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Here we are; and we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned.”

⁴¹But Moses said, “Why then are you violating the command of the LORD, when doing so will not succeed?

⁴²Do not go up, for the LORD is not among you, to prevent you from being defeated by your enemies.

⁴³For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there to confront you, and you will fall by the sword, since you have turned back from following the LORD. And the LORD will not be with you.”

⁴⁴But they foolishly dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country; 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 them and scattered them as far as Hormah.

¹Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where you are going to live, which I am giving you,

³and you make an offering by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or as a voluntary offering or at your appointed times, to make a soothing aroma to the LORD from the herd or from the flock,

⁴then the 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 soothing aroma to the LORD.

⁸And when you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a special vow, or for peace offerings 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 offer as the drink offering half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD.

¹¹‘This is how it shall be done for each ox, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats.

¹²According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do for each one according to their number.

¹³Everyone who is a native shall do these things in this way, in presenting an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁴Now if a stranger resides among you, or one who may be among you throughout your generations, and he wants to make an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD, just as you do so shall he do.

¹⁵As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who resides among 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 resides with you.’ ”

¹⁷Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁸“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where I am bringing you,

¹⁹then it shall be, that when you eat from the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the LORD.

²⁰Of the first of your dough you shall lift up a loaf as an offering; as an offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up.

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

²²‘But when you unintentionally do wrong and fail to comply with all these commandments which the LORD has spoken to Moses,

²³that is, 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 is done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull as a burnt offering, as a 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 unintentional wrong, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their unintentional wrong.

²⁶So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, as well as the stranger who resides among them, for guilt was attributed to all the people through an unintentional wrong.

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

²⁸And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who goes astray by an unintentional sin, making atonement for him so that he may be forgiven.

²⁹You shall have one law for the native among the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them, for one who does anything wrong unintentionally.

³⁰But the person who does wrong defiantly, whether he is a native or a stranger, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people.

³¹Since he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him.’ ”

³²Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

³³And those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation;

³⁴and they placed him in custody, because it had not been decided what should be done to him.

³⁵Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must 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 also spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁸“Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a violet thread.

³⁹It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so that you will do them and not follow your own heart and your own eyes, which led you to prostitute yourselves,

⁴⁰so that you will remember and do all My commandments and be holy to your God.

⁴¹I am the LORD your God who brought you out from 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, sons of Reuben, took men,

²and they stood before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of renown.

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 in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

⁴When Moses heard this, he fell on his face;

⁵and he spoke to Korah and all his group, saying, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will make known who is His, and who is holy, and will bring that one near to Himself; indeed, the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself.

⁶Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and your whole group,

⁷and put fire in them, and place incense upon 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:

⁹Is it too small an honor for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to perform 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, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? But are you seeking the priesthood as well?

¹¹Therefore you and your whole group are the ones gathered together against the LORD; but as for Aaron, who is he, that you grumble against him?”

¹²Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come up.

¹³Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also appoint yourself as master over us?

¹⁴Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would 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 a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.”

¹⁶Moses said to Korah, “You and all your group be present before the LORD tomorrow, you and they along with Aaron.

¹⁷And each of you take his censer and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, 250 censers; also you and Aaron shall each bring his censer.”

¹⁸So they took, each one his own censer, and put fire on it, and placed incense on it; and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹So Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory 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 instantly.”

²²But they fell on their faces and said, “God, the God of the spirits of humanity, when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?”

²³Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴“Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the areas around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’ ”

²⁵Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him,

²⁶and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Get away now from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all their sin!”

²⁷So they moved away from the areas around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, along with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.

²⁸Then Moses said, “By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds; for it is not my doing.

²⁹If these men die the death of all mankind, or if they suffer the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me.

³⁰But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have been disrespectful to the LORD.”

³¹And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open;

³²and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, and all the people who belonged to 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 the midst of the assembly.

³⁴Then all Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!”

³⁵Fire also came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

³⁶Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁷“Tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall pick up the censers from the midst of the burned area, because they are holy; and you are to scatter the burning coals further away.

³⁸As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their own lives, have them made into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, since they did present them before the LORD and they are holy; and they shall serve as a sign to the sons of Israel.”

³⁹So the priest Eleazar took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as plating for the altar,

⁴⁰as a reminder to the sons of Israel so that no layman, anyone who was not of the descendants of Aaron, would approach to burn incense before the LORD; then he would not become like Korah and his group—just as the LORD had spoken to him through Moses.

⁴¹But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD’S people!”

⁴²It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.

⁴³Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,

⁴⁴and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵“Get away from among this congregation so that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces.

⁴⁶And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put fire in it from the altar, and place incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD, the plague has begun!”

⁴⁷Then Aaron took it just as Moses had spoken, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.

⁴⁸And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to a halt.

⁴⁹But those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who died on account of Korah.

⁵⁰Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been brought to a halt.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel, and obtain from them a staff for each father’s household: twelve staffs, from all their leaders for their fathers’ households. You shall write each man’s name on his staff,

³and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for there is to be one staff for the head of each of their fathers’ households.

⁴You shall then leave them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you.

⁵And it will come about that the staff of the man whom I choose will sprout. So I will relieve Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.”

⁶So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, for their fathers’ households, twelve staffs in all, with the staff of Aaron among their staffs.

⁷Then Moses left the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the testimony.

⁸Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted and produced buds and bloomed with blossoms, and it yielded ripe almonds.

⁹Moses then brought out all the staffs from the presence of the LORD to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his staff.

¹⁰But the LORD said to Moses, “Put the staff of Aaron back in front of the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, so that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me and they do not die.”

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

¹²Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we are passing away, we are perishing, we are all perishing!

¹³Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?”

¹So the LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your father’s household with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood.

²But also bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

³And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they and you will die.

⁴They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an unauthorized person shall not come near you.

⁵So you shall perform the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel.

⁶Behold, I Myself have taken your fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD, to perform the service for the tent of meeting.

⁷But you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as a service that is a gift, and the unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death.”

⁸Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have put you in charge of My offerings, all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent allotment.

⁹This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, namely every grain offering, every sin offering, and every guilt offering, with which they shall make restitution to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.

¹⁰As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

¹¹This also is yours, the offering of their gift, that is, all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.

¹²All the best of the fresh oil and all the best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the LORD, I have given them to you.

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

¹⁴Everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be yours.

¹⁵Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether human or animal, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours; however you must redeem the human firstborn, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

¹⁶As to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your assessment, five shekels in silver by the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

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

¹⁸However, their meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh.

¹⁹All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a permanent allotment. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD to you and your descendants with you.”

²⁰Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

²¹“To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.

²²And the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bring sin on themselves and die.

²³Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their own guilt; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

²⁴For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the sons 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 sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe.

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

²⁸So you shall also present an offering to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; 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 them, the sacred part from them.’

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

³¹You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting.

³²And you will bring on yourselves no sin by reason of it when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you do not die.’ ”

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

²“This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never been mounted.

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

⁴And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.

⁵Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide, its flesh, and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned.

⁶And the priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet material, and throw it into the midst of the burning heifer.

⁷The priest shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp; but the priest will be unclean until evening.

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

⁹Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep them for water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.

¹⁰And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening; and it shall be a permanent statute for the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them.

¹¹‘The one who touches the dead body of any person will also be unclean for seven days.

¹²That one shall purify himself with the water 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.

¹³Anyone who touches a dead body, the body of a person who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he will be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

¹⁴‘This is the law when a person dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent will be unclean for seven days.

¹⁵And every open container, which has no cover tied down on it, will be unclean.

¹⁶Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been killed with a sword or one who has died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

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

¹⁸And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the furnishings, on the persons 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 on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and will be clean by evening.

²⁰‘But the person who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.

²¹So it shall be a permanent statute for them. And the one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity will be unclean until evening.

²²Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches will be unclean; and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’ ”

¹Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.

²There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled against Moses and Aaron.

³Then the people argued with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD!

⁴Why then have you brought the LORD’S assembly into this wilderness, for us and our livestock to die here?

⁵Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink!”

⁶Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them;

⁷then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁸“Take the staff; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it shall yield its water. So you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and have the congregation and their livestock drink.”

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

¹⁰and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”

¹¹Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank.

¹²But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

¹³Those were called the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel argued with the LORD, and He proved Himself holy among them.

¹⁴From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom to say, “This is what your brother Israel has said: ‘You know all the hardship that has overtaken us;

¹⁵that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly.

¹⁶But when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent an angel, and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.

¹⁷Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s road, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’ ”

¹⁸Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through us, or I will come out with the sword against you.”

¹⁹Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the road, and if I and my livestock do drink any of your water, then I will pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, nothing more.”

²⁰But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy force and a strong hand.

²¹So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; then Israel turned away from him.

²²Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, 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; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

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

²⁶Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people and will die there.”

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

²⁸And after Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, 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, the whole house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty days.

¹When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, 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 this people to me, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”

³The LORD heard the voice of Israel and turned over the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. And the place was named Hormah.

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

⁵So the people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we are disgusted with this miserable food.”

⁶Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

⁷So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and against you; intercede with the LORD, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.

⁸Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.”

⁹So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

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

¹¹Then they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the east.

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

¹³From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴For that reason it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD, “Waheb in Suphah, And the wadis of the Arnon,

¹⁵And the slope of the wadis That extends to the site of Ar, And leans to the border of Moab.”

¹⁶From there they continued to Beer, that is the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may 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 they continued to Mattanah,

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

²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the desert.

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

²²“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s road until we have passed through your border.”

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

²⁴Then Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the border of the sons of Ammon was Jazer.

²⁵Israel took all these cities, and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her villages.

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.

²⁷For that reason those who use proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon! Let it be built! So let the city of Sihon be established.

²⁸For a fire spread from Heshbon, A flame from the town of Sihon; It devoured Ar of Moab, The dominant heights of the Arnon.

²⁹Woe to you, Moab! You are destroyed, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, And his daughters into captivity, To an Amorite king, Sihon.

³⁰But we have shot them down with arrows, Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon, Then we have laid waste as far as Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.”

³¹So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.

³²Now Moses sent men to spy out Jazer, and they captured 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 with all his people, for battle at Edrei.

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

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

¹Then the sons of Israel journeyed on, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.

²Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

³So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel.

⁴Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this horde will eat up all that is around us, as the ox eats up the grass of the field!” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.

⁵So he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, at Pethor, which is near the Euphrates River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call for him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they have covered the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me.

⁶Now, therefore, please come, curse this people for me since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

⁷So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left with the fees for divination in their hands; and they came to Balaam and repeated Balak’s words to him.

⁸And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you just as the LORD may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam.

⁹Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”

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

¹¹‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’ ”

¹²But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

¹³So Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak’s representatives, “Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”

¹⁴And the representatives from Moab got up and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵Then Balak sent representatives once again, more numerous and more distinguished than the previous.

¹⁶They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak the son of Zippor says: ‘I beg you, let nothing keep you from coming to me;

¹⁷for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you tell me. Please come then, curse this people for me.’ ”

¹⁸But Balaam replied to 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.”

²⁰And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do only the thing that I tell you.”

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

²²But God was angry that he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the road 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 road with his sword drawn in his hand, the donkey turned off from the road and went into the field; and Balaam struck the donkey to guide her back onto the road.

²⁴Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a stone wall on this side and on that side.

²⁵When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again.

²⁶Then the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn 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 struck the donkey with his staff.

²⁸Then 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?”

²⁹And Balaam said to the donkey, “It is because you have made a mockery of me! If only there had been a sword in my hand! For I would have killed you by now!”

³⁰But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been in the habit of doing such a thing 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 sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed all the way to the ground.

³²Then the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was reckless and contrary to me.

³³But the donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I certainly would have killed you just now, and let her live.”

³⁴So Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back.”

³⁵But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the representatives of Balak.

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

³⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send word to you to call for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you?”

³⁸So Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you now! Am I really able to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that only shall I speak.”

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

⁴⁰Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and 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, and he saw from there a portion of the people.

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

²Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up 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 bare hill.

⁴Now God met with Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.”

⁵Then the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.”

⁶So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab.

⁷And he took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, saying, ‘Come, declare Jacob cursed for me, And come, curse Israel!’

⁸How am I to put a curse on him upon whom God has not put a curse? And how am I to curse him whom the LORD has not cursed?

⁹For I see him from the top of the rocks, And I look at him from the hills; Behold, a people that lives in isolation, And does not consider itself to be among the nations.

¹⁰Who has counted the dust of Jacob, Or the number of the fourth part of Israel? May I die the death of the upright, And may my end be like his!”

¹¹Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!”

¹²He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

¹³Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and put a curse on them for me from there.”

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

¹⁵Then he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the LORD over there.”

¹⁶Then the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.”

¹⁷So he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?”

¹⁸Then he took up his discourse and said, “Arise, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor!

¹⁹God is not a man, that He would lie, Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

²⁰Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, I cannot revoke it.

²¹He has not looked at misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; The LORD his God is with him, And the joyful shout of a king is among them.

²²God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

²³For there is no magic curse against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done!

²⁴Behold, a people rises like a lioness, And like a lion it raises itself; It will not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of those slain.”

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

²⁶But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘Whatever the LORD speaks, I must do’?”

²⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.”

²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.

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

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