1-46     Numbers 26:1-51
47         Numbers 2:33

1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by families, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head; 3 from twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go forth to war, you and Aaron shall number them, company by company.  4 And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.  5 And these are the names of the men who shall attend you.
From Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;
6 from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;
7 from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;
8 from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;
9 from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;
10 from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud,
and from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;
11 from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;
12 from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;
13 from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran;
14 from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;
15 from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.”
16 These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

17 Moses and Aaron took these men who have been named, 18 and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by families, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, 19 as the LORD commanded Moses. So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 The people of Reuben, Israel’s first-born, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:

21 the number of the tribe of Reuben was forty-six thousand five hundred.

22 Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, those of them that were numbered, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:  23 the number of the tribe of Simeon was fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

24 Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:  25 the number of the tribe of Gad was forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

26 Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war: 27 the number of the tribe of Judah was seventy-four thousand six hundred.

28 Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:  29 the number of the tribe of Issachar was fifty-four thousand four hundred.

30 Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:  31 the number of the tribe of Zebulun was fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

32 Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:  33 the number of the tribe of Ephraim was forty thousand five hundred.

34 Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:  35 the number of the tribe of Manasseh was thirty-two thousand two hundred.

36 Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:  37 the number of the tribe of Benjamin was thirty-five thousand four hundred.

38 Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war: 39 the number of the tribe of Dan was sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

40 Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war: 41 the number of the tribe of Asher was forty-one thousand five hundred.

42 Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:  43 the number of the tribe of Naphtali was fifty-three thousand four hundred.

44 These are those who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered with the help of the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers’ house.  45 So the whole number of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war in Israel -46 their whole number was six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.  47 But the Levites were not numbered by their ancestral tribe along with them.

48 For the LORD said to Moses, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel; 50 but appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it; they are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall tend it, and shall encamp around the tabernacle.  51 When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death. 52 The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, every man by his own camp and every man by his own standard; 53 but the Levites shall encamp around the tabernacle of the testimony, that there may be no wrath upon the congregation of the people of Israel; and the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.”  54 Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “The people of Israel shall encamp each by his own standard, with the ensigns of their fathers’ houses; they shall encamp facing the tent of meeting on every side.  3 Those to encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the leader of the people of Judah being Nahshon the son of Amminadab, 4 his host as numbered being seventy-four thousand six hundred.  5 Those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the leader of the people of Issachar being Nethan’el the son of Zu’ar, 6 his host as numbered being fifty-four thousand four hundred.  7 Then the tribe of Zebulun, the leader of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, 8 his host as numbered being fifty-seven thousand four hundred.  9 The whole number of the camp of Judah, by their companies, is a hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred. They shall set out first on the march.

10 “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the leader of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur, 11 his host as numbered being forty-six thousand five hundred.  12 And those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the leader of the people of Simeon being Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 13 his host as numbered being fifty-nine thousand three hundred.  14 Then the tribe of Gad, the leader of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of Reuel, 15 his host as numbered being forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.  16 The whole number of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, is a hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty. They shall set out second.

17 “Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they encamp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.

18 “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the leader of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud, 19 his host as numbered being forty thousand five hundred.  20 And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the leader of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 21 his host as numbered being thirty-two thousand two hundred.  22 Then the tribe of Benjamin, the leader of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, 23 his host as numbered being thirty-five thousand four hundred.  24 The whole number of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, is a hundred and eight thousand one hundred. They shall set out third on the march.

25 “On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the leader of the people of Dan being Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 26 his host as numbered being sixty-two thousand seven hundred.  27 And those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the leader of the people of Asher being Pagiel the son of Ochran, 28 his host as numbered being forty-one thousand five hundred.  29 Then the tribe of Naphtali, the leader of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan, 30 his host as numbered being fifty-three thousand four hundred.  31 The whole number of the camp of Dan is a hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

32 These are the people of Israel as numbered by their fathers’ houses; all in the camps who were numbered by their companies were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 33 But the Levites were not numbered among the people of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses.

34 Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, every one in his family, according to his fathers’ house.

2      Numbers 26:60
4      Leviticus 10:1-2; Numbers 26:61
13    Exodus 13:2

14-39     Carol Bechtel Reynolds, “Life After Grace: Preaching from the Book of Numbers,” Interpretation (July 1997), p. 272

1 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.  2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; 3 these are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to minister in the priest’s office.  4 But Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they offered unholy fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.

5 And the LORD said to Moses, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.  7 They shall perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle; 8 they shall have charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and attend to the duties for the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle.  9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel.  10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death.”

11 And the LORD said to Moses, 12 “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every first-born that opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, 13 for all the first-born are mine; on the day that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the first-born in Israel, both of man and of beast; they shall be mine: I am the LORD.”

14 And the LORD said to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, 15 “Number the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number.”  16 So Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded.  17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari.  18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei.  19 And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.  20 And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses.

21 Of Gershon were the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimeites; these were the families of the Gershonites.  22 Their number according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was seven thousand five hundred.  23 The families of the Gershonites were to encamp behind the tabernacle on the west, 24 with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as head of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites.  25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the door of the tent of meeting, 26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords; all the service pertaining to these.

27 Of Kohath were the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites.  28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, attending to the duties of the sanctuary.  29 The families of the sons of Kohath were to encamp on the south side of the tabernacle, 30 with Elizaphan the son of Uzziel as head of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites.  31 And their charge was to be the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen; all the service pertaining to these.  32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who had charge of the sanctuary.

33 Of Merari were the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari.  34 Their number according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was six thousand two hundred.  35 And the head of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail; they were to encamp on the north side of the tabernacle.  36 And the appointed charge of the sons of Merari was to be the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service pertaining to these; 37 also the pillars of the court round about, with their bases and pegs and cords.

38 And those to encamp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, having charge of the rites within the sanctuary, whatever had to be done for the people of Israel; and any one else who came near was to be put to death.  39 All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, by families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

40 And the LORD said to Moses, “Number all the first-born males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking their number by names.  41 And you shall take the Levites for me—I am the LORD—instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the people of Israel.”  42 So Moses numbered all the first-born among the people of Israel, as the LORD commanded him.  43 And all the first-born males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as numbered were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

44 And the LORD said to Moses, 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD.  46 And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, 47 you shall take five shekels apiece; reckoning by the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs, you shall take them, 48 and give the money by which the excess number of them is redeemed to Aaron and his sons.” 49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites; 50 from the first-born of the people of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, reckoned by the shekel of the sanctuary; 51 and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families and their fathers’ houses, 3 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can enter the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.  4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things.

5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it; 6 then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin, and spread over that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.  7 And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put upon it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; the continual bread also shall be on it; 8 then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.  9 And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its snuffers, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied:  10 and they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it upon the carrying frame.  11 And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles; 12 and they shall take all the vessels of the service which are used in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of goatskin, and put them on the carrying frame.  13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it; 14 and they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the firepans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.  15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

16 “And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual cereal offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.”

17 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 18 “Let not the tribe of the families of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites; 19 but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, 20 but they shall not go in to look upon the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”

21 The LORD said to Moses, 22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their families and their fathers’ houses; 23 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall number them, all who can enter for service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.  24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens: 25 they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting with its covering, and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting, 26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords, and all the equipment for their service; and they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them.  27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry, and in all that they have to do; and you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry.  28 This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their work is to be under the oversight of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 “As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families and their fathers’ houses; 30 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall number them, every one that can enter the service, to do the work of the tent of meeting.  31 And this is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases, 32 and the pillars of the court round about with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories; and you shall assign by name the objects which they are required to carry.  33 This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

34 And Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites, by their families and their fathers’ houses, 35 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service, for work in the tent of meeting; 36 and their number by families was two thousand seven hundred and fifty.  37 This was the number of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

38 The number of the sons of Gershon, by their families and their fathers’ houses, 39 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting—40 their number by their families and their fathers’ houses was two thousand six hundred and thirty.

41 This was the number of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD.

42 The number of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families and their fathers’ houses, 43 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service, for work in the tent of meeting—44 their number by families was three thousand two hundred.  45 These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

46 All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and their fathers’ houses, 47 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, 48 those who were numbered of them were eight thousand five hundred and eighty. 49 According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses they were appointed, each to his task of serving or carrying; thus they were numbered by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.

5-8     Exodus 22:7-14; Leviticus 6:1-7

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one having a discharge, and every one that is unclean through contact with the dead; 3 you shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”  4 And the people of Israel did so, and drove them outside the camp; as the LORD said to Moses, so the people of Israel did.

5 And the LORD said to Moses, 6 “Say to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that men commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person is guilty, 7 he shall confess his sin which he has committed; and he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it, and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.  8 But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.  9 And every offering, all the holy things of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his; 10 and every man’s holy things shall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest shall be his.”

11 And the LORD said to Moses, 12 “Say to the people of Israel, If any man’s wife goes astray and acts unfaithfully against him, 13 if a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act; 14 and if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself; 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a cereal offering of jealousy, a cereal offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

16 “And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD; 17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.  18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and unbind the hair of the woman’s head, and place in her hands the cereal offering of remembrance, which is the cereal offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.  19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, ‘If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness, while you were under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse.  20 But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you, 21 then’ (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) ‘the LORD make you an execration and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your body swell; 22 may this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your body swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

23 “Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and wash them off into the water of bitterness; 24 and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain.  25 And the priest shall take the cereal offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the cereal offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar; 26 and the priest shall take a handful of the cereal offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water.  27 And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has acted unfaithfully against her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her body shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become an execration among her people.  28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children.

29 “This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, though under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.  31 The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”

3             Luke 1:15
13-21     Acts 21:23-24

22-27     Samuel Terrien, The Elusive Presence, p. 399

24-26     Francis Patrick Sullivan, “Should Auld Acquaintance,” A Time To Sow, p. 30

1 And the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.  4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.

5 “All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.

6 “All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body.  7 Neither for his father nor for his mother, nor for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean; because his separation to God is upon his head.  8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.

9 “And if any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.  10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest to the door of the tent of meeting, 11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day, 12 and separate himself to the LORD for the days of his separation, and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former time shall be void, because his separation was defiled.

13 “And this is the law for the Nazirite, when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the door of the tent of meeting, 14 and he shall offer his gift to the LORD, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and their cereal offering and their drink offerings.  16 And the priest shall present them before the LORD and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering, 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall offer also its cereal offering and its drink offering.  18 And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering.  19 And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaven the hair of his consecration, 20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD; they are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered; and after that the Nazirite may drink wine.

21 “This is the law for the Nazirite who takes a vow. His offering to the LORD shall be according to his vow as a Nazirite, apart from what else he can afford; in accordance with the vow which he takes, so shall he do according to the law for his separation as a Nazirite.”

22 The LORD said to Moses, 23 “Say to Aaron and his sons, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24 The LORD bless you and keep you:
25 The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:
26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

1 On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed and consecrated it with all its furnishings, and had anointed and consecrated the altar with all its utensils, 2 the leaders of Israel, heads of their fathers’ houses, the leaders of the tribes, who were over those who were numbered, 3 offered and brought their offerings before the LORD, six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox; they offered them before the tabernacle.  4 Then the LORD said to Moses, 5 “Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the service of the tent of meeting, and give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.”  6 So Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites.  7 Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service; 8 and four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.  9 But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were charged with the care of the holy things which had to be carried on the shoulder.

10 And the leaders offered offerings for the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed; and the leaders offered their offering before the altar.  11 And the LORD said to Moses, “They shall offer their offerings, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.”

12 He who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah; 13 and his offering was one silver plate whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 14 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 15 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 16 one male goat for a sin offering; 17 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

18 On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, the leader of Issachar, made an offering; 19 he offered for his offering one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 20 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 21 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 22 one male goat for a sin offering; 23 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethan’el the son of Zuar.

24 On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, the leader of the men of Zebulun:  25 his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 26 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 27 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 28 one male goat for a sin offering; 29 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

30 On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, the leader of the men of Reuben:  31 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 32 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 33 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 34 one male goat for a sin offering; 35 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

36 On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, the leader of the men of Simeon:  37 his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 38 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 39 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 40 one male goat for a sin offering; 41 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

42 On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, the leader of the men of Gad:  43 his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 44 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 45 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 46 one male goat for a sin offering; 47 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

48 On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, the leader of the men of Ephraim: 49 his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 50 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 51 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 52 one male goat for a sin offering; 53 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

54 On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, the leader of the men of Manasseh:  55 his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 56 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 57 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 58 one male goat for a sin offering; 59 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

60 On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, the leader of the men of Benjamin:  61 his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 62 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 63 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 64 one male goat for a sin offering; 65 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

66 On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, the leader of the men of Dan:  67 his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 68 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 69 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 70 one male goat for a sin offering; 71 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

72 On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ochran, the leader of the men of Asher:  73 his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 74 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 75 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 76 one male goat for a sin offering; 77 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran.

78 On the twelfth day Ahi’ra the son of Enan, the leader of the men of Naphtali:  79 his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; 80 one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; 81 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 82 one male goat for a sin offering; 83 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

84 This was the dedication offering for the altar, on the day when it was anointed, from the leaders of Israel: twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve golden dishes, 85 each silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels and each basin seventy, all the silver of the vessels two thousand four hundred shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, 86 the twelve golden dishes, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece according to the shekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the dishes being a hundred and twenty shekels; 87 all the cattle for the burnt offering twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve male lambs a year old, with their cereal offering; and twelve male goats for a sin offering; 88 and all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication offering for the altar, after it was anointed.

89 And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.

1-4          Exodus 25:31-40; 37:17-24
16-19      Hebrews 9:23-28
17            Exodus 13:2

1 Now the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Say to Aaron, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.”  3 And Aaron did so; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand, as the LORD commanded Moses.  4 And this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

5 And the LORD said to Moses, 6 “Take the Levites from among the people of Israel, and cleanse them.  7 And thus you shall do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of expiation upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.  8 Then let them take a young bull and its cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull for a sin offering.  9 And you shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting, and assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel.  10 When you present the Levites before the LORD, the people of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites, 11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of the LORD.  12 Then the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls; and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites.  13 And you shall cause the Levites to attend Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as a wave offering to the LORD.

14 “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.  15 And after that the Levites shall go in to do service at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering.  16 For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel; instead of all that open the womb, the first-born of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself.  17 For all the first-born among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast; on the day that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, 18 and I have taken the Levites instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel.  19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel in case the people of Israel should come near the sanctuary.”

20 Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them.  21 And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting in attendance upon Aaron and his sons; as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

23 And the LORD said to Moses, 24 “This is what pertains to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to perform the work in the service of the tent of meeting; 25 and from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the work of the service and serve no more, 26 but minister to their brethren in the tent of meeting, to keep the charge, and they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”

12          Exodus 12:46; John 19:36
15-23    Exodus 40:36-38

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Let the people of Israel keep the passover at its appointed time.  3 On the fourteenth day of this month, in the evening, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its ordinances you shall keep it.”  4 So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the passover.  5 And they kept the passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did.  6 And there were certain men who were unclean through touching the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day; 7 and those men said to him, “We are unclean through touching the dead body of a man; why are we kept from offering the LORD’s offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?” 8 And Moses said to them, “Wait, that I may hear what the LORD will command concerning you.”

9 The LORD said to Moses, 10 “Say to the people of Israel, If any man of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is afar off on a journey, he shall still keep the passover to the LORD.  11 In the second month on the fourteenth day in the evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  12 They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute for the passover they shall keep it.  13 But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from keeping the passover, that person shall be cut off from his people, because he did not offer the LORD’s offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin.  14 And if a stranger sojourns among you, and will keep the passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the passover and according to its ordinance, so shall he do; you shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.”

15 On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; and at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning.  16 So it was continually; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.  17 And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel encamped.  18 At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they encamped; as long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.  19 Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and did not set out.  20 Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they remained in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they set out.  21 And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud was taken up they set out. 22 Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out; but when it was taken up they set out.  23 At the command of the LORD they encamped, and at the command of the LORD they set out; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses.

32     Genesis 12:3
35     Psalm 68:1

33-36     Samuel Terrien, The Elusive Presence, p. 163-165

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Make two silver trumpets; of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation, and for breaking camp.  3 And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting.  4 But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.  5 When you blow an alarm, the camps that are on the east side shall set out.  6 And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out.  7 But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm.  8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations.  9 And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.  10 On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; they shall serve you for remembrance before your God: I am the LORD your God.”

11 In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony, 12 and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.  13 They set out for the first time at the command of the LORD by Moses.  14 The standard of the camp of the men of Judah set out first by their companies; and over their host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.  15 And over the host of the tribe of the men of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar.  16 And over the host of the tribe of the men of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.

17 And when the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who carried the tabernacle, set out.  18 And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies; and over their host was Elizur the son of Shedeur.  19 And over the host of the tribe of the men of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20 And over the host of the tribe of the men of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

21 Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival.  22 And the standard of the camp of the men of Ephraim set out by their companies; and over their host was Elishama the son of Ammihud.  23 And over the host of the tribe of the men of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 24 And over the host of the tribe of the men of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.

25 Then the standard of the camp of the men of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies; and over their host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.  26 And over the host of the tribe of the men of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ochran. 27 And over the host of the tribe of the men of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan.  28 This was the order of march of the people of Israel according to their hosts, when they set out.

29 And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for 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 to Israel.”  30 But he said to him, “I will not go; I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.”  31 And he said, “Do not leave us, I pray you, for you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us.  32 And if you go with us, whatever good the LORD will do to us, the same will we do to you.”

33 So they set out from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them.  34 And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.

35 And whenever the ark set out, Moses said,
“Arise, O LORD, and let thy enemies be scattered;
and let them that hate thee flee before thee.”
36 And when it rested, he said,
“Return, O LORD, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”

Joseph A. Grassi, “Food in the Wilderness,” Loaves and Fishes, p. 13-16

4           1 Corinthians 10:6
7-8        Exodus 16:31
9            Exodus 16:13-15
16-25    Exodus 24:9-18
24-30    Luke 10:1
25          Mark 1:10-11
27-29    Mark 9:38-40
29          1 Corinthians 14:5
34          1 Corinthians 10:6

4-6        Ivan Steiger, Ivan Steiger Sees the Bible, p. 36
24-30   David Dark, The Sacredness of Questioning Everything, p. 124

29      Oscar Romero, The Violence of Love, p. 201

29      Jeremy Taylor, Holy Living and Dying, p. 17

1 And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes; and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.  2 Then the people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated.  3 So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them.

4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving; and the people of Israel also wept again, and said, “O that we had meat to eat!  5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium.  8 The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil.  9 When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased.  11 Moses said to the LORD, “Why hast thou dealt ill with thy servant? And why have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou dost lay the burden of all this people upon me?  12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I bring them forth, that thou shouldst say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries the sucking child, to the land which thou didst swear to give their fathers?’ 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’  14 I am not able to carry all this people alone, the burden is too heavy for me.  15 If thou wilt deal thus with me, kill me at once, if I find favor in thy sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”

16 And the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.  17 And I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit which is upon you and put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.  18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.  19 You shall not eat one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come forth out of Egypt?”’” 21 But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot; and thou hast said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’  22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to suffice them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?” 23 And the LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and placed them round about the tent.  25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was upon him and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did so no more.

26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested upon them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.  27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”  28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, forbid them.”  29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!”  30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

31 And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.  32 And the people rose all that day, and all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails; he who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.  33 While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.  34 Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.  35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth; and they remained at Hazeroth.

7       Hebrews 3:2
8       Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomy 34:10
14     Numbers 5:2-3

1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman; 2 and they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it.  3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth.  4 And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out.  5 And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward.  6 And he said, “Hear my words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision,
I speak with him in a dream.
7 Not so with my servant Moses;
he is entrusted with all my house.
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in dark speech;
and he beholds the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

9 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed; 10 and when the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.  11 And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.  12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”  13 And Moses cried to the LORD, “Heal her, O God, I beseech thee.”  14 But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.”  15 So Miriam was shut up outside the camp seven days; and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again.  16 After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

Jayne Anne Phillips, “Numbers,” Communion, p. 29-38
Arthur Hugh Clough, “The Latest Decalogue”, The Enduring Legacy, p. 156
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “I’ve Been to the,Mountain Top”, The Enduring Legacy, p. 151
Edwin Muir, “Moses,” The Enduring Legacy, p. 155
Karl Shapiro, “Moses,” The Enduring Legacy, p. 152

33     Genesis 6:4

27     Dan Bellm, “Book of Numbers,” Practice, p. 62

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the people of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a leader among them.”  3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel.  4 And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph (that is from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.  16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb yonder, and go up into the hill country, 18 and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there is wood in it or not. Be of good courage, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath.  22 They went up into the Negeb, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) . 23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they brought also some pomegranates and figs.  24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down from there.

25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.  26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.  27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.  28 Yet the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once, and occupy it; for we are well able to overcome it.”  31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”  32 So they brought to the people of Israel an evil report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone, to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.  33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim); and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

9             Hebrews 3:16
13-19     Exodus 32:11-14
18           Exodus 20:5-6, 34:6-7; Deuteronomy 5:9-10, 7:9-10
21-23     Hebrews 3:18
24           Joshua 14:9-12
29           Hebrews 3:17
33           Acts 7:36

1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry; and the people wept that night.  2 And all the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!  3 Why does the LORD bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.”

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.  6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, rent their clothes, 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.  8 If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.  9 Only, do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”  10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones.

Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.  11 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs which I have wrought among them?  12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

13 But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for thou didst bring up this people in thy might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that thou, O LORD, art in the midst of this people; for thou, O LORD, art seen face to face, and thy cloud stands over them and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.  15 Now if thou dost kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard thy fame will say, 16 ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to give to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’  17 And now, I pray thee, let the power of the LORD be great as thou hast promised, saying,
18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love,
forgiving iniquity and transgression,
but he will by no means clear the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of fathers
upon children,
upon the third and upon the fourth generation.’
19 Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray thee, according to the greatness of thy steadfast love, and according as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

20 Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word; 21 but truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the proof these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice, 23 shall see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; and none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.  25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

26 And the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron, 27 “How long shall this wicked congregation murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel, which they murmur against me.  28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and of all your number, numbered from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.  31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.  32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.  33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.  34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’  35 I, the LORD, have spoken; surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”

36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up an evil report against the land, 37 the men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by plague before the LORD.  38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of those men who went to spy out the land.

39 And Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.  40 And they rose early in the morning, and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “See, we are here, we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised; for we have sinned.” 41 But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the LORD, for that will not succeed?  42 Do not go up lest you be struck down before your enemies, for the LORD is not among you. 43 For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.”  44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD, nor Moses, departed out of the camp.  45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down, and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.

16            Leviticus 24:22
17-21      Exodus 34:26; Leviticus 23:14
22-29     Leviticus 4:2-21
27-28     Leviticus 4:27-31
32-36     Hebrews 13:11-13
38           Deuteronomy 22:12

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I give you, 3 and you offer to the LORD from the herd or from the flock an offering by fire or a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfil a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing odor to the LORD, 4 then he who brings his offering shall offer to the LORD a cereal offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil; 5 and wine for the drink offering, a fourth of a hin, you shall prepare with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.  6 Or for a ram, you shall prepare for a cereal offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil; 7 and for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, a pleasing odor to the LORD. 8 And when you prepare a bull for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, to fulfil a vow, or for peace offerings to the LORD, 9 then one shall offer with the bull a cereal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with half a hin of oil, 10 and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.

11 “Thus it shall be done for each bull or ram, or for each of the male lambs or the kids.  12 According to the number that you prepare, so shall you do with every one according to their number.  13 All who are native shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.  14 And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or any one is among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to offer an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD, he shall do as you do.  15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the sojourner be before the LORD.  16 One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”

17 The LORD said to Moses, 18 “Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land to which I bring you 19 and when you eat of the food of the land, you shall present an offering to the LORD.  20 Of the first of your coarse meal you shall present a cake as an offering; as an offering from the threshing floor, so shall you present it.  21 Of the first of your coarse meal you shall give to the LORD an offering throughout your generations.

22 “But if you err, and do not observe all these commandments which the LORD has spoken to Moses, 23 all that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations, 24 then if it was done unwittingly without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD, with its cereal offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering. 25 And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; because 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.  26 And all the congregation of the people of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who sojourns among them, because the whole population was involved in the error.

27 “If one person sins unwittingly, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.  28 And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who commits an error, when he sins unwittingly, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.  29 You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native among the people of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them.  30 But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.  31 Because he has despised the word of the LORD, and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.”

32 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day.  33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.  34 They put him in custody, because it had not been made plain what should be done to him.  35 And the LORD said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”  36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses.

37 The LORD said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the people of Israel, and bid them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put upon the tassel of each corner a cord of blue; 39 and it shall be to you a tassel to look upon and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to go after wantonly.  40 So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.  41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”

Frederick Buechner, “Korah,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 88-89

1     Jude 11
5     2 Timothy 2:19

1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, 2 took men; and they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men; 3 and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone too far! 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?” 4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face; 5 and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him; him whom he will choose he will cause to come near to him.  6 Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; 7 put fire in them and put incense upon them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!”  8 And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi:  9 is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; 10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?  11 Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together; what is Aaron that you murmur against him?”

12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab; and they said, “We will not come up.  13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?  14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.”

15 And Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one ass from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”  16 And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow; 17 and let every one of you take his censer, and put incense upon it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.”  18 So every man took his censer, and they put fire in them and laid incense upon them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.  19 Then 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.

20 And the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” 22 And they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be angry with all the congregation?”

23 And the LORD said to Moses, 24 “Say to the congregation, Get away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”  25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.  26 And he said to the congregation, “Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.”  27 So they got away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.  28 And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord.  29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they are visited by the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.  30 But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.”

31 And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split asunder; 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men that belonged to Korah and all their goods.  33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.  34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry; for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!”  35 And fire came forth from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense.

36 Then the LORD said to Moses, 37 “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze; then scatter the fire far and wide. For they are holy, 38 the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives; so let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the LORD; therefore they are holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel.”  39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered; and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar, 40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no one who is not a priest, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become as Korah and as his company—as the LORD said to Eleazar through Moses.

41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.”  42 And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting; and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.  43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the LORD said to Moses, 45 “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.  46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun.” 47 So Aaron took it as Moses said, 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.  48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped.  49 Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the affair of Korah.  50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped.

8-10     Hebrews 9:4

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them rods, one for each fathers’ house, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name upon his rod, 3 and write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each fathers’ house.  4 Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you.  5 And the rod of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the people of Israel, which they murmur against you.”  6 Moses spoke to the people of Israel; and all their leaders gave him rods, one for each leader, according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.  7 And Moses deposited the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testimony.

8 And on the morrow Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.  9 Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the people of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.  10 And the LORD said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their murmurings against me, lest they die.”  11 Thus did Moses; as the LORD commanded him, so he did.

12 And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone.  13 Every one who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?”

14     Leviticus 27:28
19     2 Chronicles 13:5; Matthew 5:13
21     Leviticus 27:30-33; Deuteronomy 14:22-29

1 So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear iniquity in connection with the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity in connection with your priesthood.  2 And with you bring your brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you, and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.  3 They shall attend you and attend to all duties of the tent; but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar, lest they, and you, die.  4 They shall join you, and attend to the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; and no one else shall come near you.  5 And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, that there be wrath no more upon the people of Israel.  6 And behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the people of Israel; they are a gift to you, given to the LORD, to do the service of the tent of meeting.  7 And you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift, and any one else who comes near shall be put to death.”

8 Then the LORD said to Aaron, “And behold, I have given you whatever is kept of the offerings made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel; I have given them to you as a portion, and to your sons as a perpetual due.  9 This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, every cereal offering of theirs and every sin offering of theirs and every guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and to your sons.  10 In a most holy place shall you eat of it; every male may eat of it; it is holy to you.  11 This also is yours, the offering of their gift, all the wave offerings of the people of Israel; I have given them to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due; every one who is clean in your house may eat of it.  12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the LORD, I give to you.  13 The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours; every one who is clean in your house may eat of it.  14 Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.  15 Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours; nevertheless the first-born of man you shall redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts you shall redeem.  16 And their redemption price (at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.  17 But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shall burn their fat as an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD; 18 but their flesh shall be yours, as the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours.  19 All the holy offerings which the people of Israel present to the LORD I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due; it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD for you and for your offspring with you.” 20 And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

21 “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, their service in the tent of meeting.  22 And henceforth the people of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die.  23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance.  24 For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel.”

25 And the LORD said to Moses, 26 “Moreover you shall say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people 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.  27 And your offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fulness of the wine press.  28 So shall you also present an offering to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel; and from it you shall give the LORD’s offering to Aaron the priest.  29 Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every offering due to the LORD, from all the best of them, giving the hallowed part from them.’  30 Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the wine press; 31 and you may eat it in any place, you and your households; for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting.  32 And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have offered the best of it. And you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die.’”

9     Hebrews 9:13

1 Now the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron, 2 “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which a yoke has never come.  3 And you shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and she shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him; 4 and Eleazar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.  5 And the heifer shall be burned in his sight; her skin, her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall be burned; 6 and the priest shall take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet stuff, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer.  7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterwards he shall come into the camp; and the priest shall be unclean until evening.  8 He who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening.  9 And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the people of Israel for the water for impurity, for the removal of sin.  10 And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening.

And this shall be to the people of Israel, and to the stranger who sojourns among them, a perpetual statute.  11 “He who touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days; 12 he shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean; but if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean.  13 Whoever touches a dead person, the body of any man who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

14 “This is the law when a man dies in a tent: every one who comes into the tent, and every one who is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.  15 And every open vessel, which has no cover fastened upon it, is unclean.  16 Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.  17 For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and running water shall be added in a vessel; 18 then a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the furnishings, and upon the persons who were there, and upon him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave; 19 and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean. 20 “But the man who is unclean and does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; because the water for impurity has not been thrown upon him, he is unclean.

21 And it shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.  22 And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and any one who touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

2-13     Exodus 17:1-7
28        Exodus 29:29; Numbers 33:38; Deuteronomy 10:6

1-12     Arthur Hugh Clough, “The Latest Decalogue”, The Enduring Legacy, p. 156
1-12     Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top”, The Enduring Legacy, p. 151
1-12     Edwin Muir, “Moses,” The Enduring Legacy, p. 155
1-12     Karl Shapiro, “Moses,” The Enduring Legacy, p. 152

1 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

2 Now there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.  3 And the people contended with Moses, and said, “Would that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!  4 Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?  5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink.”  6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them, 7 and the LORD said to Moses, 8 “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water; so you shall bring water out of the rock for them; so you shall give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”

9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.  10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.  12 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”  13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel contended with the LORD, and he showed himself holy among them.

14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the adversity that has befallen us:  15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers; 16 and when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel and brought us forth out of Egypt; and here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.  17 Now let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, neither will we drink water from a well; we will go along the King’s Highway, we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left, until we have passed through your territory.”

18 But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.”  19 And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of your water, I and my cattle, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.”  20 But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with many men, and with a strong force.  21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

22 And they journeyed from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. 23 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, 24 “Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.  25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; 26 and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there.”  27 Moses did as the LORD commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.  28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

1               Numbers 33:40
4              Deuteronomy 2:1
5-6          1 Corinthians 10:9
9              2 Kings 18:4; John 3:14
21-30      Deuteronomy 2:26-37
28-29     Jeremiah 48:45-46
33-35     Deuteronomy 3:1-7

5       Francis Patrick Sullivan, “Time Does Not Tell,” A Time To Sow, p. 207
9      Simone Weil, Awaiting God, p. 87

14     Peter Enns, How the Bible Actually Works, p. 170

18     Zadokite Doc. CD VI 7 (Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, p. 131 f., Donald Juel, Messianic Exegesis, p. 54, 68 f.)

1 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.  2 And Israel vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, “If thou wilt indeed give this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”  3 And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and gave over the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities; so the name of the place was called Hormah.

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient on the way.  5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”  6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.  7 And the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.  8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”  9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

10 And the people of Israel set out, and encamped in Oboth.  11 And they set out from Oboth, and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise.  12 From there they set out, and encamped in the Valley of Zered.  13 From there they set out, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that extends from the boundary of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.  14 Wherefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD,
“Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,
15 and the slope of the valleys
that extends to the seat of Ar,
and leans to the border of Moab.”

16 And from there they continued to Beer; that is the well of which the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”  17 Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!—
18 the well which the princes dug,
which the nobles of the people delved
with the scepter and with their staves.”

19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah which looks down upon the desert.

21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22 “Let me pass through your land; we will not turn aside into field or vineyard; we will not drink the water of a well; we will go by the King’s Highway, until we have passed through your territory.”  23 But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his men together, and went out against Israel to the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 24 And Israel slew him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites; for Jazer was the boundary of the Ammonites. 25 And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.  26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.  27 Therefore the ballad singers say,
“Come to Heshbon, let it be built,
let the city of Sihon be established.
28 For fire went forth from Heshbon,
flame from the city of Sihon.
It devoured Ar of Moab,
the lords of the heights of the Arnon.
29 Woe to you, O Moab!
You are undone, O people of Chemosh!
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters captives,
to an Amorite king, Sihon.
30 So their posterity perished
from Heshbon, as far as Dibon,
and we laid waste until fire spread to Medeba.”

31 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.  32 And Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took its villages, and dispossessed the Amorites that were there.

33 Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.  34 But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him; for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.”  35 So they slew him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was not one survivor left to him; and they possessed his land.

1        Numbers 33:48
5       Numbers 31:8; 2 Peter 2:15-16; Jude 11
22     Exodus 4:24-26

10           John Wesley, “On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield,” Fifty-Three Sermons, p. 769-786
22-31     Frederick Buechner, “Balaam,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 13

1 Then the people of Israel set out, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.  2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.  3 And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many; Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.  4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5 sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of Amaw to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.  6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and gave him Balak’s message.  8 And he said to them, “Lodge here this night, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me”; so the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.  9 And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’”  12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”  13 So Balaam rose in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land; for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”  14 So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

15 Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than they.  16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me; 17 for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do; come, curse this people for me.’”  18 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God, to do less or more.  19 Pray, now, tarry here this night also, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.” 20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only what I bid you, that shall you do.”  21 So Balaam rose in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

22 But God’s anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the ass, and his two servants were with him.  23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the road, and went into the field; and Balaam struck the ass, to turn her into the road. 24 Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.  25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she pushed against the wall, and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again.  26 Then the angel of the LORD went ahead, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.  27 When the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the ass with his staff.  28 Then the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the ass, “Because you have made sport of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.”  30 And the ass said to Balaam, “Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Was I ever accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”

31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, 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 fell on his face.  32 And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your ass these three times? Behold, I have come forth to withstand you, because your way is perverse before me; 33 and the ass saw me, and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have slain you and let her live.”  34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that thou didst stand in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in thy sight, I will go back again.” 35 And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word which I bid you, that shall you speak.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the boundary formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the boundary.  37 And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” 38 Balaam said to Balak, “Lo, I have come to you! Have I now any power at all to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.”  39 Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.  40 And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam and to the princes who were with him.

41 And on the morrow Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal; and from there he saw the nearest of the people.

19-21     Samuel Sandmel, The Enjoyment of Scripture, p. 145

1 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and provide for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”  2 Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.  3 And 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.” And he went to a bare height.

4 And God met Balaam; and Balaam said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered upon each altar a bull and a ram.”  5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”  6 And he returned to him, and lo, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering.  7 And Balaam took up his discourse, and said,
“From Aram Balak has brought me,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
and come, denounce Israel!’
8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the mountains I see him,
from the hills I behold him;
lo, a people dwelling alone,
and not reckoning itself among the nations!
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob,
or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my end be like his!”

11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.”  12 And he answered, “Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

13 And Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place, from which you may see them; you shall see only the nearest of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there.” 14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.  15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.”  16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.”  17 And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?” 18 And Balaam took up his discourse, and said,
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
hearken to me, O son of Zippor:
19 God is not man, that he should lie,
or 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 fulfil it?
20 Behold, I received a command to bless:
he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
21 He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob;
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The LORD their God is with them,
and the shout of a king is among them.
22 God brings them out of Egypt;
they have as it were the horns of the wild ox.
23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘What has God wrought!’
24 Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up
and as a lion it lifts itself;
it does not lie down till it devours the prey,
and drinks the blood of the slain.”

25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.” 26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the LORD says, that I must do’?”

27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”  28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks the desert.  29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and provide for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”  30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

6    Psalm 1:3
9    Genesis 12:3, 49:9

17     Zadokite Doc. CD VII (19) [4QTest], (Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, p.133, Donald Juel, Messianic Exegesis, p. 70f.)

1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness.  2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and saw Israel encamping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he took up his discourse, and said,
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Be’or,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:
5 how fair are your tents, O Jacob,
your encampments, O Israel!
6 Like valleys that stretch afar,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the LORD has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters.
7 Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall be in many waters,
his king shall be higher than Agag,
and his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 God brings him out of Egypt;
he has as it were the horns of the wild ox,
he shall eat up the nations his adversaries,
and shall break their bones in pieces,
and pierce them through with his arrows.
9 He couched, he lay down like a lion,
and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
Blessed be every one who blesses you,
and cursed be every one who curses you.”

10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times.  11 Therefore now flee to your place; I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the LORD has held you back from honor.”  12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will; what the LORD speaks, that will I speak’?  14 And now, behold, I am going to my people; come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

15 And he took up his discourse, and said,
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
and knows the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:
17 I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not nigh:
a star shall come forth out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the forehead of Moab,
and break down all the sons of Sheth.
18 Edom shall be dispossessed,
Se’ir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed,
while Israel does valiantly.
19 By Jacob shall dominion be exercised,
and the survivors of cities be destroyed!”

20 Then he looked on Amalek, and took up his discourse, and said,
“Amalek was the first of the nations,
but in the end he shall come to destruction.”

21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse, and said,
“Enduring is your dwelling place,
and your nest is set in the rock;
22 nevertheless Kain shall be wasted.
How long shall Asshur take you away captive?”

23 And he took up his discourse, and said,
“Alas, who shall live when God does this?
24 But ships shall come from Kittim
and shall afflict Asshur and Eber;
and he also shall come to destruction.”

25 Then Balaam rose, and went back to his place; and Balak also went his way.

1 While Israel dwelt in Shittim the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods.  3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel; 4 and the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.”  5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you slay his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting.  7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation, and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the inner room, and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through her body. Thus the plague was stayed from the people of Israel.  9 Nevertheless those that died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 And the LORD said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.  12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be to him, and to his descendants after him, the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, head of a fathers’ house belonging to the Simeonites.  15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the head of the people of a fathers’ house in Midian.

16 And the LORD said to Moses, 17 “Harass the Midianites, and smite them; 18 for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”

Carol Bechtel Reynolds, “Life After Grace: Preaching from the Book of Numbers,” Interpretation (July 1997), p. 272 f.

1-51        Numbers 1:1-46
52-56    Numbers 34:13; Joshua 14:1-2
60           Numbers 3:2
61           Leviticus 10:1-2; Numbers 3:4
65           Numbers 14:26-35

1 After the plague the LORD said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all in Israel who are able to go forth to war.”  3 And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4 “Take a census of the people, from twenty years old and upward,” as the LORD commanded Moses.

The people of Israel, who came forth out of the land of Egypt, were:

5 Reuben, the first-born of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; 6 of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.  7 These are the families of the Reubenites; and their number was forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.  8 And the sons of Pallu: Eliab.  9 The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram, chosen from the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the LORD, 10 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men; and they became a warning. 11 Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah did not die.

12 The sons of Simeon according to their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; 13 of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.  14 These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand two hundred.

15 The sons of Gad according to their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; 16 of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; 17 of Ar’od, the family of the Ar’odites; of Are’li, the family of the Are’lites.  18 These are the families of the sons of Gad according to their number, forty thousand five hundred.

19 The sons of Judah were Er and Onan; and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.  20 And the sons of Judah according to their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites.  21 And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.  22 These are the families of Judah according to their number, seventy-six thousand five hundred.

23 The sons of Issachar according to their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; 24 of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites.  25 These are the families of Issachar according to their number, sixty-four thousand three hundred.

26 The sons of Zebulun, according to their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.  27 These are the families of the Zebulunites according to their number, sixty thousand five hundred.

28 The sons of Joseph according to their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.  30 These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; 31 and of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; 32 and of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. 33 Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.  34 These are the families of Manasseh; and their number was fifty-two thousand seven hundred.

35 These are the sons of Ephraim according to their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.  36 And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites.  37 These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to their number, thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph according to their families.

38 The sons of Benjamin according to their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; 39 of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. 40 And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.  41 These are the sons of Benjamin according to their families; and their number was forty-five thousand six hundred.

42 These are the sons of Dan according to their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan according to their families.  43 All the families of the Shuhamites, according to their number, were sixty-four thousand four hundred.

44 The sons of Asher according to their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.  45 Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites.  46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah.  47 These are the families of the sons of Asher according to their number, fifty-three thousand four hundred.

48 The sons of Naphtali according to their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; 49 of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites.  50 These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; and their number was forty-five thousand four hundred.

51 This was the number of the people of Israel, six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty.

52 The LORD said to Moses:  53 “To these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names.  54 To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance according to its numbers.  55 But the land shall be divided by lot; according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.  56 Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller.”

57 These are the Levites as numbered according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites.  58 These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram.

59 The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister.  60 And to Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.  61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unholy fire before the LORD.  62 And those numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not numbered among the people of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the people of Israel.

63 These were those numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.  64 But among these there was not a man of those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had numbered the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.  65 For the LORD had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” There was not left a man of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Carol Bechtel Reynolds, “Life After Grace: Preaching from the Book of Numbers,” Interpretation (July 1997), p. 277 f.

18-23    Numbers 36:2
12-14    Deuteronomy 3:23-27, 32:48-52
14          1 Kings 22:17; Ezekiel 34:5; Matthew 9:36; Mark 6:34
18-23    Deuteronomy 3:28
18          Exodus 24:13
21          Exodus 28:30; 1 Samuel 14:41, 28:6
23          Deuteronomy 31:23

1 Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.  2 And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, at the door of the tent of meeting, saying, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness; he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin; and he had no sons.  4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father’s brethren.”

5 Moses brought their case before the LORD.  6 And the LORD said to Moses, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are right; you shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s brethren and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them.  8 And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter.  9 And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers.  10 And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers.  11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. And it shall be to the people of Israel a statute and ordinance, as the LORD commanded Moses.’”

12 The LORD said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the people of Israel.  13 And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was gathered, 14 because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin during the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) . 15 Moses said to the LORD, 16 “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.”  18 And the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him; 19 cause him to stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight.  20 You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey.  21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.”  22 And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; he took Joshua and caused him to stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, 23 and he laid his hands upon him, and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses.

3-8         Exodus 29:38-42
16           Exodus 12:1-13; Deuteronomy 16:1-2
17-25     Exodus 12:14-20, 23:15, 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:3-8
26-31     Exodus 23:16, 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:9-12

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my offerings by fire, my pleasing odor, you shall take heed to offer to me in its due season.’  3 And you shall say to them, This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a continual offering.  4 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening; 5 also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil.  6 It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.  7 Its drink offering shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb; in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD.  8 The other lamb you shall offer in the evening; like the cereal offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.

9 “On the sabbath day two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering:  10 this is the burnt offering of every sabbath, besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

11 “At the beginnings of your months you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 12 also three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, for each bull; and two tenths of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; 13 and a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal offering for every lamb; for a burnt offering of pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.  14 Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year.  15 Also one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

16 “On the fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s passover.  17 And on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast; seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. 18 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no laborious work, 19 but offer an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish; 20 also their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths of an ephah shall you offer for a bull, and two tenths for a ram; 21 a tenth shall you offer for each of the seven lambs; 22 also one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you.  23 You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.  24 In the same way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.  25 And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work.

26 “On the day of the first fruits, when you offer a cereal offering of new grain to the LORD at your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work, 27 but offer a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD; two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; 28 also their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths for one ram, 29 a tenth for each of the seven lambs; 30 with one male goat, to make atonement for you.  31 Besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, you shall offer them and their drink offering. See that they are without blemish.

7-11        Leviticus 16:29-34
12-38     Leviticus 23:34; Deuteronomy 16:13-15

1 “On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, 2 and you shall offer a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 3 also their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the ram, 4 and one tenth for each of the seven lambs; 5 with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; 6 besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its cereal offering, and the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, and their drink offering, according to the ordinance for them, a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.

7 “On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation, and afflict yourselves; you shall do no work, 8 but you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing odor: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish; 9 and their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the one ram, 10 a tenth for each of the seven lambs:  11 also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, and their drink offerings.

12 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days; 13 and you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD, thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old; they shall be without blemish; 14 and their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams, 15 and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; 16 also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering and its drink offering.

17 “On the second day twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 18 with the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by number, according to the ordinance; 19 also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, and their drink offerings.

20 “On the third day eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 21 with the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by number, according to the ordinance; 22 also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering and its drink offering.

23 “On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 24 with the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by number, according to the ordinance; 25 also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering and its drink offering.

26 “On the fifth day nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 27 with the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by number, according to the ordinance; 28 also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering and its drink offering.

29 “On the sixth day eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 30 with the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by number, according to the ordinance; 31 also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering, and its drink offerings.

32 “On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 33 with the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by number, according to the ordinance; 34 also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering, and its drink offering.

35 “On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly: you shall do no laborious work, 36 but you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish, 37 and the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by number, according to the ordinance; 38 also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering and its drink offering.

39 “These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your votive offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your cereal offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.”

40 And Moses told the people of Israel everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

2     Deuteronomy 23:21-23;  Matthew 5:33

1 Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded.  2 When a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

3 Or when a woman vows a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house, in her youth, 4 and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself, and says nothing to her; then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand.  5 But if her father expresses disapproval to her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself, shall stand; and the LORD will forgive her, because her father opposed her.

6 And if she is married to a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7 and her husband hears of it, and says nothing to her on the day that he hears; then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.  8 But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he expresses disapproval, then he shall make void her vow which was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips, by which she bound herself; and the LORD will forgive her.  9 But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.  10 And if she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, 11 and her husband heard of it, and said nothing to her, and did not oppose her; then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand.  12 But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning her pledge of herself, shall not stand: her husband has made them void, and the LORD will forgive her.  13 Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself, her husband may establish, or her husband may make void.  14 But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows, or all her pledges, that are upon her; he has established them, because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them.  15 But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity.”

16 These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, as between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter, while in her youth, within her father’s house.

16     Numbers 25:1-9

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”  3 And Moses said to the people, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian.  4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.”  5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.  6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 They warred against Mid’ian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and slew every male.  8 They slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; and they also slew Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.  9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and they took as booty all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods.  10 All their cities in the places where they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, 11 and took all the spoil and all the booty, both of man and of beast.  12 Then they brought the captives and the booty and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

13 Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside the camp.  14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war.  15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?  16 Behold, these caused the people of Israel, by the counsel of Balaam, to act treacherously against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.  17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.  18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. 19 Encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever of you has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”

21 And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses:  22 only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water of impurity; and whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water.

24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterward you shall come into the camp.”

25 The LORD said to Moses, 26 “Take the count of the booty that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation; 27 and divide the booty into two parts, between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.  28 And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the persons and of the oxen and of the asses and of the flocks; 29 take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD.  30 And from the people of Israel’s half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who have charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”

31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

32 Now the booty remaining of the spoil that the men of war took was: six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand asses, 35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him.

36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 37 and the LORD’s tribute of sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.  38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was seventy-two.  39 The asses were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the LORD’s tribute was sixty-one.  40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was thirty-two persons.  41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the offering for the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.

42 From the people of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had gone to war -43 now the congregation’s half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44 thirty-six thousand cattle, 45 and thirty thousand five hundred asses, 46 and sixteen thousand persons -47 from the people of Israel’s half Moses took one of every fifty, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.

48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses, 49 and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us.  50 And we have brought the LORD’s offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”  51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all wrought articles.  52 And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.  53 (The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)

8-9          Numbers 13:17-33
10-13      Numbers 14:26-35
28-32     Joshua 1:12-15

1 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for cattle.  2 So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle.”  5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not take us across the Jordan.”

6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brethren go to the war while you sit here?  7 Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them?  8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.  9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land which the LORD had given them.  10 And the LORD’s anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me; 12 none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’  13 And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was consumed.  14 And behold, you have risen in your fathers’ stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel!  15 For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.”

16 Then they came near to him, and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and cities for our little ones, 17 but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.  18 We will not return to our homes until the people of Israel have inherited each his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond; because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”

20 So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war, 21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him 22 and the land is subdued before the LORD; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.  23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do what you have promised.”

25 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.  26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall remain there in the cities of Gilead; 27 but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord orders.”

28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel.  29 And Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; 30 but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”  31 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, “As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do.  32 We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.”

33 And Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country.  34 And the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.  37 And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names to be changed), and Sibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built.  39 And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.  40 And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it.  41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair. 42 And Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

38     Numbers 20:22-28; Deuteronomy 10:6, 32:50
40     Numbers 21:1
54     Numbers 26:54-56

1 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.  2 Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD; and these are their stages according to their starting places.  3 They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the passover the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their first-born, whom the LORD had struck down among them; upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.

5 So the people of Israel set out from Rameses, and encamped at Succoth.  6 And they set out from Succoth, and encamped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.  7 And they set out from Etham, and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon; and they encamped before Migdol.  8 And they set out from before Hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped at Marah.  9 And they set out from Marah, and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there.  10 And they set out from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea.  11 And they set out from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.  12 And they set out from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped at Dophkah.  13 And they set out from Dophkah, and encamped at Alush.  14 And they set out from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.  15 And they set out from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai.  16 And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped at Kibroth-hattaavah.  17 And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth.  18 And they set out from Hazeroth, and encamped at Rithmah.  19 And they set out from Rithmah, and encamped at Rimmon-perez.  20 And they set out from Rimmon-perez, and encamped at Libnah.  21 And they set out from Libnah, and encamped at Rissah.  22 And they set out from Rissah, and encamped at Kehelathah.  23 And they set out from Kehelathah, and encamped at Mount Shepher.  24 And they set out from Mount Shepher, and encamped at Haradah.  25 And they set out from Haradah, and encamped at Makheloth.  26 And they set out from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath.  27 And they set out from Tahath, and encamped at Terah.  28 And they set out from Terah, and encamped at Mithkah.  29 And they set out from Mithkah, and encamped at Hashmonah.  30 And they set out from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth.  31 And they set out from Moseroth, and encamped at Bene-jaakan.  32 And they set out from Bene-jaakan, and encamped at Hor-haggidgad.  33 And they set out from Hor-haggidgad, and encamped at Jotbathah.  34 And they set out from Jotbathah, and encamped at Abronah.  35 And they set out from Abronah, and encamped at Ezion-geber. 36 And they set out from Ezion-geber, and encamped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh).  37 And they set out from Kadesh, and encamped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.

38 And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.  39 And Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

40 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

41 And they set out from Mount Hor, and encamped at Zalmonah.  42 And they set out from Zalmonah, and encamped at Punon.  43 And they set out from Punon, and encamped at Oboth.  44 And they set out from Oboth, and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab.  45 And they set out from Iyim, and encamped at Dibon-gad.  46 And they set out from Dibon-gad, and encamped at Almon-diblathaim.  47 And they set out from Almon-diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.  48 And they set out from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; 49 they encamped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

50 And the LORD said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, 51 “Say to the people of Israel, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places; 53 and you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.  54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit.  55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.  56 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”

13-15     Joshua 14:1-5
13           Numbers 26:52-56

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan in its full extent), 3 your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern boundary shall be from the end of the Salt Sea on the east; 4 and your boundary shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its end shall be south of Kadesh-barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon; 5 and the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the sea.

6 “For the western boundary, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast; this shall be your western boundary.

7 “This shall be your northern boundary: from the Great Sea you shall mark out your line to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you shall mark it out to the entrance of Hamath, and the end of the boundary shall be at Zeded; 9 then the boundary shall extend to Ziphron, and its end shall be at Hazar-enan; this shall be your northern boundary.

10 “You shall mark out your eastern boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham; 11 and the boundary shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of A’in; and the boundary shall go down, and reach to the shoulder of the sea of Chinnereth on the east; 12 and the boundary shall go down to the Jordan, and its end shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its boundaries all round.”

13 Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe; 14 for the tribe of the sons of Reuben by fathers’ houses and the tribe of the sons of Gad by their fathers’ houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh; 15 the two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”

16 The LORD said to Moses, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun.  18 You shall take one leader of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance.19 These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

20 Of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.  21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.  22 Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli.  23 Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod.  24 And of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.  25 Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Eli-zaphan the son of Parnach.  26 Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan.  27 And of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.  28 Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.  29 These are the men whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.”

1-8        Joshua 21:1-42
9-28     Deuteronomy 19:2-4; Joshua 20:1-9
30         Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15

1 The LORD said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, 2 “Command the people of Israel, that they give to the Levites, from the inheritance of their possession, cities to dwell in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands round about the cities.  3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts.  4 The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all round.  5 And you shall measure, outside the city, for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle; this shall belong to them as pasture land for their cities.

6 The cities which you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.  7 All the cities which you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasture lands.  8 And as for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance which it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”

9 And the LORD said to Moses, 10 “Say to the people of Israel, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.  12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

13 And the cities which you give shall be your six cities of refuge.  14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge.  15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that any one who kills any person without intent may flee there.

16 “But if he struck him down with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.  17 And if he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.  18 Or if he struck him down with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.  19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.  20 And if he stabbed him from hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death; he is a murderer; the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him.

22 “But if he stabbed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait, 23 or used a stone, by which a man may die, and without seeing him cast it upon him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy, and did not seek his harm; 24 then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these ordinances; 25 and the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.  26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the bounds of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the bounds of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood slays the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood.  28 For the man must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.

29 “And these things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

30 If any one kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses; but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.  31 Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death; but he shall be put to death.  32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest.  33 You shall not thus pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it.  34 You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

2     Numbers 27:7

1 The heads of the fathers’ houses of the families of the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, of the fathers’ houses of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel; 2 they said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel; and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.  3 But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.  4 And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

5 And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph is right.  6 This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, ‘Let them marry whom they think best; only, they shall marry within the family of the tribe of their father.  7 The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another; for every one of the people of Israel shall cleave to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.  8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers.  9 So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another; for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall cleave to its own inheritance.’”

10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses; 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers.  12 They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which the LORD commanded by Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.