Numbers 9

THE SECOND PASSOVER

9In the first month of the second year after their departure from the land of Egypt, the Lord told Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai,^{s 2}“The Israelites are to observe the Passover at its appointed time.^{t 3}You must observe it at its appointed time on the fourteenth day of this month at twilight; you are to observe it according to all its statutes and ordinances.”^{u 4}So Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover, ⁵and they observed it in the first month on the fourteenth day at twilight in the Wilderness of Sinai. The Israelites did everything as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶But there were some men who were unclean because of a human corpse, so they could not observe the Passover on that day.^a These men came before Moses and Aaron the same day ⁷and said to him, “We are unclean because of a human corpse. Why should we be excluded from presenting the Lord’s offering at its appointed time with the other Israelites?”

⁸Moses replied to them, “Wait here until I hear what the Lord commands for you.”

⁹Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ¹⁰“Tell the Israelites: When any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of a corpse^b or is on a distant journey, he may still observe the Passover to the Lord. ¹¹Such people are to observe it in the second month, on the fourteenth day at twilight. They are to eat the animal with unleavened bread and bitter herbs;^{c 12}they may not leave any of it until morning or break any of its bones.^d They must observe the Passover according to all its statutes.

¹³“But the man who is ceremonially clean, is not on a journey, and yet fails to observe the Passover is to be cut off from his people, because he did not present the Lord’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.

¹⁴“If an alien resides with you and wants to observe the Passover to the Lord,^e he is to do it according to the Passover statute and its ordinances. You are to apply the same statute to both the resident alien and the native of the land.”^f

GUIDANCE BY THE CLOUD

¹⁵On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony,^g and it appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning. ¹⁶It remained that way continuously: the cloud would cover it,^B appearing like fire at night.^{h 17}Whenever the cloud was lifted up above the tent, the Israelites would set out; at the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites camped.^{i 18}At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at the Lord’s command they camped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they camped.

¹⁹Even when the cloud stayed over the tabernacle many days, the Israelites carried out the Lord’s requirement and did not set out. ²⁰Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for only a few days. They would camp at the Lord’s command and set out at the Lord’s command. ²¹Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning; when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out. Or if it remained a day and a night, they moved out when the cloud lifted. ²²Whether it was two days, a month, or longer,^A the Israelites camped and did not set out as long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle. But when it was lifted, they set out. ²³They camped at the Lord’s command, and they set out at the Lord’s command. They carried out the Lord’s requirement according to his command through Moses.