Numbers 19–22

Chapter 19

¹And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without blemish, wherein is no defect, and upon which never came yoke; ³and ye shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring it outside the camp, and one shall slaughter it before him. ⁴And Eleazar the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and shall sprinkle of its blood directly before the tent of meeting seven times. ⁵And one shall burn the heifer before his eyes; its skin and its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall he burn. ⁶And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer. ⁷And the priest shall wash his garments, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterwards he shall come into the camp; and the priest shall be unclean until the even; ⁸and he that hath burned it shall wash his garments in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. ⁹And a clean man shall gather the ashes of the heifer, and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. ¹⁰And he that hath gathered the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. And it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, an everlasting statute.

¹¹He that toucheth a dead person, any dead body of a man, shall be unclean seven days. ¹²He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. ¹³Whoever toucheth a dead person, the dead body of a man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; for the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him: he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. ¹⁴This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: every one that cometh into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. ¹⁵And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, shall be unclean. ¹⁶And every one that toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead person, or the bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. ¹⁷And they shall take for the unclean of the ashes of the purification-offering that hath been burned, and shall put running water thereon in a vessel; ¹⁸and a clean man shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, and upon all the utensils, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that hath touched the bone, or the one slain, or the dead person, or the grave; ¹⁹and the clean shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day; and he shall purify him on the seventh day; and he shall wash his garments, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even. ²⁰And the man that is unclean, and doth not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the congregation, for he hath defiled the sanctuary of Jehovah: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled on him: he is unclean. ²¹And it shall be an everlasting statute unto them. And he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his garments, and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even. ²²And whatever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.

Chapter 20

¹And the children of Israel, the whole assembly, came into the wilderness of Zin, in the first month; and the people abode at Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. ²And there was no water for the assembly, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ³And the people contended with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah! ⁴And why have ye brought the congregation of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts? ⁵And why have ye made us to go up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink. ⁶And Moses and Aaron went from before the congregation to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces; and the glory of Jehovah appeared to them. ⁷And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸Take the staff, and gather the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock, and shalt give the assembly and their beasts drink. ⁹And Moses took the staff from before Jehovah, as he had commanded him. ¹⁰And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, ye rebels: shall we bring forth to you water out of this rock? ¹¹And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his staff smote the rock twice, and much water came out, and the assembly drank, and their beasts. ¹²And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to hallow me before the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land that I have given them. ¹³These are the waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel contended with Jehovah, and he hallowed himself in them.

¹⁴And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, Thus says thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all the trouble that hath befallen us, ¹⁵how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians evil entreated us and our fathers; ¹⁶and when we cried to Jehovah, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt; and behold, we are at Kadesh, a city at the extremity of thy border. ¹⁷Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country; we will not pass through fields, or through vineyards, neither will we drink water out of the wells: we will go by the king’s road; we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy border. ¹⁸But Edom said to him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. ¹⁹And the children of Israel said to him, We will go by the high way; and if we drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then I will pay for it: I will only, without anything else, go through on my feet. ²⁰And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. ²¹Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; and Israel turned away from him.

²²And they removed from Kadesh; and the children of Israel, the whole assembly, came to mount Hor. ²³And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron in mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴Aaron shall be gathered unto his peoples; for he shall not enter into the land that I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my commandment at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor, ²⁶and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered to his peoples, and shall die there. ²⁷And Moses did as Jehovah had commanded, and they went up mount Hor before the eyes of the whole assembly. ²⁸And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there upon the top of the mountain; and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹And the whole assembly saw that Aaron was dead, and they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even the whole house of Israel.

Chapter 21

¹And the Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelt in the south, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim, and he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. ²Then Israel vowed a vow to Jehovah, and said, If thou give this people wholly into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. ³And Jehovah listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them, and their cities. And they called the name of the place Hormah.

⁴And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to go round the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became impatient on the way; ⁵and the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have ye brought us up out of Egypt that we should die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and no water, and our soul loathes this light bread. ⁶Then Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, which bit the people; and much people of Israel died. ⁷And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, in that we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee: pray to Jehovah that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. ⁸And Jehovah said to Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, and looketh upon it, shall live. ⁹And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, if a serpent had bitten any man, and he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

¹⁰And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in Oboth. ¹¹And they removed from Oboth, and encamped at Ijim-Abarim, in the wilderness that is before Moab, toward the sun-rising. ¹²From thence they removed, and encamped at the torrent Zered. ¹³From thence they removed, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites. For the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴Therefore it is said in the book of the wars of Jehovah, Vaheb in Suphah, and the brooks of Arnon; ¹⁵And the stream of the brooks which turneth to the dwelling of Ar, And inclineth toward the…