Numbers 7

The Offerings of the Leaders

7On the day Moses finished setting up the Tent of the Lord’s presence, he anointed and dedicated the Tent and all its equipment, and the altar and all its equipment. ²Then the clan chiefs who were leaders in the tribes of Israel, the same men who were in charge of the census, ³brought their offerings to the Lord: six wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. After they had presented them, ⁴the Lord said to Moses, ⁵“Accept these gifts for use in the work to be done for the Tent; give them to the Levites according to the work they have to do.” ⁶So Moses gave the wagons and the oxen to the Levites. ⁷He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites, ⁸and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites. All their work was to be done under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron. ⁹But Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites, because the sacred objects they took care of had to be carried on their shoulders.

¹⁰The leaders also brought offerings to celebrate the dedication of the altar. When they were ready to present their gifts at the altar, ¹¹the Lord said to Moses, “Tell them that each day for a period of twelve days one of the leaders is to present his gifts for the dedication of the altar.”

^12–83They presented their offerings in the following order:

Day

Tribe

Leader

1st

Judah

Nahshon son of Amminadab

2nd

Issachar

Nethanel son of Zuar

3rd

Zebulun

Eliab son of Helon

4th

Reuben

Elizur son of Shedeur

5th

Simeon

Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai

6th

Gad

Eliasaph son of Deuel

7th

Ephraim

Elishama son of Ammihud

8th

Manasseh

Gamaliel son of Pedahzur

9th

Benjamin

Abidan son of Gideoni

10th

Dan

Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai

11th

Asher

Pagiel son of Ochran

12th

Naphtali

Ahira son of Enan

The offerings each one brought were identical: one silver bowl weighing 1.5 kilogrammes and one silver basin weighing 800 grammes, by the official standard, both of them full of flour mixed with oil for the grain offering; one gold dish weighing 110 grammes, full of incense; one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old lamb, for the burnt offering; one goat for the sin offering; and two bulls, five rams, five goats, and five one-year-old lambs for the fellowship offering.

^84–88The totals of the offerings brought by the twelve leaders for the dedication of the altar were as follows:

—twelve silver bowls and twelve silver basins weighing a total of 27.6 kilogrammes

—twelve gold dishes weighing a total of 1.32 kilogrammes, filled with incense

—twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old lambs, together with the grain offerings that go with them, for the burnt offerings

—twelve goats for the sin offerings

—24 bulls, 60 rams, 60 goats, 60 one-year-old lambs, for the fellowship offerings

⁸⁹When Moses went into the Tent to talk with the Lord, he heard the Lord speaking to him from above the lid on the Covenant Box, between the two winged creatures.^b