Numbers 16:36–19:22

³⁶¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

³⁷“Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the ¹blaze, and you scatter ²the burning coals abroad; for they are holy.

³⁸“As for the censers of these ¹men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, make them into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they brought them near before Yahweh, and they are holy; and ^athey shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.”

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

⁴⁰as a ¹memorial to the sons of Israel that ^ano ²outsider who is not of the seed of Aaron should come near ^bto burn incense before Yahweh; so that he will not become like Korah and his congregation—just as Yahweh had spoken to him by the hand of Moses.

Grumbling and Plague

⁴¹But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel ^agrumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the people of Yahweh.”

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

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

⁴⁴and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴⁵“^1aGet away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces.

⁴⁶And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and ^amake atonement for them, for ^bwrath has gone forth from Yahweh, the plague has begun!”

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

⁴⁸And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.

^49aBut those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who ^bdied on account of Korah.

⁵⁰Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.

CHAPTER 17

Aaron’s Rod Buds

¹¹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

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

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

⁴“You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of ^athe testimony, where I meet with you.

⁵“And it will come about that the rod of ^athe man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will rid Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you.”

⁶Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.

⁷So Moses deposited the rods before Yahweh in ^athe tent of the testimony.

⁸Now it happened on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, ^athe rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced flowers, and it bore ripe almonds.

⁹Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of Yahweh to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.

¹⁰But Yahweh said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron ^abefore the testimony ¹to be kept as a sign against the ^2brebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die.”

¹¹Thus Moses did; just as Yahweh had commanded him, so he did.

¹²Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “^aBehold, we are breathing our last breath, we are perishing, we are all perishing!

¹³“^aEveryone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of Yahweh, must die. Are we to breathe our utter last?”

CHAPTER 18

Responsibilities of the Levites

¹So Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall ^abear the guilt ¹in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt ²in connection with your priesthood.

²“But bring near with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be ^ajoined with you and minister to you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

³“And they shall thus keep your responsibility and the responsibility of all the tent, but ^athey shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and ^bthe altar, so that neither they nor you will die.

⁴“And they shall be joined with you and keep the responsibility of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but ¹an outsider may not come near you.

⁵“So you shall keep the ^aresponsibility of the sanctuary and the responsibility of the altar, ^bso that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel.

⁶“And behold, I Myself ^ahave taken your brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are ^ba gift to you, given to Yahweh, to perform the service for the tent of meeting.

⁷“But you and your sons with you shall ^akeep your priesthood in everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as ^ba ¹bestowed service, but ^cthe ²outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

The Priests’ Portion

⁸Then Yahweh spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have given you the responsibility of My ^1acontributions, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual statute.

⁹“This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, even ^aevery grain offering and every ^bsin offering and every guilt offering, which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.

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

¹¹“This also is yours, ^athe contribution from their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have ^bgiven them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual statute. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.

¹²“^aAll the ¹best of the fresh oil and all the ²best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to Yahweh, I give them to you.

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

¹⁴“^aEvery devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.

¹⁵“^1aEvery first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they bring near to Yahweh, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

¹⁶“Now as to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five ¹shekels in silver, according to the ²shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

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

¹⁸“And their ¹meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the ^abreast of a wave offering and like the right thigh.

¹⁹“^aAll the contributions of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel raise up to Yahweh, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual statute. It is ^ban everlasting covenant of salt before Yahweh to you and your seed with you.”

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

²¹“Now to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the ^atithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.

²²“^aAnd the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bear sin and die.

²³“Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall ^abear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel ^bthey shall have no inheritance.

²⁴“For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they raise up as a contribution offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘^aThey shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”

²⁵Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁶“Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel ^athe tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall raise up a contribution offering from it to Yahweh, a ^btithe of the tithe.

²⁷‘And your contribution offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat.

²⁸‘So you shall also raise up a contribution offering to Yahweh from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the contribution offering of Yahweh to Aaron the priest.

²⁹‘Out of all your gifts you shall raise up every contribution offering due to Yahweh, from all the ¹best of them, ²the sacred part from them.’

³⁰“And you shall say to them, ‘When you have raised up from it the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor and as the product of the wine vat.

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

³²‘And you will bear no sin by reason of it when you have raised up the ¹best of it. But you shall not ^aprofane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you will not die.’”

CHAPTER 19

Statute of the Red Heifer

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