Numbers 9–11

Chapter 9

The Passover

¹Thus the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in ^athe first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

²“Now, let the sons of Israel observe the Passover at ^aits appointed time.

³“On the fourteenth day of this month, ¹at twilight, you shall observe it at its appointed time; you shall observe it according to all its statutes and according to all its ordinances.”

⁴So Moses ¹told the sons of Israel to observe the Passover.

^5aThey observed the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; ^baccording to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did.

⁶But there were some men who were ^aunclean because of the ¹dead person, so that they could not observe Passover on that day; so ^bthey came before Moses and Aaron on that day.

⁷Those men said to him, “Though we are unclean because of the ¹dead person, why are we restrained from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?”

⁸Moses therefore said to them, “^1aWait, and I will listen to what the Lord will command concerning you.”

⁹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁰“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a dead ¹person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, observe the Passover to the Lord.

¹¹‘In the second month on the ^afourteenth day at twilight, they shall observe it; they ^bshall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

¹²‘They ^ashall leave none of it until morning, ^bnor break a bone of it; according to all the statute of the Passover they shall observe it.

¹³‘^aBut the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet ¹neglects to observe the Passover, that ²person shall then be cut off from his people, for he did not present the offering of the Lord at its appointed time. That man ^bwill bear his sin.

¹⁴‘^aIf an alien sojourns among you and ¹observes the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its ordinance, so he shall do; you shall have ^bone statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.’ ”

The Cloud on the Tabernacle

¹⁵Now on ^athe day that the tabernacle was erected ^bthe cloud covered the tabernacle, the ^ctent of the testimony, and ^din the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle, until morning.

¹⁶So it was continuously; ^athe cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

^17aWhenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp.

¹⁸At the ¹command of the Lord the sons of Israel would set out, and at the command of the Lord they would camp; ^aas long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped.

¹⁹Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, ¹the sons of Israel would keep the Lord’s charge and not set out.

²⁰If ¹sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, ^aaccording to the ²command of the Lord they remained camped. Then according to the command of the Lord they set out.

²¹If ¹sometimes the cloud ²remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out.

²²Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but ^awhen it was lifted, they did set out.

^23aAt the ¹command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out; they kept the Lord’s charge, according to the command of the Lord through Moses.

Chapter 10

The Silver Trumpets

¹The Lord spoke further to Moses, saying,

²“Make yourself two trumpets of silver, of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for ^asummoning the congregation and for having the camps set out.

³“^aWhen both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

⁴“Yet if only one is blown, then the ^aleaders, the heads of the ¹divisions of Israel, shall assemble before you.

⁵“But when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched ^aon the east side shall set out.

⁶“When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are pitched on ^athe south side shall set out; an alarm is to be blown for them to set out.

⁷“When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow without ^asounding an alarm.

⁸“^aThe priestly sons of Aaron, moreover, shall blow the trumpets; and ¹this shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations.

⁹“When you go to war in your land against the adversary who ^aattacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be ^bremembered before the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies.

¹⁰“Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed ¹feasts, and on the first days of your months, ^ayou shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”

The Tribes Leave Sinai

¹¹Now in ^athe second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from over the ¹tabernacle of the testimony;

¹²and the sons of Israel set out on ^atheir journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled down in the ^bwilderness of Paran.

^13aSo they moved out for the first time according to the ¹commandment of the Lord through Moses.

¹⁴The standard of the camp of the sons of Judah, according to their armies, ^aset out first, with Nahshon the son of Amminadab, over its army,

¹⁵and Nethanel the son of Zuar, over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar;

¹⁶and Eliab the son of Helon over the tribal army of the sons of Zebulun.

^17aThen the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, set out.

¹⁸Next ^athe standard of the camp of Reuben, according to their armies, set out with Elizur the son of Shedeur, over its army,

¹⁹and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon,

²⁰and Eliasaph the son of Deuel was over the tribal army of the sons of Gad.

^21aThen the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy objects; and ^bthe tabernacle was set up before their arrival.

^22aNext the standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim, according to their armies, was set out, with Elishama the son of Ammihud over its army,

²³and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh;

²⁴and Abidan the son of Gideoni over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.

^25aThen the standard of the camp of the sons of Dan, according to their armies, which formed the ^brear guard for all the camps, set out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai over its army,

²⁶and Pagiel the son of Ochran over the tribal army of the sons of Asher;

²⁷and Ahira the son of Enan over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali.

²⁸¹This was the order of march of the sons of Israel by their armies as they set out.

²⁹Then Moses said to ^aHobab the son of ^bReuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, ‘^cI will give it to you’; ^dcome with us and we will do you good, for the Lord ^ehas ¹promised good concerning Israel.”

³⁰But he said to him, “^aI will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.”

³¹Then he said, “Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you ^awill be as eyes for us.

³²“So it will be, if you go with us, that ^1awhatever good the Lord ²does for us, ^bwe will ³do for you.”

^33aThus they set out from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey, with ^bthe ark of the covenant of the Lord journeying in front of them for the ¹three days, to seek out ^ca resting place for them.

^34aThe cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said,

“^aRise up, O Lord!

And let Your enemies be scattered,

And let those ^bwho hate You flee ¹before You.”

³⁶When it came to rest, he said,

“^aReturn, O Lord,

To the myriad ^bthousands of Israel.”

Chapter 11

The People Complain

¹Now the people became like ^athose who complain of adversity ^bin the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

^2aThe people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord and the fire ¹died out.

³So the name of that place was called ^1aTaberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴The ^arabble who were among them ¹had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “^bWho will give us ²meat to eat?

⁵“^aWe remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,

⁶but now ^aour ¹appetite is gone. There is nothing at all ²to look at except this manna.”

^7aNow the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of ^bbdellium.

⁸The people would go about and gather it and grind it ¹between two millstones or beat it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make cakes with it; and its taste was as the taste of ²cakes baked with oil.

^9aWhen the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall ¹with it.

The Complaint of Moses

¹⁰Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, and ¹Moses was displeased.

^11aSo Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You ¹been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me?

¹²“Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a ^1anurse carries…