Numbers 16:36–19:22

³⁶The Lord said to Moses, ³⁷“Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take all the incense pans out of the fire. Have him scatter the coals a long distance away. But the incense pans are still holy. ³⁸Take the pans of these men who sinned and lost their lives, and hammer them into flat sheets that will be used to cover the altar. They are holy, because they were presented to the Lord, and they will be a sign to the Israelites.”

³⁹So Eleazar the priest gathered all the bronze pans that had been brought by the men who were burned up. He had the pans hammered into flat sheets to put on the altar, ⁴⁰as the Lord had commanded him through Moses. These sheets were to remind the Israelites that only descendants of Aaron should burn incense before the Lord. Anyone else would die like Korah and his followers.

Aaron Saves the People

⁴¹The next day all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have killed the Lord’s people.”

⁴²When the people gathered to complain against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Meeting Tent, and the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord appeared. ⁴³Then Moses and Aaron went in front of the Meeting Tent.

⁴⁴The Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵“Move away from these people so I can destroy them quickly.” So Moses and Aaron bowed facedown.

⁴⁶Then Moses said to Aaron, “Get your pan, and put fire from the altar and incense in it. Hurry to the people and remove their sin. The Lord is angry with them; the sickness has already started.” ⁴⁷So Aaron did as Moses said. He ran to the middle of the people, where the sickness had already started among them. So Aaron offered the incense to remove their sin. ⁴⁸He stood between the dead and the living, and the sickness stopped there. ⁴⁹But 14,700 people died from that sickness, in addition to those who died because of Korah. ⁵⁰Then Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. The terrible sickness had been stopped.

Aaron’s Walking Stick Buds

17The Lord said to Moses, ²“Speak to the people of Israel and get twelve walking sticks from them—one from the leader of each tribe. Write the name of each man on his stick, and ³on the stick from Levi, write Aaron’s name. There must be one stick for the head of each tribe. ⁴Put them in the Meeting Tent in front of the Ark of the Agreement, where I meet with you. ⁵I will choose one man whose walking stick will begin to grow leaves; in this way I will stop the Israelites from always complaining against you.”

⁶So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Each of the twelve leaders gave him a walking stick—one from each tribe—and Aaron’s walking stick was among them. ⁷Moses put them before the Lord in the Tent of the Agreement.

⁸The next day, when Moses entered the Tent, he saw that Aaron’s stick (which stood for the family of Levi) had grown leaves. It had even budded, blossomed, and produced almonds. ⁹So Moses brought out to the Israelites all the walking sticks from the Lord’s presence. They all looked, and each man took back his stick.

¹⁰Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s walking stick back in front of the Ark of the Agreement. It will remind these people who are always turning against me to stop their complaining against me so they won’t die.” ¹¹So Moses obeyed what the Lord commanded him.

¹²The people of Israel said to Moses, “We are going to die! We are destroyed. We are all destroyed! ¹³Anyone who even comes near the Holy Tent of the Lord will die. Will we all die?”

The Work of the Priests and Levites

18The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your family are now responsible for any wrongs done against the Holy Place; you and your sons are responsible for any wrongs done against the priests. ²Bring with you your fellow Levites from your tribe, and they will help you and your sons serve in the Tent of the Agreement. ³They are under your control, to do all the work that needs to be done in the Tent. But they must not go near the things in the Holy Place or near the altar. If they do, both you and they will die. ⁴They will join you in taking care of the Meeting Tent. They must do the work at the Tent, and no one else may come near you.

⁵“You must take care of the Holy Place and the altar so that I won’t become angry with the Israelites again. ⁶I myself chose your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift given for you to the Lord, to work at the Meeting Tent. ⁷But only you and your sons may serve as priests. Only you may serve at the altar or go behind the curtain. I am giving you this gift of serving as a priest, and anyone else who comes near the Holy Place will be put to death.”

⁸Then the Lord said to Aaron, “I myself make you responsible for the offerings given to me. All the holy offerings that the Israelites give to me, I give to you and your sons as your share, your continual portion. ⁹Your share of the holy offerings is that part which is not burned. When the people bring me gifts as most holy offerings, whether they are grain or sin or penalty offerings, they will be set apart for you and your sons. ¹⁰You must eat the offering in a most holy place. Any male may eat it, but you must respect it as holy.

¹¹“I also give you the offerings the Israelites present to me. I give these to you and your sons and daughters as your continual share. Anyone in your family who is clean may eat it.

¹²“And I give you all the best olive oil and all the best new wine and grain. This is what the Israelites give to me, the Lord, from the first crops they harvest. ¹³When they bring to the Lord all the first things they harvest, they will be yours. Anyone in your family who is clean may eat these things.

¹⁴“Everything in Israel that is given to the Lord is yours. ¹⁵The first one born to any family, whether people or animals, will be offered to the Lord. And that will be yours. But you must make a payment for every firstborn child and every firstborn animal that is unclean. ¹⁶When they are one month old, you must make a payment for them of two ounces of silver, as set by the Holy Place measure.

¹⁷“But you must not make a payment for the firstborn ox or sheep or goat. Those animals are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire. The smell is pleasing to the Lord. ¹⁸But the meat will be yours, just as the breast that is presented and the right thigh will be yours. ¹⁹Anything the Israelites present as holy gifts I, the Lord, give to you, your sons and daughters as your continual portion. This is a lasting agreement of salt ⁿ before the Lord for you and your children forever.”

²⁰The Lord also said to Aaron, “You will not inherit any of the land, and you will not own any land among the other people. I will be yours. Out of all the Israelites, only you will inherit me.

²¹“When the people of Israel give me a tenth of what they make, I will give that tenth to the Levites. This is their payment for the work they do serving at the Meeting Tent. ²²But the other Israelites must never go near the Meeting Tent, or they will die for their sin. ²³Only the Levites should work in the Meeting Tent and be responsible for any sins against it. This is a rule from now on. The Levites will not inherit any land among the other Israelites, ²⁴but when the Israelites give a tenth of everything they make to me, I will give that tenth to the Levites as a reward. That is why I said about the Levites: ‘They will not inherit any land among the Israelites.’ ”

²⁵The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶“Speak to the Levites and tell them: ‘You will receive a tenth of everything the Israelites make, which I will give to you. But you must give a tenth of that back to the Lord. ²⁷I will accept your offering just as much as I accept the offerings from others, who give new grain or new wine. ²⁸In this way you will present an offering to the Lord as the other Israelites do. When you receive a tenth from the Israelites, you will give a tenth of that to Aaron, the priest, as the Lord’s share. ²⁹Choose the best and holiest part from what you are given as the portion you must give to the Lord.’

³⁰“Say to the Levites: ‘When you present the best, it will be accepted as much as the grain and wine from the other people. ³¹You and your families may eat all that is left anywhere, because it is your pay for your work in the Meeting Tent. ³²And if you always give the best part to the Lord, you will never be guilty. If you do not sin against the holy offerings of the Israelites, you will not die.’ ”

The Offering for Cleansing

19The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²“These are the teachings that the Lord commanded. Tell the Israelites to get a young red cow that does not have anything wrong with it and that has never been worked. ³Give the cow to Eleazar the priest; he will take it outside the camp and kill it. ⁴Then Eleazar the priest must put some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Meeting Tent. ⁵The whole cow must be burned while he watches; the skin, the meat, the blood, and the intestines must all be burned. ⁶Then the priest must take a cedar stick, a hyssop branch, and a red string and throw them onto the burning cow. ⁷After the priest has washed himself and his clothes with water, he may come back into the camp, but he will be unclean until evening. ⁸The man who burns the cow must wash himself and his clothes in water; he will be unclean until evening.

⁹“Then someone who is clean will collect the ashes from the cow and put them in a clean place outside the camp. The Israelites will keep these ashes to use in the cleansing water, in a special ceremony to cleanse away sin. ¹⁰The man who collected the cow’s ashes must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. This is a lasting rule for the Israelites and for the foreigners among them.

¹¹“Those who touch a dead person’s body will be unclean for seven days. ¹²They must wash themselves with the cleansing water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But…