Numbers 9–11

The Passover Is Celebrated

9The Lord spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai in the first month of the second year after the Israelites left Egypt. He said, ²“Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover at the appointed time. ³That appointed time is the fourteenth day of this month at twilight; they must obey all the rules about it.”

⁴So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover, ⁵and they did; it was in the Desert of Sinai at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁶But some of the people could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were unclean from touching a dead body. So they went to Moses and Aaron that day and ⁷said to Moses, “We are unclean because of touching a dead body. But why should we be kept from offering gifts to the Lord at this appointed time? Why can’t we join the other Israelites?”

⁸Moses said to them, “Wait, and I will find out what the Lord says about you.”

⁹Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰“Tell the Israelites this: ‘If you or your descendants become unclean because of a dead body, or if you are away on a trip during the Passover, you must still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. ¹¹But celebrate it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. Eat the lamb with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. ¹²Don’t leave any of it until the next morning or break any of its bones. When you celebrate the Passover, follow all the rules. ¹³Anyone who is clean and is not away on a trip but does not eat the Passover must be cut off from the people. That person did not give an offering to the Lord at the appointed time and must be punished for the sin.

¹⁴“ ‘Foreigners among you may celebrate the Lord’s Passover, but they must follow all the rules. You must have the same rules for foreigners as you have for yourselves.’ ”

The Cloud Above the Tent

¹⁵On the day the Holy Tent, the Tent of the Agreement, was set up, a cloud covered it. From dusk until dawn the cloud above the Tent looked like fire. ¹⁶The cloud stayed above the Tent, and at night it looked like fire. ¹⁷When the cloud moved from its place over the Tent, the Israelites moved, and wherever the cloud stopped, the Israelites camped. ¹⁸So the Israelites moved at the Lord’s command, and they camped at his command. While the cloud stayed over the Tent, they remained camped. ¹⁹Sometimes the cloud stayed over the Tent for a long time, but the Israelites obeyed the Lord and did not move. ²⁰Sometimes the cloud was over it only a few days. At the Lord’s command the people camped, and at his command they moved. ²¹Sometimes the cloud stayed only from dusk until dawn; when the cloud lifted the next morning, the people moved. When the cloud lifted, day or night, the people moved. ²²The cloud might stay over the Tent for two days, a month, or a year. As long as it stayed, the people camped, but when it lifted, they moved. ²³At the Lord’s command the people camped, and at his command they moved. They obeyed the Lord’s order that he commanded through Moses.

The Silver Trumpets

10The Lord said to Moses, ²“Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them to call the people together and to march out of camp. ³When both trumpets are blown, the people should gather before you at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ⁴If you blow only one trumpet, the leaders, the heads of the family groups of Israel, should meet before you. ⁵When you loudly blow the trumpets, the tribes camping on the east should move. ⁶When you loudly blow them again, the tribes camping on the south should move; the loud sound will tell them to move. ⁷When you want to gather the people, blow the trumpets, but don’t blow them as loudly.

⁸“Aaron’s sons, the priests, should blow the trumpets. This is a law for you and your descendants from now on. ⁹When you are fighting an enemy who attacks you in your own land, blow the trumpets loudly. The Lord your God will take notice of you and will save you from your enemies. ¹⁰Also blow your trumpets at happy times and during your feasts and at New Moon festivals. Blow them over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, because they will help you remember your God. I am the Lord your God.”

The Israelites Move Camp

¹¹The cloud lifted from the Tent of the Agreement on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year. ¹²So the Israelites moved from the Desert of Sinai and continued until the cloud stopped in the Desert of Paran. ¹³This was their first time to move, and they did it as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁴The divisions from the camp of Judah moved first under their flag. Nahshon son of Amminadab was the commander. ¹⁵Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar. ¹⁶Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun. ¹⁷Then the Holy Tent was taken down, and the Gershonites and Merarites, who carried it, moved next.

¹⁸Then came the divisions from the camp of Reuben under their flag, and Elizur son of Shedeur was the commander. ¹⁹Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon. ²⁰Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad. ²¹Then came the Kohathites, who carried the holy things; the Holy Tent was to be set up before they arrived.

²²Next came the divisions from the camp of Ephraim under their flag, and Elishama son of Ammihud was the commander. ²³Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh, ²⁴and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.

²⁵The last ones were the rear guard for all the tribes. These were the divisions from the camp of Dan under their flag, and Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was the commander. ²⁶Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher; ²⁷Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali. ²⁸This was the order the Israelite divisions marched in when they moved.

²⁹Hobab was the son of Reuel the Midianite, ⁿ who was Moses’ father-in-law. Moses said to Hobab, “We are moving to the land the Lord promised to give us. Come with us and we will be good to you, because the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”

³⁰But Hobab answered, “No, I will not go. I will go back to my own land where I was born.”

³¹But Moses said, “Please don’t leave us. You know where we can camp in the desert, and you can be our guide. ³²Come with us. We will share with you all the good things the Lord gives us.” ³³So they left the mountain of the Lord and traveled for three days. The Ark of the Lord’s Agreement went in front of the people for those three days, as they looked for a place to camp. ³⁴The Lord’s cloud was over them during the day when they left their camp.

³⁵When the Ark left the camp, Moses said,

“Rise up, Lord!

Scatter your enemies:

make those who hate you run from you.”

³⁶And when the Ark was set down, Moses said,

“Return, Lord,

to the thousands of people of Israel.”

Fire from the Lord

11Now the people complained to the Lord about their troubles, and when he heard them, he became angry. Then fire from the Lord burned among the people at the edge of the camp. ²The people cried out to Moses, and when he prayed to the Lord, the fire stopped burning. ³So that place was called Taberah, ⁿ because the Lord’s fire had burned among them.

Seventy Older Leaders Help Moses

⁴Some troublemakers among them wanted better food, and soon all the Israelites began complaining. They said, “We want meat! ⁵We remember the fish we ate for free in Egypt. We also had cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. ⁶But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

⁷The manna was like small white seeds. ⁸The people would go to gather it, and then grind it in handmills, or crush it between stones. After they cooked it in a pot or made cakes with it, it tasted like bread baked with olive oil. ⁹When the dew fell on the camp each night, so did the manna.

¹⁰Moses heard every family crying as they stood in the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses got upset. ¹¹He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought me, your servant, this trouble? What have I done wrong that you made me responsible for all these people? ¹²I am not the father of all these people, and I didn’t give birth to them. So why do you make me carry them to the land you promised to our ancestors? Must I carry them in my arms as a nurse carries a baby? ¹³Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep crying to me, ‘We want meat!’ ¹⁴I can’t take care of all these people alone. It is too much for me. ¹⁵If you are going to continue doing this to me, then kill me now. If you care about me, put me to death, and then I won’t have any more troubles.”

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses, “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders, men that you know are leaders among the people. Bring them to the Meeting Tent, and have them stand there with you. ¹⁷I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is in you, and I will give it to them. They will help you care for the people so that you will not have to care for them alone.

¹⁸“Tell the people this: ‘Make yourselves holy for tomorrow, and you will eat meat. You cried to the Lord, “We want meat! We were better off in Egypt!” So now the Lord will give you meat to eat. ¹⁹You will eat it not for just one, two, five, ten, or even twenty days, ²⁰but you will eat that meat for a whole month. You will eat it until it comes out your nose, and you will grow to hate it. This is because you have rejected the Lord, who is with you. You have cried to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ”

²¹Moses said, “Lord, here are six hundred thousand people standing around me, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a month!’ ²²If we killed all the flocks and herds, that would not be enough. If we caught all the fish in the sea, that would not be enough.”

²³But the Lord said to Moses, “Do you think I’m…