Numbers 15–17

Other Offerings

15The Lord said to Moses, ²“Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘You are going to enter the land I am giving you as a home. ³When you do, you will give offerings that are made to the Lord with fire. The animals must come from your herd or flock. The offerings will give a smell that is pleasant to the Lord. They can be either burnt offerings or sacrifices. They can be either for special promises or for feast offerings. Or they can be for offerings you choose to give.

⁴“ ‘With each of the offerings, the one who brings it must give the Lord a grain offering. It must be eight cups of fine flour. It must be mixed with a quart of olive oil. ⁵Also prepare a quart of wine as a drink offering. You must give it with each lamb that you bring for the burnt offering or the sacrifice.

⁶“ ‘With a ram prepare a grain offering. It must be 16 cups of fine flour. It must be mixed with two and a half pints of olive oil. ⁷You must bring two and a half pints of wine as a drink offering. Offer everything as a smell that is pleasant to the Lord.

⁸“ ‘Suppose you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice. You prepare it to keep a special promise to the Lord. Or you prepare it to give as a friendship offering. ⁹Then bring a grain offering with the bull. The grain offering must be 24 cups of fine flour. It must be mixed with two quarts of olive oil. ¹⁰Also bring two quarts of wine as a drink offering. It will be an offering that is made with fire. It will give a smell that is pleasant to the Lord.

¹¹“ ‘Each bull or ram must be prepared in the same way. Each lamb or young goat must also be prepared in that way. ¹²Do it for each animal. Do it for as many animals as you prepare.

¹³“ ‘Everyone in Israel must do those things in that way. He must do them when he brings an offering that is made with fire. Offerings like that give a smell that is pleasant to the Lord.

¹⁴“ ‘Everyone must always do what the law requires. It does not matter whether he is an outsider or someone else who is living among you. He must do exactly as you do when he brings an offering that is made with fire. Offerings like that give a smell that is pleasant to the Lord.

¹⁵“ ‘The community must have the same rules for you and for the outsider who is living among you. That law will last for all time to come. In the sight of the Lord, the law applies to you and the outsider alike. ¹⁶The same laws and rules will apply to you and to the outsider who is living among you.’ ”

¹⁷The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸“Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘You are going to enter the land I am taking you to. ¹⁹You will eat its food. When you do, bring part of it as an offering to the Lord. ²⁰Bring a loaf that is made from the first flour you grind. Give it as an offering from the threshing floor. ²¹You must bring the offering to the Lord. You must give it from the first grain you grind. You must do it for all time to come.

Offerings for Sins That Aren’t Committed on Purpose

²²“ ‘Suppose you fail to keep any of the commands the Lord gave Moses. And suppose you do it without meaning to. ²³That applies to any of the commands the Lord told Moses to give you. And they are in effect from the day the Lord gave them and for all time to come. ²⁴Suppose the community sins without meaning to. And suppose they do not know they have sinned. Then the whole community must offer a young bull. They must offer it for a burnt offering. It will give a smell that is pleasant to the Lord. Along with it, they must offer its required grain offering and drink offering. They must also offer a male goat for a sin offering.

²⁵“ ‘With it the priest will pay for the sin of the whole community of Israel. Then they will be forgiven. They did not mean to commit that sin. And they have brought to the Lord an offering that is made with fire for the wrong thing they did. They have brought a sin offering with it.

²⁶“ ‘The Lord will forgive the whole community of Israel and the outsiders living among them. All of the people had a part in the sin, even though they did not mean to do it.

²⁷“ ‘But suppose just one person sins without meaning to. Then he must bring a female goat for a sin offering. It must be a year old. ²⁸With it the priest will pay for the person’s sin in the sight of the Lord. He will do it for the one who did wrong by sinning without meaning to. When the sin is paid for, that person will be forgiven.

²⁹“ ‘The same law applies to everyone who sins without meaning to. It does not matter whether he is an Israelite or an outsider.

³⁰“ ‘But suppose someone sins on purpose. It does not matter whether he is an Israelite or an outsider. He speaks evil things against the Lord. He must be cut off from his people. ³¹He has made fun of what the Lord has said. He has broken the Lord’s commands. He must certainly be cut off. He is still guilty.’ ”

A Man Breaks the Sabbath Day

³²The people of Israel were in the desert. One Sabbath day, people saw a man gathering wood. ³³They brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole community. ³⁴They kept him under guard. It wasn’t clear what should be done to him.

³⁵Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole community must kill him by throwing stones at him. They must do it outside the camp.”

³⁶So the people took the man outside the camp. There they killed him by throwing stones at him. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Tassels on Clothes

³⁷The Lord said to Moses, ³⁸“Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘You must make tassels on the corners of your clothes. A blue cord must be on each tassel. You must do it for all time to come. ³⁹You will have the tassels to look at. They will remind you to obey all of the Lord’s commands. Then you will be faithful to him. You will not go after what your own hearts and eyes long for.

⁴⁰“ ‘You will remember to obey all of my commands. And you will be set apart for your God. ⁴¹I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’ ”

Korah, Dathan and Abiram

16Korah was the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath. Kohath was the son of Levi. Korah and certain men from the tribe of Reuben turned against Moses. The men from Reuben were Dathan, Abiram and On. Dathan and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. On was the son of Peleth. ²All of those men rose up against Moses. And 250 men of Israel joined them. All of them were known as leaders in the community. They had been appointed as members of the ruling body.

³They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron. They said to Moses and Aaron, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy. Every one in it is holy. And the Lord is with them. So why do you put yourselves above the Lord’s people?”

⁴When Moses heard what they said, he fell with his face to the ground. ⁵Then he spoke to Korah and all of his followers. He said, “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will show who is holy. He’ll bring that person near him. He’ll bring the man he chooses near him.

⁶“Korah, here’s what you and all of your followers must do. Get some shallow cups for burning incense. ⁷Tomorrow put fire and incense in them. Offer it to the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”

⁸Moses also said to Korah, “Listen, you Levites! ⁹The God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the community of Israel. He has brought you near him to work at the Lord’s holy tent. He has given you to the people so that you can serve them. Isn’t all of that enough for you? ¹⁰He has already brought you and all of the other Levites near him. But now you want to be priests too. ¹¹You and all of your followers have joined together against the Lord. Why are you telling Aaron you aren’t happy with him?”

¹²Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We won’t come! ¹³You have brought us up out of a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You have brought us here to kill us in this desert. Isn’t that enough? Now do you also want to act as if you were ruling over us?

¹⁴“Besides, you haven’t brought us into a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You haven’t given us fields and vineyards of our own. Are you going to poke out the eyes of these men? No! We won’t come!”

¹⁵Then Moses became very angry. He said to the Lord, “Don’t accept their offering. I haven’t taken even a donkey from them. In fact, I haven’t done anything wrong to any of them.”

¹⁶Moses said to Korah, “You and all of your followers must stand in front of the Lord tomorrow. You must appear there along with Aaron. ¹⁷Each man must get his shallow cup. He must put incense in it. There will be a total of 250 incense cups. Each man must bring his cup to the Lord. You and Aaron must also bring your cups.”

¹⁸So each man got his cup. He put fire and incense in it. All of the men came with Moses and Aaron. They stood at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹Korah gathered all of his followers together at the entrance to the tent. They opposed Moses and Aaron.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community. ²⁰The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ²¹“Separate yourselves from these people. Then I can put an end to all of them at once.”

²²But Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground. They cried out, “God, you are the God who creates the spirits of all people. Will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?”

²³Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ²⁴“Tell the community, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”

²⁵Moses got up. He went to Dathan and Abiram. The elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶Moses warned the community. He said, “Move away from the tents of those evil men! Don’t touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, the Lord will sweep you away because of all of their sins.”

²⁷So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had already come out. They were standing at the entrances to their tents. Their wives,…