Numbers 19:1–22:1

The Special Water That Makes People “Clean”

19The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ²“Here is what the law I have commanded requires. Tell the people of Israel to bring you a young red cow. It must not have any flaws at all. It must never have pulled a load.

³“Give it to the priest Eleazar. It must be taken outside the camp and killed in front of him. ⁴Then the priest Eleazar must put some of its blood on his finger. He must sprinkle the blood toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. He must do it seven times.

⁵“While he watches, the young cow must be burned. Its hide, meat, blood and guts must be burned. ⁶The priest must get some cedar wood, branches of a hyssop plant, and bright red wool. He must throw them on the young cow as it burns.

⁷“After that, the priest must wash his clothes. He must also take a bath. Then he can come into the camp. But he will be ‘unclean’ until evening.

⁸“The man who burns the young cow must wash his clothes. He must also take a bath. He too will be ‘unclean’ until evening.

⁹“A man who is ‘clean’ will gather up the ashes of the young cow. He must put them in a place that is ‘clean.’ The place must be outside the camp. The ashes will be kept by the community of Israel. They will be added to the special water. The water will be used to make people pure from their sin.

¹⁰“The man who gathers up the ashes of the young cow must wash his clothes. He too will be ‘unclean’ until evening. That law is for the people of Israel. It is also for the outsiders who are living among them. The law will last for all time to come.

¹¹“Anyone who touches a dead person’s body will be ‘unclean’ for seven days. ¹²He must make himself pure and clean with the special water. He must do it on the third day. He must also do it on the seventh day. Then he will be ‘clean.’

“But suppose he does not make himself pure and clean on the third and seventh days. Then he will not be ‘clean.’ ¹³Anyone who touches a dead person’s body and does not make himself pure and clean makes my holy tent ‘unclean.’ He must be cut off from Israel. The special water has not been sprinkled on him. So he is ‘unclean.’ And he remains ‘unclean.’

¹⁴“Here is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent. Anyone who enters the tent will be ‘unclean’ for seven days. Anyone who is in the tent will also be ‘unclean’ for seven days. ¹⁵And anything in it that is open and has no lid will be ‘unclean.’

¹⁶“Suppose someone is out in the country. And suppose he touches someone who has been killed with a sword. Or he touches someone who has died a natural death. Or he touches a human bone or a grave. Then anyone who touches any of those things will be ‘unclean’ for seven days.

¹⁷“Here is what I want you to do for someone who is not ‘clean.’ Put some ashes from the burned young cow into a jar. Pour fresh water on the ashes. ¹⁸Then a man who is ‘clean’ must dip branches of a hyssop plant in the water. He must sprinkle the tent with it. Everything that belongs to the tent must be sprinkled with it. The people who were in the tent must also be sprinkled. Anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave must be sprinkled. So must anyone who has touched someone who has been killed. So must anyone who has touched someone who has died a natural death.

¹⁹“The man who is ‘clean’ must sprinkle the person who is not. That must be done on the third and seventh days. On the seventh day the person who is not ‘clean’ must be made pure and clean. The one who is being made ‘clean’ must wash his clothes. He must take a bath. Then that evening he will be ‘clean.’

²⁰“But what if a person who is ‘unclean’ does not make himself pure and clean? Then he must be cut off from the community. He has made my holy tent ‘unclean.’ The special water has not been sprinkled on him. He is not ‘clean.’ ²¹That law will apply to all of those people for all time to come.

“The man who sprinkles the special water must also wash his clothes. Anyone who touches the water will be ‘unclean’ until evening. ²²Anything that an ‘unclean’ person touches becomes ‘unclean.’ And anyone who touches it becomes ‘unclean’ until evening.”

The Lord Gives Israel Water Out of the Rock

20In the first month the whole community of Israel arrived at the Desert of Zin. They stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there. Her body was also buried there.

²The people didn’t have any water. So they gathered together to oppose Moses and Aaron. ³They argued with Moses. They said, “We wish we had died when our people fell dead in front of the Lord.

⁴“Why did you bring the Lord’s people into this desert? We and our livestock will die here. ⁵Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Why did you bring us to this terrible place? It doesn’t have any grain or figs. It doesn’t have any grapes or pomegranates. There isn’t even any water for us to drink!”

⁶Moses and Aaron left the people. They went to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. There they fell with their faces to the ground.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ⁸“Get your wooden staff. You and your brother Aaron gather the people together. Then speak to that rock while everyone is watching. It will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community. Then they and their livestock can drink it.”

⁹So Moses took the wooden staff from the tent. He did just as the Lord had commanded him. ¹⁰He and Aaron gathered the people together in front of the rock. Moses said to them, “Listen, you who refuse to obey! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?”

¹¹Then Moses raised his arm. He hit the rock twice with his staff. Water poured out. And the people and their livestock drank it.

¹²But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “You did not trust in me enough to honor me. You did not honor me as the holy God in front of the people of Israel. So you will not bring this community into the land I am giving them.”

¹³Those were the waters of Meribah. That’s where the people of Israel argued with the Lord. And that’s where he showed them he is holy.

Edom Doesn’t Let Israel Pass Through Its Territory

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. The messengers said,

“The nation of Israel is your brother. They say, ‘You know about all of the hard times we’ve had. ¹⁵Long ago our people went down into Egypt. We lived there for many years. The Egyptians treated us and our people badly. ¹⁶But we cried out to the Lord. He heard our cry. He sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt.

“ ‘Now here we are at the town of Kadesh. It’s on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷Please let us pass through your country. We won’t go through any field or vineyard. We won’t drink water from any well. We’ll travel along the king’s highway. We won’t turn to the right or the left. We’ll just go straight through your territory.’ ”

¹⁸But the people of Edom answered,

“You can’t pass through here. If you try to, we’ll march out against you. We’ll attack you with our swords.”

¹⁹The people of Israel replied,

“We’ll go along the main road. We and our livestock won’t drink any of your water. If we do, we’ll pay for it. We only want to walk through your country. That’s all we ask.”

²⁰Again the people of Edom answered,

“You can’t pass through here.”

Then the people of Edom came out against them. They came with a large and powerful army. ²¹Edom refused to let Israel go through their territory. So Israel turned away from them.

Aaron Dies

²²The whole community of Israel started out from Kadesh. They arrived at Mount Hor. ²³It was near the border of Edom. There the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ²⁴“Aaron will join the members of his family who have already died. He will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel. Both of you refused to obey my command. You did it at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵“So get Aaron and his son Eleazar. Take them up Mount Hor. ²⁶Take Aaron’s official robes off him. Put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will die on Mount Hor. He will join the members of his family who have already died.”

²⁷Moses did just as the Lord had commanded. The three men went up Mount Hor while the whole community was watching. ²⁸Moses took Aaron’s official robes off him. He put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

²⁹The whole community found out that Aaron had died. So the entire nation of Israel sobbed over him for 30 days.

Israel Destroys Arad

21The Canaanite king of the city of Arad lived in the Negev Desert. He heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim. So he attacked the people of Israel. He captured some of them.

²Then Israel made a promise to the Lord. They said, “Hand these people over to us. If you do, we will set their cities apart to you in a special way to be destroyed.”

³The Lord gave Israel what they asked for. He handed the Canaanites over to them. Israel completely destroyed them. They also destroyed their towns. So that place was named Hormah.

Moses Makes a Bronze Snake

⁴The people of Israel traveled from Mount Hor along the way to the Red Sea. They wanted to go around Edom. But they grew tired on the way. ⁵So they spoke against God. They also spoke against Moses. They said to them, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? Do you want us to die here in the desert? We don’t have any bread! We don’t have any water! And we hate this awful food!”

⁶Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people of Israel. The snakes bit them. Many of the people died. ⁷The others came to Moses. They said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake. Put it up on a pole. Then anyone who is bitten can look at it and remain alive.” ⁹So Moses made a bronze snake. He put it up on a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake remained alive.

The People Continue On to Moab

¹⁰The people…