Numbers 17:1–19:22
17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3 And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house. 4 Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before athe Testimony, bwhere I meet with you. 5 And it shall be that the rod of the man cwhom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, dwhich they make against you.”
6 So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7 And Moses placed the rods before the Lord in ethe tabernacle of witness.
8 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the frod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.
10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Bring gAaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept has a sign against the rebels, ithat you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.” 11 Thus did Moses; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.
12 So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! 13 jWhoever even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord must die. Shall we all utterly die?”
18 Then the Lord said to Aaron: a“You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bbear the 1iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood. 2 Also bring with you your brethren of the ctribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be djoined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of 2witness. 3 They shall attend to your 3needs and eall the needs of the tabernacle; fbut they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, glest they die—they and you also. 4 They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; hbut an outsider shall not come near you. 5 And you shall attend to ithe duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, jthat there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. 6 Behold, I Myself have ktaken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; lthey are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Therefore myou and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and nbehind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a ogift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”
Offerings for Support of the Priests
8 And the Lord spoke to Aaron: “Here, pI Myself have also given you 4charge of My heave offerings, all the holy gifts of the children of Israel; I have given them qas a portion to you and your sons, as an ordinance forever. 9 This shall be yours of the most holy things reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every rgrain offering and every ssin offering and every ttrespass offering which they render to Me, shall be most holy for you and your sons. 10 uIn a most holy place you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.
11 “This also is yours: vthe heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them to you, and your sons and daughters with you, as an ordinance forever. wEveryone who is 5clean in your house may eat it.
12 x“All the 6best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and the grain, ytheir firstfruits which they offer to the Lord, I have given them to you. 13 Whatever first ripe fruit is in their land, zwhich they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.
14 a“Every 7devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.
15 “Everything that first opens bthe womb of all flesh, which they bring to the Lord, whether man or beast, shall be yours; nevertheless cthe firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16 And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, daccording to your valuation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is etwenty gerahs. 17 fBut the firstborn of a cow, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. gYou shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 18 And their flesh shall be yours, just as the hwave 8breast and the right thigh are yours.
19 “All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; iit is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord with you and your descendants with you.”
20 Then the Lord said to Aaron: “You shall have jno inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; kI am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
Tithes for Support of the Levites
21 “Behold, lI have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as 9an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, mthe work of the tabernacle of meeting. 22 nHereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, olest they bear sin and die. 23 But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24 For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites 1as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’ ”
25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Speak thus to the Levites, and say to them: ‘When you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the Lord, pa tenth of the tithe. 27 And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the qthreshing floor and as the fullness of the winepress. 28 Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to the Lord from all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel, and you shall give the Lord’s heave offering from it to Aaron the priest. 29 Of all your gifts you shall offer up every heave offering due to the Lord, from all the 2best of them, the consecrated part of them.’ 30 Therefore you shall say to them: ‘When you have lifted up the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and as the produce of the winepress. 31 You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is ryour 3reward for your work in the tabernacle of meeting. 32 And you shall sbear no sin because of it, when you have lifted up the best of it. But you shall not tprofane the holy gifts of the children of Israel, lest you die.’ ”
19 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “This is the 1ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without 2blemish, in which there is no adefect band on which a yoke has never come. 3 You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it coutside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him; 4 and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and dsprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting. 5 Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: eits hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned. 6 And the priest shall take fcedar wood and ghyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer. 7 hThen the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be unclean until evening. 8 And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening. 9 Then a man who is clean shall gather up ithe ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel jfor the water of 3purification; it is for purifying from sin. 10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them.
11 k‘He who touches the dead 4body of anyone shall be unclean seven days. 12 lHe shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. 13 Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and mdoes not purify himself, ndefiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because othe water of purification was not sprinkled on him; phis uncleanness is still on him.
14 ‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days; 15 and every qopen vessel, which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean. 16 rWhoever in the open field touches one who is slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave…