Numbers 15–17

Laws of Grain and Drink Offerings

15And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2a“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving to you, ³and you ^bmake an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice, ^cto fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or ^din your appointed feasts, to make a ^esweet ¹aroma to the Lord, from the herd or the flock, ⁴then ^fhe who presents his offering to the Lord shall bring ^ga grain offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed ^hwith one-fourth of a hin of oil; ⁵ⁱand one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering you shall prepare with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, for each ^jlamb. ^6kOr for a ram you shall prepare as a grain offering two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil; ⁷and as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine as a sweet aroma to the Lord. ⁸And when you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering, or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or as a ^lpeace offering to the Lord, ⁹then shall be offered ^mwith the young bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; ¹⁰and you shall bring as the drink offering half a hin of wine as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.

¹¹ⁿ‘Thus it shall be done for each young bull, for each ram, or for each lamb or young goat. ¹²According to the number that you prepare, so you shall do with everyone according to their number. ¹³All who are native-born shall do these things in this manner, in presenting an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord. ¹⁴And if a stranger ²dwells with you, or whoever is among you throughout your generations, and would present an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord, just as you do, so shall he do. ^15oOne ³ordinance shall be for you of the assembly and for the stranger who dwells with you, an ordinance forever throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. ¹⁶One law and one custom shall be for you and for the stranger who dwells with you.’ ”

¹⁷Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^18p“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land to which I bring you, ¹⁹then it will be, when you eat of ^qthe bread of the land, that you shall offer up a heave offering to the Lord. ^20rYou shall offer up a cake of the first of your ground meal as a heave offering; as ^sa heave offering of the threshing floor, so shall you offer it up. ²¹Of the first of your ground meal you shall give to the Lord a heave offering throughout your generations.

Laws Concerning Unintentional Sin

^22t‘If you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses—²³all that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations—²⁴then it will be, ^uif it is unintentionally committed, ⁴without the knowledge of the congregation, that the whole congregation shall offer one young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma to the Lord, ^vwith its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and ^wone kid of the goats as a sin offering. ^25xSo the priest shall make atonement for the whole congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them, for it was unintentional; they shall bring their offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their unintended sin. ²⁶It shall be forgiven the whole congregation of the children of Israel and the stranger who dwells among them, because all the people did it unintentionally.

²⁷‘And ^yif a person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring a female goat in its first year as a sin offering. ^28zSo the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally, when he sins unintentionally before the Lord, to make atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. ^29aYou shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwells among them.

Law Concerning Presumptuous Sin

^30b‘But the person who does anything ⁵presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one ⁶brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall be ⁷cut off from among his people. ³¹Because he has ^cdespised the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his ⁸guilt shall be upon him.’ ”

Penalty for Violating the Sabbath

³²Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, ^dthey found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ³³And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. ³⁴They put him ^eunder guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.

³⁵Then the Lord said to Moses, ^f“The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall ^gstone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

Tassels on Garments

³⁷Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁸“Speak to the children of Israel: Tell ^hthem to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. ³⁹And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and ⁱremember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you ^jmay not ^kfollow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, ⁴⁰and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be ^lholy for your God. ⁴¹I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Rebellion Against Moses and Aaron

16Now ^aKorah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with ^bDathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; ²and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, ^crepresentatives of the congregation, men of renown. ^3dThey gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You ¹take too much upon yourselves, for ^eall the congregation is holy, every one of them, ^fand the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

⁴So when Moses heard it, he ^gfell on his face; ⁵and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is ^hHis and who is ⁱholy, ²and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to ^jcome near to Him. ⁶Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company; ⁷put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

⁸Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: ⁹Is it ^ka small thing to you that the God of Israel has ^lseparated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them; ¹⁰and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also? ¹¹Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. ^mAnd what is Aaron that you complain against him?”

¹²And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up! ¹³Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of ⁿa land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should ^okeep acting like a prince over us? ¹⁴Moreover ^pyou have not brought us into ^qa land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”

¹⁵Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, ^r“Do not ³respect their offering. ^sI have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”

¹⁶And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present ^tbefore the Lord—you and they, as well as Aaron. ¹⁷Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.” ¹⁸So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then ^uthe glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ^21v“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may ^wconsume them in a moment.”

²²Then they ^xfell ⁴on their faces, and said, “O God, ^ythe God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the ^zcongregation?”

²³So the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴“Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’ ”

²⁵Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶And he spoke to the congregation, saying, ^a“Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.” ²⁷So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little ^bchildren.

²⁸And Moses said: ^c“By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them ^dof my own will. ²⁹If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are ^evisited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰But if the Lord creates ^fa new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them,…