Numbers 8; Numbers 9; Numbers 10

Numbers 8

1 The Lord said to Moses,

2 "Speak to Aaron and tell him, 'Put the seven lamps where they can light the area in front of the lampstand.'"

3 Aaron did this, putting the lamps so they lighted the area in front of the lampstand; he obeyed the command the Lord gave Moses.

4 The lampstand was made from hammered gold, from its base to the flowers. It was made exactly the way the Lord had showed Moses.

5 The Lord said to Moses,

6 "Take the Levites away from the other Israelites and make them clean.

7 This is what you should do to make them clean: Sprinkle the cleansing water on them, and have them shave their bodies and wash their clothes so they will be clean.

8 They must take a young bull and the grain offering of flour mixed with oil that goes with it. Then take a second young bull for a sin offering.

9 Bring the Levites to the front of the Meeting Tent, and gather all the Israelites around.

10 When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the Israelites should put their hands on them.

11 Aaron will present the Levites before the Lord as an offering presented from the Israelites. Then the Levites will be ready to do the work of the Lord.

12 "The Levites will put their hands on the bulls' heads -- one bull will be a sin offering to the Lord, and the other will be a burnt offering, to remove the sins of the Levites so they will belong to the Lord.

13 Make the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and present the Levites as an offering to the Lord.

14 In this way you must set apart the Levites from the other Israelites; the Levites will be mine.

15 "Make the Levites pure, and present them as an offering so that they may come to work at the Meeting Tent.

16 They will be given completely to me from the Israelites; I have taken them for myself instead of the firstborn of every Israelite woman.

17 All the firstborn in Israel -- people or animals -- are mine. When I killed all the firstborn in Egypt, I set the firstborn in Israel aside for myself.

18 But I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn in Israel.

19 From all the Israelites I have given the Levites to Aaron and his sons so that they may serve the Israelites at the Meeting Tent. They will help remove the Israelites' sins so they will belong to the Lord and so that no disaster will strike the Israelites when they approach the Holy Place."

20 So Moses, Aaron, and all the Israelites obeyed and did with the Levites what the Lord commanded Moses.

21 The Levites made themselves clean and washed their clothes. Then Aaron presented them as an offering to the Lord. He also removed their sins so they would be pure.

22 After that, the Levites came to the Meeting Tent to work, and Aaron and his sons told them what to do. They did with the Levites what the Lord commanded Moses.

23 The Lord said to Moses,

24 "This command is for the Levites. Everyone twenty-five years old or older must come to the Meeting Tent, because they all have jobs to do there.

25 At the age of fifty, they must retire from their jobs and not work again.

26 They may help their fellow Levites with their work at the Meeting Tent, but they must not do the work themselves. This is the way you are to give the Levites their jobs."

Numbers 9

1 The 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.

3 That appointed time is the fourteenth day of this month at twilight; they must obey all the rules about it."

4 So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover,

5 and 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.

6 But 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

7 said 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?"

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

9 Then 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.

11 But celebrate it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. Eat the lamb with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast.

12 Don't leave any of it until the next morning or break any of its bones. When you celebrate the Passover, follow all the rules.

13 Anyone 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.'"

15 On 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.

16 The cloud stayed above the Tent, and at night it looked like fire.

17 When the cloud moved from its place over the Tent, the Israelites moved, and wherever the cloud stopped, the Israelites camped.

18 So the Israelites moved at the Lord's command, and they camped at his command. While the cloud stayed over the Tent, they remained camped.

19 Sometimes the cloud stayed over the Tent for a long time, but the Israelites obeyed the Lord and did not move.

20 Sometimes the cloud was over it only a few days. At the Lord's command the people camped, and at his command they moved.

21 Sometimes 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.

22 The 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.

23 At the Lord's command the people camped, and at his command they moved. They obeyed the Lord's order that he commanded through Moses.

Numbers 10

1 The 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.

3 When both trumpets are blown, the people should gather before you at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.

4 If you blow only one trumpet, the leaders, the heads of the family groups of Israel, should meet before you.

5 When you loudly blow the trumpets, the tribes camping on the east should move.

6 When you loudly blow them again, the tribes camping on the south should move; the loud sound will tell them to move.

7 When 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.

9 When 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.

10 Also 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."

11 The cloud lifted from the Tent of the Agreement on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year.

12 So the Israelites moved from the Desert of Sinai and continued until the cloud stopped in the Desert of Paran.

13 This was their first time to move, and they did it as the Lord had commanded Moses.

14 The divisions from the camp of Judah moved first under their flag. Nahshon son of Amminadab was the commander.

15 Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar.

16 Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun.

17 Then the Holy Tent was taken down, and the Gershonites and Merarites, who carried it, moved next.

18 Then came the divisions from the camp of Reuben under their flag, and Elizur son of Shedeur was the commander.

19 Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon.

20 Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad.

21 Then came the Kohathites, who carried the holy things; the Holy Tent was to be set up before they arrived.

22 Next came the divisions from the camp of Ephraim under their flag, and Elishama son of Ammihud was the commander.

23 Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh,

24 and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.

25 The 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.

26 Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher;

27 Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali.

28 This was the order the Israelite divisions marched in when they moved.

29 Hobab was the son of Reuel the Midianite, 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."

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

31 But Moses said, "Please don't leave us. You know where we can camp in the desert, and you can be our guide.

32 Come with us. We will share with you all the good things the Lord gives us."

33 So 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.

34 The Lord's cloud was over them during the day when they left their camp.

35 When the Ark left the camp, Moses said, "Rise up, Lord! Scatter your enemies: make those who hate you run from you."

36 And when the Ark was set down, Moses said, "Return, Lord, to the thousands of people of Israel."