Numbers 9:9-19

9 ADONAI said to Moshe,
10 "Tell the people of Isra'el, 'If any of you now or in future generations is unclean because of a corpse, or if he is on a trip abroad, nevertheless he is to observe Pesach.
11 But he will observe it in the second month on the fourteenth day at dusk. They are to eat it with matzah and maror,
12 they are to leave none of it until morning, and they are not to break any of its bones -they are to observe it according to all the regulations of Pesach.
13 But the person who is clean and not on a trip who fails to observe Pesach will be cut off from his people; because he did not bring the offering for ADONAI at its designated time, that person will bear the consequences of his sin.
14 If a foreigner is staying with you and wants to observe Pesach for ADONAI, he is to do it according to the regulations and rules of Pesach- you are to have the same law for the foreigner as for the citizen of the land.'"
15 On the day the tabernacle was put up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, that is, the tent of the testimony; and in the evening, over the tabernacle was what appeared to be fire, which remained until morning.
16 So the cloud always covered it, and it looked like fire at night.
17 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tent, the people of Isra'el continued their travels; and they camped wherever the cloud stopped.
18 At the order of ADONAI, the people of Isra'el traveled; at the order of ADONAI, they camped; and as long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they stayed in camp.
19 Even when the cloud remained on the tabernacle for a long time, the people of Isra'el did what ADONAI had charged them to do and did not travel.

Numbers 9:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 9

In this chapter the command for keeping the passover is repeated, and it was accordingly kept, Nu 9:1-5; but some persons being defiled and disqualified for observing it, Moses inquires of the Lord, on their solicitation, what should be done in such a case, Nu 9:6-8; when it was ordered to be kept by such, and those on journeys, on the fourteenth day of the second month, but not by others, who were to observe it according to its first appointment, Nu 9:9-14; and an account is given of the appearance of the cloud by day, and fire by night, upon the tabernacle, which directed the children of Israel when to journey, and when to pitch their tents, Nu 9:15-23.

Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.