[ Numbers Chapter 8 ]
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto Aaron and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven
lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.
3 And Aaron did so, he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick,
as the LORD commanded Moses.
4 And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof,
unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the
LORD had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.
5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
6 Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.
7 And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying
upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes,
and so make themselves clean.
8 Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour
mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.
9 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation:
and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together:
10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel
shall put their hands upon the Levites:
11 And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the
children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD.
12 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and
thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering,
unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites.
13 And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer
them for an offering unto the LORD.
14 Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and
the Levites shall be mine.
15 And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of
the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.
16 For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel, instead
of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of
Israel, have I taken them unto me.
17 For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast:
on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them
for myself.
18 And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.
19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among
the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the
tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of
Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children
of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.
20 And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did
to the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the
Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.
21 And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes, and Aaron
offered them as an offering before the LORD, and Aaron made an atonement for
them to cleanse them.
22 And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of
the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded
Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24 This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old
and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the
congregation:
25 And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service
thereof, and shall serve no more:
26 But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation,
to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites
touching their charge.
[ Numbers Chapter 9 ]
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month
of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
2 Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.
3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his
appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the
ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.
4 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the
passover.
5 And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in
the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did
the children of Israel.
6 And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that
they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and
before Aaron on that day:
7 And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man:
wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his
appointed season among the children of Israel?
8 And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will
command concerning you.
9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your
posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar
off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.
11 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it:
according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
13 But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep
the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because
he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall
bear his sin.
14 And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto
the LORD, according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the
manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the
stranger, and for him that was born in the land.
15 And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the
tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the
tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.
16 So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by
night.
17 And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the
children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the
children of Israel pitched their tents.
18 At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the
commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the
tabernacle they rested in their tents.
19 And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the
children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.
20 And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle, according
to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the
commandment of the LORD they journeyed.
21 And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the
cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or
by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
22 Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried
upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their
tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
23 At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the
commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the
commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
[ Numbers Chapter 10 ]
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Make thee two trumpets of silver, of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that
thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of
the camps.
3 And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves
to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
4 And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of
the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.
5 When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go
forward.
6 When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south
side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
7 But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye
shall not sound an alarm.
8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets, and they
shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.
9 And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then
ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets, and ye shall be remembered before the
LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the
beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt
offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, that they may be to
you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.
11 And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second
year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony.
12 And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of
Sinai, and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.
13 And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the LORD by
the hand of Moses.
14 In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah
according to their armies: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
15 And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethaneel the
son of Zuar.
16 And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son
of Helon.
17 And the tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of
Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle.
18 And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies:
and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur.
19 And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the
son of Zurishaddai.
20 And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of
Deuel.
21 And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the other did set
up the tabernacle against they came.
22 And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according
to their armies: and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud.
23 And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the
son of Pedahzur.
24 And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son
of Gideoni.
25 And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward, which was
the rereward of all the camps throughout their hosts: and over his host was
Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
26 And over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of
Ocran.
27 And over the host of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son
of Enan.
28 Thus were the journeyings of the children of Israel according to their
armies, when they set forward.
29 And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in
law, We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said, I will give it
you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the LORD hath spoken good
concerning Israel.
30 And he said unto him, I will not go, but I will depart to mine own land, and
to my kindred.
31 And he said, Leave us not, I pray thee, forasmuch as thou knowest how we are
to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes.
32 And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the
LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee.
33 And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days' journey: and the ark
of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days' journey, to
search out a resting place for them.
34 And the cloud of the LORD was upon them by day, when they went out of the
camp.
35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up,
LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee
before thee.
36 And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of
Israel.