Numbers 7 - 11
7 ON THE DAY THAT MOSES COMPLETED the setting up of Taber-
nacle, he anointed and consecrated it; he also anointed and consecrated
its equipment, and the altar and its vessels. The chief men of Israel, heads
of families—–that is the chiefs of the tribes, who had assisted in preparing
the detailed lists——came forward and brought their offering before the
LORD, six covered wagons and twelve oxen, one wagon from every two
chiefs and from each one an ox. These they brought forward before the
Tabernacle; and the LORD spoke to Moses and said, 'Accept these from
them: they shall be used for the service of the Tent of the Presence. Assign
them to the Levites as their several duties require.'
So Moses accepted the wagons and oxen and assigned them to the
Levites. He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites as required
for their service; four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites as required
for their service, in charge of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. He gave
none to the Kohathites because the service laid upon them was that of the
holy things: these they had to carry themselves on their shoulders.
When the altar was anointed, the chiefs brought their gift for its dedica-
tion and presented their offering before it. The LORD said to Moses, 'Let
the chiefs present their offering for the dedication of the altar one by one,
on consecutive days.'
The chief who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon son
of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah. His offering was one silver dish weigh-
ing a hundred and thirty shekels by the sacred standard and one silver
tossing-bowl weighing seventy, both full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-
offering; one saucer weighing ten gold shekel, full of incense; one young
bull, one full-grown ram, and one yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one
he-goat as a sin-offering; and two bulls, five full-grown rams, five he-goats,
and five yearling rams, as a shared offering. This was the offering of
Nahshon son of Amminadab.
On the second day Nethaneel son of Zuar, chief of Issachar, brought his
offering. He brought one silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty shekels
by the sacred standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing seventy, both
full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer weighing ten
gold shekels, full of incense, one young bull, one full-grown ram, and one
yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-offering; and two
bulls, five full-grown rams, five he-goats, and five yearling rams, as a
shared-offering. This was the offering of Nethaneel son of Zuar.
On the third day the chief of the Zebulunites, Eliab son of Helon, came.
His offering was one silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty shekels by
the sacred standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing seventy, both full
of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer weighing ten gold
shekels, full of incense; one young bull, one full-grown ram, and one year-
ling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-offering; and two bulls,
five full-grown rams, five he-goats, and five yearling rams, as a shared-
offering. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.
On the fourth day the chief of the Reubenites, Elizur son of Shedeur,
came. His offering was one silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty
shekels by the sacred standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing
seventy, both full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer
weighing ten gold shekels, full of incense; one young bull, one full-grown
ram, and one yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-offer-
ing; and two bulls, five full-grown rams, five he-goats, and five yearling
rams, as a shared-offering. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.
On the fifth day the chief of the Simeonites, Shelumiel son of Zurishad-
dai, came. His offering was one silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty
shekels by the sacred standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing
seventy, both full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer
weighing ten gold shekels, full of incense; one young bull, one full-grown
ram, and one yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-
offering; and two bulls, five full-grown rams, five he-goats, and five year-
ling rams, as a shared offering. This was the offering of Shelumiel son of
Zurishaddai.
On the sixth day the chief of the Gadites, Eliasaph son of Reuel, came.
His offering was one silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty shekels by
the sacred standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing seventy, both
full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer weighing ten
gold shekels, full of incense; one young bull, one full-grown ram, and one
yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-offering; and two
bulls, five full-grown rams, five he-goats, and five yearling rams, as a
shared-offering. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Reuel.
On the seventh day the chief of the Ephraimites, Elishama son of
Ammihud, came. His offering was one silver dish weighing a hundred and
thirty shekels by the sacred standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing
seventy, both full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer
weighing ten gold shekels, full of incense; one yearling bull, one full-grown
ram, and one yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-
offering; and two bulls, five full-grown rams, five he-goats, and five year-
ling rams, as a shared-offering. This was the offering of Elishama son of
Ammihud.
On the eighth day the chief of the Manassite, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur,
came. His offering was one silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty
shekels by the same standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing
seventy, both full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer
weighing ten gold shekels, full of incense; one young bull, one full-grown
ram, and one yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-offering;
and two bulls, five full-grown rams, five he-goats, and five yearling rams,
as a shared-offering. This was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
On the ninth day the chief of the Benjamites, Abidan son of Gideoni,
came. His offering was one silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty
shekels by the sacred standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing
seventy, both full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer
weighing ten gold shekels, full of incense; one young bull, one full-grown
ram, and one yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-
offering; two bulls, five full-grown rams, five he-goats, and five year-
ling rams, as shared-offering. This was the offering of Abidan son of
Gideoni.
On the tenth day the chief of the Danites, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai,
came. His offering was one silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty
shekels by the sacred standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing
seventy, both full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer
weighing ten gold shekels, full of incense; one yearling bull, one full-grown
ram, and one yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-
offering; and two bulls, five full-grown rams, five he-goats, and five year-
ling rams, as a shared-offering. This was the offering of Ahiezer son of
Ammishaddai.
On the eleventh day the chief of the Asherites, Pagiel son of Ocran, came.
His offering was one silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty shekels by
the sacred standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing seventy, both
full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer weighing ten
gold shekels, full of incense; one young bull, one full-grown ram, and one
yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-offering; and two
bulls, five full-grown rams, five he-goats, and five yearling rams, ads a
shared-offering. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Ocran.
On the twelfth day the chief of the Naphtalites, Ahira son of Enan, came.
His offering was one silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty shekels by
the sacred standard and one silver tossing-bowl weighing seventy, both
full of flour mixed with oil as a grain-offering; one saucer weighing ten
gold shekels, full of incense; one young bull, one full-grown ram, and one
yearling ram, as a whole-offering; one he-goat as a sin-offering; and two
bulls, five full-grown rams five he-goats, and five yearling rams, as a
shared-offering. This was the offering of Ahira son of Enan.
This was the gift from the chiefs of Israel for the dedication of the altar
when it was anointed: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver tossing-bowls, and
twelve golden saucers; each silver dish weighed a hundred and thirty
shekels, each silver tossing-bowl seventy shekels. The total weight of the
silver vessels was two thousand four hundred shekels by the sacred stan-
dard. There were twelve golden saucers full of incense, ten shekels each
by the sacred standard: the total weight of the gold of the saucers was a
hundred and twenty shekels. The number of beasts for the whole-offering
was twelve bulls, twelve full-grown rams, and twelve yearling rams, with
the prescribed grain-offerings, and twelve he-goats for the sin-offering.
The number of beasts for the shared offering was twenty-four bulls, sixty
full-grown rams, sixty he-goats, and sixty yearling rams. This was the gift
for the dedication of the altar when it was anointed. And when Moses
entered the Tent of the Presence to speak to God, he heard he Voice
speaking from above the cover over the Ark of the Tokens from between
the two cherubim: the Voice spoke to him.
8 The LORD spoke to Moses and said, 'Speak to Aaron in these words:
"When you mount the seven lamps, see that they shed their light forwards
in front of the lamp-stand."' Aaron did this: he mounted he lamps, so as
to shed light forwards in front of the lamp-stand, as the LORD had in-
structed Moses. The lamp-stand was made of beaten-work in gold, as well
as the stem and the pedals. Moses made it to match the pattern which the
LORD had shown him.
The LORD spoke to Moses and said: Take the Levites apart from the
rest of the Israelites and cleanse them ritually. This is what you shall do
to cleanse them. Sprinkle lustral water over them; they shall then shave
their whole bodies, wash their clothes, and so be cleansed. Next, they shall
take a young bull as a whole-offering with its prescribed grain-offering,
flour mixed with oil; and you shall take a second young bull as a sin-
offering. Bring the Levites before the Tent of the Presence and call the
whole community of Israelites together. Bring the Levites before the LORD,
and let the Israelites lay their hands on their heads. Aaron shall present the
Levites before the LORD as a special gift from the Israelites, and they shall
be dedicated to the service of the LORD. The Levites shall lay their hands on
the heads of the bulls; one bull shall be offered as a sin-offering and the
other as a whole-offering to the LORD, to make expiation for the Levites.
Then you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, presenting them
to the LORD as a special gift. You shall thus separate the Levites from the
rest of the Israelites, and they shall be mine.
After this, the Levites shall enter the Tent of the Presence to serve in it,
ritually cleansed and presented as a special gift; for they are given and
dedicated to me, out of all the Israelites. I have accepted them as mine in
place of all that comes first from the womb, every child first among the
Israelites; for every first-born male creature, man or beast, among the
Israelites is mine. On the day when I struck down every first-born creature
in Egypt, I hallowed all the first-born of the Israelites to myself, and I
have accepted the Levites in their place. I have given the Levites to Aaron
and his sons, dedicated among the Israelites to perform the service of the
Israelites in the Tent of the Presence and to make expiation for them, and
then no calamity will befall them when they come close to the sanctuary.
Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israelites carried out all
the commands the LORD had given t Moses for the dedication of the
Levites. The Levites purified themselves of sin and washed their clothes,
and Aaron presented them as a special gift before the LORD and made
expiation for them, to cleanse them. Then at last they went in to perform
their service in the Tent of the Presence, before Aaron and his sons. Thus
the commands the LORD had given to Moses concerning the Levites were
all carried out.
The LORD spoke to Moses and said: Touching the Levites: they shall
begin their active work in the service of the Tent of the Presence at the
age of twenty-five. At the age of fifty a Levite shall retire from regular
service and shall serve no longer. He may continue to assist his colleagues
in attendance in the Tent of the Presence but shall perform no regular
service. This is how you shall arrange the attendance of the Levites.
9 In the first month of the second year after they came out of Egypt, the
LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai and said, 'Let the Israel-
ites prepare the Passover at the time appointed for it. This shall be between
dusk and dark on the fourteenth day of this month, and you shall keep it
at this appointed time, observing every rule and custom proper to it.' So
Moses told the Israelites to prepare the Passover, and they prepared it on
the fourteenth day of the first month, between dusk and dark, in the
wilderness of Sinai. The Israelites did exactly as the LORD had instructed
Moses.
It happened that some men were ritually unclean through contact with
a corpse and so could not keep the Passover on the right day. They came
before Moses and Aaron that same day and said, 'We are unclean through
contact with a corpse. Must we therefore be debarred from presenting the
LORD's offering at its appointed time with the rest of the Israelites?' Moses
answered, 'Wait, and let me hear what commands the LORD has for you.'
The LORD spoke to Moses and said, Tell the Israelites: If any one of
you or your descendants is ritually unclean through contact with a
corpse, or if he is away on a long journey, he shall keep a Passover to the
LORD none the less. But in that case he shall prepare the victim in the
second month, between dusk and dark on the fourteenth day. It shall be
eaten with unleavened cakes and bitter herbs; nothing shall be left over
till morning, and no bone of it shall be broken. The Passover shall be kept
exactly as the law prescribes. The man who, being ritually clean and
not absent on a journey, neglects to keep the Passover, shall be cut off
from his father's kin, because he has not presented the LORD's offering at
its appointed time. That man shall accept responsibility for his sin.
When an alien is settled among you, he shall keep the Passover to
the LORD, observing every rule and custom proper to it. The same law is
binding on you all, alien and native alike.
ON THE DAY WHEN THEY SET UP THE TABERNACLE, that is the Tent
of the Tokens, cloud covered it, and in the evening a brightness like
fire appeared over it till morning. So it continued: the cloud covered it by
day and a brightness like fire by night. Whenever the cloud lifted from
the tent, the Israelites struck camp, and at the place where the cloud
settled, there they pitched their camp. At the command of the LORD they
struck camp, and at the command of the LORD they encamped again, and
continued in camp as long as the cloud rested over the Tabernacle. When
the cloud stayed long over the Tabernacle, the Israelites remained in
attendance on the LORD and did not move on; and it was the same when
the cloud continued over the tabernacle only a few days: at the command
of the LORD they remained in camp, and at the command of the LORD they
struck camp. There were also times when the cloud continued only from
evening till morning, and in the morning, when the cloud lifted, they moved
on. Whether by day or by night, they moved as soon as the cloud lifted.
Whether it was for a day or two, for a month or a year, whenever the cloud
stayed long over the Tabernacle, the Israelites remained where they were
and did not move on; they did so only when the cloud lifted. At the com-
mand of the LORD they encamped, and at his command they struck camp.
At the LORD's command, given through Moses, they remained in attend-
ance on the LORD.
10 The LORD spoke to Moses and said: Make two trumpets of beaten silver
and use them for summoning the community and for breaking camp.
When both are sounded, the whole community shall muster before you
at the entrance to the Tent of the Presence. If a single trumpet is sounded,
the chiefs who are heads of the Israelite clans shall muster. When you give
the signal for a shout, those encamped on the east side are to move off.
When the signal is given for a second shout those encamped on the south
are to move off. A signal to shout is the signal to move off. When you con-
vene the assembly, you shall sound a trumpet but not raise a shout. This
sounding of the trumpets is the duty of the Aaronite priests and shall be a
rule binding for all time on your descendants.
When you go into battle against an invader and you are hard-pressed
by him, you shall raise a cheer when the trumpets sound, and this will
serve as a reminder of you before the LORD your God and you will be
delivered from your enemies. On your festal days and at your appointed
seasons and on the first day of every month, you shall sound the trumpets
over your whole-offerings and your shared-offerings, and the trumpets
shall be a reminder on your behalf before the LORD your God. I am the
LORD your God.
In the second year, on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud
lifted from the Tabernacle of the Tokens, and the Israelites moved by
stages from the wilderness of Sinai, until the cloud came to rest in the
wilderness of Paran. The first time that they broke camp at the command
of the LORD given through Moses, the standard of the division of Judah
moved off first with its tribal hosts: the hosts of Judah under Nahshon son
of Amminadab, the host of Issachar under Nethaneel son of Zuar, and the
host of Zebulun under Eliab son of Helon. Then the Tabernacle was taken
down, and its bearers, the sons of Gershon and Merari, moved off.
Secondly, the standard of the division of Reuben moved off with its
tribal hosts: the host of Reuben under Elizur son of Shedeur, the host of
Simeon under Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, and the host of Gad under
Eliasaph son of Reuel. The Kohathites, the bearers of the holy things,
moved off next, and on their arrival found the Tabernacle set up.
Thirdly, the standard of the division of Ephraim moved off with its
tribal host: the host of Ephraim under Elishama son of Ammihud, the
host of Manasseh under Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, and the host of Ben-
jamin under Abidan son of Gideoni.
Lastly, the standard of the division of Dan, the rearguard of all the
divisions, moved off with its tribal hosts: the host of Don under Ahiezer
son of Ammishaddai, the host of Asher under Pagiel son of Ocran, and the
host of Naphtali under Ahira son of Enan.
This was the order of march for the Israelites, mustered in their hosts,
and in this order they broke camp.
And Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, his brother-in-
law, 'We are setting out for the place which the LORD promised to give us.
Come with us, and we will deal generously with you, for the LORD has
given an assurance of good fortune for Israel.' But he replied, 'No, I will
not; I would rather go to my own country and my own people.' Moses
said, 'Do not desert us, I beg you; for you know where we ought to camp
in the wilderness, and you will be our guide. If you will go with us, then
all the good fortune with which the LORD favours us we will share
with you.'
Then they moved off from the mountain of the LORD and journeyed for
three days, and the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD kept a day's journey
ahead of them to find them a place to rest. The cloud of the LORD hung
over them by day when they moved camp. Whenever the Ark began to
move, Moses said,
'Up, LORD, and may thy enemies be scattered
and those that hate thee flee before thee.'
When it halted, he said,
'Rest, LORD of the countless thousands of Israel.'
11 There came a time when the people complained to the LORD of their
hardships. When he heard, he became angry and fire from the LORD broke
out among them, and was raging at one end of the camp, when the people
appealed to Moses. He interceded with the LORD, and the fire died down.
Then they named that place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had
burned among them there.
Now there was a mixed company of strangers who had joined the
Israelites. These people began to be greedy for better things, and the
Israelites themselves wept once again and cried, 'Will no one give us meat?
Think of it! In Egypt we had fish for the asking, cucumbers and water-
melons, leeks and onions and garlic. Now our throats are parched; there
is nothing wherever we look except this manna.' (The manna looked like
coriander seed, the colour of gum resin. The people went about collecting
it, ground it up in hand-mills or pounded it in mortars, then boiled it in
the pot and made it into cakes. It tasted like butter-cakes. When dew fell on
the camp at night, the manna fell with it.) Moses heard the people wailing,
all of them in their families at the opening of their tents. Then the LORD
became very angry, and Moses was troubled. He said to the LORD, 'Why
hast thou brought trouble on thy servant? How have I displeased the LORD
that I am burdened with the care of this whole people? Am I their mother?
have I brought them into the world, and am I called upon to carry them
in my bosom, like a nurse with her babies, to the land promised by thee on
oath to their fathers? Where am I to find meat to give them all? They
pester me with their wailing and their "Give us meat to eat." This whole
people is a burden too heavy for me; I cannot carry it alone. If that is thy
purpose for me, then kill me outright. But if I have won thy favour, let me
suffer this trouble at thy hands no longer.'
The LORD answers Moses, 'Assemble seventy elders from Israel, men
known to you as elders and officers in the community; bring them to me at
the Tent of the Presence, and there let them take their stand with you. I
will come down and speak with you there. I will take back part of that same
spirit which has been conferred on you and confer it on them, and they
will share with you the burden of taking care for the people; then you will
not have to bear it alone. And to the people you shall say this: "Hallow
yourselves in readiness for tomorrow; you shall have meat to eat. You
wailed in the LORD's hearing; you said, 'Will no one give us meat? In
Egypt we lived well.' The LORD will give you meat and you shall eat it.
Not for one day only, nor for two days, nor five, nor ten, nor twenty, but
for a whole month you shall eat it until it comes out at your nostrils and
makes you sick; because you have rejected the LORD who dwells in your
midst, wailing in his presence and saying, 'Why did we ever come out of
Egypt?'"'
Moses replied, 'Here am I with six hundred thousand men on the march
around me, and thou dost promise them meat to eat for a whole month.
How can the sheep and oxen be slaughtered that would be enough for them?
If all the fish in the sea could be caught, would they be enough?' The LORD
said to Moses, 'Is there a limit to the power of the LORD? You will see this
very day whether or not my words come true.'
Moses came out and told the people what the LORD had said. He assem-
bled seventy men from the elders of the people and stationed them round
the Tent. Then the LORD descended in the cloud and spoke to him. He
took back part of that same spirit which he had conferred on Moses and
conferred it on the seventy elders; as the spirit alighted on them, they fell
into a prophetic ecstasy, for the first and only time.
Now two men named Eldad and Medad, who had been enrolled with the
seventy, were left behind in the camp. But, though they had not got out to
the Tent, the spirit alighted on them none the less, and they fell into an
ecstasy there in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses that Eldad and
Medad were in an ecstasy in the camp, whereupon Joshua son of Nun, who
had served with Moses since he was a boy, broke in, 'My lord Moses, stop
them!' But Moses said to him, 'Are you jealous on my account? I wish that
all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would confer his
spirit on them all!' And Moses rejoined the camp with the elders of Israel.
Then a wind from the LORD sprang up; it drove quails in from the west,
and they were flying all round the camp for the distance of a day's journey,
three feet above the ground. The people were busy gathering quails all
that day, all night, and all next day, and even the man who got least gathered
ten homers. They spread them out to dry all about the camp. But the meat
was scarcely between their teeth, and they had not so much as bitten it,
when the LORD's anger broke out against the people and he struck them
with a deadly plague. That place was called Kibroth-hattaavah because
there they buried the people who had been greedy for meat.
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted Apr 7, 2019, 3:10 PM UTC
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