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Numbers 18-20
New American Standard Bible

Duties of Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and your father’s household with you shall (A)bear the guilt [a]in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt [b]in connection with your priesthood. 2 But also bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may (B)join you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3 And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but (C)they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and (D)the altar, or both they and you will die. 4 They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but [c]an unauthorized person shall not come near you. 5 So you shall perform the (E)duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, (F)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. 6 Behold, I Myself (G)have taken your [d]fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are (H)a gift to you, [e]dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. 7 But you and your sons with you shall (I)attend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as (J)a [f]service that is a gift, and (K)the [g]unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death.”

The Priests’ Portion

8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Now behold, I Myself have put you in charge of My [h](L)offerings, all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent allotment. 9 This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, namely (M)every grain offering, every (N)sin offering, and every guilt offering, with which they shall make restitution to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. 10 As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you. 11 This also is yours, (O)the offering of their gift, that is, all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have (P)given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 12 (Q)All the [i]best of the fresh oil and all the [j]best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the Lord, I have given them to you. 13 (R)The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 14 (S)Everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be yours. 15 [k](T)Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether human or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; however you must redeem the human firstborn, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16 As to [l]their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your assessment, five [m]shekels in silver by the [n]shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17 But (U)the firstborn of an ox, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. (V)You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 18 However, their [o]meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the (W)breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh. 19 (X)All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a permanent allotment. It is (Y)a permanent covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your [p]descendants with you.” 20 Then the Lord said to Aaron, “(Z)You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; (AA)I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

21 “To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the (AB)tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. 22 And (AC)the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bring sin on themselves and die. 23 Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall (AD)bear their own guilt; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel (AE)they shall have no inheritance. 24 For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘(AF)They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel (AG)the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a (AH)tithe of the tithe. 27 Your offering shall be credited to you like the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. 28 So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest. 29 Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the [q]best of them, [r]the sacred part from them.’ 30 And you shall say to them, ‘When you have [s]offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be credited to the Levites like the product of the threshing floor, and like the product of the wine vat. 31 You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 And you will bring on yourselves no sin by reason of it when you have [t]offered the [u]best of it. But you shall not (AI)profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you do not die.’”

Ordinance of the Red Heifer

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an (AJ)unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and (AK)on which a yoke has never [v]been mounted. 3 And you shall give it to (AL)Eleazar the priest, and it shall (AM)be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. 4 And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and (AN)sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. 5 Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; (AO)its hide, its flesh, and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. 6 And the priest shall take (AP)cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet material, and throw it into the midst of the [w]burning heifer. 7 The priest (AQ)shall then wash his clothes and bathe his [x]body in water, and afterward come into the camp; but the priest will be [y]unclean until evening. 8 The one who burns [z]the heifer shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his [aa]body in water, and will be unclean until evening. 9 Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them outside the camp in a clean place, and [ab]the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep them for (AR)water to remove impurity; it is [ac]purification from sin. 10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer (AS)shall wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening; and it shall be a permanent statute for the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them.

11 ‘(AT)The one who touches the dead body of any [ad]person will also be unclean for seven days. 12 That one shall (AU)purify himself with [ae]the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. 13 (AV)Anyone who touches a dead body, the [af]body of a person who has died, and does not purify himself, (AW)defiles the [ag]tabernacle of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water for impurity was not (AX)sprinkled on him, he will be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

14 ‘This is the law when a person dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent will be unclean for seven days. 15 And every open container, which has no cover tied down on it, will be unclean. 16 (AY)Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been killed with a sword or one who has died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days. 17 Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the [ah]ashes of the [ai]burnt [aj](AZ)purification from sin and [ak]running water shall be [al]added to them in a container. 18 And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the furnishings, on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one who was killed or the one who died naturally, or the grave. 19 Then the clean person (BA)shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and will be clean by evening.

20 ‘But the person who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has (BB)defiled the sanctuary of the Lord; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, so he is unclean. 21 So it shall be a permanent statute for them. And the one (BC)who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity will be unclean until evening. 22 (BD)Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches will be unclean; and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”

Death of Miriam

20 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the (BE)wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.

2 (BF)There was no water for the congregation, (BG)and they assembled against Moses and Aaron. 3 (BH)Then the people argued with Moses and spoke, saying, “(BI)If only we had perished (BJ)when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 (BK)Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our livestock to die [am]here? 5 Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? (BL)It is not a place of [an]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink!” 6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and (BM)fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them; 7 then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

The Waters of Meribah

8 “Take (BN)the staff; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it shall yield its water. So you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and have the congregation and their livestock drink.”

9 So Moses took the staff (BO)from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them, “(BP)Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and (BQ)water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “(BR)Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13 Those were called the waters of [ao](BS)Meribah, [ap]because the sons of Israel argued with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.

14 From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to (BT)the king of Edom to say, “This is what your brother Israel has said: ‘You (BU)know all the hardship that has [aq]overtaken us; 15 that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. 16 But (BV)when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent (BW)an angel, and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. 17 Please (BX)let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s road, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”

18 (BY)Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through [ar]us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” 19 Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the road, and if I and (BZ)my livestock do drink any of your water, (CA)then I will [as]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, [at]nothing more.” 20 But he said, “(CB)You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy [au]force and a strong hand. 21 (CC)So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; (CD)then Israel turned away from him.

22 Now when they set out from (CE)Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

Death of Aaron

23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at (CF)Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, 24 “Aaron will be (CG)gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because (CH)you rebelled against My [av]command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and his son (CI)Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Hor. 26 Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be (CJ)gathered to his people and will die there.” 27 So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28 And after Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and (CK)put them on his son Eleazar, (CL)Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, the whole house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty (CM)days.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 18:1 Lit of the sanctuary
  2. Numbers 18:1 Lit of your priesthood
  3. Numbers 18:4 Lit a stranger
  4. Numbers 18:6 Lit brothers the
  5. Numbers 18:6 Lit given
  6. Numbers 18:7 Lit service of a gift
  7. Numbers 18:7 Lit stranger
  8. Numbers 18:8 Or uplifted offerings, and so throughout the ch
  9. Numbers 18:12 Lit fat
  10. Numbers 18:12 Lit fat
  11. Numbers 18:15 Lit Everything that opens
  12. Numbers 18:16 Lit his being redeemed
  13. Numbers 18:16 A shekel is about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm
  14. Numbers 18:16 A shekel is about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm
  15. Numbers 18:18 Lit flesh
  16. Numbers 18:19 Lit seed
  17. Numbers 18:29 Lit fat
  18. Numbers 18:29 Lit its
  19. Numbers 18:30 Lit lifted
  20. Numbers 18:32 Lit lifted
  21. Numbers 18:32 Lit fat
  22. Numbers 19:2 Lit gone up
  23. Numbers 19:6 Lit burning of the heifer
  24. Numbers 19:7 Lit flesh
  25. Numbers 19:7 I.e., ritually unclean, and so throughout the ch
  26. Numbers 19:8 Lit it
  27. Numbers 19:8 Lit flesh
  28. Numbers 19:9 Lit it shall be to the congregation...Israel, for a guarding as water of impurity
  29. Numbers 19:9 Or a sin offering
  30. Numbers 19:11 Lit soul of mankind
  31. Numbers 19:12 Lit it
  32. Numbers 19:13 Lit soul
  33. Numbers 19:13 Lit dwelling place
  34. Numbers 19:17 Lit dust
  35. Numbers 19:17 Lit burning of the
  36. Numbers 19:17 Or sin offering
  37. Numbers 19:17 Lit living
  38. Numbers 19:17 Lit given
  39. Numbers 20:4 Lit there
  40. Numbers 20:5 Lit seed
  41. Numbers 20:13 I.e., contention
  42. Numbers 20:13 Or where
  43. Numbers 20:14 Lit found
  44. Numbers 20:18 Lit me
  45. Numbers 20:19 Lit give
  46. Numbers 20:19 Or no great thing
  47. Numbers 20:20 Lit people
  48. Numbers 20:24 Lit mouth
Listen to Numbers 18-20
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Numbers 18-20
New International Version

Duties of Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary,(A) and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood. 2 Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister(B) before the tent of the covenant law. 3 They are to be responsible to you(C) and are to perform all the duties of the tent,(D) but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar. Otherwise both they and you will die.(E) 4 They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting—all the work at the tent—and no one else may come near where you are.(F)

5 “You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar,(G) so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. 6 I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you,(H) dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the tent of meeting.(I) 7 But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain.(J) I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift.(K) Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.(L)”

Offerings for Priests and Levites

8 Then the Lord said to Aaron, “I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion,(M) your perpetual share.(N) 9 You are to have the part of the most holy offerings(O) that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain(P) or sin[a](Q) or guilt offerings,(R) that part belongs to you and your sons. 10 Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it.(S) You must regard it as holy.(T)

11 “This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings(U) of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share.(V) Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean(W) may eat it.

12 “I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain(X) they give the Lord(Y) as the firstfruits of their harvest.(Z) 13 All the land’s firstfruits that they bring to the Lord will be yours.(AA) Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.(AB)

14 “Everything in Israel that is devoted[b] to the Lord(AC) is yours. 15 The first offspring of every womb, both human and animal, that is offered to the Lord is yours.(AD) But you must redeem(AE) every firstborn(AF) son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.(AG) 16 When they are a month old,(AH) you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels[c](AI) of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel,(AJ) which weighs twenty gerahs.(AK)

17 “But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow, a sheep or a goat; they are holy.(AL) Splash their blood(AM) against the altar and burn their fat(AN) as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.(AO) 18 Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering(AP) and the right thigh are yours.(AQ) 19 Whatever is set aside from the holy(AR) offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt(AS) before the Lord for both you and your offspring.”

20 The Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them;(AT) I am your share and your inheritance(AU) among the Israelites.

21 “I give to the Levites all the tithes(AV) in Israel as their inheritance(AW) in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting.(AX) 22 From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die.(AY) 23 It is the Levites who are to do the work at the tent of meeting and bear the responsibility for any offenses they commit against it. This is a lasting ordinance(AZ) for the generations to come.(BA) They will receive no inheritance(BB) among the Israelites.(BC) 24 Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord.(BD) That is why I said concerning them: ‘They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.’”

25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you(BE) as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering.(BF) 27 Your offering will be reckoned(BG) to you as grain from the threshing floor(BH) or juice from the winepress.(BI) 28 In this way you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes(BJ) you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord’s portion to Aaron the priest. 29 You must present as the Lord’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’

30 “Say to the Levites: ‘When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress.(BK) 31 You and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at the tent of meeting.(BL) 32 By presenting the best part(BM) of it you will not be guilty in this matter;(BN) then you will not defile the holy offerings(BO) of the Israelites, and you will not die.’”

The Water of Cleansing

19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer(BP) without defect or blemish(BQ) and that has never been under a yoke.(BR) 3 Give it to Eleazar(BS) the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp(BT) and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle(BU) it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. 5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines.(BV) 6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop(BW) and scarlet wool(BX) and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water.(BY) He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. 8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.

9 “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer(BZ) and put them in a ceremonially clean place(CA) outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing;(CB) it is for purification from sin.(CC) 10 The man who gathers up(CD) the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening.(CE) This will be a lasting ordinance(CF) both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.(CG)

11 “Whoever touches a human corpse(CH) will be unclean for seven days.(CI) 12 They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day;(CJ) then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean.(CK) 13 If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse,(CL) they defile the Lord’s tabernacle.(CM) They must be cut off from Israel.(CN) Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean;(CO) their uncleanness remains on them.

14 “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, 15 and every open container(CP) without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.

16 “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death,(CQ) or anyone who touches a human bone(CR) or a grave,(CS) will be unclean for seven days.(CT)

17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes(CU) from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water(CV) over them. 18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop,(CW) dip it in the water and sprinkle(CX) the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave(CY) or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle(CZ) those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them.(DA) Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes(DB) and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. 20 But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled(DC) the sanctuary of the Lord.(DD) The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean.(DE) 21 This is a lasting ordinance(DF) for them.

“The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. 22 Anything that an unclean(DG) person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”

Water From the Rock

20 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin,(DH) and they stayed at Kadesh.(DI) There Miriam(DJ) died and was buried.

2 Now there was no water(DK) for the community,(DL) and the people gathered in opposition(DM) to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled(DN) with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead(DO) before the Lord!(DP) 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness,(DQ) that we and our livestock should die here?(DR) 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates.(DS) And there is no water to drink!(DT)”

6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting(DU) and fell facedown,(DV) and the glory of the Lord(DW) appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff,(DX) and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.(DY) You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

9 So Moses took the staff(DZ) from the Lord’s presence,(EA) just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together(EB) in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”(EC) 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water(ED) gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy(EE) in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”(EF)

13 These were the waters of Meribah,[d](EG) where the Israelites quarreled(EH) with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.(EI)

Edom Denies Israel Passage

14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh(EJ) to the king of Edom,(EK) saying:

“This is what your brother Israel says: You know(EL) about all the hardships(EM) that have come on us. 15 Our ancestors went down into Egypt,(EN) and we lived there many years.(EO) The Egyptians mistreated(EP) us and our ancestors, 16 but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard our cry(EQ) and sent an angel(ER) and brought us out of Egypt.(ES)

“Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.(ET) 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.(EU)”

18 But Edom(EV) answered:

“You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.(EW)”

19 The Israelites replied:

“We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock(EX) drink any of your water, we will pay for it.(EY) We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.”

20 Again they answered:

“You may not pass through.(EZ)”

Then Edom(FA) came out against them with a large and powerful army. 21 Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory,(FB) Israel turned away from them.(FC)

The Death of Aaron

22 The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh(FD) and came to Mount Hor.(FE) 23 At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom,(FF) the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 24 “Aaron will be gathered to his people.(FG) He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command(FH) at the waters of Meribah.(FI) 25 Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor.(FJ) 26 Remove Aaron’s garments(FK) and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people;(FL) he will die there.”

27 Moses did as the Lord commanded: They went up Mount Hor(FM) in the sight of the whole community. 28 Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar.(FN) And Aaron died there(FO) on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, 29 and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died,(FP) all the Israelites mourned for him(FQ) thirty days.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 18:9 Or purification
  2. Numbers 18:14 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord.
  3. Numbers 18:16 That is, about 2 ounces or about 58 grams
  4. Numbers 20:13 Meribah means quarreling.
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