Numbers 18-20

21st Century King James Version

18 And the Lord said unto Aaron: “Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

² And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee and minister unto thee; but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.

³ And they shall keep thy charge and the charge of all the tabernacle; only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.

⁴ And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation for all the service of the tabernacle; and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.

⁵ And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary and the charge of the altar, that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.

⁶ And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel. To you they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁷ Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar and within the veil; and ye shall serve. I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift, and the stranger who cometh nigh shall be put to death.”

⁸ And the Lord spoke unto Aaron: “Behold, I also have given thee the charge of Mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel. Unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.

⁹ This shall be thine of the most holy things reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto Me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.

¹⁰ In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy unto thee.

¹¹ And this is thine: the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever; every one who is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

¹² All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee.

¹³ And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine. Every one who is clean in thine house shall eat of it.

¹⁴ Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.

¹⁵ Every thing that openeth the womb in all flesh, which they bring unto the Lord, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine. Nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.

¹⁶ And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary which is twenty gerahs.

¹⁷ But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat thou shalt not redeem. They are holy. Thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a sweet savor unto the Lord.

¹⁸ And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are thine.

¹⁹ All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever. It is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee.”

²⁰ And the Lord spoke unto Aaron, “Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.

²¹ And behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

²² Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin and die.

²³ But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.

²⁴ But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as a heave offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit. Therefore I have said unto them: ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’”

²⁵ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

²⁶ “Thus speak unto the Levites and say unto them: ‘When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up a heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe.

²⁷ And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you as though it were the corn of the threshing floor and as the fullness of the wine press.

²⁸ Thus ye also shall offer a heave offering unto the Lord of all your tithes, which ye receive from the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the Lord’S heave offering to Aaron the priest.

²⁹ Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the Lord of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.’

³⁰ Therefore thou shalt say unto them: ‘When ye have offered the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor and as the increase of the wine press.

³¹ And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households, for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.

³² And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have offered from it the best of it; neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.’”

19 And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

² “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying: ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish and upon which never came a yoke.

³ And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth outside the camp, and one shall slay her before his face.

⁴ And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times.

⁵ And one shall burn the heifer in his sight: her skin and her flesh and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn.

⁶ And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

⁷ Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water; and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening.

⁸ And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.

⁹ And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and lay them up outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.

¹⁰ And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger who sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.

¹¹ “‘He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.

¹² He shall purify himself with the water on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

¹³ Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man who is dead and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from Israel. Because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

¹⁴ “‘This is the law when a man dieth in a tent: All who come into the tent, and all who are in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.

¹⁵ And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.

¹⁶ And whosoever toucheth one who is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

¹⁷ And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel.

¹⁸ And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent and upon all the vessels and upon the persons who were there, and upon him that touched a bone or one slain or one dead or a grave.

¹⁹ And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening.

²⁰ “‘But the man who shall be unclean and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him: he is unclean.

²¹ And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until evening.

²² And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean, and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until evening.’”

20 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the Desert of Zin in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh. And Miriam died there, and was buried there.

² And there was no water for the congregation, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

³ And the people chided Moses and spoke, saying, “Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!

⁴ And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?

⁵ And why have ye made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.”

⁶ And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces; and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.

⁷ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,

⁸ “Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.”

⁹ And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He commanded him.

¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them: “Hear now, ye rebels! Must we fetch you water out of this rock?”

¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice; and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

¹² And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron: “Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

¹³ This is the water of Meribah [that is, Strife], because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and He was sanctified in them.

¹⁴ And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom: “Thus saith thy brother Israel: ‘Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us,

¹⁵ how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us and our fathers.

¹⁶ And when we cried unto the Lord, He heard our voice and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt. And behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border.

¹⁷ Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king’s highway; we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left until we have passed thy borders.’”

¹⁸ And Edom said unto him: “Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.”

¹⁹ And the children of Israel said unto him, “We will go by the highway; and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it. I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet.”

²⁰ And he said, “Thou shalt not go through.” And Edom came out against him with many people and with a strong hand.

²¹ Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border. Therefore Israel turned away from him.

²² And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came unto Mount Hor.

²³ And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,

²⁴ “Aaron shall be gathered unto his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah.

²⁵ Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto Mount Hor.

²⁶ And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people and shall die there.”

²⁷ And Moses did as the Lord commanded, and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

²⁸ And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mount. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount;

²⁹ and when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.