Bible in 90 Days

¹⁵ “So make the Levites pure and give them to the Lord as a special offering.^[a] After you do this, they can come and do their work at the Meeting Tent. ¹⁶ The Israelites will give me the Levites. They will belong to me. In the past I told every Israelite family to give me their firstborn son. But now I am taking the Levites in place of these firstborn sons from the other families in Israel. ¹⁷ Every firstborn in Israel—man or animal—is mine, because I killed all the firstborn children and animals in Egypt. And I chose to take the firstborn sons to belong to me. ¹⁸ But now I will take the Levites in their place. I will take the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons from the other families in Israel. ¹⁹ I chose the Levites from among all the Israelites. And I give them as gifts to Aaron and his sons. I want them to do the work at the Meeting Tent. They will serve for all the Israelites. They will help make the sacrifices that make the Israelites pure. Then no great sickness or trouble will come to the Israelites when they come near the holy place.”

²⁰ So Moses, Aaron, and all the Israelites obeyed the Lord. They did with the Levites everything that the Lord commanded Moses. ²¹ The Levites washed themselves and their clothes. Then Aaron gave them to the Lord as special offerings. Aaron gave the offerings that covered their sins and made them pure. ²² After that the Levites came to the Meeting Tent to do their work. Aaron and his sons watched them. They were responsible for the work of the Levites. Aaron and his sons did what the Lord commanded Moses.

²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “This is a special command for the Levites: Every Levite man who is 25 years old or older must come and share in the work at the Meeting Tent. ²⁵ But when a man is 50 years old, he will retire from this hard work. ²⁶ Men who are at least 50 years old will be on duty to help their brothers, but they will not do the work themselves. That is what you must do for the Levites so that they can do their duty.”

Passover

9 The Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai. This was during the first month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites to celebrate Passover at the chosen time. ³ They must eat the Passover meal just before dark on the 14th day of this month. They must do this at the chosen time, and they must follow all the rules about Passover.”

⁴ So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate Passover. ⁵ The people did this in the desert of Sinai just before dark on the 14th day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁶ But some of the people could not celebrate Passover that day. They were unclean because they had touched a dead body. So they went to Moses and Aaron that day ⁷ and said to Moses, “We touched a dead body and became unclean. But why must we be kept from offering our gifts to the Lord at the chosen time with the rest of the Israelites?”

⁸ Moses said to them, “I will ask the Lord what he says about this.”

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Tell the Israelites this: It might happen sometimes that you or your descendants cannot celebrate the Lord’s Passover at the right time. Someone might be unclean because they touched a dead body, or they might be away on a trip. They will still be able to celebrate Passover at another time. ¹¹ They must celebrate Passover just before dark on the 14th day of the second month. At that time they must eat the lamb, the bread made without yeast, and the bitter herbs. ¹² They must not leave any of that food until the next morning. And they must not break any of the bones of the lamb. They must follow all the rules about Passover. ¹³ But anyone who is able must celebrate Passover at the right time. If they are clean and they are not away on a trip, there is no excuse for them not to do it. If they don’t celebrate Passover at the right time, they must be separated from their people. They are guilty and must be punished, because they did not give the Lord his gift at the right time.

¹⁴ “A foreigner living among you might want to share in the Lord’s Passover with you. This is allowed, but that person must follow all the rules about Passover. The same rules are for everyone.”

The Cloud and the Fire

¹⁵ On the day the Holy Tent, the Tent of the Agreement, was set up, a cloud covered it. At night the cloud over the Holy Tent looked like fire. ¹⁶ The cloud stayed over the Holy Tent all the time. And at night the cloud looked like fire. ¹⁷ When the cloud moved from its place over the Holy Tent, the Israelites followed it. When the cloud stopped, that is the place where the Israelites camped. ¹⁸ This was the way the Lord showed the Israelites when to move and when to stop and set up camp. While the cloud stayed over the Holy Tent, the people continued to camp in that same place. ¹⁹ Sometimes the cloud would stay over the Holy Tent for a long time. The Israelites obeyed the Lord and did not move. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud was over the Holy Tent for only a few days. So the people obeyed the Lord’s command—they followed the cloud when it moved. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud stayed only during the night—the next morning the cloud moved. So the people gathered their things and followed it. If the cloud moved, during the day or during the night, they followed it. ²² If the cloud stayed over the Holy Tent for two days, a month, or a year, the people stayed at that place. They did not leave until the cloud moved. When the cloud rose from its place and moved, they also moved. ²³ So the people obeyed the Lord’s commands. They camped when the Lord told them to, and they moved when he told them to. They watched carefully and obeyed the Lord’s commands to Moses.

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Make two trumpets. Use silver and hammer it to make the trumpets. These trumpets will be for calling the people together and for telling them when it is time to move the camp. ³ If you blow long blasts on both trumpets, all the people must meet together at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. ⁴ But if you blow long blasts on only one trumpet, only the leaders will come to meet with you. (These are the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel.)

⁵ “Short blasts on the trumpets will be the way to tell the people to move the camp. The first time you blow a short blast on the trumpets, the tribes camping on the east side of the Meeting Tent must begin to move. ⁶ The second time you blow a short blast on the trumpets, the tribes camping on the south side of the Meeting Tent will begin to move. ⁷ But if you want to gather the people together for a special meeting, blow the trumpets in a different way—blow a long steady blast on the trumpets. ⁸ Only Aaron’s sons, the priests, should blow the trumpets. This is a law for you that will continue forever, for generations to come.

⁹ “If you are fighting an enemy in your own land, blow loudly on the trumpets before you go to fight them. The Lord your God will hear you, and he will save you from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also blow these trumpets for your special meetings, New Moon celebrations, and all your happy times together. Blow the trumpets when you give your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. This will be a special way for your God to remember you. I command you to do this; I am the Lord your God.”

The Israelites Move Their Camp

¹¹ On the 20th day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites left Egypt, the cloud rose from above the Tent of the Agreement. ¹² So the Israelites began their journey. They left the desert of Sinai and traveled until the cloud stopped in the desert of Paran. ¹³ This was the first time the people moved their camp. They moved it the way the Lord commanded Moses.

¹⁴ The three divisions from Judah’s camp went first. They traveled under their flag. The first group was the tribe of Judah. Nahshon son of Amminadab was the commander of that group. ¹⁵ Next came the tribe of Issachar. Nethanel son of Zuar was the commander of that group. ¹⁶ And then came the tribe of Zebulun. Eliab son of Helon was the commander of that group.

¹⁷ Then the Holy Tent was taken down. And the men from the Gershon and the Merari families carried the Holy Tent. So the people from these families were next in line.

¹⁸ Then came the three divisions from Reuben’s camp. They traveled under their flag. The first group was the tribe of Reuben. Elizur son of Shedeur was the commander of that group. ¹⁹ Next came the tribe of Simeon. Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was the commander of that group. ²⁰ And then came the tribe of Gad. Eliasaph son of Deuel^[b] was the commander of that group. ²¹ Then came the Kohath family. They carried the holy things from inside the Holy Tent. These people came at this time so that the other people could set up the Holy Tent and make it ready at the new camp before these people arrived.

²² Next came the three groups from Ephraim’s camp. They traveled under their flag. The first group was the tribe of Ephraim. Elishama son of Ammihud was the commander of that group. ²³ Next came the tribe of Manasseh. Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was the commander of that group. ²⁴ Then came the tribe of Benjamin. Abidan son of Gideoni was the commander of that group.

²⁵ The last three tribes in the line were the rear guard for all the other tribes. These were the groups from Dan’s camp. They traveled under their flag. The first group was the tribe of Dan. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was their commander. ²⁶ Next came the tribe of Asher. Pagiel son of Ocran was the commander of that group. ²⁷ Then came the tribe of Naphtali. Ahira son of Enan was the commander of that group. ²⁸ That was the way the Israelites marched when they moved from place to place.

²⁹ Hobab was the son of Reuel, the Midianite. (Reuel was Moses’ father-in-law.) Moses said to Hobab, “We are traveling to the land that the Lord promised to give to us. Come with us and we will be good to you. The Lord has promised good things to the Israelites.”

³⁰ But Hobab answered, “No, I will not go with you. I will go back to my homeland and to my own people.”

³¹ Then Moses said, “Please don’t leave us. You know more about the desert than we do. You can be our guide. ³² If you come with us, we will share with you all the good things that the Lord gives us.”

³³ So they began traveling from the mountain of the Lord. The priests took the Box of the Lord’s Agreement and walked in front of the people. They carried the Holy Box for three days, looking for a place to camp. ³⁴ The Lord’s cloud was over them every day. And when they left their camp every morning, the cloud was there to lead them.

³⁵ When the people lifted the Holy Box to move the camp, Moses always said,

³⁶ And when the Holy Box was put in its place, Moses always said,

The People Complain Again

11 The people started complaining about their troubles. The Lord heard their complaints. He heard these things and became angry. Fire from the Lord burned among the people. The fire burned some of the areas at the edge of the camp. ² So the people cried to Moses for help. He prayed to the Lord and the fire stopped burning. ³ So that place was called Taberah.^[c] The people gave the place that name because the Lord caused a fire to burn in their camp.

The 70 Older Leaders

⁴ The foreigners who had joined the Israelites began wanting other things to eat. Soon all the Israelites began complaining again. The people said, “We want to eat meat! ⁵ We remember the fish we ate in Egypt. That fish cost us nothing. We also had good vegetables like cucumbers, melons, chives, onions, and garlic. ⁶ But now we have lost our strength. We never eat anything—only this manna!” ⁷ (The manna was like small coriander seeds, and it looked like sap from a tree. ⁸ The people gathered the manna. Then they used rocks to crush it and cooked it in a pot. Or they ground it into flour and made thin cakes with it. The cakes tasted like sweet cakes cooked with olive oil. ⁹ The manna fell on the ground each night when the ground became wet with dew.)

¹⁰ Moses heard the people complaining. People from every family were sitting by their tents and complaining. The Lord became very angry, and this made Moses very upset. ¹¹ He asked the Lord, “Why did you bring this trouble on me? I am your servant. What did I do wrong? What did I do to upset you? Why did you give me responsibility over all these people? ¹² You know that I am not the father of all these people. You know that I did not give birth to them. But I must take care of them, like a nurse carrying a baby in her arms. Why do you force me to do this? Why do you force me to carry them to the land that you promised to our fathers? ¹³ I don’t have enough meat for all these people! And they continue complaining to me. They say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ ¹⁴ I cannot take care of all these people alone. The burden is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ If you plan to continue giving me their troubles, kill me now. If you accept me as your servant, let me die now. Then I will be finished with all my troubles!”

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Bring to me 70 of the elders of Israel. These men are the leaders among the people. Bring them to the Meeting Tent. Let them stand there with you. ¹⁷ Then I will come down and speak with you there. The Spirit^[d] is on you now. But I will also give some of that Spirit to them. Then they will help you take care of the people. In this way you will not have to be responsible for these people alone.

¹⁸ “Tell the people this: Make yourselves ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried out and said, ‘We need meat to eat! It was better for us in Egypt!’ So now the Lord will give you meat. And you will eat it. ¹⁹ You will eat it for more than one, or two, or five, or ten, or even twenty days! ²⁰ You will eat that meat for a whole month until you are sick of it. This will happen to you because you complained against the Lord. He lives among you and knows what you need, but you cried and complained to him! You said, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’”

²¹ Moses said, “There are 600,000 soldiers here, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a whole month!’ ²² If we were to kill all the sheep and cattle, that would still not be enough to feed this many people for a month. And if we caught all the fish in the sea, it would not be enough for them!”

²³ But the Lord said to Moses, “Don’t limit my power! You will see that I can do what I say I can do.”

²⁴ So Moses went out to speak with the people. He told them what the Lord said. Then he gathered 70 of the elders together and told them to stand around the Tent. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. He put on the 70 elders some of the same Spirit that was on Moses. After the Spirit came down on them, they began to prophesy.^[e] But that was the only time they ever did this.

²⁶ Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, did not go out to the Tent. Their names were on the list of elders, but they stayed in camp. But the Spirit also came on them, and they began prophesying in camp. ²⁷ A young man ran and told Moses. The man said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in camp.”

²⁸ Joshua son of Nun said to Moses, “Moses, sir, you must stop them!” (Joshua had been Moses’ helper since Joshua was a boy.)

²⁹ But Moses answered, “Are you afraid the people will think that I am not the leader now? I wish that all the Lord’s people were able to prophesy. I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on all of them!” ³⁰ Then Moses and the leaders of Israel went back to the camp.

The Quail Come

³¹ Then the Lord made a powerful wind to blow in from the sea, and it blew quail into the area all around the camp. There were so many birds that the ground was covered. They were about three feet deep on the ground. There were quail in every direction as far as a man can walk in one day. ³² They went out and gathered quail all that day and all that night. And they gathered quail all the next day too! The smallest amount anyone gathered was 60 bushels. Then the people spread the quail meat all around the camp to dry in the sun.

³³ People began to eat the meat, but the Lord became very angry. While the meat was still in their mouths, before the people could finish eating it, the Lord caused the people to become very sick and die. ³⁴ So the people named that place Kibroth Hattaavah,^[f] because there they buried those who had the strong desire for meat.

³⁵ From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.

Miriam and Aaron Criticize Moses

12 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses. They criticized him because he married an Ethiopian^[g] woman. ² They said to themselves, “Moses is not the only one the Lord has used to speak to the people. He has also spoken through us!”

The Lord heard this. ³ (Moses was a very humble man. He was more humble than any other man on earth.) ⁴ So suddenly, the Lord came and spoke to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. He said, “You three, come to the Meeting Tent, now!”

So Moses, Aaron, and Miriam went to the Tent. ⁵ The Lord came down in the tall cloud and stood at the entrance to the Tent. He called out, “Aaron and Miriam!” They went to him. ⁶ God said, “Listen to me! You will have prophets. I, the Lord, will let them learn about me through visions. I will speak to them in dreams. ⁷ But Moses is not like that. He is my faithful servant—I trust him with everyone in my house. ⁸ When I speak to him, I talk face to face with him. I don’t use stories with hidden meanings—I show him clearly what I want him to know. And Moses can look at the very image of the Lord. So why were you brave enough to speak against my servant Moses?”

⁹ The Lord was very angry with them, and he left them. ¹⁰ The cloud rose from the Tent. Aaron turned and looked at Miriam. Her skin was white like snow—she had a terrible skin disease!

¹¹ Then Aaron said to Moses, “Please, sir, forgive us for the foolish sin that we did. ¹² Don’t let her lose her skin like a baby who is born dead.” (Sometimes a baby will be born like that, with half of its skin eaten away.)

¹³ So Moses prayed to the Lord, “God, please heal her from this sickness!”

¹⁴ The Lord answered Moses, “If her father spit in her face, she would be shamed for seven days. So put her outside the camp for seven days. After that she can come back into the camp.”

¹⁵ So they took Miriam outside the camp for seven days. And the people did not move from that place until she was brought in again. ¹⁶ After that the people left Hazeroth and traveled to the desert of Paran where they set up camp.

The Spies Go to Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan. I will give this land to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve tribes.”

³ So Moses obeyed the Lord’s command and sent out the Israelite leaders while the people were camped in the desert of Paran. ⁴ These are their names:

¹⁶ These are the names of the men Moses sent to look at and study the land. (Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by another name. Moses called him Joshua.)

¹⁷ When Moses was sending them out to explore Canaan, he said, “Go through the Negev and then into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land looks like. Learn about the people who live there. Are they strong or are they weak? Are they few or are they many? ¹⁹ Learn about the land that they live in. Is it good land or bad land? What kind of towns do they live in? Do the towns have walls protecting them? Are the towns strongly defended? ²⁰ And learn other things about the land. Is the soil good for growing things, or is it poor soil? Are there trees on the land? Try to bring back some of the fruit from that land.” (This was during the time when the first grapes should be ripe.)

²¹ So they went to explore the country. They explored the area from the desert of Zin to Rehob and Lebo Hamath. ²² They entered the country through the Negev and went to Hebron. (The town of Hebron was built seven years before the town of Zoan in Egypt.) Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai lived there. These men were descendants of Anak. ²³ Then the men went to Eshcol Valley. There they cut off a branch from a grapevine that had a bunch of grapes on it. They put that branch on a pole, and two men carried it between them. They also carried some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place is called the Eshcol^[i] Valley, because there the men of Israel cut off the bunch of grapes.

²⁵ The men explored that country for 40 days, and then they went back to the camp. ²⁶ The Israelites were camped near Kadesh, in the desert of Paran. The men went to Moses and Aaron and all the Israelites. They told Moses, Aaron, and all the people what they saw and showed them the fruit from the land. ²⁷ The men told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is a land filled with many good things^[j]! Here is some of the fruit that grows there. ²⁸ But the people living there are very powerful. The cities are very large and strongly defended. We even saw some Anakites there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live near the sea and by the Jordan River.”

³⁰ Caleb told the people near Moses to be quiet. Then Caleb said, “We should go up and take that land for ourselves. We can easily take that land.”

³¹ But the men who had gone with him said, “We cannot fight those people! They are much stronger than we are.” ³² So those men gave a report that discouraged the people. They said, “The land we saw is full of strong people. They are strong enough to easily defeat anyone who goes there. ³³ We saw the giant Nephilim people there! (The descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim.) We felt like little grasshoppers. Yes, we were like grasshoppers to them!”

The People Complain Again

14 That night all the people in the camp began shouting loudly. ² The Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. All the people came together and said to Moses and Aaron, “We should have died in Egypt or in the desert. ³ Did the Lord bring us to this new land to be killed in war? The enemy will kill us and take our wives and children! It would be better for us to go back to Egypt.”

⁴ Then the people said to each other, “Let’s choose another leader and go back to Egypt.”

⁵ Moses and Aaron bowed low to the ground in front of all the people gathered there. ⁶ Joshua and Caleb became very upset. (Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were two of the men who explored the land.) ⁷ These two men said to all the Israelites gathered there, “The land that we saw is very good. ⁸ It is a land filled with many good things. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land. And he will give that land to us. ⁹ So don’t turn against the Lord! Don’t be afraid of the people in that land. We can defeat them. They have no protection, nothing to keep them safe. But we have the Lord with us, so don’t be afraid!”

¹⁰ All the people began talking about killing Joshua and Caleb with stones. But the Glory of the Lord appeared over the Meeting Tent where all the people could see it. ¹¹ The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “How long will these people continue to turn against me? They show that they don’t trust me or believe in my power, in spite of the many miracles I have done among them. ¹² I will kill them all with a terrible sickness. I will destroy them, and I will use you to make another nation. Your nation will be greater and stronger than these people.”

¹³ Then Moses said to the Lord, “If you do that, the Egyptians will hear about it! They know that you used your great power to bring your people out of Egypt. ¹⁴ The Egyptians have already told the people in Canaan about it. They already know you are the Lord. They know that you are with your people. They know that the people saw you. Those people know about the special cloud. They know you use the cloud to lead your people during the day. And they know the cloud becomes a fire to lead your people at night. ¹⁵ So you must not kill these people now. If you kill them, all the nations who have heard about your power will say, ¹⁶ ‘The Lord was not able to bring them into the land he promised them. So he killed them in the desert.’

¹⁷ “So now, Lord, show your strength! Show it the way you said you would. ¹⁸ You said, ‘The Lord is slow to become angry. He is full of great love. He forgives^[k] those who are guilty and break the law. But he always punishes those who are guilty. He punishes them, and he also punishes their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren for those bad things.’ ¹⁹ Now, show your great love to these people. Forgive their sin. Forgive them the same way you have been forgiving them since the time they left Egypt until now.”

²⁰ The Lord answered, “Yes, I will forgive the people as you asked. ²¹ But I tell you the truth. As surely as I live and as surely as the Glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, I make you this promise: ²² None of the people I led out of Egypt will ever see the land of Canaan. They saw my glory and the great signs that I did in Egypt and in the desert. But they disobeyed me and tested me ten times. ²³ I promised their ancestors that I would give them that land. But none of those people who turned against me will ever enter that land! ²⁴ But my servant Caleb was different. He follows me completely. So I will bring him into the land that he has already seen, and his people will get that land. ²⁵ The Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valley. So tomorrow you must leave this place. Go back to the desert on the road to the Red Sea.”

The Lord Punishes the People

²⁶ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁷ “How long will these evil people continue to complain against me? I have heard their complaints and their griping. ²⁸ So tell them, ‘The Lord says that he will surely do all those things to you that you complained about. This is what will happen to you: ²⁹ You will die in this desert. Every person who is 20 years old or older and was counted as one of my people will die. You complained against me. ³⁰ So none of you will ever enter and live in the land that I promised to give you. Only Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun will enter that land. ³¹ You were afraid and complained that your enemies in that new land would take your children away from you. But I tell you that I will bring them into the land. They will enjoy what you refused to accept. ³² As for you people, you will die in this desert.

³³ “‘Your children will wander around like shepherds here in the desert for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not faithful to me. They must suffer until all of you lie dead in the desert. ³⁴ For 40 years you will suffer for your sins. (That is one year for each of the 40 days that the men explored the land.) You will know that it is a terrible thing for me to be against you.’

³⁵ “I am the Lord, and I have spoken. And I promise that I will do these things to all these evil people. They have come together against me. So they will all die here in this desert.”

³⁶ The men Moses sent to explore the new land were the ones who came back complaining about him to all the Israelites. They said that the people were not strong enough to enter that land. ³⁷ The men were responsible for spreading the trouble among the Israelites. So the Lord caused a sickness to kill all those men. ³⁸ But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were among the men who were sent out to explore the land. They are the only ones who did not get the sickness that caused the others to die.

The People Try to Go Into Canaan

³⁹ When Moses told the Israelites this, they were very sad. ⁴⁰ Early the next morning the people started to go up to the high hill country. They said, “We have sinned. We are sorry that we did not trust the Lord. We will go to the place that the Lord promised.”

⁴¹ But Moses said, “Why are you not obeying the Lord’s command? You will not be successful! ⁴² Don’t go into that land. The Lord is not with you, so your enemies will easily defeat you. ⁴³ The Amalekites and Canaanites will fight against you there. You have turned away from the Lord, so he will not be with you when you fight them. And you will all be killed in battle.”

⁴⁴ But the people did not believe Moses. They went toward the high hill country. But Moses and the Box of the Lord’s Agreement did not go with the people. ⁴⁵ The Amalekites and the Canaanites living in the hill country came down and attacked the Israelites and easily defeated them and chased them all the way to Hormah.

Rules About Sacrifices

15 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: I am giving you a land to be your home. When you enter that land, ³ you must give special gifts to the Lord. Their smell will please the Lord. You will use your cattle, sheep, and goats for burnt offerings, sacrifices, special promises, special gifts, fellowship offerings, or at your special festivals.

⁴ “At the time someone brings their offering, they must also give a grain offering to the Lord. The grain offering will be 8 cups^[l] of fine flour mixed with 1 quart^[m] of olive oil. ⁵ Each time you offer a lamb as a burnt offering or sacrifice, you must also prepare a quart of wine as a drink offering.

⁶ “If you are giving a ram, you must also prepare a grain offering. This grain offering should be 16 cups^[n] of fine flour mixed with 1 1/4 quarts^[o] of olive oil. ⁷ And you must prepare 1 1/4 quarts of wine as a drink offering. Its smell will please the Lord.

⁸ “You might prepare a young bull as a burnt offering, a sacrifice, a fellowship offering, or to keep a special promise to the Lord. ⁹ At that time you must also bring a grain offering with the bull. That grain offering should be 24 cups^[p] of fine flour mixed with 2 quarts^[q] of olive oil. ¹⁰ Also bring 2 quarts of wine as a drink offering as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. ¹¹ Each bull or ram, or lamb or young goat that you give must be prepared in this way. ¹² Do this for every one of these animals that you give.

¹³ “This is the way every citizen of Israel must give gifts to please the Lord. ¹⁴ Foreigners will live among you. If they give gifts to please the Lord, they must offer them the same way you do. ¹⁵ The same rules will be for everyone—the Israelites and the foreigners living among you. This law will continue forever. You and the people living among you will be the same before the Lord. ¹⁶ This means that you must follow the same laws and the same rules. These laws and rules are for you Israelites and for the other people who are living among you.”

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸ “Tell the Israelites this: I am taking you to another land. ¹⁹ When you eat the food that grows in that land, you must give part of that food as an offering to the Lord. ²⁰ You will gather grain and grind it into flour to make dough for bread. You must give the first bread from that flour as a gift to the Lord. It will be like the grain offering that comes from the threshing floor. ²¹ You and all your descendants must give part of the first dough you make from that flour as a gift to the Lord.

²² “As you try to obey all the commands that the Lord gave Moses, you might fail and make a mistake. ²³ The Lord gave you those commands through Moses, and they have been in effect from the day they were given throughout the generations until today. ²⁴ If you made this mistake where everyone could see it, the whole community must offer a young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. You must also offer the grain offering and the drink offering with the bull. And you must also give a male goat as a sin offering.

²⁵ “So the priest will make the whole community of Israel pure, and they will be forgiven for the mistake they made. Since they made the mistake, they must bring a gift and a sin offering to the Lord. ²⁶ Then the whole community of Israel and any foreigners among them will be forgiven for the mistake.

²⁷ “But if only one person makes a mistake and sins, that person must bring a female goat that is one year old. That goat will be the sin offering. ²⁸ The priest will make purification before the Lord for the one who sinned, and that person will be forgiven. ²⁹ This law is for everyone who makes a mistake and sins. The same law is for the people born in the family of Israel and for the foreigners living among you.

³⁰ “If someone sins and knows they are doing wrong, they are rebelling against the Lord. They must be separated from their people. The same law applies to citizens of Israel and to foreigners living among you. ³¹ They thought the Lord’s word was not important, so they broke his commands. That is why they must be separated from their people—they must bear the responsibility for their guilt.”

A Man Works on the Day of Rest

³² While the Israelites were in the desert, some of them saw a man gathering firewood on the Sabbath day. ³³ The people who saw him gathering the wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole community of Israel. ³⁴ They guarded the man carefully because they did not know how they should punish him.

³⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. All the people must throw stones at him outside the camp.” ³⁶ So the people took him outside the camp and killed him with stones. They did this just as the Lord commanded Moses.

A Way to Remember God’s Commands

³⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁸ “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them this: Tie several pieces of thread together and tie them in the corner of your clothes. Put a piece of blue thread in each one of these tassels. You must wear these things now and forever. ³⁹ You will be able to look at these tassels and remember all the commands that the Lord has given you. Then you will obey the commands. You will not do wrong by forgetting about the commands and doing the things that your own bodies and eyes want. ⁴⁰ You will remember to obey all my commands. Then you will be God’s special people. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God. I am the one who brought you out of Egypt. I did this to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”

Some Leaders Turn Against Moses

16 Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On turned against Moses. (Korah was the son of Izhar. Izhar was the son of Kohath, and Kohath was the son of Levi. Dathan and Abiram were brothers, the sons of Eliab. And On was the son of Peleth. Dathan, Abiram, and On were descendants of Reuben.) ² These four men gathered 250 other men from Israel together and came against Moses. They were leaders who had been chosen by the people. All the people knew them. ³ They came as a group to speak against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far—you are wrong! All the Israelites are holy—the Lord still lives among them. You are making yourselves more important than the rest of the Lord’s people.”

⁴ When Moses heard this, he bowed his face to the ground to show he was not being proud. ⁵ Then Moses said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will show who is holy, and he will bring that man near to him. He will choose him and bring that man near to him. ⁶ So Korah, you and all your followers should do this: ⁷ Tomorrow put fire and incense in some special pans. Then bring those pans before the Lord. He will choose the man who is holy. You Levites have gone too far—you are wrong!”

⁸ Moses also said to Korah, “You Levites, listen to me. ⁹ You should be happy that the God of Israel chose you to be different from the rest of the Israelites. He lets you come near to him to do the special work in the Lord’s Holy Tent to help the Israelites worship him. Isn’t that enough? ¹⁰ He brought you Levites near to him to help the priests, but now you are trying to become priests also. ¹¹ You and your followers have joined together and turned against the Lord! Did Aaron do anything wrong? No, so why are you complaining against Aaron?”

¹² Then Moses called Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But the two men said, “We will not come! ¹³ You have brought us out of a land filled with many good things.^[r] You brought us to the desert to kill us. And now you want to show that you have even more power over us. ¹⁴ Why should we follow you? You did not bring us into the new land filled with many good things. You did not give us the land God promised. You did not give us the fields or the vineyards. Will you make these men your slaves? No! We will not come.”

¹⁵ So Moses became very angry. He said to the Lord, “I never did anything wrong to these people. I never took anything from them—not even a donkey! Don’t accept their gifts!”

¹⁶ Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers will stand before the Lord tomorrow. Aaron will also be there with you and your followers. ¹⁷ Each of you must bring a pan, put incense in it, and present it to the Lord. There will be 250 pans for the leaders and one pan for you and one pan for Aaron.”

¹⁸ So each man got a pan and put burning incense in it. Then they stood at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Moses and Aaron also stood there. ¹⁹ Korah also gathered all the people together at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Then the Glory of the Lord appeared to everyone there.

²⁰ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ “Move away from these men! I want to destroy them now!”

²² But Moses and Aaron bowed to the ground and cried out, “God, you know what people are thinking.^[s] Please don’t be angry with all these people. Only one man really sinned.”

²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Tell the people to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

²⁵ Moses stood and went to Dathan and Abiram. All the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ Moses warned the people, “Move away from the tents of these evil men. Don’t touch anything that belongs to them! If you do, you will be destroyed because of their sins.”

²⁷ So the men moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram went to their tents. They stood outside of their tents with their wives, children, and little babies.

²⁸ Then Moses said, “I will show you proof that the Lord sent me to do all the things I told you. I will show you that all these things were not my own idea. ²⁹ These men will die, but if they die in a normal way—the way people always die—then that will show that the Lord did not really send me. ³⁰ But if the Lord causes them to die in a different way, then you will know that these men have sinned against the Lord. This is the proof: The earth will open and swallow them. They will go down to their grave still alive. And everything that belongs to these men will go down with them.”

³¹ When Moses finished saying these things, the ground under the men opened. ³² It was as if the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them. All of Korah’s men, their families, and everything they owned went down into the earth. ³³ They went down into their grave alive. Everything they owned went with them. Then the earth closed over them. They were finished—gone from the camp!

³⁴ The Israelites heard the cries of the men being destroyed. So they all ran in different directions and said, “The earth will swallow us too!”

³⁵ Then a fire came from the Lord and destroyed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

³⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ^37-38 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to get all the incense pans from the fire. Tell him to scatter the coals and ashes. These men sinned against me, and their sin cost them their lives. But the incense pans are still holy. The pans became holy when people gave them to the Lord. Hammer the pans into flat sheets. Use the metal sheets to cover the altar. This will be a warning to all the Israelites.”

³⁹ So Eleazar the priest gathered together all the bronze pans that the men had brought. These men were all burned up, but the pans were still there. Then Eleazar told some men to hammer the pans into flat metal. Then he put the metal sheets on the altar. ⁴⁰ He did this the way the Lord commanded him through Moses. This was a sign to help the Israelites remember that only someone from the family of Aaron should burn incense before the Lord. Any other person who burns incense before the Lord will die like Korah and his followers.

Aaron Saves the People

⁴¹ The next day all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. They said, “You killed the Lord’s people.”

⁴² Moses and Aaron were standing at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. The people gathered together at that place to complain against Moses and Aaron. But when they looked toward the Meeting Tent, the cloud covered it and the Glory of the Lord appeared there. ⁴³ Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Meeting Tent.

⁴⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Move away from these people so that I can destroy them now.” So Moses and Aaron bowed with their faces to the ground.

⁴⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Get your bronze pan and some fire from the altar. Then put incense in it. Hurry to the people and do the things that will make them pure. The Lord is angry with them. The trouble has already started.”

^47-48 So Aaron got the incense and the fire, and he ran to the middle of the people. But the sickness had already started among them. So Aaron stood between the dead and those who were still alive. He did what Moses said to remove their sin, and the sickness stopped there. ⁴⁹ But 14,700 people died from that sickness—and that is not counting the people who died because of Korah. ⁵⁰ So the terrible sickness was stopped, and Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.

God Proves Aaron Is the High Priest

17 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites. Get twelve wooden walking sticks from them. Get one from the leader of each of the twelve tribes. Write the name of each man on his walking stick. ³ On the stick from Levi, write Aaron’s name. There must be one stick for the head of each of the twelve tribes. ⁴ Put these walking sticks in the Meeting Tent in front of the Box of the Agreement. This is the place where I meet with you. ⁵ I will choose one man to be the true priest. You will know which man I choose because his walking stick will begin to grow new leaves. In this way I will stop the people from always complaining against you and me.”

⁶ So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Each of the leaders gave him a walking stick. There were twelve walking sticks. There was one stick from each leader of each tribe. One of the walking sticks belonged to Aaron. ⁷ Moses put the walking sticks before the Lord in the Tent of the Agreement.

⁸ The next day Moses entered the Tent. He saw that Aaron’s walking stick, the stick from the family of Levi, was the one that had grown new leaves. That walking stick had even grown branches and made almonds. ⁹ So Moses brought out all the sticks from the Lord’s place. He showed the walking sticks to the Israelites. They all looked at the sticks, and each man took his own stick back.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s walking stick back in front of the Box that holds the Agreement.^[t] This will be a warning for these people who are always turning against me. This will stop their complaining against me so that I will not destroy them.” ¹¹ So Moses did what the Lord commanded him.

¹² The Israelites said to Moses, “We know that we will die! We are lost! We will all be destroyed! ¹³ Anyone who even comes near the Lord’s holy place will die. Is it true that we will all die?”

The Work of the Priests and Levites

18 The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons, and all the people in your father’s family must bear the responsibility for any wrong that is done against the holy place or against the priests. ² To prevent that from happening, you must bring the rest of the men from the tribe of Levi to join you. These Levites will help you and your sons do your work in the Tent of the Agreement. ³ These Levites will be under your control. They will do all the work that needs to be done in the Tent. But they must not go near the things in the Holy Place or the altar. If they do, they will die—and you also will die. ⁴ They will join you and work with you. They will be responsible for caring for the Meeting Tent. All the work that must be done in the Tent will be done by them. No one else may come near the place where you are.

⁵ “You are responsible for caring for the holy place and the altar. I don’t want to become angry with the Israelites again. ⁶ I myself chose the Levites from among all the Israelites. They are as a gift to you. I gave them to you to serve the Lord and work in the Meeting Tent. ⁷ But, Aaron, only you and your sons may serve as priests. You are the only ones who can go near the altar or behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place. I am giving you a gift—your service as a priest. Anyone else who tries to come too close must be killed.”

⁸ Then the Lord said to Aaron, “I myself gave you responsibility over all the special gifts people give to me. All the holy gifts that the Israelites give to me, I give to you. You and your sons can share in these gifts. They will always belong to you. ⁹ The people will bring gifts, grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. These offerings are most holy. Your share in the most holy offerings will come from the parts that are not burned. All these things will be for you and your sons. ¹⁰ Eat these things only in a very holy place. Every male in your family may eat them, but you must remember that these offerings are holy.

¹¹ “The Israelites will bring special gifts that you will lift up to me. I give these gifts to you and your sons and daughters. That is your share. Everyone in your family who is clean will be able to eat it.

¹² “And I give you all the best olive oil and all the best new wine and grain. These are the things that the Israelites give to me, the Lord. These are the first things that they gather in their harvest. ¹³ When the people gather a harvest, they bring all the first things to the Lord. So these things I will give to you. And everyone in your family who is clean may eat it.

¹⁴ “Anything in Israel that is a special gift to God^[u] is yours.

¹⁵ “A woman’s first baby and an animal’s first baby must be given to the Lord. That baby will belong to you. If the firstborn animal is unclean, then it must be bought back. If the baby is a child, that child must be bought back. ¹⁶ They must make the payment when the baby is one month old. The cost will be 5 shekels^[v] of silver. You must use the official measure to weigh this silver. A shekel by the official measure is 20 gerahs.^[w]

¹⁷ “But you must not make a payment for the firstborn cow, sheep, or goat. These animals are holy. Sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. ¹⁸ But the meat from these animals will be yours. And also the breast that was lifted up to the Lord will be yours. And the right thigh from other offerings will be yours. ¹⁹ I, the Lord, give you everything that the people offer as holy gifts. This is your share. I give it to you and your sons and daughters. This law will continue forever. It is an agreement with the Lord that cannot be broken.^[x] I make this promise to you and to your descendants.”

²⁰ The Lord also said to Aaron, “You will not get any of the land. And you will not own anything that the other people own. I myself will be yours. The Israelites will get the land that I promised, but I am my gift to you.

²¹ “The Israelites will give one-tenth of everything they have. So I give that one-tenth to the Levites. This is their payment for the work that they do while they serve at the Meeting Tent. ²² But the other Israelites must never go near that Meeting Tent. If they do, they must be put to death! ²³ The Levites will do the work of caring for the Meeting Tent. They must bear the responsibility for anything done against it. This is a law that will continue forever. The Levites will not get any of the land that I promised to the other Israelites. ²⁴ But the Israelites will give one-tenth of everything they have to the Lord, and I will give that one-tenth to the Levites. That is why I said these words about the Levites: They will not get the land that I promised the Israelites.”

²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “Speak to the Levites and tell them: The Israelites will give one-tenth of everything they own to the Lord. That one-tenth will belong to the Levites. But you must give one-tenth of that to the Lord as your offering. ²⁷ That tenth will be your offering to the Lord. It will be like grain from your own threshing floor or wine from your own winepress. ²⁸ In this way you will also give an offering to the Lord just as the other Israelites do. You will get the one-tenth that the Israelites give to the Lord, and then you will give one-tenth of that to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ When the Israelites give you one-tenth of everything that they own, then you must give the best and the holiest part of these things as your gift to the Lord.

³⁰ “Moses, tell this to the Levites: When you give the best part of what you receive to the Lord, it will be the same as grain from your own threshing floor and wine from your own winepress. ³¹ You and your families can eat all that is left. This is your payment for the work you do in the Meeting Tent. ³² And if you always give the best part of it to the Lord, you will never be guilty. You will always remember that these gifts are the holy offerings from the Israelites. And you will not die.”

The Ashes of the Red Cow

19 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ² “These are the laws from the teachings that the Lord gave to the Israelites. Get a red cow that has nothing wrong with it. That cow must not have any bruises. And it must never have worn a yoke. ³ Give that cow to Eleazar, and he will take it outside the camp and kill it there. ⁴ Then Eleazar the priest must put some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle some of the blood toward the Holy Tent. He must do this seven times. ⁵ Then the whole cow must be burned in front of him; the skin, the meat, the blood, and the intestines must all be burned. ⁶ Then the priest must take a cedar stick, a hyssop branch, and some red string. He must throw these things into the fire where the cow is burning. ⁷ Then the priest must wash himself and his clothes with water. Then he must come back into the camp. He will be unclean until evening. ⁸ The man who burns that cow must wash himself and his clothes in water. He will be unclean until evening.

⁹ “Then someone who is clean will collect the ashes from the cow and put them in a clean place outside the camp. These ashes will be used when someone must keep a special ceremony to become clean. These ashes will also be used to remove a person’s sins.

¹⁰ “The man who collected the cow’s ashes must wash his clothes. He will be unclean until evening.

“This rule will continue forever. This rule is for the citizens of Israel and for the foreigners living with you. ¹¹ Those who touch a dead body will be unclean for seven days. ¹² They must wash themselves with the special water on the third day and again on the seventh day. If they don’t do this, they will remain unclean. ¹³ Those who touch the body of someone who has died are unclean. If they stay unclean and then go to the Lord’s Holy Tent, they make it unclean. So they must be separated from the Israelites. Because the special water was not thrown on them, they remain unclean.

¹⁴ “This is the rule about those who die in their tents: If someone dies in the tent, everyone in the tent will be unclean for seven days. ¹⁵ And every jar or pot without a lid becomes unclean. ¹⁶ If there is a dead body out in a field, whether the person died in battle or for some other reason, whoever touches that dead body, or its bones, or even its grave will be unclean for seven days.

¹⁷ “If you have become unclean, someone must use the ashes from the burned cow to make you clean again. They must pour fresh water^[y] over the ashes into a jar. ¹⁸ That clean person must take a hyssop branch and dip it into the water. The clean person must sprinkle it over the tent, the dishes, and any people who were in the tent. That clean person must do this for anyone who touches a dead body, its bones, or even a grave.

¹⁹ “Then that clean person must sprinkle this water on you on the third day and again on the seventh day. On the seventh day you will become clean. You must wash your clothes in water and you will become clean in the evening.

²⁰ “Whoever becomes unclean and does not become clean must be separated from the community. If an unclean person is not sprinkled with that special water and does not become clean, that person might make the Lord’s Holy Tent unclean. ²¹ This rule will be for you forever. And whoever sprinkled the special water must wash their clothes because they will be unclean until evening. ²² And whoever an unclean person touches will be unclean until evening.”

Miriam Dies

20 The Israelites arrived at the desert of Zin in the first month of the year. The people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.

Moses Makes a Mistake

² There was not enough water for the people at that place. So the people met together to complain against Moses and Aaron. ³ The people argued with Moses and said, “Maybe we should have died in front of the Lord like our brothers did. ⁴ Why did you bring the Lord’s people into this desert? Do you want us and our animals to die here? ⁵ Why did you bring us from Egypt? Why did you bring us to this bad place? There is no grain. There are no figs, grapes, or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron left the crowd of people and went to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. They bowed down to the ground, and the Glory of the Lord appeared to them.

⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ⁸ “Get the special walking stick. Take your brother Aaron and the crowd of people and go to that rock. Speak to the rock in front of the people. Then water will flow from the rock, and you can give that water to the people and to their animals.”

⁹ The walking stick was in the Holy Tent, in front of the Lord. Moses took the walking stick as the Lord said. ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron told the people to meet together in front of the rock. Then Moses said, “You people are always complaining. Now listen to me. I will cause water to flow from this rock.” ¹¹ Moses lifted his arm and hit the rock twice. Water began flowing from the rock, and the people and their animals drank that water.

¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “You did not trust me enough to honor me and show the people that I am holy. You did not show the Israelites that the power to make the water came from me. So you will not lead the people into the land that I have given them.”

¹³ This place was called the waters of Meribah.^[z] This is where the Israelites argued with the Lord and where he showed them that he was holy.

Edom Will Not Let Israel Pass

¹⁴ While Moses was at Kadesh, he sent some men with a message to the king of Edom. The message said,

“This is what your brothers, the Israelites, say to you: You know about all the troubles we have had. ¹⁵ Many years ago our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived there for many years. The people of Egypt were cruel to us. ¹⁶ But we asked the Lord for help, and he heard us and sent an angel to help us. The Lord has brought us out of Egypt.

“Now we are here at Kadesh, where your land begins. ¹⁷ Please let us travel through your country. We will not travel through any fields or vineyards. We will not drink water from any of your wells. We will travel only along King’s Road. We will not leave that road to the right or to the left. We will stay on the road until we have traveled through your country.”

¹⁸ But the king of Edom answered, “You may not travel through our land. If you try to travel through our land, we will come and fight you with swords.”

¹⁹ The Israelites answered, “We will travel along the main road. If our animals drink any of your water, we will pay you for it. We only want to walk through your country. We don’t want to take it for ourselves.”

²⁰ But again the king of Edom answered, “We will not allow you to come through our country.”

Then the king of Edom gathered a large and powerful army and went out to fight against the Israelites. ²¹ The king of Edom refused to let the Israelites travel through his country, so the Israelites turned around and went another way.

Aaron Dies

²² All the Israelites traveled from Kadesh to Mount Hor. ²³ Mount Hor was near the border of Edom. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁴ “It is time for Aaron to die and go to be with his ancestors. Aaron will not enter the land that I promised to the Israelites. Moses, I say this to you because both you and Aaron did not fully obey the command I gave you at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵ “Now, bring Aaron and his son Eleazar up to Mount Hor. ²⁶ Take Aaron’s special clothes from him and put these clothes on his son Eleazar. Aaron will die there on the mountain. And he will go to be with his ancestors.”

²⁷ Moses obeyed the Lord’s command. Moses, Aaron, and Eleazar went up on Mount Hor. All the Israelites watched them go. ²⁸ Moses removed Aaron’s special clothes and put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. Then Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Moses and Eleazar came back down the mountain. ²⁹ All the Israelites learned that Aaron was dead. So everyone in Israel mourned for 30 days.

War With the Canaanites

21 The Canaanite king of Arad lived in the Negev. He heard that the Israelites were coming on the road to Atharim, so the king went out and attacked the Israelites. Arad captured some of the people and made them prisoners. ² Then the Israelites made a special promise to the Lord: “Please help us defeat these people. If you do this, we will give their cities to you. We will totally destroy them.”

³ The Lord listened to the Israelites and helped them defeat the Canaanites. They completely destroyed the Canaanites and their cities. So that place was named Hormah.^[aa]

The Bronze Snake

⁴ The Israelites left Mount Hor and traveled on the road that goes to the Red Sea. They did this to go around the country of Edom. But the people became impatient. ⁵ They began complaining against God and Moses. The people said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? We will die here in the desert! There is no bread and no water! And we hate this terrible food!”

⁶ So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people. The snakes bit the people, and many of the Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We know that we sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord. Ask him to take away these snakes.” So Moses prayed for them.