Old/New Testament
Chapter 9
Observing the Passover. 1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt. He said, 2 “Let the people of Israel celebrate the Passover at its appointed time. 3 You will celebrate it at its appointed time, on the fourteenth day of this month, at sunset. You will observe it in accordance with all its statutes; you shall follow all of its ordinances.” 4 So Moses told the people of Israel that they should observe the Passover. 5 They celebrated Passover on the sunset of the fourteenth day of the month in the Sinai Desert. The people of Israel did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.
6 Now there were some men who had become unclean by touching a dead body, and they could not observe the Passover on that day. They came to Moses and Aaron on that day 7 and they said, “We are unclean because we touched a dead person’s body. Why are we prohibited from presenting an offering to the Lord at its appointed time with the rest of the people of Israel?”
8 Moses said to them, “Stand here, and I will listen to what the Lord commands concerning your situation.” 9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If any of you or your descendants is unclean because that person comes into contact with a dead body or he is on a journey and is far away, that person shall still observe[a] the Passover of the Lord. 11 You will celebrate it the fourteenth day of the second month, you will eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 You shall not leave any leftovers until the morning, nor shall you break any of its bones. You will observe it according to the ordinances of the Passover of the Lord.
13 “ ‘But if some person is ritually clean and is not off on a journey and that person refuses to observe the Passover, let that person be cut off from among his people. He did not bring his offerings at the appointed time, so he will bear his sin.
14 “ ‘If a foreigner[b] dwelling among you wants to observe the Passover of the Lord, let him do so according to the ordinances of the Passover and according to its ceremonies. There is one set of ordinances for those who are foreigners and for those who were born in the land.’ ”
15 Journeying by the Cloud. Now on the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. From evening until morning it appeared in the form of fire. 16 The cloud covered it by day and fire by night. 17 Whenever the cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle, the people of Israel would journey out. The people of Israel would then settle and pitch their tent in the place where the cloud would descend.
18 The people of Israel would journey at the command of the Lord, and they would camp at the command of the Lord. As long as the cloud hovered over the tabernacle, they would stay where they were. 19 Even when the cloud hovered over the tabernacle for several days, the people of Israel would observe the command of the Lord and they would not journey out. 20 At times the cloud would hover over the tabernacle for a few days. They stayed where they were in accordance with the command of the Lord, and they journeyed out in accordance with the command of the Lord. 21 Other times, the cloud would hover from evening until morning, and then the cloud would be lifted up in the morning. They would then journey out. Whether it was by day or by night that the cloud lifted off, it was then that they would journey out. 22 Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud hovered over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would remain where they were. When it was lifted up, then they would journey out. 23 At the command of the Lord, they stayed where they were and at the command of the Lord they journeyed out. They observed the bidding of the Lord,[c] in accordance with the commands of the Lord received through Moses.
Chapter 10
Sounding the Trumpets. 1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Make two trumpets for yourself. Make them from hammered silver. Use them for summoning the assembly and for breaking camp. 3 When they are sounded, the whole assembly will gather before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 4 If only one is sounded, the leaders, the heads of the clans of Israel, are to assemble before you. 5 When the advance is sounded, the camps that lie on the east side will set out. 6 With the second blast of the trumpet, the camps that lie to the south side will set out. The trumpet blast will signal their setting out. 7 To gather together the assembly, sound the trumpets but not with the same signal.
8 “The sons of Aaron, the priests, will sound the trumpets. This is to be an everlasting ordinance throughout all your generations. 9 When you go into battle against an enemy who is oppressing you in your own land, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord, your God, and you will be saved. 10 Also, at times of rejoicing, your solemn feasts and your new moon celebrations, you are to sound the trumpets over the burnt offerings and the peace offerings. They will be a memorial for you to your God. I am the Lord, your God.”
Forty Years in the Wilderness[d]
11 Departure from Sinai.[e]On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle of the Testimony. 12 The people of Israel set out from the Sinai Desert and traveled until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran.[f]
13 They set out this first time in accord with the command of the Lord received through Moses. 14 The standard of the camp of the tribe of Judah went out first by their companies. Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, was leader of its company. 15 Nethanel, the son of Zuar, was the leader of the company of the tribe of Issachar. 16 Eliab, the son of Helon, was the leader of the company of the tribe of Zebulun. 17 The tabernacle was then taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites who carried the tabernacle set out. 18 The standard of the camp of the tribe of Reuben set forth next. Elizur, the son of Shedeur, was the leader of its company. 19 Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, was the leader of the company of the tribe of Simeon. 20 Eliasaph, the son of Reuel, was the leader of the company of the tribe of Gad. 21 Then the Kohathites set forth carrying the sanctuary. The tabernacle was to be set up when they arrived. 22 The standard of the camp of the tribe of Ephraim came next. Elishama, the son of Ammihud, was the leader of its company. 23 Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, was the leader of the company of the tribe of Manasseh. 24 Abidan, the son of Gideoni, was the leader of the company of the tribe of Benjamin.
25 Finally, behind all of the other camps, the standard of the camp of the tribe of Dan set out. Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, was the leader of its company. 26 Pagiel, the son of Ochran, was the leader of the company of the tribe of Asher. 27 Ahira, the son of Enan, was the leader of the company of the tribe of Naphtali. 28 This was the order of the companies of the people of Israel as they set out.
29 Plea to Hobab. Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place that the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.” 30 But he said to him, “I will not go, rather I will leave for my own land and my own people.” 31 But he said, “Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you could look out for us. 32 If you come with us, then whatever good things the Lord bestows upon us, we will share them with you.”
33 Into the Wilderness. They traveled a three days’ journey from the mountain of the Lord, and the Ark of the Covenant went before them throughout the three days’ journey, searching out a resting place for them. 34 The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp. 35 Whenever the Ark set forth, Moses would say,
“Rise up, O Lord, let your enemies be scattered.
Let those who hate you flee before you.”[g]
36 Whenever it rested he said,
“Return, O Lord, to the thousands upon thousands of Israel.”
Chapter 11
The People of Israel Complain. 1 The people complained about their hardships and the Lord heard and his anger flared up. Then the fire of the Lord burned up the outskirts of the camp. 2 The people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was quenched. 3 He named that place Taberah,[h] for the fire of the Lord had burned in their midst.
4 Now the rabble[i] among them fell victim to their desires again, and the people of Israel said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is fading away, all we ever see is this manna.” 7 Manna had the shape of coriander seed and it looked like resin. 8 The people would go around gathering it, and then they would grind it in a mill or beat it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into cakes. It tasted something like fresh olive oil. 9 The manna would come down when the dew settled upon the camp at night.
10 Moses heard the people weeping, each family at the entrance to their tent. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was greatly displeased. 11 Moses said to the Lord, “Why are you torturing your servant? Have I not found favor in your sight, that you would burden me with this whole people? 12 Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms like a nurse carries a small child to the land that I have promised to their ancestors?’ 13 Where can I get enough meat to give to all this people, for they cry to me saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry this entire people by myself; they are too burdensome for me. 15 If this is the way that you are going to treat me, and if I have found favor in your sight, then please put me to death right now so I do not have to keep looking upon my misery.”
16 But the Lord said to Moses, “Bring me seventy men from among the elders of Israel whom you know to be elders and leaders of the people. Bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them stand there with yourself. 17 I will come down and speak to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you and put it upon them. They will carry the burden of the people with you, so that you do not have to carry it alone. 18 Say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow you will eat meat. You cried out in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? We were better off when we were in Egypt.” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, nor for two days, nor for five days, nor for ten days, nor for twenty days. 20 You will eat it for a whole month, until your faces overflow with it, and you become sick of it, for you have despised the Lord who is among you and whom you have confronted crying out, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”
21 But Moses said, “I am standing among six hundred thousand people on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat to eat for an entire month?’ 22 Shall the flocks and herds be slaughtered to satisfy their desires? Will all of the fish of the sea be gathered together to fill them?” 23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you will see whether my word will be fulfilled or not.”
24 Seventy Elders. So Moses went out and proclaimed the words of the Lord to the people. He brought seventy of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25 Then the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the Spirit that was upon him and placed it upon the seventy elders. When the Spirit descended upon them, they began to prophesy,[j] although they did not do so again.
26 But two men had remained in the camp. One was named Eldad, and the other was named Medad. The Spirit descended upon them. They had been on the list, but they had not gone out to the tabernacle. They began to prophesy in the camp. 27 A young man ran and informed Moses, saying, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 Joshua, the son of Nun, who had been an aide to Moses since he was young, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for me? Would that all of the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them!” 30 Moses then returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 Now a wind came forth from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea, making them fall near the camp. They were all around the camp, a day’s journey on one side and a day’s journey on the other side. They were piled up on the surface of the land two cubits high.
32 The people stayed up all day, and all night, and all the next day gathering the quail. The least that any of them gathered was ten homers. They spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth and they were still chewing on it, the anger of the Lord arose against the people and the Lord struck the people with a horrible plague. 34 This is why that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah,[k] because they buried the people who had fallen victim to their desires there. 35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and they camped there.
Chapter 5
Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac.[a] 1 They reached the region of the Gerasenes[b] on the other side of the lake. 2 No sooner had he stepped out of the boat than a man with an unclean spirit came up to him from the tombs.[c] 3 The man had been living in the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, not even with chains. 4 For he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but he had snapped the chains and smashed the shackles to pieces, and no one had sufficient strength to subdue him. 5 Day and night among the tombs and on the mountains, he would howl and gash himself with stones.
6 When the man caught sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, 7 as he shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you in God’s name: do not torment me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!” 9 Then he asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for there are many of us.”[d] 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
11 Now on the mountainside a great herd of pigs was feeding. 12 And they pleaded with him, “Send us into the pigs. Let us enter them.” 13 He allowed this. With that, the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, charged down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned in the waters.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. As a result, people came out to see what had happened. 15 When they came near Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by Legion sitting there fully clothed and in his right mind, and they were frightened. 16 Those who had been eyewitnesses to the incident confirmed what had happened to the demoniac and what had happened to the pigs. 17 Then they began to implore Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons pleaded to be allowed to go with him. 19 However, Jesus would not permit him to do so, and instead told him, “Go home to your own people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 The man then departed and began to make known throughout the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.[e]
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