Beha'alotcha

8:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 8:2 “ Speak to Aaron and tell him: ‘ When you set up the seven lamps, they are to light the area in front of the lampstand.’” 8:3 And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps facing toward the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 8:4 This is how the lampstand was constructed: it was made of hammered gold from its base to its blossoms, fashioned according to the pattern the LORD had shown Moses. Cleansing the Levites 8:5 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 8:6 “ Take the Levites from among the Israelites and make them ceremonially clean. 8:7 This is what you must do to cleanse them: Sprinkle them with the water of purification. Have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves. 8:8 Then have them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering. 8:9 Bring the Levites before the Tent of Meeting and assemble the whole congregation of Israel. 8:10 You are to present the Levites before the LORD and have the Israelites lay their hands upon them. 8:11 Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may perform the service of the LORD. 8:12 And the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and offer to the LORD one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites. 8:13 You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and then present them before the LORD as a wave offering. 8:14 In this way you shall separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, and the Levites will belong to Me.

8:15 After you have cleansed them and presented them as a wave offering, they may come to serve at the Tent of Meeting. 8:16 For the Levites have been wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself in place of all who come first from the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 8:17 For every firstborn male in Israel is Mine, both man and beast. I set them apart for Myself on the day I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. 8:18 But I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel. 8:19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to perform the service for the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting and to make atonement on their behalf, so that no plague will come against the Israelites when they approach the sanctuary.” 8:20 So Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel did with the Levites everything that the LORD had commanded Moses they should do. 8:21 The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. 8:22 After that, the Levites came to perform their service at the Tent of Meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. Thus they did with the Levites just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Retirement for Levites 8:23 And the LORD said to Moses, 8:24 “ This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years of age or older shall enter to perform the service in the work at the Tent of Meeting. 8:25 But at the age of fifty, they must retire from performing the work and no longer serve. 8:26 After that, they may assist their brothers in fulfilling their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves are not to do the work. This is how you are to assign responsibilities to the Levites.”

9:1 In the first month of the second year after Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai: 9:2 “ The Israelites are to observe the Passover at its appointed time. 9:3 You are to observe it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with its statutes and ordinances.” 9:4 So Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover, 9:5 and they did so in the Wilderness of Sinai, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 9:6 But there were some men who were unclean due to a dead body, so they could not observe the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron that same day 9:7 and said to Moses, “ We are unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be excluded from presenting the LORD ’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?” 9:8 “ Wait here until I find out what the LORD commands concerning you,” Moses replied. 9:9 Then the LORD said to Moses, 9:10 “ Tell the Israelites: ‘ When any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of a dead body, or is away on a journey, he may still observe the Passover to the LORD. 9:11 Such people are to observe it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; 9:12 they may not leave any of it until morning or break any of its bones. They must observe the Passover according to all its statutes. 9:13 But if a man who is ceremonially clean and is not on a journey still fails to observe the Passover, he must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the LORD ’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin. 9:14 If a foreigner dwelling among you wants to observe the Passover to the LORD, he is to do so according to the Passover statute and its ordinances. You are to apply the same statute to both the foreigner and the native of the land.’” The Cloud above the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34–38)

9:15 On the day that the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it and appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning. 9:16 It remained that way continually; the cloud would cover the tabernacle by day, and at night it would appear like fire. 9:17 Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites would set out, and wherever the cloud settled, there the Israelites would camp. 9:18 At the LORD ’s command the Israelites set out, and at the LORD ’s command they camped. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle, they remained encamped. 9:19 Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites kept the LORD ’s charge and did not set out. 9:20 Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for only a few days, and they would camp at the LORD ’s command and set out at the LORD ’s command. 9:21 Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they would set out. Whether it was by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up, they would set out. 9:22 Whether the cloud lingered for two days, a month, or longer, the Israelites camped and did not set out as long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle; but when it was lifted, they would set out. 9:23 They camped at the LORD ’s command, and they set out at the LORD ’s command; they carried out the LORD ’s charge according to His command through Moses. 10:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 10:2 “ Make two trumpets of hammered silver to be used for calling the congregation and for having the camps set out. 10:3 When both are sounded, the whole congregation is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 10:4 But if only one is sounded, then the leaders, the heads of the clans of Israel, are to gather before you. 10:5 When you sound short blasts, the camps that lie on the east side are to set out. 10:6 When you sound the short blasts a second time, the camps that lie on the south side are to set out. The blasts are to signal them to set out. 10:7 To convene the assembly, you are to sound long blasts, not short ones. 10:8 The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to sound the trumpets. This shall be a permanent statute for you and the generations to come. 10:9 When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who attacks you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and saved from your enemies. 10:10 And on your joyous occasions, your appointed feasts, and the beginning of each month, you are to blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to serve as a reminder for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.” From Sinai to Paran

10:11 On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony, 10:12 and the Israelites set out from the Wilderness of Sinai, traveling from place to place until the cloud settled in the Wilderness of Paran. 10:13 They set out this first time according to the LORD ’s command through Moses. 10:14 First, the divisions of the camp of Judah set out under their standard, with Nahshon son of Amminadab in command. 10:15 Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar, 10:16 and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun. 10:17 Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it. 10:18 Then the divisions of the camp of Reuben set out under their standard, with Elizur son of Shedeur in command. 10:19 Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon, 10:20 and Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad. 10:21 Then the Kohathites set out, transporting the holy objects; the tabernacle was to be set up before their arrival. 10:22 Next, the divisions of the camp of Ephraim set out under their standard, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command. 10:23 Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh, 10:24 and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin. 10:25 Finally, the divisions of the camp of Dan set out under their standard, serving as the rear guard for all units, with Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai in command. 10:26 Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher, 10:27 and Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali. 10:28 This was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set out. 10:29 Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses ’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “ We are setting out for the place of which 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.” 10:30 “ I will not go,” Hobab replied. “ Instead, I am going back to my own land and my own people.” 10:31 “ Please do not leave us,” Moses said, “ since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes. 10:32 If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us.” 10:33 So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them. 10:34 And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

10:35 Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, “ Rise up, O LORD! May Your enemies be scattered; may those who hate You flee before You.” 10:36 And when it came to rest, he would say: “ Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel.” 11:1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. 11:2 And the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. 11:3 So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them. 11:4 Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “ Who will feed us meat? 11:5 We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 11:6 But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to see but this manna!” 11:7 Now the manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of gum resin. 11:8 The people walked around and gathered it, ground it on a handmill or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot or shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry baked with fine oil. 11:9 When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it. The Complaint of Moses 11:10 Then Moses heard the people of family after family weeping at the entrances to their tents, and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly, and Moses was also displeased. 11:11 So Moses asked the LORD, “ Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people? 11:12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth, so that You should tell me, ‘ Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You swore to give their fathers? 11:13 Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘ Give us meat to eat!’ 11:14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me. 11:15 If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now — if I have found favor in Your eyes — and let me not see my own wretchedness.” Seventy Elders Anointed 11:16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you. 11:17 And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself. 11:18 And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, because you have cried out in the hearing of the LORD, saying: ‘ Who will feed us meat? For we were better off in Egypt!’ Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat. 11:19 You will eat it not for one or two days, nor for five or ten or twenty days, 11:20 but for a whole month — until it comes out of your nostrils and makes you nauseous— because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have cried out before Him, saying, ‘ Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” 11:21 But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘ I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’ 11:22 If all our flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?” 11:23 The LORD answered Moses, “ Is the LORD ’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.” 11:24 So Moses went out and relayed to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent. 11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied — but they never did so again. 11:26 Two men, however, had remained in the camp — one named Eldad and the other Medad — and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp. 11:27 A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 11:28 Joshua son of Nun, the attendant to Moses since youth, spoke up and said, “ Moses, my lord, stop them!” 11:29 But Moses replied, “ Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD ’s people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!”

11:30 Then Moses returned to the camp, along with the elders of Israel. The Quail and the Plague 11:31 Now a wind sent by the LORD came up, drove in quail from the sea, and brought them near the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the ground, for a day ’s journey in every direction around the camp. 11:32 All that day and night, and all the next day, the people stayed up gathering the quail. No one gathered less than ten homers, and they spread them out all around the camp. 11:33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague. 11:34 So they called that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food. 11:35 From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth, where they remained for some time. 12:1 Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife. 12:2 “ Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “ Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this. 12:3 Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth. 12:4 And suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “ You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three went out, 12:5 and the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the Tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them had stepped forward, 12:6 He said, “ Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream. 12:7 But this is not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. 12:8 I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?” 12:9 So the anger of the LORD burned against them, and He departed. 12:10 As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous, 12:11 and said to Moses, “ My lord, please do not hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. 12:12 Please do not let her be like a stillborn infant whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother ’s womb.” 12:13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, “ O God, please heal her!” 12:14 But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.” 12:15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought in again. 12:16 After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.