Bible in 90 Days
8 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a model of a snake and put it up high on a pole. When a snake bites anyone, they must look at the bronze snake. Then they will not die.’ 9 Moses made a bronze snake and he put it on a pole. When a snake bit anyone and they looked at the bronze snake, they did not die.
The Israelites travel to Moab
10 The Israelites put up their tents at Oboth. 11 Then they travelled from Oboth, and they put up their tents at Iye-Abarim, in the desert. That place is on the east border of the country called Moab. 12 Then they put up their tents in Zered valley. 13 Then they left there and they put up their tents on the north side of the River Arnon. The River Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites. 14 You can read about this in the Book of the Lord's Wars. It talks about Waheb in Suphah and about the valleys of the River Arnon. 15 It also speaks about the sides of the valleys on the border of Moab that lead to the town of Ar.
16 From there, the Israelites continued to travel until they arrived at Beer. That is the well where the Lord had said to Moses, ‘Bring the people together. Then I will give water to them.’ 17 The Israelites sang this song at that well:
‘Sing to this well.
Ask it to give water to us.
18 This was the well that our rulers dug.
Our leaders dug it with their sceptres and their ruler's sticks.’
After that, the Israelites went from the desert to Mattanah. 19 Then they went from Mattanah to Nahaliel. They went from Nahaliel to Bamoth. 20 They went from Bamoth to the valley in the region of Moab. They put up their tents near the top of Pisgah mountain that is high above the desert.[a]
The Israelites fight against Sihon and Og
21 The Israelites sent men with a message to Sihon, the king of the Amorites. 22 They said, ‘Please let us travel through your country. We will not go through any fields or through any vineyards. We will not even drink water from your wells. We will go along the main road. We will not leave that road on either side until we have gone through all your land.’
23 But Sihon would not let the Israelites travel through his land. Sihon and his army marched to Jahaz, in the desert. They attacked the Israelites there. 24 The Israelites fought against the army of Sihon and they won. They got power over the land from the River Arnon to the River Jabbok. But the border of the Ammonites' land had strong towns, so they could not go beyond them. 25 They got power over all the cities of the Amorites. Those cities included Heshbon and the towns round it. 26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He had fought against the king of Moab. He took from the king of Moab the land as far as the River Arnon. 27 So the people who write songs wrote this:
‘Come to Heshbon and build it up again.
Build the city of Sihon again.
28 An army that was like a fire went out from Heshbon.
It was like a flame that went out from Sihon's city.
It destroyed Ar in Moab,
and everything on the hills near the River Arnon.
29 It will be very bad for you, people of Moab.
Sihon has killed you people who worship the god Chemosh.
Your god has let the king of the Amorites put you in prison.
30 But now, we have won against them!
We have destroyed Heshbon, and as far as Dibon.
We have killed them from Nophah to Medeba.’
31 So the Israelites stayed in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent men to find the best way to attack Jazer. Then the Israelites attacked Jazer and the towns round it. They caused the Amorites who lived there to run away.
33 After that, the Israelites travelled towards Bashan. Og, the king of Bashan, marched out with his army to fight against them at Edrei.
34 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not be afraid of Og. I will put him under your power, as well as his army and his land. Attack him in the same way that you attacked Sihon, the king of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon.’
35 So they killed Og and his sons and all his army. Nobody was left alive. Their land became the Israelites' land.
King Balak asks Balaam to help him
22 The Israelites travelled to Moab. They lived in tents at the side of the Jordan River. Jericho city was on the other side of the river.
2 The king of Moab at that time was Balak, the son of Zippor. He had seen what the Israelites did to the Amorites. 3 The people in Moab were afraid because there were so many Israelites. All the people in Moab became very afraid of the Israelites.
4 So the Moabites said to the leaders of the Midianites, ‘This large group of people will destroy everything round us. They will be like a bull that eats all the grass in a field!’
So Balak, the king of Moab, 5 sent men to get Balaam, the son of Beor. Balaam was living near the Euphrates river at Pethor. Balak told the men to say to Balaam, ‘A large group of people has come here from Egypt. They cover all the ground, everywhere. They have put up their tents near our land. 6 They are more powerful than I am. Come here and put a curse on them. If you do that, maybe I will win against them. Then I can chase them away from our land. I know that you have the authority to bless people or to curse them.’
7 The leaders of Moab and Midian went to find Balaam. They took the money to pay for Balaam's work. When they found him, they told him what Balak had said. 8 Balaam said to them, ‘Stay here tonight. I will talk to the Lord. Tomorrow, I will tell you his answer.’ So the Moabite officers stayed with Balaam.
9 Then God came to Balaam and he asked, ‘Who are these men who are staying with you?’
10 Balaam said to God, ‘Zippor's son Balak, the king of Moab, has sent a message to me. 11 He said, “A big group of people has come from Egypt and they cover all the ground. So please come and curse them for me. Then perhaps I will be able to fight them and send them away.” ’
12 God said to Balaam, ‘Do not agree to go with them. You must not curse those people. They are special people. I have blessed them.’
13 The next day, Balaam said to the officers from Moab, ‘Go back to Moab. The Lord told me that I should not go with you.’ 14 So the officers went back to Moab. They told King Balak that Balaam would not come with them.
15 Then Balak sent other officers to speak to Balaam. These officers were even more important than the first group, and there were more of them. 16 They said to Balaam, ‘King Balak says, “Do not let anything stop you from coming to me. 17 I will certainly make you rich and famous. I will do for you anything that you want. So please come and curse these people for me.” ’
18 Balaam said to them, ‘No, I will only do what the Lord tells me. I can do no more than that, and no less. Even if Balak gives me his house, all his gold and all his silver, I will only do what the Lord says. 19 Stay here tonight, as the other men did. I will talk to the Lord and see if he has anything more to tell me.’
20 That night, God said to Balaam, ‘These men have asked you to go with them, so go with them. But only do what I tell you.’
Balaam and his donkey
21 In the morning, Balaam prepared his donkey to travel. He went with the officers to Moab. 22 God was angry because Balaam went with the men. The angel of the Lord stood on the road to stop Balaam. Balaam was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. 23 The angel of the Lord was holding a sword. When the donkey saw the angel, it tried to leave the road and go into a field. Balaam hit the donkey to make it go back to the road.
24 Then the angel of the Lord stood on the road between two vineyards. The path was narrow there, with a wall on each side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pushed against the wall. Balaam's foot became fixed between the donkey and the wall. So Balaam hit the donkey again.
26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on. He stood in a very narrow place where there was no space to turn round. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord it lay down on the ground. Balaam was still sitting on the donkey and he became very angry. He hit the donkey with his stick. 28 Then the Lord caused the donkey to speak. It said, ‘What have I done to hurt you? Why have you hit me three times like that?’
29 Balaam said to the donkey, ‘You have made me look silly. If I had a sword in my hand now, I would kill you.’
30 The donkey said to Balaam, ‘I am your own donkey that you ride every day. Do I usually do things like this to you?’ Balaam said, ‘No.’
31 Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel of the Lord. He could see that the angel stood there with a sword in his hand. Balaam lay down with his face down towards the ground.
32 The angel of the Lord said to him, ‘You should not have hit your donkey like that! I have come here to stop you because you refuse to obey me. 33 Three times the donkey saw me and turned back. If it had not done that, I would have killed you. But I would not have killed your donkey.’
34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, ‘I have done a wrong thing. I did not realize that you were standing in the road to stop me. If you do not want me to continue, I will return to my home.’ 35 But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, ‘Go with the men. But you must say only the words that I will tell you.’ So Balaam went with Balak's officers.
36 Balak heard the news that Balaam was coming. He went out to meet Balaam at the border of Moab's land. The town was beside the river Arnon. 37 Balak said to Balaam, ‘You should have come the first time that I sent men to get you. Why did you not come? Did you think that I could not pay you with enough good things?’
38 Balaam said to Balak, ‘Anyway, I have come to you now! But I cannot choose to say anything. I can only say the words that God tells me to speak.’
39 Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-Huzoth. 40 When they arrived there, Balak killed bulls and sheep as a sacrifice. He sent some of the meat to Balaam and the officers who were with him. 41 The next day, Balak took Balaam to Bamoth-Baal. From there, Balaam could see some of the big group of the Israelites.
Balaam's first message from God
23 Balaam said to King Balak, ‘Build seven altars here for me. Prepare seven bulls and seven male sheep.’ 2 Balak did this. Balaam and Balak then offered a bull and a male sheep on each altar as a sacrifice.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stand next to your burnt offering. I will go to see if the Lord will come to meet me. If he shows something to me, I will tell you about it.’ Then Balaam went to the top of a hill where there were no trees.
4 Balaam said to the Lord, ‘I made seven altars. On each altar, I have offered a bull and a male sheep.’
5 God told Balaam the message that he should speak to Balak.
6 So Balaam returned to Balak. Balak was still standing by his burnt offering with all the Moabite officers.
7 Then Balaam started to speak his message from God. He said, ‘Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Syria. He brought me from the mountains in the east. He said “Come and curse Jacob's descendants for me. Say bad things against the Israelites!”
8 But I cannot curse these people, because God has not cursed them. I cannot speak against people that the Lord does not speak against.
9 When I stand on the rocks, I can see the Israelites. I can watch them from the hills. They are people who are separate from other nations.
10 Nobody can count Jacob's descendants. They are as many as the dust on the ground! It would be too difficult to count even a quarter of the Israelites. I would like to die in peace like those righteous people!’
11 Balak said to Balaam, ‘You have not done what I wanted you to do! I brought you here to curse my enemies. But you have blessed them!’
12 Balaam answered, ‘I can only speak the message that the Lord has told me.’
Balaam's second message from God
13 Then Balak said to Balaam, ‘Please come with me to another place where you can see the Israelites. You will not see all of them from there. Then curse those people for me.’
14 Balak took Balaam to the field of Zophim. It was at the top of Pisgah mountain. Balak built seven altars there. He offered a bull and a male sheep on each altar as sacrifices.
15 Balaam said to Balak, ‘Stay here beside your burnt offering. I will go to meet with the Lord.’
16 The Lord met Balaam and told him the message that he should speak to Balak. He told Balaam to go and tell it to Balak. 17 So Balaam went back to Balak. Balak and the Moabite officers were standing beside the burnt offerings. Balak asked Balaam, ‘What did the Lord say?’
18 Balaam spoke his message from God. He said, ‘Balak, son of Zippor, be ready! Listen carefully to me.
19 God is not human. He does not tell lies. He does not change his thoughts. If he promises to do something, it happens. 20 He told me that I must bless the Israelites. He has blessed them, so I must do it too.
21 I do not see that any trouble will come to the Israelites. The Lord their God is with them, to help them. They call him their king. 22 He brought them out of Egypt. He fights on their behalf, as strong as a wild bull.
23 Nobody can curse the Israelites. No magic has any power to hurt them. Now people will say about them, “See the great things that God has done for them!” 24 The Israelites are like a strong lion. It eats the animals that it has killed. It does not rest until it has eaten as much as it wants. It also drinks their blood.’
25 Balak said to Balaam, ‘You do not have to curse the Israelites, but please do not bless them!’ 26 Balaam replied, ‘I already told you, “I must do everything that the Lord tells me.” ’
27 Balak said to Balaam, ‘Let me take you to a different place. Perhaps God will let you curse the Israelites from that place.’ 28 Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor mountain. From there they could look over the desert. 29 Balaam said, ‘Build seven altars here. Prepare seven bulls and seven male sheep as sacrifices.’ 30 Balak did that. He offered a bull and a male sheep on each altar as sacrifices.
Balaam's third message from God
24 Balaam realized that the Lord wanted to bless the Israelites. So he did not use magic again to find out what the Lord wanted him to do. Instead, he looked towards the desert. 2 When he looked, he saw the Israelite people. They had put up their tents in groups for each tribe. Then the Spirit of God came on him. 3 As a result, Balaam said, ‘This is God's message that he has given to Balaam, the son of Beor. It is the words of a man who understands what God is saying. 4 It is the message of a man who hears God's words. I am a man who sees a vision that God Almighty has shown to him. I lie down on the ground, but my eyes are open! I see this:
5 The tents where the Israelites live are beautiful! 6 They are like green gardens in a valley beside a river. They are like tall trees that the Lord has put there. They are like cedar trees that grow beside water.
7 God will give them plenty of rain. Their descendants will always have plenty of water. Their king will be more powerful than Agag. Their kingdom will be great.
8 God brought them out of Egypt. God fights for them like a wild bull. He will destroy the nations who are their enemies. He will break their enemies' bones into pieces. He will shoot his arrows at them.
9 The Israelites are like a lion. When it is asleep, nobody is brave enough to wake it. God blesses those who bless you, Israel. And those who curse you are truly cursed.’
10 When Balaam said that, Balak became very angry with him. He hit his hands together and he said to Balaam, ‘I asked you to come here and to curse my enemies, the Israelites. But you have blessed them three times! 11 So go home now. I said that I would pay you very well. But the Lord has stopped me from giving you anything.’
12 Balaam said to Balak, ‘I already said this to the men that you sent to bring me. 13 I told them, “I can only speak the message that the Lord tells me. I cannot do good things or bad things just because I want to do them. Even if Balak gives his palace full of silver and gold to me, I cannot do anything different. I have to obey the Lord's command.” 14 So I will now return to my own people. But listen! Before I go, I will tell you what these Israelites will do to your people in the future.’
Balaam's fourth message from God
15 Then Balaam spoke this message from God. He said, ‘This is the message of Balaam, the son of Beor. It is the message of a man who sees clearly. 16 It is the message of a man who hears God's words. The Most High God has shown me things that only he knows. I am a man who sees a vision that God Almighty has shown to him. I lie down on the ground, but my eyes are open! I see this:
17 I see a king who will come from among the Israelites. He will not come now, but at a future time. He will appear as king, like a bright star. He will knock down the leaders of Moab. He will destroy the descendants of Sheth.[b] 18 He will win against his enemies in Edom and Seir. The Israelites will become stronger.
19 A descendant of Jacob will become their ruler. He will destroy all the people who are still alive in the city.’
Balaam's final messages from God
20 Then, in his vision, Balaam saw the Amalekites. He said, ‘Amalek was the most powerful of all the nations. God will destroy it now and for ever.’ 21 Then Balaam saw the Kenites. He spoke this message: ‘The place where you live seems strong and safe, high up among the rocks. 22 But Assyria's army will attack you. They will take you away as prisoners.’
23 Then Balaam spoke this message: ‘It is very bad for you! Nobody can live when God does these things! 24 Ships will come from the coast of Cyprus island. Their soldiers will attack Assyria and Eber. Then God will destroy them too.’
25 After he spoke those messages, Balaam returned to his home. King Balak also left that place.
The Israelites worship false gods
25 The Israelites were staying in Shittim. The men began to have sex with the women from Moab. 2 The women from Moab took Israelite men to watch them as they offered sacrifices to the gods of Moab. The Israelite men joined with the Moabite women to eat at their feasts. They also worshipped the gods of Moab. 3 The Israelites joined the Moabite women to worship their god, Baal of Peor. So the Lord became very angry with them.
4 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take hold of all the leaders of these people. Hang them up during the day so that they die and people see them. Do what I tell you, so that I will no longer be angry against the Israelites.’
5 Moses told the officers of the Israelites, ‘Each of you, kill the men who have worshipped the god, Baal of Peor.’
6 Moses and all the people were at the door of the Tent of Meeting. They were weeping. While they were there, an Israelite man brought a Midianite woman into his tent. Moses and all the people could see them. 7 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw what happened. So he stood up among all the people and he took a spear in his hand. 8 He went into the man's tent. He pushed the spear through the body of the man and the Midianite woman. When he did that, the bad disease that was killing the Israelites stopped. 9 But 24,000 people had already died as a result of the disease.
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 ‘I am no longer angry with the Israelites. That is because of what Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, did. He did not want the people to worship any god except me. Because of him, I did not kill all the Israelites. 12 So you must tell him that I have promised that my peace will be with him. 13 That promise will be for him and for his descendants after him. They will always be priests. That is because he did not want the people to worship any god except me. He has removed the sin of the Israelites so that I could forgive them.’
14 The name of the man that Phinehas killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri. He was the son of Salu. Salu was the leader of a clan from the tribe of Simeon. 15 The name of the Midianite woman was Cozbi. She was the daughter of Zur. Zur was a leader of a Midianite clan.
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 ‘Attack the Midianites and destroy them. 18 They have deceived you and they have become your enemies. They took some of you to worship their god Peor. They used Cozbi to make you do a wrong thing, and she was the daughter of a Midianite leader. Phinehas killed her on the day when the bad disease killed many Israelites at Peor mountain.’
Moses counts the people again[c]
26 When the bad disease stopped killing people, the Lord spoke to Moses and to Eleazar, the son of Aaron. 2 He said, ‘Count all the Israelites, clan by clan. Count all the men who are 20 years old or older. Count only those men who can fight in the army.’ 3 So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to the Israelites. Their camp was on the flat ground of Moab, beside the Jordan River. Jericho was on the other side of the river. They said, 4 ‘Count all the men who are 20 years old or older. The Lord has told Moses that we must do that.’
These are the names of the Israelites who came out of Egypt:
5 The tribe of Reuben, Jacob's firstborn son had these clans: Hanoch's family, Pallu's family, 6 Hezron's family and Carmi's family. 7 There were 43,730 men in the clans of the tribe of Reuben.
8 Pallu's descendant was Eliab. 9 Eliab's descendants were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were the men who turned against Moses and Aaron. Korah was their leader and they all turned against the Lord. 10 A hole opened in the ground. Korah, Dathan, Abiram and their families fell into the hole and they died. And fire killed 250 other men. So they became a sign to warn the other Israelites. 11 But Korah's clan did not all die at that time.
12 The tribe of Simeon had these clans: Nemuel's family, Jamin's family, Jakin's family, 13 Zerah's family and Shaul's family. 14 There were 22,200 men in the clans of the tribe of Simeon.
15 The tribe of Gad had these clans: Zephon's family, Haggi's family, Shuni's family, 16 Ozni's family, Eri's family, 17 Arod's family and Areli's family. 18 There were 40,500 men in the clans of the tribe of Gad.
19 The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but Er and Onan died in Canaan. 20 The tribe of Judah had these clans: Shelah's family, Perez's family, Zerah's family, 21 Hezron's family and Hamul's family. 22 There were 76,500 men in the clans of the tribe of Judah.
23 The tribe of Issachar had these clans: Tola's family, Puah's family, 24 Jashub's family and Shimron's family. 25 There were 64,300 men in the clans of the tribe of Issachar.
26 The tribe of Zebulun had these clans: Sered's family, Elon's family and Jahleel's family. 27 There were 60,500 men in the clans of the tribe of Zebulun.
28 The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim.
29 The tribe of Manasseh had these clans: Makir's family and Gilead's family. Makir was Gilead's father. 30 These clans came from Gilead's descendants: Iezer's family, Helek's family, 31 Asriel's family, Shechem's family, 32 Shemida's family and Hepher's family. 33 Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, had no sons, but only daughters. The names of Zelophehad's daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. 34 There were 52,700 men in the clans of the tribe of Manasseh.
35 The tribe of Ephraim had these clans: Shuthelah's family, Becher's family, and Tahan's family. 36 Eran's family was a clan from the descendants of Shuthelah. 37 There were 32,500 men in the clans of the tribe of Ephraim. The clans of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim were all descendants of Joseph.
38 The tribe of Benjamin had these clans: Bela's family, Ashbel's family, Ahiram's family, 39 Shupham's family and Hupham's family. 40 Ard's family and Naaman's family were clans from Bela's descendants. 41 There were 45,600 men in the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.
42 The tribe of Dan had this clan: Shuham's family. 43 There were 64,400 men in Shuham's clan.
44 The tribe of Asher had these clans: Imnah's family, Ishvi's family and Beriah's family. 45 Heber's family and Malkiel's family were clans from Beriah's descendants. 46 There was also a daughter of Asher who was called Serah. 47 There were 53,400 men in the clans of the tribe of Asher.
48 The tribe of Naphtali had these clans: Jahzeel's family, Guni's family, 49 Jezer's family and Shillem's family. 50 There were 45,400 men in the clans of the tribe of Naphtali.
51 There were 601,730 men on the list of all the Israelites.
Each tribe will receive some land in Canaan
52 The Lord said to Moses, 53 ‘I will give part of the land to each tribe. You need to know the number of names that you have on your list for each tribe. 54 The big tribes will receive a big piece of land. The small tribes will receive a smaller piece of land. 55 You must use lots to decide the land that each tribe receive. 56 The larger clans must have more land than the smaller clans.’
57 The Levites included these clans: Gershon's family, Kohath's family and Merari's family. 58 It also included these clans: Libni's family, Hebron's family, Mahli's family, Mushi's family and Korah's family. Kohath was the father of Amram. 59 The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed. She was a descendant of Levi, and she was born in Egypt. Amram and Jochebed were the parents of Moses and Aaron, and their sister Miriam. 60 Aaron was the father of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 61 Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire to the Lord.[d]
62 There were 23,000 male Levites who were more than one month old. Moses did not include them on the list of the other Israelite tribes. They did not receive any land as the other tribes did.
63 Those are the men that Moses and Eleazar the priest counted. They counted them on the flat ground in Moab beside the Jordan River. Jericho was on the other side of the river. 64 None of the men that Moses and Aaron had counted in the Sinai desert were still alive. 65 The Lord had said about those men, ‘They will certainly die in the desert.’ Among all those men, only Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun were still alive.
Zelophehad's daughters
27 Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, came to speak to Moses. Hepher was the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. So Zelophehad belonged to the tribe of Manasseh. His daughters were called Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. 2 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the people were standing at the front of the Tent of Meeting. Zelophehad's daughters said to them, 3 ‘Our father died in the desert. But he was not in Korah's group of men who came together to speak against the Lord. He died in the desert because of his own sin, and he did not have any sons. 4 We are his daughters, so please give us some land along with our father's male relatives. Then people will not forget our father's family name.’
5 Moses asked the Lord about this. 6 The Lord said to Moses, 7 ‘What the daughters of Zelophehad said is right. You must give to them some of the land that their father's family will receive. Give to them the land that their father would have received.
8 Tell the Israelites this: “Sometimes a man only has daughters. When he dies, his daughters must receive what belongs to their family. 9 If he does not have any sons or daughters, you must give his family's land to his brothers. 10 If he does not have any brothers, you must give his land to his father's brothers. 11 Sometimes the man's father may have no brothers. If that happens, you must give his land to another person in his family. This is a rule for all the people. The Lord gave this command to Moses.” ’
Joshua is the new leader
12 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go up to the top of the Abiram mountains. From there, look at the land that I am giving to the Israelites. 13 After that, you will die, just as your brother Aaron also died. 14 In the Zin desert, when the people turned against me, you did not obey my command. That happened when you hit the rock to get water at Meribah Kadesh. You did not show the people that I was holy, so now you will not go into the land of Canaan.’
15 Moses said to the Lord, 16 ‘You are the Lord, the God of the spirits of all people. Please choose another man to be leader over all the people. 17 He will lead them when they go out to fight, and he will bring them back safely. Then the Lord's people will not be like sheep who have no shepherd.’
18 The Lord replied to Moses, ‘Choose Joshua, the son of Nun. My Spirit is in him to help him lead well. Put your hand on him to take your place as leader. 19 He must stand in front of Eleazar the priest and in front of all the Israelites. Let all the people see that he is the new leader that I have chosen. 20 Tell the people that they must obey him, because he now has your authority. 21 Eleazar the priest will use the Urim to find out from me what Joshua should do. Then Joshua can tell the people when to go out to fight, and he can lead them safely back again. He will tell all the Israelite people what they must do.’
22 Moses did as the Lord told him. He brought Joshua to stand in front of Eleazar the priest and all the people. 23 He put his hands on Joshua to show that he would be the new leader. Moses gave his authority to Joshua, as the Lord had told him to do.
Offerings to the Lord
28 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Tell the Israelites that they must give their gifts to God at the proper time. The smell of the gifts when they burn will make him happy. 3 You must say to them, “This is the offering by fire that you must offer to the Lord: It must be two male lambs that are one year old. They must not have anything wrong with them. That is the burnt offering for every day. 4 You must give one lamb in the morning and one lamb in the evening. 5 With the lambs, you must also offer to God one kilogram of flour that you have mixed with one litre of good olive oil. 6 It is a regular burnt offering that God told you about. He told you about it on Sinai mountain. It is an offering by fire to the Lord. The smell as it burns makes the Lord happy. 7 Then the drink offering with it will be one litre of wine for each lamb. In God's Holy Tent, you must pour out a drink offering of the best wine to the Lord. 8 You must offer the other lamb when it begins to get dark. Offer it with a grain offering and a drink offering like the offerings in the morning. You must give it as an offering by fire. The smell of the smoke from these sacrifices will make the Lord happy.
9 Then on the Sabbath day, you must offer two male lambs that are one year old. They must not have anything wrong with them. And you must offer 2 kilograms of good flour. Mix that with oil as a grain offering. And you must give the proper drink offering with it. 10 This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath. But you must also give the regular burnt offering with its proper drink offering.
11 Also, on the first day of every month, you must give a burnt offering to the Lord. It must be two young bulls, one male sheep and seven male lambs. The lambs must be one year old and they must not have anything wrong with them. 12 With each bull and with the male sheep, you must give a grain offering. Mix together 3 kilograms of the best flour with olive oil. Offer it to me with each bull. Mix together 2 kilograms of the best flour with olive oil. Offer it to me with the male sheep. 13 And with each lamb you must give a grain offering. Mix together 1 kilogram of the best flour with olive oil. Offer it to me with each male lamb as a burnt offering to the Lord. The smell of the smoke from these sacrifices will make the Lord happy. 14 And there must be drink offerings with these sacrifices. The offering must be 2 litres of wine for a bull. It must be 1.5 litres for the male sheep and 1 litre for a lamb. That is the burnt offering of each month for every month of the year. 15 Also, you must offer one male goat as a sin offering to the Lord. You must offer it with the proper drink offering. But you must still offer the regular burnt offering.
The Passover
16 On the 14th day of the first month, you must eat the Lord's Passover meal. 17 Day 15 is the start of a week when you must eat the flat bread. You must not put any yeast in the bread. You must do that for seven days. 18 The first day will be a holy day and all the people must meet together. You must not work at your jobs on that day. 19 And you must give an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the Lord. The offering must be two young bulls, one male sheep and seven male lambs that are one year old. But these animals must not have anything wrong with them. 20 Offer the proper grain offering with each animal. Mix together 3 kilograms of the best flour and olive oil. Offer it to me with each bull. With the male sheep, offer 2 kilograms of the best flour with oil. 21 With each of the seven lambs, you must offer one kilogram of flour that you have mixed with oil. 22 You must also give one male goat as a sin offering. That is to make things right with God for you. 23 But you must still give the regular burnt offering in the morning. 24 You must offer those gifts every day for seven days. They are the food of an offering by fire. The smell of them as they burn will make the Lord happy. But you must still give the regular burnt offering with the proper drink offering. 25 And the seventh day must be a holy day and all the people must meet together. You must not work at your jobs on that day.
The Festival of Weeks
26 The day when you offer to the Lord the first part of the harvest must also be a holy day. That is also the day when you give to the Lord an offering of new grain. That is the Festival of Weeks. All the people must meet together. You must not work at your jobs on that day. 27 And you must give a burnt offering to the Lord. The offering must be two young bulls, one male sheep and seven male lambs that are one year old. The smell of the smoke from these sacrifices will make the Lord happy. 28 Mix together 3 kilograms of the best flour and olive oil. Offer that with each bull. With the male sheep, offer 2 kilograms of flour with oil. 29 With each of the seven lambs, you must offer one kilogram of flour that you have mixed with oil. 30 You must also offer one male goat to remove your sins. 31 You must still give the regular burnt offering with the proper grain offering. You must give them with the proper drink offerings. The animals must not have anything wrong with them.
The Festival of Trumpets
29 On the first day of the seventh month, all the people must come together for a holy meeting. You must not work at your jobs. It is a day for you to make music with your trumpets. 2 And you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. You must give one young bull and one male sheep. Also offer seven lambs that are one year old. The animals must not have anything wrong with them. The smell of the smoke from these sacrifices will cause the Lord to be happy. 3 Offer to me the proper grain offering with each animal. Mix together 3 kilograms of the best flour with olive oil. Offer it to me with the young bull. Offer 2 kilograms of flour with oil with the male sheep. 4 Offer 1 kilogram of flour with each lamb. 5 Also offer one male goat as a sin offering, so that I will forgive the people's sins. 6 Offer these sacrifices as well as the burnt offering, grain offerings and drink offerings that you give each month and each day. The smell of the smoke from these sacrifices will cause the Lord to be happy.
The Day of Atonement
7 On the tenth day of the seventh month, you must come together for a holy meeting. During that day, you must make yourselves humble. And you must not do any work. 8 You must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. The smell of the smoke will make the Lord happy. Offer one young bull, one male sheep and seven male lambs that are one year old. The animals must not have anything wrong with them. 9 Offer to me the proper grain offering with each animal. Mix together 3 kilograms of the best flour with olive oil. Offer it to me with the young bull. Offer 2 kilograms of flour with oil with the male sheep. 10 Offer 1 kilogram of flour with oil with each lamb. 11 Also offer one male goat as a sin offering. Give these gifts as well as the burnt offering, the grain offerings and the drink offerings that you give each day and each month.
The Festival of Huts
12 On the 15th day of the seventh month, you must come together for a holy meeting. You must not work at your jobs. You must have a feast to the Lord for seven days. 13 Give an offering by fire as a smell to make the Lord happy. Give a burnt offering of 13 young bulls, two male sheep and 14 lambs that are one year old. The animals must not have anything wrong with them. 14 With each of the 13 bulls give a grain offering. Mix together 3 kilograms of the best flour with olive oil. Offer it to me with each bull. With each male sheep, offer 2 kilograms of flour with oil. 15 Offer one kilogram of flour that you have mixed with oil with each male lamb. 16 Include one male goat as a sin offering. Sacrifice it with the regular burnt offering with the proper grain offering and the drink offering.
17 On the second day, give 12 young bulls, two male sheep and 14 lambs that are one year old. The animals must not have anything wrong with them. 18 With the bulls, male sheep and lambs, give the proper grain offerings and drink offerings for each animal. 19 Include one male goat as a sin offering. Sacrifice it with the regular burnt offering with the proper grain offering and their drink offerings.
20 On the third day, give 11 bulls, two male sheep and 14 male lambs that are a year old. The animals must not have anything wrong with them. 21 With the bulls, male sheep and lambs, give the proper grain offerings and drink offerings for each animal. 22 Include one male goat as a sin offering. Sacrifice it with the regular burnt offering with the proper grain offering and the drink offering.
23 On the fourth day give ten bulls, two male sheep and 14 male lambs that are a year old. The animals must not have anything wrong with them. 24 With the bulls, male sheep and lambs, give the proper grain offerings and drink offerings for each animal. 25 Include one male goat as a sin offering. Sacrifice it with the regular burnt offering with the proper grain offering and the drink offering.
26 On the fifth day give nine bulls, two male sheep and 14 male lambs that are a year old. The animals must not have anything wrong with them. 27 With the bulls, male sheep and lambs, give the proper grain offerings and drink offerings for each animal. 28 Include one male goat as a sin offering. Sacrifice it with the regular burnt offering with the proper grain offering and the drink offering.
29 On the sixth day give eight bulls, two male sheep and 14 male lambs that are a year old. The animals must not have anything wrong with them. 30 With the bulls, male sheep and lambs, give the proper grain offerings and drink offerings for each animal. 31 Include one male goat as a sin offering. Sacrifice it with the regular burnt offering with the proper grain offering and the drink offering.
32 On the seventh day give seven bulls, two male sheep and 14 male lambs that are a year old. The animals must not have anything wrong with them. 33 With the bulls, male sheep and lambs, give the proper grain offerings and drink offerings for each animal. 34 Include one male goat as a sin offering. Sacrifice it with the regular burnt offering with the proper grain offering and the drink offering.
35 On the eighth day, all the people must come together for a holy meeting. You must not work at your jobs. 36 Give an offering by fire as a smell to make the Lord happy. Give a burnt offering of one bull, one male sheep and seven male lambs that are a year old. The animals must not have anything wrong with them. 37 With the bull, the male sheep and the lambs, give the proper grain offerings and drink offerings for each animal. 38 Include one male goat as a sin offering. Sacrifice it with the regular burnt offering with the proper grain offering and the drink offering.
39 You must offer those gifts to the Lord at the times of the feasts. You must do that even if you have given your usual burnt offering, grain offerings, drink offerings or friendship offerings. And you must do it even if you have given other offerings. You might have given those other offerings because you wanted to give them. Or you might have given them because you had promised to give them.” ’
40 Moses told the Israelites everything that the Lord had said to him.
Rules about promises
30 Moses said to the leaders of the Israelite tribes: ‘The Lord commands this: 2 If a man promises to the Lord that he will do something, he must do everything that he has promised.
3 A young woman who still lives in her father's house might make a promise to the Lord. 4 If her father hears about her promise and he does not say anything, she must do everything that she has promised. 5 But her father may refuse to let her do it. Then she does not have to do what she promised to do. The Lord will understand why she does not do it.
6 But a young woman like that might make a promise to God and then marry a husband. She might have promised something when she had not thought carefully about it. 7 After she marries, if her husband hears about it but he does not stop her, she must do what she promised. 8 But her husband may say that he refuses to let her do it. He must say that on the day when he first hears about it. Then the woman does not have to do what she promised to do. The Lord will forgive her.
9 If a woman no longer has a husband, she must do whatever she has promised to the Lord. Maybe she is a widow, or she has become separate from her husband.
10 A woman who is living with her husband may make a promise to the Lord. 11 If her husband hears about it but he does not say anything, she must do everything that she has promised. 12 But her husband may say clearly that she must not do it. Then she must obey him. The Lord will understand why she does not do it.
13 The husband may let his wife do what she promised to do, or he may refuse. 14 If the husband does not say anything for many days about the promise, the woman must do what she promised. 15 The husband may wait for many days after he hears about his wife's promise. If he then refuses to let her do what she promised, he will be guilty. God will punish him instead of his wife.’
16 Those are the rules that the Lord gave to Moses. They say what must happen when husbands, wives or young women who still live at home make a promise to the Lord.
War against the Midianites
31 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘You must punish the Midianites because they caused the Israelites to worship idols. After you have done that, you will die.’
3 Moses said to the people, ‘Choose some men to go and fight against the Midianites. Give them weapons to punish the Midianites as the Lord wants. 4 Choose 1,000 men from each Israelite tribe to go and fight.’
5 They did that. There were 12,000 men ready with weapons to fight the battle. 6 Moses sent those men out to fight. There were 1,000 men from each tribe. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, went with them. Phinehas took with him the special things from God's Holy Tent. He also took the trumpets to make sounds for the battle.
7 They attacked the Midianites as the Lord had told them. They killed all the men. 8 That included the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. They also killed Balaam, the son of Beor, with a sword.
9 Israel's men took hold of the women and children of Midian. They took their animals and everything that was valuable. 10 They burned all their towns and their camps. 11 They took for themselves the people, the animals and everything that was valuable. 12 They took all the prisoners and the things that they had taken to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest. They brought them to the camp of the Israelites. That was on the flat ground in Moab beside the Jordan River. Jericho was on the other side of the river.
13 Moses, Eleazar and the leaders of the Israelites went to meet them outside the camp. 14 Moses was angry with the leaders and the officers of the army who had come back from the battle against the Midianites.
15 Moses said to them, ‘Why have you let all the women live? 16 You should not have done that. These women caused the Israelites to turn against the Lord. They did what Balaam said to them at Peor. As a result, a bad disease killed many of the Lord's people. 17 Because of that, kill all the boys, and kill every woman who has had sex with a man. 18 But as for the girls who have not had sex with a man, you may keep them for yourselves.’
19 Moses said, ‘Any soldier who has killed someone, or who has touched a dead body is unclean. He must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and on the seventh day, you must wash yourselves to become clean. You must do the same thing to your Midianite prisoners. 20 You must also make these things clean: any clothes or anything made from leather, wool or wood.’
21 Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers, ‘This is the rule that the Lord told Moses: 22 You must put all the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, and other metals in a fire. 23 Put in the fire anything that the fire will not destroy. The fire will make those things clean. But you must also wash them with water. As for anything that the fire would destroy, wash them with water to make them clean. 24 On the seventh day, you must wash your clothes. After that you will be clean again. Then you can come into the camp.’
They shared the things that they had taken
25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 ‘You and Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the family clans must count all the people and animals that you took in the battle. 27 Give one half of all those things to the soldiers who went to fight the war against the Midianites. Give the other half to the rest of the people. 28 From the half which belongs to the soldiers, keep one part out of every 500. Do that with the Midianite prisoners, the cows, the donkeys and the sheep. Those parts will be for the Lord. 29 Give those to Eleazar the priest. He will offer them to the Lord. 30 From the half that belongs to the people, keep one part out of every 50. Do that with the Midianite prisoners, the cows, the donkeys and the sheep. Those parts will be for the Levites who take care of the Lord's special tent.’
31 Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord said.
32 The soldiers had brought from the battle: 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cows, 34 61,000 donkeys 35 and 32,000 young women who had not had sex with a man.
36 The soldiers' half included 337,500 sheep. 37 So there were 675 sheep for the Lord. 38 The soldiers' half also included 36,000 cows. So there were 72 cows for the Lord. 39 The soldiers' half also included 30,500 donkeys. So there were 61 donkeys for the Lord. 40 The soldiers' half also included 16,000 people. So there were 32 people for the Lord.
41 Moses gave the part that was for the Lord to Eleazar, the priest. He would offer these to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
42 Moses made the half for the Israelite people separate from the half that was for the soldiers. 43 The people's half included 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cows, 45 30,500 donkeys 46 and 16,000 people. 47 From the Israelites' half, Moses took one part out of every 50. He gave those to the Levites who took care of the Lord's special tent. That was what the Lord had commanded Moses to do.
48 Then the leaders and the officers of the army went to Moses. 49 They said to him: ‘We have counted the soldiers who went to fight against the Midianites. They have all come back safely. 50 So we have brought a gift to offer to the Lord. We have brought gold rings, ear-rings, necklaces and other gold things that people wear. They are gifts to remove our sins so that the Lord will forgive us.’
51 Moses and Eleazar took all the gold things that the soldiers' officers and leaders brought to them. 52 They weighed all the gold that was offered to the Lord. The weight was 16,750 shekels. 53 The soldiers had also taken gold things from the enemy for themselves. 54 Moses and Eleazar took the gold gifts from the soldiers' officers and leaders into the Tent of Meeting. It would help the Israelites to remember how the Lord had helped them.
Land on the east side of the Jordan River
32 The people in the tribes of Reuben and Gad had very many animals. They saw that the land in Jazer and Gilead was good for their animals. 2 They went to speak to Moses, Eleazar and the other leaders of the Israelites. 3 They said, ‘The land at Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon 4 is good for animals. The Lord has given all this land to us Israelites. We have very many animals, 5 so please let us have this land for our animals. Let us have this land to live on, instead of land on the other side of the Jordan River.’[e]
6 Moses said to the men of Reuben and Gad, ‘The other Israelite tribes will go across the river to fight against the people who live there. It is not fair that you should stay here! 7 If you stay here, the rest of the Israelites may not want to cross the river. Do not stop them going into the land that the Lord has given to them! 8 Your fathers did the same thing when I sent them from Kadesh-Barnea to look at the land of Canaan. 9 They went to Eshcol valley and they saw the land. But they told the Israelites that it was not a good idea to go into Canaan. So the people did not go into the land that the Lord had given to them. 10 As a result, the Lord was very angry with them. 11 He promised, “None of the men that I brought out from Egypt will go into the land. It is the land that I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But they have not trusted me completely. So any man who is 20 years old or older will not go into this land. 12 Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun are the only men who will go into the land. They are the only men who trusted me completely.”
13 At that time, the Lord was angry with all the Israelites. He caused them to travel in the desert for 40 years. After that, all the men who had turned against him were dead.’
14 Moses continued to say, ‘Now you are turning against God, as your fathers did. You are as bad as them! You will cause the Lord to be even more angry with the Israelites. 15 If you turn against him, he will leave them here in the desert. If all the Israelite people die, it will be because of you!’
16 The men of Reuben and Gad said to Moses, ‘Let us build strong houses here for our women and our children. We will also build places to keep our animals safe. 17 Then we will be ready to join the other tribes and we will lead them to the battle. While we are fighting, our families will be safe here. The people who live in this land will not be able to hurt them. 18 We will not return to our homes here until all the Israelite tribes receive their own part of the land. 19 We will not receive any of the land on the other side of the Jordan River. Our part of the land will be here, on the east side of the river.’
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