mured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the 42 people of the LORD. And it came

to pass, when the congregation was Jassembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the Itent of 'meeting: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of 43 the LORD appeared. °And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Itent of meeting. And the LORD (45 spake unto Moses, saying, "Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. (16 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take Ithyl censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense 'thereon', and carry it quickly unto the congregation, and make atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. (47 And Aaron took as Moses 'spake', and ran into the midst of the lassembly; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made atonement 48 for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and 49 the plague was stayed. Now they that died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the 50 matter of Korah. And Aaron re

turned unto Moses unto the door of the 'tent' of 'meeting': and the plague was stayed.

171 1And the LORD spake unto Moses, 2) saying, Speak unto the children of

Israel, and take of them 'rods', one Ifor each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses!, twelve rods: write thou every 3) man's name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for 'there' shall be one rod for leach' head of their fathers' ( houses'. And thou shalt lay them up in the Itent' of meeting! before the testimony, where I meet with you. 5 And it shall come to pass, that the 'man' whom I shall choose, 'his' rod shall 'bud' and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the chil

1 [Ch. xvii. 16 in Heb.]

dren of Israel, which they murmur 6 against you. "And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and all their princes gave him rods', for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7 °And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tent of the testi8) mony. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses went into the Itent of the testimony'; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and 9 bare ripe almonds. °And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel and they looked, and took 10 every man his rod. And the LORD said unto Moses, 'Put back the rod lof Aaron' before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the 'children of rebellion; that thou mayest make an end of their murmurings against! 11) me, that they die not. Thus did Moses as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

12 And the children of Israel spake

unto Moses, saying, Behold, we perish', we are undone, we are all 13 undone. Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the tabernacle of the LORD, dieth': shall we perish all of us!?

181

And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the in(2 iquity of your priesthood. And thy brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou 'near with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall Ibe before the tent of the testi

3) mony'. And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent only they shall not come nigh unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar, that they 4 die 'not', neither they, nor lyel. And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the Itent' of 'meet

the

ing', for all the service of the 'Tent': and a stranger shall not come nigh (5) unto you. And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be wrath no more upon the children of (6) Israel. And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are a gift, given unto the LORD, to do the service of the Itent' of 'meet7 ing. And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your 'priesthood' for every thing of the altar, and 'for that' within the veil; and ye shall serve: I give you the priesthood' as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

8

And the LORD spake unto Aaron, And I', behold, I have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings, leven! all the hallowed things of the children of Israel, unto thee have I given them 1by reason of the anointing, and to 9 thy sons, 'as a duel for ever. "This

shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, even every 'meal' offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every guilt offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. 10 As the most holy 'things' shalt thou eat thereof every male shall eat 'thereof; it shall be holy unto thee. 11 °And this is thine; the heave offering

of their gift, leven' all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, 'as' a Iduel for ever: every one that is clean 12) in thy house shall eat thereof. All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the corn', the firstfruits of them which they givel unto the LORD, to thee have I given (13 them. The firstripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring unto the LORD, shall be thine; every one that is clean in 'thy house 14 shall eat thereof. Every thing de15 voted in Israel shall be thine. Every

thing that openeth the 'womb, of all flesh which they offer unto the LORD, both of 'man and beast', shall

1 Or, for a portion 2 Heb. fat.

be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt 16 thou redeem. And those that are to be redeemed of them from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary (the samel is twenty gerahs). 17 But the firstling of an ox', or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD. 18 And the flesh of them shall be thine,

as the wave breast and as the right 19 thigh, it shall be thine. All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, 'as a duel for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto 20 thee and to thy seed with thee. the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any 'portion' among them: I am thy 'portion' and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.

And

21) And 'unto the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return' for their service which they serve, even the service of the 'tent' of 'meet22) ing. And henceforth the children of Israel 'shall not come nigh the Itent' of 'meeting!, lest they bear sin, 23 and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the 'tent' of meeting!, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, and among the children of Israel they shall have 24 no inheritance. For the tithel of the children of Israel, which they offer as 'an' heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

25

And the LORD spake unto Moses, (26 saying, Moreover thou shalt speak unto the Levites, and say unto them,

3 Or, And as to their redemption
money, from a month old shalt
thou redeem them

When ye take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up lan heave offering of it for the LORD, a Itithe of the (27 tithe. And your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshing-floor, and as 28) the fulness of the winepress. Thus

ye also shall offer 'an' heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and thereof ye shall give the LORD'S heave offering to Aaron the 29 priest. Out of all your gifts ye shall

offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hal30lowed part thereof out of it. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye heave the 'best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshing-floor, and as the increase of the winepress. 31 And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward in return for your service in 33) the 'tent' of 'meeting. And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the 'best 'thereof : and ye shall not profane' the holy things of the children of Israel, that' ye die 'not'.

191

:

And the LORD spake unto Moses 2 and unto Aaron, saying, This is the Istatute of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never 3 came yoke: and ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, and he Ishall bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before 4 his face and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood toward the front of the 'tent' of 'meeting' seven times: and one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn and the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning 1 of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the

the

priest shall be unclean until the even. 8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean *9 until the even. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separa10 tion it is a sin 'offering!. And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among 11 them, for a statute for ever. He that toucheth the dead body of any man 12 shall be unclean seven days: same shall purify himself 'therewith' on the third day, "and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. * 13 °Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his unclean14 ness is yet upon him. This is the law when a man dieth in a tent : levery one that cometh into the tent, and every one that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. 15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. 16)°And whosoever in the open 'field' toucheth one that is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean (17 seven days. And for the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the 'burning of the sin offering1, and 'running water shall be put thereto in 18 a vessel: and a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched Ithe bone, or 'the' slain, or 'the' dead, 19 or the grave: and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify 'him'; and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall

*20 be clean at even.

"But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from 'the midst of the 'assembly', because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is *21 unclean. And it shall be a perpetual

statute unto them and he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall 22 be unclean until even. And whatso

ever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until

even.

201) And the children of Israel, even

the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and 2 was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 °And the people 'strove with Moses,

and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died (4) before the LORD! And why have ye brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should 5 die there, we and our cattle? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or lof vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to (6 drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tent of 'meeting', and fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto 7 them. And the LORD spake unto 8 Moses, saying, "Take the rod, and

assemble the 'congregation', thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, 'that' it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.

9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you 'forth'

1 That is, Strife.

:

(11) water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice and water came forth' abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle'. 12) And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed not 'in' me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this 'assembly' into the land 13 which I have given them. These are the waters of 1Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

14

And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen (15 us: how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians evil (16 entreated us, and our fathers: and when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: 17 let us pass, I pray thee, through thy land: we will not pass through 'field' or through Ivineyard', neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king's high way, we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have 18) passed thy border. °And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass Ithrough me, lest I come out with 19) the sword against thee. And the

children of Israel said unto him, We will go up by the high way and if Iwe drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then will I give the price thereof: let me only, without doing any thing else, 'pass through on my feet. 20 And he said, Thou shalt not 'pass'

through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a 21 strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border wherefore Israel turned away from him.

22) And 'they' journeyed from Kadesh: and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came unto mount 23 Hor. And the LORD spake unto

Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, 24 saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into

2 Or, Ishewed himself holy

the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the waters of 25 Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar

his son, and bring them up unto 26 mount Hor: and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. 27 And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congrega28 tion. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from 29 the mount. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel. 21(1) And the Canaanite, the king of

Arad, which dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way 1of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them 2 captivel. And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their 3) cities. And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and the name of the place was called "Hormah.

And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much dis5)couraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, land' there is 'no' water; and our soul 6 loatheth this "light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and 1 much people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And

the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a 'standard' and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when 9 he 'seeth it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and 'set' it upon the standard': and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the ser10 pent of brass, he lived. And the children of Israel journeyed', and 11 pitched in Oboth. And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Iyel-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising. 12 °From thence they journeyed', and 13 pitched in the valley of 'Zered'. °From

thence they journeyed', and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that cometh out of the border of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between (14 Moab and the Amorites. "Wherefore it is said in the book of the Wars of the LORD,

(15

Vaheb in Suphah',

And the valleys of Arnon,
And the 'slopel of the Ivalleys!
That 'inclineth toward' the dwelling
of Ar,

And leaneth upon the border of
Moab.

16 And from thence they journeyed to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD said unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them

17)

18)

water.

6 Or, linl 7 Or, Ivilel

VERSION OF 1611.-24 water; 29 mourned.