Genesis 1:1-6:8 ● Isaiah 42:5-43:11 ● John 1:1-18

Creation

The creation narrative in Genesis can be split into two sections. The first section starts with an account of God's Creation of the universe, which occurs in six days.

The second section is more human-oriented, and less concerned with explaining how the Earth, its creatures and its features came to exist as they are today.

Within the first section, on the first day, God created light; on the second, He created the firmament of heaven; on the third, He separated water and land, and created plant life; on the fourth day, He created the sun, moon, and stars; on the fifth day, He created marine life and birds; on the sixth, He created day land animals, and man and woman. On the seventh day, the Sabbath, God rested, and sanctified the day.

The second section of the creation narrative explains that the earth was lifeless, how God brought moisture to the soil, and how God formed man from the dust. (Adam translates from Hebrew to mean 'Red Earth').

Adam and Eve

God formed Adam out of earth ("adama"), and set him in the Garden of Eden, to watch over it. Adam was allowed to eat of all the fruit within it, except that of the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil." God then brought all the animals to Adam, to serve as company for him. Adam gave names to all the animals, but found no comfort in his loneliness. God then put him into a deep sleep, took a rib from his side, and from it formed a woman (later called "Eve"), to be a companion.

A talking serpent convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. Eve questioned the serpent and hesitated to take a bite. But after she found the fruit pleasant, Eve offered the fruit to Adam to eat it as well. Adam asked no questions and immediately took a bite. As a result, God cursed man to work to raise food from the ground and woman to bear children in pain, and Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden. Cherubim with a flaming sword then guarded the entrance to the garden.

Cain and Abel

Adam and Eve initially had two sons, Cain and Abel. There is a Chiastic structure in the first few verses relating Cain to Abel. Cain grew envious of the favor found by his brother before God, and slew him. The first murder was that of a brother. God sentenced Cain to wander over the earth as a fugitive. He finally settled in the land of Nod.

Enoch, one of Cain's sons, built the first city. Another descendant, Lamech, took two wives. Lamech's sons were the first dwellers in tents and owners of herds, and they were the earliest inventors of musical instruments and workers in brass and iron.

Another son, Seth, was in the meantime born to Adam and Eve. Seth's tenth descendant in regular descent was Noah. Adam and Eve also had other sons and daughters. In line with most of the other biblical characters born before the flood whose ages are provided, Adam lived until the age of 930.

The Nephilim

The introduction to the story of Noah is one of the more cryptic sections in the Bible. The sons of God (alternatively: "sons of the Rulers") lusted after the daughters of man, and mated with them. The children of these unions were mighty men, called Men of the Name (alternatively: "Men of Renown"). In this time, the Nephilim dwelled on the earth.

(Summary by Wikipedia)

Noah and the great flood

In response to the wickedness of mankind, God decided to cleanse the world and start again. God selected one man's family, the family of Noah, to survive the flood, as Noah was the most righteous man of his generation.

God commanded Noah to build a large ark, as the work of destruction was to be accomplished by a great flood. Noah obeyed the command, entering the ark together with his family. Into this ark they brought a mating pair of each kind of animal and bird on Earth. Water burst out of the ground and fell from the sky, and the world was flooded, destroying all living beings save those in the ark. When the waters subsided, Noah's family left the ark, and God entered into a covenant with Noah and all his descendants, the entire human race. Noah planted a vineyard (Gen. 9:20) and drank of the produce. When, in a fit of intoxication, Noah was shamelessly treated by his son Ham, he cursed Ham in the person of Ham's son Canaan, while Noah blessed his sons Shem and Japheth.

The Tower of Babel

Genesis chapter 10 reviews the peoples descended from Japheth, Ham, and Shem. The dispersion of humanity into separate races and nations is described in the story of the Tower of Babel. When men attempted to build a tower that would reach up to heaven, God brought about a "confusion of tongues" that dispersed humanity. (Gen. 11:1-9.) A genealogy gives Shem's descendants.

The line of Terah

Terah, who lived at Ur of the Chaldees, had three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran had a son Lot. Nahor married Milcah, and Abram married Sarai.

God spoke to Moses, identified Himself as the God of the Patriarchs, and acknowledged hearing the moaning of the Israelites. (Ex. 6:2–4.) God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites that God would free them, make them God’s people, and bring them to the Promised Land. (Ex. 6:6–8.) But the Israelites would not listen. (Ex. 6:9.) God told Moses to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but Moses complained that Pharaoh would not heed him, a man of impeded speech. (Ex. 6:10–12.)

The text interjects the genealogy of Moses and his family. (Ex. 6:14–25.)

God placed Aaron in the role of Moses’ prophet, to speak to Pharaoh. (Ex. 7:1–2.) God intended to harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that God might show signs and marvels. (Ex. 7:3.) God told how Aaron could cast down his rod and it would turn into a snake, and Aaron did so before Pharaoh. (Ex. 7:9–10.) Pharaoh caused his magicians to do the same, but Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods. (Ex. 7:11–12.) Pharaoh’s heart stiffened. (Ex. 7:13.)

The plagues of Egypt

God began visiting ten plagues on Egypt. God told Moses to go to Pharaoh at his morning bath, demand of him to let the Israelites go to worship in the wilderness, and have Aaron strike the Nile with his rod and turn it into blood. (Ex. 7:14–18.) Moses and Aaron did so, and the fish died and the Nile stank. (Ex. 7:20–21.) But when the Egyptian magicians did the same, Pharaoh’s heart stiffened. (Ex. 7:22–23.)

Seven days later, God told Moses to have Aaron hold his arm with the rod over the river and bring up frogs, and they did so. (Ex. 7:25–8:2.) The magicians did the same. (Ex. 8:3.) Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron to plead with God to remove the frogs; Moses did so, but Pharaoh became stubborn. (Ex. 8:4–11.)

God told Moses to have Aaron strike the dust with his rod, to turn it to lice (Ex. 8:12–13.) The magicians tried to do the same, but they could not. (Ex. 8:14.) The magicians told Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart stiffened. (Ex. 8:15.) throughout the land, and they did so.

God loosed swarms of insects against the Egyptians, but not Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt. (Ex. 8:16–20.) Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to go sacrifice to God within Egypt, but Moses insisted on going three days into the wilderness. (Ex. 8:21–23.) Pharaoh agreed, in exchange for Moses’ prayer to lift the plague. (Ex. 8:24.) But when God removed the insects, Pharaoh became stubborn again. (Ex. 8:27–28,)

God struck the Egyptian’s livestock with a pestilence, sparing the Israelites’ livestock. (Ex. 9:1–6.) But Pharaoh remained stubborn. (Ex. 9:7.)

God told Moses to take handfuls of soot from the kiln and throw it toward the sky, so that it would become a fine dust, causing boils on man and beast throughout Egypt, and he did so. (Ex. 9:8–10.) But God stiffened Pharaoh’s heart. (Ex. 9:12.)

God told Moses to threaten Pharaoh with hail. (Ex. 9:13–19.) Those who feared God’s word brought their slaves and livestock indoors. (Ex. 9:20.) God sent thunder and hail, which struck down all exposed in Egypt, but did not strike Goshen. (Ex. 9:23–26.) Pharaoh confessed his wrong, agreed to let the Israelites go, and asked Moses and Aaron to pray to end the hail. (Ex. 9:27–28.) Moses did so, but Pharaoh reverted to his guilty ways. (Ex. 9:33–34.)

(Summary from Wikipedia)

The last plagues of Egypt

After seven plagues, God continued visiting plagues on Egypt. Moses and Aaron warned Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, or suffer locusts covering the land. (Ex. 10:3-5.) Pharaoh's courtiers pressed Pharaoh to let the men go, so Pharaoh brought Moses and Aaron back and asked them, "Who are the ones to go?" (Ex. 10:7-8.) Moses insisted that young and old, sons and daughters, flocks and herds would go, but Pharaoh rejected Moses' request and expelled Moses and Aaron from his presence. (Ex. 10:9-11.) Moses held his rod over the land, and God drove an east wind to bring locusts to invade all the land. (Ex. 10:12-15.) Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, asked forgiveness, and asked them to plead with God to remove the locusts. (Ex. 10:16-17.) Moses did so, and God brought a west wind to lift the locusts into the Sea of Reeds. (Ex. 10:18-19.) But God stiffened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go. (Ex. 10:20.)

Then God instructed Moses to hold his arm toward the sky to bring darkness upon the land, and Moses did so, but the Israelites enjoyed light. (Ex. 10:21-23.) Pharaoh summoned Moses and told him to go, leaving only the Israelites' flocks and herds behind, but Moses insisted that none of the Israelites' livestock be left behind, for "[W]e shall not know with what we are to worship the LORD until we arrive there." (Ex. 10:24-26.) But God stiffened Pharaoh's heart, and he expelled Moses saying: "The moment you look upon my face, you shall die." (Ex. 10:27-28.) Moses warned Pharaoh that God would kill every firstborn in Egypt, but not a dog of the Israelites. (Ex. 11:4-7.) And Moses left Pharaoh in hot anger. (Ex. 11:8.)


The first Passover

God told Moses and Aaron to mark that month as the first of the months of the year. (Ex. 12:1-2.) And God told them to instruct the Israelites in the laws of Passover, and the Israelites obeyed. (Ex. 12:3-28, 43-50; 13:6-10.)

The plague of the firstborn

In the middle of the night, God struck down all the firstborn in Egypt. (Ex. 12:29.) Pharaoh arose in the night to a loud cry in Egypt, summoned Moses and Aaron, and told them to take the Israelites and go. (Ex. 12:30-32.) So the Israelites took their dough before it was leavened, borrowed silver, gold, and clothing from the Egyptians, and left the Land of Goshen for Sukkot. (Ex. 12:34-37.) God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to consecrate to God every firstborn man and beast, and Moses did so. (Ex. 13:1-2, 11-15.)

(Summary by Wikipedia)

When Pharaoh let the Israelites go, God led the people roundabout by way of the Sea of Reeds. (Ex. 13:17–18.) Moses took the bones of Joseph with them. (Ex. 13:19.) God went before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. (Ex. 13:21.)

Parting the Sea of Reeds

When Pharaoh learned that the people had fled, he had a change of heart, and he chased the Israelites with chariots, overtaking them by the sea. (Ex. 14:5–9.) Greatly frightened, the Israelites cried out to God and complained to Moses. (Ex. 14:10–12.) God told Moses to lift up his rod, hold out his arm, and split the sea. (Ex. 14:15–16.) Moses did so, and God drove back the sea with a strong east wind, and the Israelites marched through on dry ground, the waters forming walls on their right and left. (Ex. 14:21–22.) The Egyptians pursued, but God slowed them by locking their chariot wheels. (Ex. 14:23–25.) On God’s instruction, Moses held out his arm, and the waters covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the Egyptians. (Ex. 14:26–28.) Moses and the Israelites – and then Miriam – sang a song to God, celebrating how God hurled horse and driver into the sea. (Ex. 15.)


Bitter water turned sweet

The Israelites went three days into the wilderness and found no water. (Ex. 15:22.) When they came to Marah, they could not drink the bitter water, so they grumbled against Moses. (Ex. 15:23–24.) God showed Moses a piece of wood to throw into the water, and the water became sweet. (Ex. 15:25.)

Manna in the wilderness

The Israelites came to the wilderness of Sin and grumbled in hunger against Moses and Aaron. (Ex. 16:1–3.) God heard their grumbling, and in the evening quail covered the camp, and in the morning fine flaky manna covered the ground like frost. (Ex. 16:4–14.) The Israelites gathered as much of it as they required; those who gathered much had no excess, and those who gathered little had no deficiency. (Ex. 16:15–18.) Moses instructed none to leave any of it over until morning, but some did, and it became infested with maggots and stank. (Ex. 16:19–20.) On the sixth day they gathered double the food, Moses instructed them to put aside the excess until morning, and it did not turn foul the next day, the Sabbath. (Ex. 16:22–24.) Moses told them that on the Sabbath, they would not find any manna on the plain, yet some went out to gather and found nothing. (Ex. 16:25–27.) Moses ordered that a jar of the manna be kept throughout the ages. (Ex. 16:32–33.) The Israelites ate manna 40 years. (Ex. 16:35.)

Water from a stone

When the Israelites encamped at Rephidim, there was no water and the people quarreled with Moses. (Ex. 17:1–2.) God told Moses to strike the rock at Horeb to produce water, and they called the place Massah (trial) and Meribah (quarrel). (Ex. 17:5–7.)

Amalek’s attack

Amalek attacked Israel at Rephidim. (Ex. 17:8.) Moses stationed himself on the top of the hill, with the rod of God in his hand, and whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; but whenever he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. (Ex. 17:9–11.) When Moses grew weary, he sat on a stone, while Aaron and Hur supported his hands, and Joshua overwhelmed Amalek in battle. (Ex. 17:12–13.) God instructed Moses to inscribe a document as a reminder that God would utterly blot out the memory of Amalek. (Ex. 17:14.)

(Summary from Wikipedia)

When Pharaoh let the Israelites go, God led the people roundabout by way of the Sea of Reeds. (Ex. 13:17–18.) Moses took the bones of Joseph with them. (Ex. 13:19.) God went before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. (Ex. 13:21.)

Parting the Sea of Reeds

When Pharaoh learned that the people had fled, he had a change of heart, and he chased the Israelites with chariots, overtaking them by the sea. (Ex. 14:5–9.) Greatly frightened, the Israelites cried out to God and complained to Moses. (Ex. 14:10–12.) God told Moses to lift up his rod, hold out his arm, and split the sea. (Ex. 14:15–16.) Moses did so, and God drove back the sea with a strong east wind, and the Israelites marched through on dry ground, the waters forming walls on their right and left. (Ex. 14:21–22.) The Egyptians pursued, but God slowed them by locking their chariot wheels. (Ex. 14:23–25.) On God’s instruction, Moses held out his arm, and the waters covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the Egyptians. (Ex. 14:26–28.) Moses and the Israelites – and then Miriam – sang a song to God, celebrating how God hurled horse and driver into the sea. (Ex. 15.)

Bitter water turned sweet

The Israelites went three days into the wilderness and found no water. (Ex. 15:22.) When they came to Marah, they could not drink the bitter water, so they grumbled against Moses. (Ex. 15:23–24.) God showed Moses a piece of wood to throw into the water, and the water became sweet. (Ex. 15:25.)

Manna in the wilderness

The Israelites came to the wilderness of Sin and grumbled in hunger against Moses and Aaron. (Ex. 16:1–3.) God heard their grumbling, and in the evening quail covered the camp, and in the morning fine flaky manna covered the ground like frost. (Ex. 16:4–14.) The Israelites gathered as much of it as they required; those who gathered much had no excess, and those who gathered little had no deficiency. (Ex. 16:15–18.) Moses instructed none to leave any of it over until morning, but some did, and it became infested with maggots and stank. (Ex. 16:19–20.) On the sixth day they gathered double the food, Moses instructed them to put aside the excess until morning, and it did not turn foul the next day, the Sabbath. (Ex. 16:22–24.) Moses told them that on the Sabbath, they would not find any manna on the plain, yet some went out to gather and found nothing. (Ex. 16:25–27.) Moses ordered that a jar of the manna be kept throughout the ages. (Ex. 16:32–33.) The Israelites ate manna 40 years. (Ex. 16:35.)

Water from a stone

When the Israelites encamped at Rephidim, there was no water and the people quarreled with Moses. (Ex. 17:1–2.) God told Moses to strike the rock at Horeb to produce water, and they called the place Massah (trial) and Meribah (quarrel). (Ex. 17:5–7.)

Amalek’s attack

Amalek attacked Israel at Rephidim. (Ex. 17:8.) Moses stationed himself on the top of the hill, with the rod of God in his hand, and whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; but whenever he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. (Ex. 17:9–11.) When Moses grew weary, he sat on a stone, while Aaron and Hur supported his hands, and Joshua overwhelmed Amalek in battle. (Ex. 17:12–13.) God instructed Moses to inscribe a document as a reminder that God would utterly blot out the memory of Amalek. (Ex. 17:14.)

God told Moses to give the people a series of laws (see "Commandments" below), which some scholars call the Covenant Code. (Exodus 21–23.)

God invited Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 elders to bow to God from afar. (Ex. 24:1.) Moses repeated the commandments to the people, who answered: “All the things that the LORD has commanded we will do!” (Ex. 24:3.) Moses then wrote the commandments down. (Ex. 24:4.) He set up an altar and some young Israelite men offered sacrifices. (Ex. 24:4-5.) Moses read the covenant aloud to the people, who once again affirmed that they would follow it. (Ex. 24:7.) Moses took blood from the sacrifices and dashed it on the people. (Ex. 24:8.)

Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders of Israel then ascended, saw God, ate, and drank. (Ex. 24:9-11.)

Moses and Joshua arose, and Moses ascended Mount Sinai, leaving Aaron and Hur in charge of legal matters. (Ex. 24:13-14.) A cloud covered the mountain, hiding the Presence of the LORD for six days, appearing to the Israelites as a fire on the top of the mountain. (Ex. 24:15-17.) Moses went inside the cloud and remained on the mountain 40 days and nights. (Ex. 24:18.)

(Summary from Wikipedia)

God instructed Moses to tell all Israelites whose heart so moved them to bring gifts of gold, silver, copper, colored yarns, fine linen, goats’ hair, tanned ram skins, acacia wood, oil, spices, lapis lazuli, and other fine stones to make a sanctuary — the Tabernacle — and its furnishings, so that God could dwell among them. (Ex. 25:1-8.)

God instructed them to make the Ark of the Covenant of acacia wood overlaid with gold in which to deposit the tablets setting forth God’s commandments. (Ex. 25:10-16.) God told them to make two cherubim of gold to place on the ark’s cover or mercy seat. (Ex. 25:17-21.) God promised to impart commandments to Moses from between the two cherubim above the cover of the Ark. (Ex. 25:22.) God instructed them to make a table of acacia wood overlaid with gold, on which to set the bread of display or shewbread. (Ex. 25:23-30.)

God instructed them to make a six-branched, seven-lamped lampstand — menorah — of pure gold. (Ex. 25:31-40.) God instructed them to make the Tabernacle of ten strips of fine twisted linen, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, with a design of cherubim worked into them. (Ex. 26:1-6.) God instructed them to make 11 cloths of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle (Ex. 26:7-13), and coverings of tanned ram skins and tachash skins. (Ex. 26:14.) God instructed them to make planks of acacia wood for the Tabernacle. (Ex. 26:15-25.) God instructed them to make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen, with a design of cherubim, to serve as a partition obscuring the Holy of Holies. (Ex. 26:31-33.) God instructed them to place the Ark, the table, and the lampstand in the Tabernacle. (Ex. 26:34-35.) God instructed them to make a screen for the entrance of the Tent, of colored yarns, and fine twisted linen, done in embroidery and supported by five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold. (Ex. 26:36-37.) God instructed them to make the altar of acacia wood overlaid with copper. (Ex. 27:1-2.) And God instructed them to make the enclosure of the Tabernacle from fine twisted linen. (Ex. 27:9-16.)

(Summary from Wikipedia)

God instructed the Israelites to bring Moses clear olive oil, so that Aaron and his descendants as High Priest could kindle lamps regularly in the Tabernacle. (Ex. 27:20–21.)

God instructed Moses to make sacral vestments for Aaron: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a gold frontlet inscribed “Holy to the Lord,” a fringed tunic, a headdress, a sash, and linen breeches. (Ex. 28.) God instructed Moses to place Urim and Thummim inside the breastpiece of decision. (Ex. 28:30.) God instructed Moses to place pomegranates and gold bells around the robe’s hem, to make a sound when the High Priest entered and exited the sanctuary, so that he not die. (Ex. 33–35.)

God laid out a ordination ceremony for priests involving the sacrifice of a young bull, two rams, unleavened bread, unleavened cakes with oil mixed in, and unleavened wafers spread with oil. (Ex. 29.) God instructed Moses to lead the bull to the front of the Tabernacle, let Aaron and his sons lay their hands upon the bull’s head, slaughter the bull at the entrance of the Tent, and put some of the bull’s blood on the horns of the altar. (Ex. 29:10–12.) God instructed Moses to take one of the rams, let Aaron and his sons lay their hands upon the ram’s head, slaughter the ram, and put some of its blood and put on the ridge of Aaron’s right ear and on the ridges of his sons’ right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. (Ex. 29:19–20.)

God promised to meet and speak with Moses and the Israelites there, to abide among the Israelites, and be their God. (Ex. 29:42–45.)

God instructed Moses to make an incense altar of acacia wood overlaid with gold — sometimes called the Golden Altar. (Ex. 30.)

(Summary from Wikipedia)

Building the Holy Place

God instructed Moses that when he took a census of the Israelites, each person 20 years old or older, regardless of wealth, should pay a half-shekel ransom, to avoid a plague. (Ex. 30:11–15.) God told Moses to assign the proceeds to the service of the Tent of Meeting. (Ex. 30:16.)

God told Moses to place a copper laver between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, so that Aaron and the priests could wash their hands and feet in water when they entered the Tent of Meeting or approached the altar to burn a sacrifice, so that they would not die. (Ex. 30:17–22.)

God directed Moses to make a sacred anointing oil from choice spices — myrrh, cinnamon, cassia — and olive oil. (Ex. 30:22–25.) God told Moses to use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the furnishings of the Tabernacle, and the priests. (Ex. 30:26–30.) God told Moses to warn the Israelites not to copy the sacred anointing oil’s recipe for lay purposes, at pain of exile. (Ex. 30:31–33.)

God directed Moses make sacred incense from herbs — stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense — to burn in the Tent of Meeting. (Ex. 30:34–36.) As with the anointing oil, God warned against making incense from the same recipe for lay purposes. (Ex. 30:37.)

God informed Moses that God had endowed Bezalel of the Tribe of Judah with divine skill in every kind of craft. (Ex. 31:1–5.) God assigned to him Oholiab of the Tribe of Dan and granted skill to all who are skillful, that they might make the furnishings of the Tabernacle, the priests’ vestments, the anointing oil, and the incense. (Ex. 31:6–11.) God told Moses to admonish the Israelites nevertheless to keep the Sabbaths, on pain of death. (Ex. 31:12–17.) Then God gave Moses two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. (Ex. 31:18.)
Moses Cast Down the Tablets of the Law (painting by Domenico Beccafumi)


The Golden Calf

Meanwhile, the people became impatient for Moses’ return, and implored Aaron to make them a god. (Ex. 32:1.) Aaron told them to bring him their gold earrings, and he cast them in a mold and made a molten golden calf. (Ex. 32:2–4.) They exclaimed, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Ex. 32:4.) Aaron built an altar before the calf, and announced a festival of the Lord. (Ex. 32:5.) The people offered sacrifices, ate, drank, and danced. (Ex. 32:6.)

God told Moses what the people had done, saying “let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation.” (Ex. 32:7–10.) But Moses implored God not to do so, lest the Egyptians say that God delivered the people only to kill them off in the mountains. (Ex. 32:11–12.) Moses called on God to remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God’s oath to make their offspring as numerous as the stars, and God renounced the planned punishment. (Ex. 32:13–14.)

Moses went down the mountain bearing the two tablets. (Ex. 32:15–16.) Joshua told Moses, “There is a cry of war in the camp,” but Moses answered, “It is the sound of song that I hear!” (Ex. 32:17–18.)

When Moses saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged and shattered the tablets at the foot of the mountain. (Ex. 32:19.) He burned the calf, ground it to powder, strewed it upon the water, and made the Israelites drink it. (Ex. 32:20.) When Moses asked Aaron how he committed such a great sin, Aaron replied that the people asked him to make a god, so he hurled their gold into the fire, “and out came this calf!” (Ex. 32:21–24.) Seeing that Aaron had let the people get out of control, Moses stood in the camp gate and called, “Whoever is for the Lord, come here!” (Ex. 32:25–26.) All the Levites rallied to Moses, and at his instruction killed 3,000 people, including brother, neighbor, and kin. (Ex. 32:27–29.)

Moses went back to God and asked for God either to forgive the Israelites or kill Moses too, but God insisted on punishing only the sinners, which God did by means of a plague. (Ex. 32:31–35.)


God’s Nature Revealed

Then God dispatched Moses and the people to the Promised Land, but God decided not to go in their midst, for fear of destroying them on the way. (Ex. 33:1–3.) Upon hearing this, the Israelites went into mourning. (Ex. 33:4.) Now Moses would pitch the Tent of Meeting outside the camp, and Moses would enter to speak to God, face to face. (Ex. 33:7–11.) Moses asked God whom God would send with Moses to lead the people. (Ex. 33:12.) Moses further asked God to let him know God’s ways, that Moses might know God and continue in God’s favor. (Ex. 33:13.) And God agreed to lead the Israelites. (Ex. 33:14.) Moses asked God not to make the Israelites move unless God were to go in the lead, and God agreed. (Ex. 33:15–17.) Moses asked God to let him behold God’s Presence. (Ex. 33:18.) God agreed to make all God’s goodness pass before Moses and to proclaim God’s name and nature, but God explained that no human could see God’s face and live. (Ex. 33:19–20.) God instructed Moses to station himself on a rock, where God would cover him with God’s hand until God had passed, at which point Moses could see God’s back. (Ex. 33:21–23.)

God directed Moses to carve two stone tablets like the ones that Moses shattered, so that God might inscribe upon them the words that were on the first tablets, and Moses did so. (Ex. 34:1–4.) God came down in a cloud and proclaimed: “The Lord! The Lord! A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He does not remit all punishment, but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations.” (Ex. 34:5–7.)

Moses bowed low and asked God to accompany the people in their midst, to pardon the people’s iniquity, and to take them for God’s own. (Ex. 34:8–9.) God replied by making a covenant to work unprecedented wonders and to drive out the peoples of the Promised Land. (Ex. 34:10–11.) God warned Moses against making a covenant with them, lest they become a snare and induce the Israelites’ children to lust after their gods. (Ex. 34:12–16.)

God commanded that the Israelites not make molten gods, that they consecrate or redeem every first-born, that they observe the Sabbath, that they observe the three pilgrim festivals, that they not offer sacrifices with anything leavened, that they not leave the Passover lamb lying until morning, that they bring choice first fruits to the house of the Lord, and that they not boil a kid in its mother’s milk. (Ex. 34:17–26.)

Moses stayed with God 40 days and 40 nights, ate no bread, drank no water, and wrote down on the tablets the terms of the covenant. (Ex. 34:28.) As Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets, the skin of his face was radiant, and the Israelites shrank from him. (Ex. 34:29–30.) Moses called them near and instructed them concerning all that God had commanded. (Ex. 34:31–32.) When Moses finished speaking, he put a veil over his face. (Ex. 34:33.) Whenever Moses spoke with God, Moses would take his veil off. (Ex. 34:34.) And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, and then Moses would then put the veil back over his face again. (Ex. 34:34–35.)

(Summary by Wikipedia)

God called to Moses from the Tabernacle and told him the laws of the sacrifices (korbanot). (Lev. 1:1.)

Burnt offerings ('olah) could be bulls, rams or male goats, or turtle doves or pigeons, which the priest burned completely on wood on the altar. (Lev. 1:3–17.)

Meal offerings (minchah) were of choice flour with oil, from which priest would remove a token portion to burn on the altar, and the remainder the priests could eat. (Lev. 2:1–10.) Meal offerings could not contain leaven or honey, and had to be seasoned with salt. (Lev. 2:11–13.) Meal offerings of first fruits had to be new ears parched with fire, grits of the fresh grain. (Lev. 2:14.)

Sacrifices of well-being (shelamim) could be male or a female cattle, sheep, or goats, from which the priest would dash the blood on the sides of the altar and burn the fat around the entrails, the kidneys, and the protuberance on the liver on the altar. (Lev. 3:1–16.)

Sin offerings (chattat) for unwitting sin by the High Priest or the community required sacrificing a bull, sprinkling its blood in the Tent of Meeting, burning on the altar the fat around the entrails, the kidneys, and the protuberance on the liver, and burning the rest of the bull on an ash heap outside the camp. (Lev. 4:1–21.) Guilt offerings for unwitting sin by a chieftain required sacrificing a male goat, putting some of its blood on the horns of the altar, and burning its fat. (Lev. 4:22–26.) Guilt offerings for unwitting sin by a lay person required sacrificing a female goat, putting some of its blood on the horns of the altar, and burning its fat. (Lev. 4:27–31.)

• Sin offerings were required for cases when a person:

• was able to testify but did not give information,
• touched any unclean thing,
• touched human uncleanness, or
• uttered an oath and forgot. (Lev. 5:1–4.)

In such cases, the person had to confess and sacrifice a female sheep or goat; or if he could not afford a sheep, two turtledoves or two pigeons; or if he could not afford the birds, choice flour without oil. (Lev. 5:5–13.)

Guilt offerings ('asham) were required when a person was unwittingly remiss about any sacred thing. (Lev. 5:14–15.) In such cases, the person had to sacrifice a ram and make restitution plus 20 percent to the priest. (Lev. 5:16.) Similarly, guilt offerings were required when a person dealt deceitfully in the matter of a deposit or a pledge, through robbery, by fraud, or by finding something lost and lying about it. (Lev. 5:20–22.) In such cases, the person had to sacrifice a ram and make restitution plus 20 percent to the victim. (Lev. 5:22–26.)

God told Moses to command Aaron and the priests about the rituals of the sacrifices (korbanot in Hebrew). (Lev. 6:1.)

The burnt offering ('olah) was to burn on the altar until morning, when the priest was to clear the ashes to a place outside the camp. (Lev. 6:2–4.) The priests were to keep the fire burning, every morning feeding it wood. (Lev. 6:5–6.)

The meal offering (mincha) was to be presented before the altar, a handful of it burned on the altar, and the balance eaten by the priests as unleavened cakes in the Tent of Meeting. (Lev. 6:7–11.) On the occasion of the High Priest’s anointment, the meal offering was to be prepared with oil on a griddle and then entirely burned on the altar. (Lev. 6:12–16.)

The sin offering (chattat) was to be slaughtered at the same place as the burnt offering, and the priest who offered it was to eat it in the Tent of Meeting. (Lev. 6:17–22.) If blood of the sin offering was brought into the Tent of Meeting for expiation, the entire offering was to be burned on the altar. (Lev. 6:23.)

The guilt offering (asham) was to be slaughtered at the same place as the burnt offering, the priest was to dash its blood on the altar, burn its fat, broad tail, kidneys, and protuberance on the liver on the altar, and the priest who offered it was to eat the balance of its meat in the Tent of Meeting. (Lev. 7:1–7.)

The priest who offered a burnt offering kept the skin. (Lev. 7:8.) The priest who offered it was to eat any baked or grilled meal offering, but every other meal offering was to be shared among all the priests. (Lev. 7:9–10.)

The peace offering (shelamim), if offered for thanksgiving, was to be offered with unleavened cakes or wafers with oil, which would go to the priest who dashed the blood of the peace offering. (Lev. 7:11–14.) All the meat of the peace offering had to be eaten on the day that it was offered. (Lev. 7:15.) If offered as a votive or a freewill offering, it could be eaten for two days, and what was then left on the third day was to be burned. (Lev. 7:16–18.)

Meat that touched anything unclean could not be eaten; it had to be burned. (Lev. 7:19.) And only a person who was clean could eat meat from peace offerings, at pain of exile. (Lev. 7:20–21.) One could eat no fat or blood, at pain of exile. (Lev. 7:22–27.)

The person offering the peace offering had to present the offering and its fat himself, the priest would burn the fat on the altar, the breast would go to the priests, and the right thigh would go to the priest who offered the sacrifice. (Lev. 7:28–34.)

God instructed Moses to assemble the whole community at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for the priests’ ordination. (Lev. 8:1–5.) Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward, washed them, and dressed Aaron in his vestments. (Lev. 8:6–9.) Moses anointed and consecrated the Tabernacle and all that was in it, and then anointed and consecrated Aaron and his sons. (Lev. 8:10–13.)

Moses led forward a bull for a sin offering, Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the bull’s head, and it was slaughtered. (Lev. 8:14–15.) Moses put the bull’s blood on the horns and the base of the altar, burned the fat, the protuberance of the liver, and the kidneys on the altar, and burned the rest of the bull outside the camp. (Lev. 8:15–17.)

Moses then brought forward a ram for a burnt offering, Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram’s head, and it was slaughtered. (Lev. 8:18–19.) Moses dashed the blood against the altar and burned all of the ram on the altar. (Lev. 8:19–21.)

Moses then brought forward a second ram for ordination, Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram’s head, and it was slaughtered. (Lev. 8:22–23.) Moses put some of its blood on Aaron and his sons, on the ridges of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. (Lev. 8:23–24.) Moses then burned the animal's fat, broad tail, protuberance of the liver, kidneys, and right thigh on the altar with a cake of unleavened bread, a cake of oil bread, and a wafer as an ordination offering. (Lev. 8:25–28.) Moses raised the breast before God and then took it as his portion. (Lev. 8:29.) Moses sprinkled oil and blood on Aaron and his sons and their vestments. (Lev. 8:30.) And Moses told Aaron and his sons to boil the meat at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and eat it there, and remain at the Tent of Meeting for seven days to complete their ordination, and they did all the things that God had commanded through Moses. (Lev. 8:31–36.)

(Summary from Wikipedia)

God Consecrated the Tabernacle

On the eighth day of the ceremony to ordain the priests and consecrate the Tabernacle, Moses instructed Aaron to assemble calves, rams, a goat, a lamb, an ox, and a meal offering as sacrifices (called korbanot in Hebrew) to God, saying: “Today the Lord will appear to you." (Lev. 9:1-4.) They brought the korbanot to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the Israelites assembled there. (Lev. 9:5.) Aaron offered the korbanot as Moses had commanded. (Lev. 9:8-21.) Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. (Lev. 9:22.) Moses and Aaron then went inside the Tent of Meeting, and when they came out, they blessed the people again. (Lev. 9:23.) Then the Presence of the Lord appeared to all the people and fire came forth and consumed the korbanot on the altar. (Lev. 9:23–24.) And the people shouted and fell on their faces. (Lev. 9:24.)

Nadab and Abihu

Acting on their own, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan, laid incense on it, and offered alien fire, which God had not commanded. (Lev. 10:1.) And God sent fire to consume them, and they died. (Lev. 10:2.) Moses told Aaron, "This is what the Lord meant when He said: ‘Through those near to Me I show Myself holy, and gain glory before all the people,’" and Aaron remained silent. (Lev. 10:3.) Moses called Aaron’s cousins Mishael and Elzaphan to carry away Nadab’s and Abihu’s bodies to a place outside the camp. (Lev. 10:4.) Moses instructed Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar not to mourn Nadab and Abihu and not to go outside the Tent of Meeting. (Lev. 10:6–7.)

And God told Aaron that he and his sons must not drink wine or other intoxicants when they entered the Tent of Meeting, so as to distinguish between the sacred and the profane. (Lev. 10:8–11.)

Moses directed Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar to eat the remaining meal offering beside the altar, designating it most holy and the priests’ due. (Lev. 10:12–13.) And Moses told them that their families could eat the breast of the elevation offering and the thigh of the gift offering in any clean place. (Lev. 10:14.)

Then Moses inquired about the goat of sin offering, and was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar when he learned that it had already been burned and not eaten in the sacred area. (Lev. 10:16–18.) Aaron answered Moses: "See, this day they brought their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me! Had I eaten sin offering today, would the Lord have approved?" (Lev. 10:19.) And when Moses heard this, he approved. (Lev. 10:20.)

Dietary Laws

God then instructed Moses and Aaron in the dietary laws of kashrut (Lev. 11), saying: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (Lev. 11:45.)

(Summary from Wikipedia)

Childbirth

God told Moses to tell the Israelites that when a woman at childbirth bore a boy, she was to be unclean 7 days and then remain in a state of blood purification for 33, while if she bore a girl, she was to be unclean 14 days and then remain in a state of blood purification for 66 days. (Lev. 12:1–5.) Upon completing her period of purification, she was to bring a lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering, and the priest was to offer it as a sacrifice to make expiation on her behalf. (Lev. 12:6–7.) If she could not afford a sheep, she was to take two turtle doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. (Lev. 12:8.)

Skin Conditions

God told Moses and Aaron that when a person had a swelling, rash, discoloration, scaly affection, inflammation, or burn, it was to be reported to the priest, who was to examine it to determine whether the person was clean or unclean. (Lev. 13:1–44.) Unclean persons were to rend their clothes, leave their head bare, cover over their upper lips, call out, "Unclean! Unclean!" and dwell outside the camp. (Lev. 13:45–46.)

Clothing

Similarly, when a streaky green or red eruptive affection occurred in wool, linen, or animal skin, it was to be shown to the priest, who was to examine to determine whether it was clean or unclean. (Lev. 13:47–51.) If unclean, it was to be burned, but if the affection disappeared from the article upon washing, it was to be washed again and be clean. (Lev. 13:52–59.)

(Summary from Wikipedia)

God told Moses the ritual for cleansing one with a skin disease. Lev. 14:1–2. If the priest saw that the person had healed, the priest would order two live clean birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop. Lev. 14:3–4. The priest would order one of the birds slaughtered over fresh water and would then dip the live bird, the cedar wood, the crimson stuff, and the hyssop in the blood of the slaughtered bird. Lev. 14:5–6. The priest would then sprinkle the blood seven times on the one who was to be cleansed and then set the live bird free. Lev. 14:6–7. The one to be cleansed would then wash his clothes, shave off his hair, bathe in water, and then be clean. Lev. 14:8. On the eighth day after that, the one being cleansed was to present two male lambs, one ewe lamb, choice flour, and oil for the priest to offer. Lev. 14:9–13. The priest was to put some of the blood and the oil on the ridge of the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the one being cleansed, and then put more of the oil on his head. Lev. 14:14–18. If the one being cleansed was poor, he could bring two turtle doves or pigeons in place of two of the lambs. Lev. 14:21–22.

God then told Moses and Aaron the ritual for cleansing a house with an eruptive plague. Lev. 14:33–34. The owner was to tell the priest, who was to order the house cleared and then examine it. Lev. 14:35–36. If the plague in the walls was greenish or reddish streaks deep into the wall, the priest was to close the house for seven days. Lev. 14:37–38. If, after seven days, the plague had spread, the priest was to order the stones with the plague to be pulled out and cast outside the city. Lev. 14:39–40. The house was then to be scraped, the stones replaced, and the house replastered. Lev. 14:41–42. If the plague again broke out, the house was to be torn down. Lev. 14:43–45. If the plague did not break out again, the priest was to pronounce the house clean. Lev. 14:48. To purge the house, the priest was to take two birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop, slaughter one bird over fresh water, sprinkle on the house seven times with the bird’s blood, and then let the live bird go free. Lev. 14:49–53.

God then told Moses and Aaron the ritual for cleansing a person who had a genital discharge. Lev. 15.

When a man had a discharge from his member, he was unclean, and any bedding on which he lay and every object on which he sat was to be unclean. Lev. 15:2–4. Anyone who touched his body, touched his bedding, touched an object on which he sat, was touched by his spit, or was touched by him before he rinsed his hands was to wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. Lev. 15:5–11. An earthen vessel that he touched was to be broken, and any wooden implement was to be rinsed with water. Lev. 15:12. Seven days after the discharge ended, he was to wash his clothes, bathe his body in fresh water, and be clean. Lev. 15:13. On the eighth day, he was to give two turtle doves or two pigeons to the priest, who was to offer them to make expiation. Lev. 15:14–15.

When a man had an emission of semen, he was to bathe and remain unclean until evening. Lev. 15:16. All material on which semen fell was to be washed in water and remain unclean until evening. Lev. 15:17. And if a man had carnal relations with a woman, they were both to bathe and remain unclean until evening. Lev. 15:18.

When a woman had a menstrual discharge, she was to remain impure seven days, and whoever touched her was to be unclean until evening. Lev. 15:19. Anything that she lay on or sat on was unclean. Lev. 15:20. Anyone who touched her bedding or any object on which she has sat was to wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening. Lev. 15:21–23. And if a man lay with her, her impurity was communicated to him and he was to be unclean seven days, and any bedding on which he lay became unclean. Lev. 15:24. When a woman had an irregular discharge of blood, she was to be unclean as long as her discharge lasted. Lev. 15:25–27. Seven days after the discharge ended, she was to be clean. Lev. 15:28. On the eighth day, she was to give two turtle doves or two pigeons to the priest, who was to offer them to make expiation. Lev. 15:29–30.

God told Moses and Aaron to put the Israelites on guard against uncleanness, lest they die by defiling God’s Tabernacle. Lev. 15:31.

(Summary from Wikipedia)

Holiness

God told Moses to tell the Israelites to be holy, for God is holy. (Lev. 19:1–2.) God’s instruction, considered by scholars to be part of the Holiness Code, then enumerates how people can be holy. God instructed the Israelites:

• To revere their mothers and fathers (Lev. 19:3.)
• To keep the Sabbath (Lev. 19:3.)
• Not to turn to idols (Lev. 19:4.)
• To eat the sacrifice of well-being in the first two days (Lev. 19:5–8.)
• Not to reap all the way to the edges of a field, but to leave some for the poor and the stranger (Lev. 19:9–10.)
• Not to steal, deceive, swear falsely, or defraud (Lev. 19:11–13.)
• To pay laborers their wages promptly (Lev. 19:13.)
• Not to insult the deaf or impede the blind (Lev. 19:14.)
• To judge fairly (Lev. 19:15.)
• Not to deal basely with their countrymen, profit by their blood, or hate them in their hearts (Lev. 19:16–17.)
• To reprove kinsmen but incur no guilt because of them (Lev. 19:17.)
• Not to take vengeance or bear a grudge (Lev. 19:18.)
• To love others as oneself (Lev. 19:18.)
• To observe God’s laws (Lev. 19:19.)
• Not to interbreed different species or sow fields with two kinds of seed (Lev. 19:19.)
• Not to wear cloth from a mixture of two kinds of material (Lev. 19:19.)
• A man who has carnal relations with a slave woman designated for another man must offer a ram of guilt offering (Lev. 19:20–22.)
• To regard the fruit of a newly-planted tree as forbidden for three years, set aside for God in the fourth year, and available to use in the fifth year (Lev. 19:23–25.)
• Not to eat anything with its blood (Lev. 19:26.)
• Not to practice divination or soothsaying (Lev. 19:26.)
• Not to round off the side-growth on their heads or destroy the side-growth of their beards (Lev. 19:27.)
• Not to make gashes in their flesh for the dead (Lev. 19:28.)
• Not to degrade their daughters or make them harlots (Lev. 19:29.)
• To venerate God’s sanctuary (Lev. 19:30.)
• Not to turn to ghosts or inquire of spirits (Lev. 19:31.)
• To rise before the aged and show deference to the old (Lev. 19:32.)
• Not to wrong strangers who reside in the land, but to love them as oneself (Lev. 19:33–34.)
• Not to falsify weights or measures (Lev. 19:35–36.)

Penalties for Transgressions

God then told Moses to instruct the Israelites of the following penalties for transgressions.

The following were to be put to death:

• One who gave a child to Molech (Lev. 20:1–2.)
• One who insulted his father or mother (Lev. 20:9.)
• A man who committed adultery with a married woman, and the married woman with whom he committed it (Lev. 20:10.)
• A man who lay with his father’s wife, and his father wife with whom he lay (Lev. 20:11.)
• A man who lay with his daughter-in-law, and his daughter-in-law with whom he lay (Lev. 20:12.)
• A man who lay with a male as one lies with a woman, and the male with whom he lay (Lev. 20:13.)
• A man who married a woman and her mother, and the woman and mother whom he married (Lev. 20:14.)
• A man who had carnal relations with a beast, and the beast with whom he had relations (Lev. 20:15.)
• A woman who approached any beast to mate with it, and the beast that she approached (Lev. 20:16.)
• One who had a ghost or a familiar spirit (Lev. 20:27.)

The following were to be cut off from their people:

• One who turned to ghosts or familiar spirits (Lev. 20:6.)
• A man who married his sister, and the sister whom he married (Lev. 20:17.)
• A man who lay with a woman in her infirmity, and the woman with whom he lay (Lev. 20:18.)

The following were to die childless:

• A man who uncovered the nakedness of his aunt, and the aunt whose nakedness he uncovered (Lev. 20:19–20.)
• A man who married his brother’s wife, and the brother’s wife whom he married (Lev. 20:21.)

God then enjoined the Israelites faithfully to observe all God’s laws, lest the Promised Land spew them out. (Lev. 20:22.) For it was because the land’s former inhabitants did all these things that God dispossessed them. (Lev. 20:23.) God designated the Israelites as holy to God, for God is holy, and God had set the Israelites apart from other peoples to be God’s. (Lev. 20:26.)

(Summary from Wikipedia.com)

Rules for priests

God told Moses to tell the priests these laws for the priests. (Lev. 21:1.) None were to come in contact with a dead body except for that of his closest relatives: his parent, child, brother, or virgin sister. (Lev. 21:1–4.) They were not to shave any part of their heads or the side-growth of their beards or gash their flesh. (Lev. 21:5.) They were not to marry a harlot or divorcee. (Lev. 21:7.) The daughter of a priest who became a harlot was to be executed. (Lev. 21:9.)

The High Priest was not to bare his head or rend his vestments. (Lev. 21:10.) He was not to come near any dead body, even that of his father or mother. (Lev. 21:11.) He was to marry only a virgin of his own kin. (Lev. 21:13–15.)

No disabled priest could offer sacrifices. (Lev. 21:16–21.) He could eat the meat of sacrifices, but could not come near the altar. (Lev. 21:22–23.) No priest who had become unclean could eat the meat of sacrifices. (Lev. 22:1–9.) A priest could not share his sacrificial meat with lay persons, persons whom the priest had hired, or the priest’s married daughters, but the priest could share that meat with his slaves and widowed or divorced daughters. (Lev. 22:10–16.) Only animals without defect qualified for sacrifice. (Lev. 22:17–25.)

Holy days

God told Moses to instruct the Israelites to proclaim the following sacred occasions:

• The Sabbath on the seventh day (Lev. 23:3.)
• Passover for 7 days beginning at twilight of the 14th day of the first month (Lev. 23:4–8.)
• Shavuot 50 days later (Lev. 23:15–21.)
• Rosh Hashanah on the first day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:23–25.)
• Yom Kippur on the 10th day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:26–32.)
• Sukkot for 8 days beginning on the 15th day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:33–42.)

Lights and bread in the sanctuary

God told Moses to command the Israelites to bring clear olive oil for lighting the lamps of the Tabernacle regularly, from evening to morning. (Lev. 24:1–4.) And God called for baking twelve loaves to be placed in the Tabernacle every Sabbath, and thereafter given to the priests, who were to eat them in the sacred precinct. (Lev. 24:5–9.)

A blasphemer

A man with an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father got in a fight, and pronounced God’s Name in blasphemy. (Lev. 24:10–11.) The people brought him to Moses and placed him in custody until God’s decision should be made clear. (Lev. 24:11–12.) God told Moses to take the blasphemer outside the camp where all who heard him were to lay their hands upon his head, and the whole community was to stone him, and they did so. (Lev. 24:13–14, 23.)

God instructed that anyone who blasphemed God was to be put to death. (Lev. 24:15–16.) Anyone who killed any human being was to be put to death. (Lev. 24:17.) One who killed a beast was to make restitution. (Lev. 24:18.) And anyone who maimed another person was to pay proportionately (in what has been called lex talionis). (Lev. 24:19–20.)

A Sabbatical year for the land

On Mount Sinai, God told Moses to tell the Israelites the law of the Sabbatical year for the land. (Lev. 25:1–2.) The people could work the fields for six years, but in the seventh year the land was to have a Sabbath of complete rest during which the people were not to sow their fields, prune their vineyards, or reap the aftergrowth. (Lev. 25:3–5.) They could, however, eat whatever the land produced on its own. (Lev. 25:6–7.)

The people were further to hallow the 50th year, the Jubilee year, and to proclaim release for all with a blast on the horn. (Lev. 25:8–10.) Each Israelite was to return to his family and his ancestral land holding. (Lev. 25:10.) In selling or buying property, the people were to charge only for the remaining number of crop years until the jubilee, when the land would be returned to its ancestral holder. (Lev. 25:14–17.)

God promised to bless the people in the sixth year, so that the land would yield a crop sufficient for three years. (Lev. 25:20–22.) God prohibited selling the land beyond reclaim, for God owned the land, and the people were but strangers living with God. (Lev. 25:23.)

If one fell into straits and had to sell land, his nearest relative was to redeem what was sold. (Lev. 25:25.) If one had no one to redeem, but prospered and acquired enough wealth, he could refund the pro rata share of the sales price for the remaining years until the jubilee, and return to his holding. (Lev. 25:26–27.)

If one sold a house in a walled city, one could redeem it for a year, and thereafter the house would pass to the purchaser beyond reclaim and not be released in the jubilee. (Lev. 25:29–30.) But houses in villages without encircling walls were treated as open country subject to redemption and release through the jubilee. (Lev. 25:31.) Levites were to have a permanent right of redemption for houses and property in the cities of the Levites. (Lev. 25:32–33.) The unenclosed land about their cities could not be sold. (Lev. 25:34.)

Limits on debt servitude

If a kinsman fell into straits and came under one’s authority by virtue of his debts, one was to let him live by one’s side as a kinsman and not exact from him interest. (Lev. 25:35–36.) Israelites were not to lend money to countrymen at interest. (Lev. 25:37.) If the kinsman continued in straits and had to give himself over to a creditor for debt, the creditor was not to subject him to the treatment of a slave, but to treat him as a hired or bound laborer until the jubilee year, at which time he was to be freed to go back to his family and ancestral holding. (Lev. 25:39–42.) Israelites were not to rule over such debtor Israelites ruthlessly. (Lev. 25:43.) Israelites could, however, buy and own as inheritable property slaves from other nations. (Lev. 25:44–46.)

If an Israelite fell into straits and came under a resident alien’s authority by virtue of his debts, the Israelite debtor was to have the right of redemption. (Lev. 25:47–48.) A relative was to redeem him or, if he prospered, he could redeem himself by paying the pro rata share of the sales price for the remaining years until the jubilee. (Lev. 25:48–52.)

Blessings and curses

God promised that if the Israelites followed God’s laws, God would bless Israel with rains in their season, abundant harvests, peace, victory over enemies, fertility, and God’s presence. (Lev. 26:3–14.) But if the Israelites did not observe God’s commandments, God would wreak upon Israel misery, consumption, fever, stolen harvests, defeat by enemies, poor harvests, attacks of wild beasts, pestilence, famine, desolation, and timidity. (Lev. 26:15–38.)

Those who survived would be removed to the land of their enemies, where they would become heartsick over their iniquity, confess their sin, and atone. (Lev. 26:39–41.) God promised then to remember God’s covenants with Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, and the ancients whom God freed from Egypt. (Lev. 26:42–45.)

Payment of vows

God told Moses to instruct the Israelites that when anyone vowed to offer God the value of a human being, the following scale would apply:

• for a man from 20 to 60 years of age, 50 shekels of silver (Lev. 27:3),
• for a woman from 20 to 60 years, 30 shekels (Lev. 27:4),
• for a boy from 5 to 20 years, 20 shekels (Lev. 27:5),
• for a girl from 5 to 20 years, 10 shekels (Lev. 27:5),
• for a boy from 1 month to 5 years, 5 shekels (Lev. 27:6),
• for a girl from 1 month to 5 years, 3 shekels (Lev. 27:6),
• for a man 60 years or over, 15 shekels (Lev. 27:7), and
• for a woman 60 years or over, 10 shekels (Lev. 27:7).

But if a vower could not afford the payment, the vower was to appear before the priest, and the priest was to assess the vower according to what the vower could afford. (Lev. 27:8.)

If the vow concerned an animal that could be brought as an offering, the animal was to be holy, and one could not exchange another for it, and if one did substitute one animal for another, the thing vowed and its substitute were both to be holy. (Lev. 27:9–10.) If the vow concerned an unclean animal that could not be brought as an offering, the vower was to present the animal to the priest, the priest was to assess it, and if the vower wished to redeem it, the vower was to add one-fifth to its assessment. (Lev. 27:11–13.) No firstling of a clean animal could be consecrated, for it already belonged to God. (Lev. 27:26.) But a firstling of an unclean animal could be redeemed at its assessment plus one-fifth, and if not redeemed, was to be sold at its assessment. (Lev. 27:27.)

If one consecrated a house to God, the priest was to assess it, and if the vower wished to redeem it, the vower was to add one-fifth to the assessment. (Lev. 27:14–15.) If one consecrated to God land of one’s ancestral holding, the priest was to assess it in accordance with its seed requirement. (Lev. 27:16–17.) If the vower consecrated the land after the jubilee year, the priest was to compute the price according to the years left until the next jubilee year, and reduce the assessment accordingly. (Lev. 27:18.) If the vower wished to redeem the land, the vower was to add one-fifth to the assessment and retain title, but if the vower did not redeem the land and the land was sold, it was no longer to be redeemable, and at the jubilee the land was to become the priest’s holding. (Lev. 27:19–21.) If one consecrated land that one purchased (not land of ancestral holding), the priest was to compute the assessment up to the jubilee year, the vower was to pay the assessment as of that day, and in the jubilee the land was to revert to the person whose ancestral holding the land was. (Lev. 27:22–24.)

But nothing that one had proscribed for God (subjected to cherem) could be sold or redeemed, and no human being proscribed could be ransomed, but he was to be put to death. (Lev. 27:28–29.)

All tithes from crops were to be God’s, and if one wished to redeem any of the tithes, the tither was to add one-fifth to them. (Lev. 27:30–31.) Every tenth head of livestock was to be holy to God, and the owner was not to choose among good or bad when counting off the tithe. (Lev. 27:32–33.)

(Summary from Wikipedia.com)

In the wilderness, in the second month of in the second year following the Exodus from Egypt, God directed Moses to take a census of the Israelite men age 20 years and up, “all those in Israel who are able to bear arms.” (Num. 1:1–3.) The census showed the following populations by tribe (Num. 1:20–46):

• Reuben: 46,500
• Simeon: 59,300
• Gad: 45,650
• Judah: 74,600
• Issachar: 54,400
• Zebulun: 57,400
• Ephraim: 40,500
• Manasseh: 32,200
• Benjamin: 35,400
• Dan: 62,700
• Asher: 41,500
• Naphtali: 53,400

totaling 603,550 in all.

God told Moses not to enroll the Levites, but to put them in charge of carrying, assembling, tending to, and guarding the Tabernacle and its furnishings. (Num. 1:47–53.) Any outsider who encroached on the Tabernacle was to be put to death. (Num. 1:51.)

God told Moses that the Israelites were to encamp by tribe as follows (Num. 1:52–2:34):

• around the Tabernacle: Levi
• on the front, or east side: Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun
• on the south: Reuben, Simeon, and Gad
• on the west: Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin
• on the north: Dan, Asher, and Naphtali.

Priestly duties

God instructed Moses to place the Levites in attendance upon Aaron to serve him and the priests. (Num. 3:5–8.) God took the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the Israelites, whom God consecrated when God smote the firstborn in Egypt. (Num. 3:11–13.) God then told Moses to record by ancestral house and by clan the Levite men from the age of one month up, and he did so. (Num. 3:14–16.) The Levites divided by their ancestral houses, based on the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (Num. 3:17.)

• The Gershonites, numbered 7,500, camped behind the Tabernacle, to the west, and had charge of the Tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the entrance of the tent, the hangings of the enclosure, the screen for the entrance of the enclosure that surrounded the Tabernacle, and the altar. (Num. 3:21–26.)
• The Kohathites, numbered 8,600, camped along the south side of the Tabernacle, and had charge of the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the sacred utensils, and the screen. (Num. 3:27–31.)
• The Merarites, numbered 6,200, camped along the north side of the Tabernacle, and had charge of the planks of the Tabernacle, its bars, posts, sockets, and furnishings, and the posts around the enclosure and their sockets, pegs, and cords. (Num. 3:33–37.)
• Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons camped in front of the Tabernacle, on the east. (Num. 3:38.)

The total number of the Levites came to 22,000. (Num. 3:39.) God instructed Moses to record every firstborn male of the Israelites one month old and up, and they came to 22,273. (Num. 3:40–43.) God told Moses to take the Levites for God in place of all the firstborn among the Israelites, and the Levites’ cattle in place of the Israelites’ cattle. (Num. 3:44–45.) And to redeem the 273 Israelite firstborn over and above the number of the Levites, God instructed Moses to take five shekels a head and give the money to the priests. (Num. 3:46–51.)

God then directed Moses and Aaron to take a separate census of the Kohathites between the ages of 30 and 50, who were to perform tasks for the Tent of Meeting. (Num. 4:1–3.) The Kohathites had responsibility for the most sacred objects. (Num. 4:4.) At the breaking of camp, Aaron and his sons were to take down the Ark, the table of display, the lampstand, and the service vessels, and cover them all with cloths and skins. (Num. 4:5–14.) Only when Aaron and his sons had finished covering the sacred objects would the Kohathites come and lift them. (Num. 4:15.) Aaron’s son Eleazar had responsibility for the lighting oil, the aromatic incense, the regular meal offering, the anointing oil, and all the consecrated things in the Tabernacle. (Num. 4:16.) God charged Moses and Aaron to take care not to let the Kohathites die because they went inside and witnessed the dismantling of the sanctuary. (Num. 4:17–20.)

(Summary from Wikipedia.com)

Priestly duties

God told Moses to take a census of the Gershonites between 30 and 50 years old, who were subject to service for the Tabernacle. (Num. 4:21–23.) The Gershonites had the duty, under the direction of Aaron’s son Ithamar, to carry the cloths of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with its covering, the covering of tachash skin on top of it, the screen for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, the hangings of the enclosure, the screen at the entrance of the gate of the enclosure surrounding the Tabernacle, the cords thereof, the altar, and all their service equipment and accessories. (Num. 4:24–28.)

Moses was also to take a census of the Merarites between 30 and 50 years old. (Num. 4:29–30.) The Merarites had responsibility, under the direction of Ithamar, for the planks, the bars, the posts, and the sockets of the Tabernacle, and the posts around the enclosure and their sockets, pegs, and cords. (Num. 4:31–33.)

Moses, Aaron, and the chieftains thus recorded the Levites age 30 to 50 as follows:

• Kohathites: 2,750,
• Gershonites: 2,630, and
• Merarites: 3,200,

for a total of 8,580. (Num. 4:34–39.)

Purifying the camp

God directed the Israelites to remove from camp anyone with an eruption or a discharge and anyone defiled by a corpse, so that they would not defile the camp. (Num. 5:1–4.)

God told Moses to direct the Israelites that when one wronged a fellow Israelite, thus breaking faith with God, and realized his guilt, he was to confess the wrong and make restitution to the one wronged in the principal amount plus one-fifth. (Num. 5:5–7.) If the one wronged had no kinsman to whom restitution could be made, the amount repaid was to go to the priest, along with a ram of expiation. (Num. 5:8.) Similarly, any gift among the sacred donations that the Israelites offered was to be the priest's to keep. (Num. 5:9–10.)

The wife accused of unfaithfulness

God told Moses to instruct the Israelites about the test where a husband, in a fit of jealousy, accused his wife of being unfaithful – the ritual of the sotah. (Num. 5:11–14.) The man was to bring his wife to the priest, along with barley flour as a meal offering of jealousy. (Num. 5:15.) The priest was to dissolve some earth from the floor of the Tabernacle into some sacral water in an earthen vessel. (Num. 5:17.) The priest was to bare the woman’s head, place the meal offering on her hands, and adjure the woman: if innocent, to be immune to harm from the water of bitterness, but if guilty, to be cursed to have her thigh sag and belly distend. (Num. 5:18–21.) And the woman was to say, “Amen, amen!” (Num. 5:22.) The priest was to write these curses down, rub the writing off into the water of bitterness, and make the woman drink the water. (Num. 5:23–24.) The priest was to elevate the meal offering, present it on the altar, and burn a token part of it on the altar. (Num. 5:25–26.) If she had broken faith with her husband, the water would cause her belly to distend and her thigh to sag, and the woman was to become a curse among her people, but if the woman was innocent, she would remain unharmed and be able to bare children. (Num. 5:27–29.)

The nazirite

God told Moses to instruct the Israelites about the vows of a nazirite, should one wish to set himself or herself apart for God. (Num. 6:1–2.) The nazirite was to abstain from wine, intoxicants, vinegar, grapes, raisins, or anything obtained from the grapevine. (Num. 6:3–4.) No razor was to touch the nazirite’s head until the completion of the nazirite term. (Num. 6:5.) And the nazirite was not to go near a dead person, even a father, mother, brother, or sister. (Num. 6:6–8.)

If a person died suddenly near a nazirite, the nazirite was to shave his or her head on the seventh day. (Num. 6:9.) On the eighth day, the nazirite was to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest, who was to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. (Num. 6:10–11.) That same day, the nazirite was to reconsecrate his or her head, rededicate the Nazirite term, and bring a lamb in its first year as a penalty offering. (Num. 6:11–12.)

On the day that a nazirite completed his or her term, the nazirite was to be brought to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and present a male lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, a ewe lamb in its first year for a sin offering, a ram for an offering of well-being, a basket of unleavened cakes, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and meal offerings. (Num. 6:13–15.) The priest was to present the offerings, and the nazirite was to shave his or her consecrated hair and put the hair on the fire under the sacrifice of well-being. (Num. 6:16–18.)

The priestly blessing

God told Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons that they should bless the Israelites with this blessing: “The Lord bless you and protect you! The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you! The Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!” (Num. 6:22–27.)

Consecrating the Tabernacle

Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, and anointed and consecrated it, its furnishings, the altar, and its utensils. (Num. 7:1.) The chieftains of the tribes then brought their offerings – 6 draught carts and 12 oxen – and God told Moses to accept them for use by the Levites in the service of the Tent of Meeting. (Num. 7:2–5.) The chieftains then each on successive days brought the same dedication offerings for the altar: a silver bowl and silver basin filled with flour mixed with oil, a gold ladle filled with incense, a bull, 2 oxen, 6 rams, 6 goats, and 6 lambs. (Num. 7:10–88.)

When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with God, Moses would hear the Voice addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the ark between the two cherubim, and thus God spoke to him. (Num. 7:88.)

The lampstand

God told Moses to tell Aaron to mount the seven lamps so as to give light to the front of the lampstand in the Tabernacle, and Aaron did so. (Num. 8:1–3.)

Consecration of the Levites

God told Moses to cleanse the Levites by sprinkling on them water of purification, and making them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. (Num. 8:5–7.) Moses was to assemble the Israelites around the Levites and cause the Israelites to lay their hands upon the Levites. (Num. 8:9–10.) Aaron was to designate the Levites as an elevation offering from the Israelites. (Num. 8:11.) The Levites were then to lay their hands in turn upon the heads of two bulls, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to make expiation for the Levites. (Num. 8:12.) Thereafter, the Levites were qualified for the service of the Tent of Meeting, in place of the firstborn of the Israelites. (Num. 8:15–16.) God told Moses that Levites aged 25 to 50 were to work in the service of the Tent of Meeting, but after age 50 they were to retire and could stand guard but not perform labor. (Num. 8:23–26.)

Second Passover

At the beginning of the second year following the Exodus from Egypt, God told Moses to have the Israelites celebrate Passover at its set time. (Num. 9:1–3.) But some men were unclean because they had had contact with a corpse and could not offer the Passover sacrifice on the set day. (Num. 9:6.) They asked Moses and Aaron how they could participate in Passover, and Moses told them to stand by while he listened for God’s instructions. (Num. 9:7–8.) God told Moses that whenever Israelites were defiled by a corpse or on a long journey on Passover, they were to offer the Passover offering on the 14th day of the second month – a month after Passover – otherwise in strict accord with the law of the Passover sacrifice. (Num. 9:9–12.) But if a man who was clean and not on a journey refrained from offering the Passover sacrifice, he was to be cut off from his kin. (Num. 9:13.)

Cloud and fire

Starting the day that the Tabernacle was set up, a cloud covered the Tabernacle by day, and a fire rested on it by night. (Num. 9:15–16.) Whenever the cloud lifted from the Tent, the Israelites would follow it until the cloud settled, and there the Israelites would make camp and stay as long as the cloud lingered. (Num. 9:17–23.)


Silver trumpets

God told Moses to have two silver trumpets made to summon the community and to set it in motion. (Num. 10:1–2.) Upon long blasts of the two horns, the whole community was to assemble before the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. (Num. 10:3.) Upon the blast of one, the chieftains were to assemble. (Num. 10:4.) Short blasts directed the divisions encamped on the east to move forward, and a second set of short blasts directed those on the south to move forward. (Num. 10:5–6.) As well, short blasts were to be sounded when the Israelites were at war against an aggressor who attacked them, and the trumpets were to be sounded on joyous occasions, festivals, new moons, burnt offerings, and sacrifices of well-being. (Num. 10:9–10.)

Journeys

In the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle and the Israelites set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai to the wilderness of Paran. (Num. 10:11–12.) Moses asked his father-in-law (here called Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite) to come with the Israelites, promising to be generous with him, but he replied that he would return to his native land. (Num. 10:29–30.) Moses pressed him again, noting that he could serve as the Israelites’ guide. (Num. 10:31–32.)

They marched three days distance from Mount Sinai, with the Ark of the Covenant in front of them, and God’s cloud above them by day. (Num. 10:33–34.) When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say: “Advance, O Lord! May Your enemies be scattered, and may Your foes flee before You!” (Num. 10:35.) And when it halted, he would say: “Return, O Lord, You who are Israel’s myriads of thousands!” (Num. 10:36.)

Complaining

The people took to complaining bitterly before God, and God ravaging the outskirts of the camp with fire until Moses prayed to God, and then the fire died down. (Num. 11:1–2.)

The riffraff in their midst (Hebrew “asafsuf” – compare the “mixed multitude,” Hebrew “erev rav” of Ex. 12:38) felt a gluttonous craving and the Israelites complained, “If only we had meat to eat! (Num. 11:4.) Moses in turn complained to God, “Why have You . . . laid the burden of all this people upon me? (Num. 11:11.) God told Moses to gather 70 elders, so that God could come down and put some of the spirit that rested on Moses upon them, so that they might share the burden of the people. (Num. 11:16–17.) And God told Moses to tell the people to purify themselves, for the next day they would eat meat. (Num. 11:18.) But Moses questioned how enough flocks, herds, or fish could be found to feed 600,000. (Num. 11:21–22.) God answered: “Is there a limit to the Lord’s power?” (Num. 11:23.)

Moses gathered the 70 elders, and God came down in a cloud, spoke to Moses, and drew upon the spirit that was on Moses and put it upon the elders. (Num. 11:24–25.) When the spirit rested upon them, they spoke in ecstasy, but did not continue. (Num. 11:25.) Eldad and Medad had remained in camp, yet the spirit rested upon them, and they spoke in ecstasy in the camp. (Num. 11:26.) When a youth reported to Moses that Eldad and Medad were acting the prophet in the camp, Joshua called on Moses to restrain them. (Num. 11:27–28.) But Moses told Joshua: “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord put His spirit upon them!” (Num. 11:29.)

A wind from God then swept quail from the sea and strewed them all around the camp, and the people gathered quail for two days. (Num. 11:31–32.) While the meat was still between their teeth, God struck the people with a plague. (Num. 11:33.)

Miriam and Aaron question Moses

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, saying: “He married a Cushite woman!” and “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” (Num. 12:1–2.) God heard and called Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to come to the Tent of Meeting. (Num. 12:2–4.) God came down in cloud and called out to Aaron and Miriam: “When a prophet of the Lord arises among you, I make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is trusted throughout My household. With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of the Lord. How then did you not shrink from speaking against My servant Moses!” (Num. 12:5–8.) As the cloud withdrew, Miriam was stricken with snow-white scales. (Num. 12:10.) Moses cried out to God, “O God, pray heal her!” (Num. 12:13.) But God said to Moses, “If her father spat in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of camp for seven days.” (Num. 12:14.) And the people waited until she rejoined the camp. (Num. 12:15.)

(Summary from Wikipedia.com)

The scouts

God told Moses to send one chieftain from each of the 12 tribes of Israel to scout the land of Canaan, and Moses sent them out from the wilderness of Paran. (Num. 13:1–2.) Among the scouts were Caleb son of Jephunneh from the Tribe of Judah and Hosea son of Nun from the Tribe of Ephraim. (Num. 13:6–8.) Moses changed Hosea’s name to Joshua. (Num. 13:16.) They scouted the land as far as Hebron. (Num. 13:21–22.) At the wadi Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them, as well as some pomegranates and figs. (Num. 13:23.)

At the end of 40 days, they returned and reported to Moses, Aaron, and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh saying that the land did indeed flow with milk and honey, but that the people who inhabited it were powerful, the cities were fortified and very large, and that they saw the Anakites there. (Num. 13:25–28.) Caleb hushed the people and urged the people to go up and take the land. (Num. 13:30.) But the other scouts spread calumnies about the land, calling it “one that devours its settlers.” (Num. 13:32.) They reported that the land’s people were giants and stronger than the Israelites. (Num. 13:31–32.) The whole community broke into crying, railed against Moses and Aaron, and shouted: “If only we might die in this wilderness!” (Num. 14:1–2.)

Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, and Joshua and Caleb rent their clothes and exhorted the Israelites not to fear, and not to rebel against God. (Num. 14:5–9.) Just as the community threatened to pelt them with stones, God’s Presence appeared in the Tabernacle. (Num. 14:10.) God complained to Moses: “How long will this people spurn Me,” and threatened to strike them with pestilence and make of Moses a nation more numerous than they. (Num. 14:11–12.) But Moses told God to think of what the Egyptians would think when they heard the news, and how they would think God powerless to bring the Israelites to the Promised Land. (Num. 14:13–16.) Moses asked God to forbear, quoting God’s self-description as “slow to anger and abounding in kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression.” (Num. 14:17–18.) In response, God pardoned, but also swore that none of the men who had seen God’s signs would see the Promised Land, except Caleb and Joshua, and that all the rest 20 years old and up would die in the wilderness. (Num. 14:20–30.) God said that the Israelites’ children would enter the Promised Land after roaming the wilderness, suffering for the faithlessness of the present generation, for 40 years, corresponding to the number of days that the scouts scouted the land. (Num. 14:32–34.) The scouts other than Caleb and Joshua died of plague. (Num. 14:36–38.)

Early the next morning, the Israelites set out to the Promised Land, but Moses told them that they would not succeed without God in their midst. (Num. 14:40–42.) But they marched forward anyway, and the Amalekites and the Canaanites dealt them a shattering blow at Hormah. (Num. 14:44–45.)

Offerings

God told Moses to tell Israelites that when they entered the Promised Land and would present an offering to God, the person presenting the offering was also to bring flour mixed with oil and wine. (Num. 15:1–13.) And when a resident alien wanted to present an offering, the same law would apply. (Num. 15:14–16.) When the Israelites ate bread of the land, they were to set the first loaf aside as a gift to God. (Num. 15:17–21.)

If the community unwittingly failed to observe any commandment, the community was to present one bull as a burnt offering with its proper meal offering and wine, and one he-goat as a sin offering, and the priest would make expiation for the whole community and they would be forgiven. (Num. 15:22–26.) And if an individual sinned unwittingly, the individual was to offer a she-goat in its first year as a sin offering, and the priest would make expiation that the individual might be forgiven. (Num. 15:27–29.) But the person who violated a commandment defiantly was to be cut off from among his people. (Num. 15:30–31.)

The Sabbath violator

Once the Israelites came upon a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day, and they brought him before Moses, Aaron, and the community and placed him in custody. (Num. 15:32–34.) God told Moses that the whole community was to pelt him with stones outside the camp, so they did so. (Num. 15:35–36.)

The fringes

God told Moses to instruct the Israelites to make for themselves fringes (in Hebrew, ???? or tzitzit) on each of the corners of their garments. (Num. 15:37–38.) They were to look at the fringes, recall the commandments, and observe them. (Num. 15:39–40.)

(Summary from Wikipedia.com)

Korah’s rebellion

The Levite Korah son of Izhar joined with the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab and On son of Peleth and 250 chieftains of the Israelite community to rise up against Moses. (Num. 16:1–2.) Moses told Korah and his band to take their fire pans and put fire and incense on them before God. (Num. 16:6–7.) Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they refused to come. (Num. 16:12.) The next day, Korah and his band took their fire pans and gathered the whole community against Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tabernacle. (Num. 16:18–19.) The Presence of the Lord appeared to the whole community, and God told Moses and Aaron to stand back so that God could annihilate the others. (Num. 16:20–21.) Moses and Aaron fell on their faces and implored God not to punish the whole community. (Num. 16:22.) God told Moses to instruct the community to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and they did so, while Dathan, Abiram, and their families stood at the entrance of their tents. (Num. 16:23–27.) Moses told the Israelites that if these men were to die of natural causes, then God did not send Moses, but if God caused the earth to swallow them up, then these men had spurned God. (Num. 16:28–30.) Just as Moses finished speaking, the earth opened and swallowed them, their households, and all Korah’s people, and the Israelites fled in terror. (Num. 16:31–34.) And a fire consumed the 250 men offering the incense. (Num. 16:35.) Gold told Moses to order Eleazar the priest to remove the fire pans – as they had become sacred – and have them made into plating for the altar to remind the Israelites that no one other than Aaron’s offspring should presume to offer incense to God. (Num. 17:1–5.) The story of Korah also appears in the Qur'an, where Korah is named Qarun or Qaaroon (see Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an).

A plague upon rebels

The next day, the whole Israelite community railed against Moses and Aaron for bringing death upon God’s people. (Num. 17:6.) A cloud covered the Tabernacle and the God’s Presence appeared. (Num. 17:6.) God told Moses to remove himself and Aaron from the community, so that God might annihilate them, and they fell on their faces. (Num. 17:8–10.) Moses told Aaron to take the fire pan, put fire from the altar and incense on it, and take it to the community to make expiation for them and to stop a plague that had begun, and Aaron did so. (Num. 17:11–12.) Aaron stood between the dead and the living and halted the plague, but not before 14,700 had died. (Num. 17:13–14.)

Aaron’s budding staff

God told Moses to collect a staff from the chieftain of each of the 12 tribes, inscribe each man’s name on his staff, inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, and deposit the staffs in the Tent of Meeting. (Num. 17:16–19.) The next day, Moses entered the Tent and Aaron’s staff had sprouted, blossomed, and borne almonds. (Num. 17:23.) God instructed Moses to put Aaron’s staff before the Ark of the Covenant to be kept as a lesson to rebels to end their mutterings against God. (Num. 17:25.) But the Israelites cried to Moses, “We are doomed to perish!” (Num. 17:27–28.)

Duties of priests and Levites

God assigned the Levites to Aaron to aid in the duties of the Tent of Meeting. (Num. 18:2–6.) God prohibited any outsider from intruding on the priests as they discharged the duties connected with the Shrine, on pain of death. (Num. 18:7.) And God gave Aaron and the priests all the sacred donations and first fruits as a perquisite for all time for them and their families to eat. (Num. 18:8–13.) And God gave them the oil, wine, grain, and money that the Israelites brought. (Num. 18:12–16.) But God told Aaron that the priests would have no territorial share among the Israelites, as God was their portion and their share. (Num. 18:20.) God gave the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their share in return for the services of the Tent of Meeting, but they too would have no territorial share among the Israelites. (Num. 18:21–24.) God told Moses to instruct the Levites to set aside one-tenth of the tithes they received as a gift to God. (Num. 18:26–29.)

(Summary from Wikipedia.com)

The red cow

God told Moses and Aaron to instruct the Israelites the ritual law of the red cow (Hebrew "parah aduma") used to create water of lustration. (Num. 19:1–2.) The cow had to be without blemish, have no defect, and not have borne a yoke. (Num. 19:2.) Eleazar the priest was to take it outside the camp, observe its slaughter, and take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the Tabernacle. (Num. 19:3–4.) The cow was to be burned in its entirety along with cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson stuff. (Num. 19:5–6.) The priest and the one whom burned the cow were both to wash their garments, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. (Num. 19:7–8.) The ashes of the cow were to be used to create the water of lustration. (Num. 19:9.)

One who touched the corpse of any human being was to be unclean for seven days. (Num. 19:10–11.) On the third and seventh days, the person who had touched the corpse was to cleanse with the water of lustration and then be clean. (Num. 19:12.) One who failed to do so would remain unclean, would defile the Tabernacle, and would be cut off from Israel. (Num. 19:12–13.)

When a person died in a tent, whoever entered the tent was to be unclean seven days, and every open vessel in the tent was to be unclean. (Num. 19:14–15.) In the open, anyone who touched a corpse, bone, or a grave was to be unclean seven days. (Num. 19:16.)

A person who was clean was to add fresh water to ashes of the red cow, dip hyssop it in the water, and sprinkle the water on the tent, the vessels, and people who had become unclean. (Num. 19:17–18.) The person who sprinkled the water was then to wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be clean at nightfall. (Num. 19:19.)

Anyone who became unclean and failed to cleanse himself was to be cut off from the congregation. (Num. 19:20.) The person who sprinkled the water of lustration was to wash his clothes, and whoever touched the water of lustration, whatever he touched, and whoever touched him were to be unclean until evening. (Num. 19:21–22.)

Miriam’s death

The Israelites arrived at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, and Miriam died and was buried there. (Num. 20:1.)

Water from a rock

The people were without water, and they complained against Moses and Aaron. (Num. 20:2–5.) Moses and Aaron fell on their faces at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of God appeared to them, telling them to take the rod and order the rock to yield its water. (Num. 20:6–8.) Moses took the rod, assembled the congregation in front of the rock, and said to them: “Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?” (Num. 20:9–10.) Then Moses struck the rock twice with his rod, out came water, and the community and their animals drank. (Num. 20:11.) But God told Moses and Aaron: “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.” (Num. 20:12.)

Embassy to Edom

Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom asking him to allow the Israelites to cross Edom, without passing through fields or vineyards, and without drinking water from wells. (Num. 20:14–17.) But the Edomites would not let the Israelites pass through, and turned out in heavy force to block their way, and the Israelites turned away. (Num. 20:18–21.)

Aaron’s death

At Mount Hor, God told Moses and Aaron: “Let Aaron be gathered to his kin: he is not to enter the land that I have assigned to the Israelite people, because you disobeyed my command about the waters of Meribah.” (Num. 20:23–24.) Moses took Aaron and his son Eleazar up on Mount Hor, and there he stripped Aaron of his vestments and put them on Eleazar, and Aaron died there. (Num. 20:25–28.) The Israelites mourned Aaron 30 days. (Num. 20:29.)

Victory over Arad

The king of Arad engaged the Israelites in battle and took some of them captive. (Num. 21:1.) The Israelites vowed that if God gave them victory, they would destroy Arad. (Num. 21:2.) God delivered up the Canaanites, and the Israelites killed them and destroyed their cities, calling the place Hormah. (Num. 21:3.)

Serpents

The people grew restive and spoke against God and Moses, so God sent serpents that killed many of the Israelites. (Num. 21:4–6.) The people came to Moses, admitted their sin by speaking against God, and asked Moses to intercede with God to take away the serpents, and Moses did so. (Num. 21:7.) God told Moses to mount a serpent figure on a standard, saying: “If anyone who is bitten looks at it, he shall recover.” (Num. 21:8.)

Victories over Sihon and Og

The Israelites traveled on, and sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, asking that he allow them to pass through his country, without entering the fields or vineyards, and without drinking water from wells. (Num. 21:21–22.) But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory and engaged the Israelites in battle. (Num. 21:23.) The Israelites defeated the Amorites and took possession of their land and towns. (Num. 21:24–25.)

Then the Israelites marched on, and King Og of Bashan engaged them in battle. (Num. 21:33.) The Israelites defeated his forces and took possession of his country. (Num. 21:35.) The Israelites then marched to the steppes of Moab, across the Jordan River from Jericho. (Num. 22:1.)

(Summary from Wikipedia.com)

Balak’s invitation to Balaam

Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, grew alarmed at the Israelites’ military victories among the Amorites. (Num. 22:2–4.) He consulted with the elders of Midian and sent elders of Moab and Midian to the land by the Euphrates to invite the prophet Balaam to come and curse the Israelites for him. (Num. 22:4–7.) Balaam told them: “Spend the night here, and I shall reply to you as the Lord may instruct me.” (Num. 22:8.) God came to Balaam and said: “You must not curse that people, for they are blessed.” (Num. 22:9–12.) In the morning, Balaam asked Balak’s dignitaries to leave, as God would not let him go with them, and they left and reported Balaam’s answer to Balak. (Num. 22:13–14.) Then Balak sent more numerous and distinguished dignitaries, who offered Balaam rich rewards in return for damning the Israelites. (Num. 22:15–17.) But Balaam replied: “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, big or little, contrary to the command of the Lord my God.” (Num. 22:18.) But Balaam invited the dignitaries to stay overnight to let Balaam find out what else God might say to him, and that night God told Balaam: “If these men have come to invite you, you may go with them.” (Num. 22:19–20.)

Balaam and the donkey

In the morning, Balaam saddled his donkey and departed with the dignitaries, but God was incensed at his going and placed an angel in Balaam’s way. (Num. 22:21–22.) When the donkey saw the angel standing in the way holding his drawn sword, the donkey swerved from the road into the fields, and Balaam beat the ass to turn her back onto the road. (Num. 22:23.) The angel then stationed himself in a lane with a fence on either side. (Num. 22:24.) Seeing the angel, the donkey pressed herself and Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he beat her again. (Num. 22:25.) The angel then stationed himself on a narrow spot that allowed no room to swerve right or left, and the donkey lay down under Balaam, and Balaam became furious and beat the ass with his stick. (Num. 22:26–27.) Then God allowed the donkey to speak, and she complained to Balaam. (Num. 22:28–30.) And then God allowed Balaam to see the angel, and Balaam bowed down to the ground. (Num. 22:31.) The angel questioned Balaam for beating his donkey, noting that she had saved Balaam’s life. (Num. 22:32–33.) Balaam admitted his error and offered to turn back if the angel still disapproved. (Num. 22:34.) But the angel told Balaam: “Go with the men. But you must say nothing except what I tell you.” So Balaam went on. (Num. 22:35.)

Balaam’s blessing

Balak went out to meet Balaam on the Arnon border, and asked him why he didn’t come earlier. (Num. 22:36–37.) But Balaam told Balak that he could utter only the words that God put into his mouth. (Num. 22:38.) They went together to Kiriath-huzoth, where Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and they ate. (Num. 22:39–40.) In the morning, Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth-Baal, overlooking the Israelites. (Num. 22:41.) Balaam had Balak build seven altars, and they offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. (Num. 23:1–2.) Then Balaam asked Balak to wait while Balaam went off alone to see if God would grant him a manifestation. (Num. 23:3.) God appeared to Balaam and told him what to say. (Num. 23:4–5.)

Balaam returned and said: “How can I damn whom God has not damned, how doom when the Lord has not doomed? . . . Who can count the dust of Jacob, number the dust-cloud of Israel? May I die the death of the upright, may my fate be like theirs!” (Num. 23:6–10.) Balak complained that he had brought Balaam to damn the Israelites, but instead Balaam blessed them. (Num. 23:11.) Balaam replied that he could only repeat what God put in his mouth. (Num. 23:12.)

Then Balak took Balaam to the summit of Pisgah, once offered a bull and a ram on each of seven altars, and once again Balaam asked Balak to wait while Balaam went off alone to seek a manifestation, and once again God told him what to say. (Num. 23:13–16.) Balaam returned and told Balak: “My message was to bless: When He blesses, I cannot reverse it. No harm is in sight for Jacob, no woe in view for Israel. The Lord their God is with them.” (Num. 23:17–21.) Then Balak told Balaam at least not to bless them, but Balaam replied that he had to do whatever God directed. (Num. 23:25–26.)

Then Balak took Balaam to the peak of Peor, and once offered a bull and a ram on each of seven altars. (Num. 23:27–30.) Balaam, seeing that it pleased God to bless Israel, immediately turned to the Israelites and blessed them: “How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel! . . . They shall devour enemy nations, crush their bones, and smash their arrows. . . . Blessed are they who bless you, accursed they who curse you!” (Num. 24:1–9.) Enraged, Balak complained and dismissed Balaam. (Num. 24:10–11.) Balaam replied once again that he could not do contrary to God’s command, and blessed Israelites once again, saying: “A scepter comes forth from Israel; it smashes the brow of Moab.” (Num. 24:11–24.) Then Balaam set out back home, and Balak went his way. (Num. 24:25.)

The sin of Baal-peor

While the Israelites stayed at Shittim, the people went whoring with the Moabite women and worshiped their god Baal-peor, enraging God. (Num. 25:1–3.) God told Moses to impale the ringleaders, and Moses directed Israel’s officials to slay those who had attached themselves to Baal-peor. (Num. 25:4–5.) When one of the Israelites publicly brought a Midianite woman over to his companions, Phinehas son of Eleazar took a spear, followed the Israelite into the chamber, and stabbed the Israelite and the woman through the belly. (Num. 25:6–8.) Then the plague against the Israelites was checked, having killed 24,000. (Num. 25:8–9.)

After the sin of Baal-Peor

God announced that because Phinehas had displayed his passion for God, God granted Phinehas God’s pact of friendship and priesthood for all time. (Num. 25:10–13.) God then told Moses to attack the Midianites to repay them for their trickery luring Israelite men to worship Baal-Peor. (Num. 25:16–18.)

Another census

God instructed Moses and Eleazar to take a census of Israelite men 20 years old and up, and Moses and Eleazar ordered it done. (Num. 26:1–4.) The census showed the following populations by tribe (Num. 26:4–51):

• Reuben: 43,730
• Simeon: 22,200
• Gad: 40,500
• Judah: 76,500
• Issachar: 64,300
• Zebulun: 60,500
• Manasseh: 52,700
• Ephraim: 32,500
• Benjamin: 45,600
• Dan: 64,400
• Asher: 53,400
• Naphtali: 45,400

totaling 601,730 in all.

The text notes parenthetically that when Korah’s band agitated against God, the earth swallowed them up with Korah, but Korah’s sons did not die. (Num. 26:9–11.) God told Moses to apportion shares of the land according to population among those counted, and by lot. (Num. 26:52–56.) The Levite men aged a month old and up amounted to 23,000, and they were not included in the regular enrollment of Israelites, as they were not to have land assigned to them. (Num. 26:57–62.) Among the persons whom Moses and Eleazar enrolled was not one of those enrolled in the first census at the wilderness of Sinai, except Caleb and Joshua. (Num. 26:63–65.)

The daughters of Zelophehad

The daughters of Zelophehad approached Moses, Eleazar, the chieftains, and the assembly at the entrance of the Tabernacle, saying that their father left no sons, and asking that they be given a land holding. (Num. 27:1–4.) Moses brought their case before God, who told him that their plea was just and instructed him to transfer their father’s share of land to them. (Num. 27:5–7.) God further instructed that if a man died without leaving a son, the Israelites were to transfer his property to his daughter, or failing a daughter to his brothers, or failing a brother to his father’s brothers, or failing brothers of his father to the nearest relative. (Num. 27:8–11.)

Moses’s successor

God told Moses to climb the heights of Abarim and view the Land of Israel, saying that when he had seen it, he would die, because he disobeyed God’s command to uphold God’s sanctity in the people’s sight when he brought water from the rock in the wilderness of Zin. (Num. 27:12–14.) Moses asked God to appoint someone over the community, so that the Israelites would not be like sheep without a shepherd. (Num. 27:13–17.) God told Moses to single out Joshua, lay his hand on him, and commission him before Eleazar and the whole community. (Num. 27:18–20.) Joshua was to present himself to Eleazar the priest, who was to seek the decision of the Urim and Thummim on whether to go out or come in. (Num. 27:21.)

Offerings

God told Moses to command the Israelites to be punctilious in presenting the offerings due God at stated times. (Num. 28:1–2.) The text then details the offerings for regular days, the Sabbath, Rosh Chodesh, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shmini Atzeret. (Num. 28:3–30:1.)