Numbers 5:1-9:23

Preparing for the Wilderness - Part 2

In our ongoing study of the Book of Numbers today, we'll be taking a look at chapters five through nine, where we find God ordering that certain people be excluded from the work of the Lord because of Leprosy. That may sound unfair at first, but as we study the Old Testament, we find that Leprosy was used as a symbol of sin. Let's learn more as we turn together now to Numbers, chapter five.

  1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  2. Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
  3. Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
  4. And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.
  5. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  6. Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty;
  7. Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.
  8. But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.
  9. And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his.
  10. And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.
  11. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  12. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
  13. And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;
  14. And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:
  15. Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
  16. And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:
  17. And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:
  18. And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:
  19. And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:
  20. But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:
  21. Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;
  22. And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
  23. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:
  24. And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.
  25. Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar:
  26. And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.
  27. And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
  28. And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
  29. This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;
  30. Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.
  31. Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
  1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD:
  3. He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.
  4. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
  5. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
  6. All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body.
  7. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.
  8. All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD.
  9. And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.
  10. And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
  11. And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.
  12. And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.
  13. And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
  14. And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,
  15. And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings.
  16. And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:
  17. And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering.
  18. And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.
  19. And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven:
  20. And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.
  21. This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.
  22. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  23. Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
  24. The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
  25. The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
  26. The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
  27. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.
  1. And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them;
  2. That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered:
  3. And they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they brought them before the tabernacle.
  4. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  5. Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.
  6. And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites.
  7. Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service:
  8. And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
  9. But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.
  10. And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar.
  11. And the LORD said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.
  12. And he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah:
  13. And his offering was one silver charger, the weight thereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them were full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  14. One spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense:
  15. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  16. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  17. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
  18. On the second day Nethaneel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, did offer:
  19. He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  20. One spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense:
  21. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  22. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  23. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nethaneel the son of Zuar.
  24. On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun, did offer:
  25. His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  26. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
  27. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  28. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  29. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.
  30. On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben, did offer:
  31. His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  32. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
  33. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  34. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  35. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.
  36. On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon, did offer:
  37. His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  38. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
  39. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  40. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  41. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
  42. On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, offered:
  43. His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, a silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  44. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
  45. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  46. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  47. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
  48. On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, offered:
  49. His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  50. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
  51. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  52. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  53. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.
  54. On the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh:
  55. His offering was one silver charger of the weight of an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  56. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
  57. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  58. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  59. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
  60. On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, offered:
  61. His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  62. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
  63. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  64. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  65. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.
  66. On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan, offered:
  67. His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  68. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
  69. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  70. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  71. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
  72. On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ocran, prince of the children of Asher, offered:
  73. His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  74. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
  75. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  76. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  77. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.
  78. On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali, offered:
  79. His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  80. One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense:
  81. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering:
  82. One kid of the goats for a sin offering:
  83. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.
  84. This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold:
  85. Each charger of silver weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy: all the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
  86. The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary: all the gold of the spoons was an hundred and twenty shekels.
  87. All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the lambs of the first year twelve, with their meat offering: and the kids of the goats for sin offering twelve.
  88. And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he goats sixty, the lambs of the first year sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed.
  89. And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spake unto him.
  1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  2. Speak unto Aaron and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.
  3. And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the LORD commanded Moses.
  4. And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the LORD had showed Moses, so he made the candlestick.
  5. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  6. Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.
  7. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.
  8. Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.
  9. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together:
  10. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:
  11. And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD.
  12. And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites.
  13. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD.
  14. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.
  15. And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.
  16. For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.
  17. For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.
  18. And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.
  19. And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.
  20. And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.
  21. And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the LORD; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.
  22. And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.
  23. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  24. This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:
  25. And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:
  26. But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.
  1. And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
  2. Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.
  3. In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.
  4. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.
  5. And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.
  6. And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:
  7. And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel?
  8. And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.
  9. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
  10. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.
  11. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
  12. They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
  13. But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
  14. And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.
  15. And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.
  16. So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
  17. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.
  18. At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.
  19. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.
  20. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.
  21. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
  22. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
  23. At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.