Numbers 9

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

In the Wilderness of Sinai during the second year after leaving Egypt, the LORD instructed Moses to have the Israelites observe the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. Certain men who were unclean due to a dead body approached Moses and Aaron to ask how they might still present the offering, prompting Moses to consult the LORD. In response, the LORD provided instructions for a supplementary Passover observance in the second month for those who were unclean or on a journey, while specifying penalties for those who neglected it without valid reason. Following these instructions, the text details the guidance of the tabernacle by a cloud by day and a fire by night. Whenever the cloud lifted, the Israelites broke camp and traveled, and whenever it settled, they remained encamped according to the command of the LORD.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹In the first month of the second year after Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai: ²“The Israelites are to observe the Passover at its appointed time. ³You are to observe it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with its statutes and ordinances.” ⁴So Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover, ⁵and they did so in the Wilderness of Sinai, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses. ⁶But there were some men who were unclean due to a dead body, so they could not observe the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron that same day ⁷and said to Moses, “We are unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be excluded from presenting the LORD’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?” ⁸“Wait here until I find out what the LORD commands concerning you,” Moses replied. ⁹Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹⁰“Tell the Israelites: ‘When any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of a dead body, or is away on a journey, he may still observe the Passover to the LORD. ¹¹Such people are to observe it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; ¹²they may not leave any of it until morning or break any of its bones. They must observe the Passover according to all its statutes. ¹³But if a man who is ceremonially clean and is not on a journey still fails to observe the Passover, he must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the LORD’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin. ¹⁴If a foreigner dwelling among you wants to observe the Passover to the LORD, he is to do so according to the Passover statute and its ordinances. You are to apply the same statute to both the foreigner and the native of the land.’” ¹⁵On the day that the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it and appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning. ¹⁶It remained that way continually; the cloud would cover the tabernacle by day, and at night it would appear like fire. ¹⁷Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites would set out, and wherever the cloud settled, there the Israelites would camp. ¹⁸At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at the LORD’s command they camped. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle, they remained encamped. ¹⁹Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites kept the LORD’s charge and did not set out. ²⁰Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for only a few days, and they would camp at the LORD’s command and set out at the LORD’s command. ²¹Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they would set out. Whether it was by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up, they would set out. ²²Whether the cloud lingered for two days, a month, or longer, the Israelites camped and did not set out as long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle; but when it was lifted, they would set out. ²³They camped at the LORD’s command, and they set out at the LORD’s command; they carried out the LORD’s charge according to His command through Moses.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.