Samaritan Numbers

1 And Shema spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 “Take a census of the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, every male, individually. 3 You and Aaron shall count all men in Israel twenty years old and older who are able to go to war, by their military units. 4 And a man from every tribe shall be with you, each man the head of his fathers’ household. 5 And these are the names of the men that shall assist you: Of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; 6 of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; 7 of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; 8 of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; 9 of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10 of the children of Joseph, of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11 of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; 12 of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran; 14 of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel; 15 of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.” 16 These were the ones called from the congregation, the leaders of the tribes of their fathers; they are the heads of the clans of Israel. 17 And Moses and Aaron took these men who have been named, 18 and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their ancestry by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting individually the names of those twenty years old and older. 19 He counted them in the wilderness of Sinai, as Shema commanded Moses.

20 And the children of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, every male individually, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 21 Those of them counted of the tribe of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.

22 Of the children of Simeon, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, those of them who were counted, counting the names, individually, every male from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 23 Those counted of the tribe of Simeon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

24 Of the children of Gad, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 25 Those counted of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

26 Of the children of Judah, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 27 Those counted of the tribe of Judah were seventy-four thousand six hundred.

28 Of the children of Issachar, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 29 Those counted of the tribe of Issachar were fifty-four thousand four hundred.

30 Of the children of Zebulun, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 31 Those counted of the tribe of Zebulun were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

32 Of the children of Joseph, [namely], of the children of Ephraim, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 33 Those counted of the tribe of Ephraim were forty thousand five hundred.

34 Of the children of Manasseh, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 35 Those counted of the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two hundred.

36 Of the children of Benjamin, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 37 Those counted of the tribe of Benjamin were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

38 Of the children of Dan, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 39 Those counted of the tribe of Dan were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

40 Of the children of Asher, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 41 Those counted of the tribe of Asher were forty-one thousand five hundred.

42 Of the children of Naphtali, their descendants, by their families, by their fathers’ households, counting the names, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war. 43 Those counted of the tribe of Naphtali were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

44 These are those counted by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel; there was one for each tribe, for the tribe of their fathers’ households. 45 So all those who were counted of the children of Israel by their military units, from twenty years old and older, all who were able to go to war in Israel. 46 All those counted were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 47 But the Levites by their ancestral tribe were not counted among them.: >— — 48 For Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 49 “You shall not count the Levite tribe or include them in the total among the children of Israel, 50 but appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it; they shall carry the tabernacle, and all its furnishings, and they shall serve at it, and shall camp around the tabernacle. 51 And when the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be erected, the Levites shall set it up. And the outsider who comes near shall be put to death. 52 And the children of Israel shall set up their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own place, by their military units. 53 But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no anger against the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be responsible for the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54 The children of Israel did everything that Shema commanded Moses.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: 2 “Each of the children of Israel shall camp by his own banners, with the emblems of their fathers’ households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting, facing it. 3 And those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the banner of the camp of Judah, by their military units. And the leader of the children of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 4 And his military unit and those counted in it were seventy-four thousand six hundred. 5 And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar. And the leader of the children of Issachar shall be Nethanel the son of Zuar. 6 And his military unit and those counted in it were fifty-four thousand four hundred. 7 And the tribe of Zebulun. And the leader of the children of Zebulun shall be Eliab the son of Helon. 8 And his military unit and those counted in it were fifty-seven thousand four hundred. 9 All those counted of the camp of Judah were one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred, by their military units. They shall set out first.

10 On the south side shall be the banner of the camp of Reuben by their military units. And the leader of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur. 11 And his military unit and those counted in it were forty-six thousand five hundred. 12 And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon. And the leader of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 13 And his military unit and those counted in it were fifty-nine thousand three hundred. 14 And the tribe of Gad. And the leader of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 15 And his military unit and those counted in it were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty. 16 All those counted of the camp of Reuben were one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty, by their military units. And they shall set out second. 17 Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps; as they camp, so they shall set out, every man in his place, by their banners.

18 On the west side shall be the banner of the camp of Ephraim by their military units. And the leader of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. 19 And his military unit and those counted in it were forty thousand five hundred. 20 And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh. And the leader of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 21 And his military unit and those counted in it were thirty-two thousand two hundred. 22 And the tribe of Benjamin. And the leader of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. 23 And his military unit and those counted in it were thirty-five thousand four hundred. 24 All those counted of the camp of Ephraim were one hundred and eight thousand one hundred, by their military units. And they shall set out third.

25 On the north side shall be the banner of the camp of Dan by their military units. And the leader of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 And his military unit and those counted in it were sixty-two thousand seven hundred. 27 And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher. And the leader of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran. 28 And his military units and those counted in them were forty-one thousand five hundred. 29 And the tribe of Naphtali. And the leader of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. 30 And his military unit and those counted in it were fifty-three thousand four hundred. 31 All those counted of the camp of Dan were one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last by their banners.”

32 These are those who were counted of the children of Israel by their fathers’ households; all those counted of the camps by their military units were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 33 But the Levites were not counted among the children of Israel, as Shema commanded Moses. 34 And the children of Israel did according to all that Shema commanded Moses; so they camped by their banners, and so they set out, everyone by his family, according to his fathers’ household.

1 And these are the descendants of Aaron and Moses on the day when Shema spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he consecrated to serve as priests. 4 And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered alien fire in the presence of Shema, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children, and Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.

5 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and place them in front of Aaron the priest so that they may assist him. 7 And they shall perform his duties and the duties of the whole congregation in front of the tent of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. 8 And they shall care for all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and perform the duties of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are completely given to me from among the children of Israel. 10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall fulfill their priestly duties. And the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

11 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 12 “And I, look, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel. Instead of every firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Israel they shall be their redemption price. And the Levites shall be mine, 13 for all the firstborn are mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for myself all the firstborn in Israel, both people and animals; they shall be mine. I am Shema.”

14 And Shema spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying: 15 “Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; you shall count every male a month old and older.” 16 And Moses counted them according to the word of Shema, as he commanded him. 17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ households. 21 From Gershon came the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites; these are the families of the Gershonites. 22 And all their males a month old and older were counted; the number counted was seven thousand five hundred. 23 The family of the Gershonites shall camp behind the tabernacle to the west. 24 And the leader of the father’s household of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25 And the responsibility of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, and its covering, and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the entrance of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and on the altar all around, and its cords for all its service.

27 And from Kohath came the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and older, there were eight thousand six hundred, responsible for the sanctuary. 29 The family of the sons of Kohath shall camp on the side of the tabernacle to the south. 30 And the leader of the father’s household of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31 And their responsibility shall be the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they serve, and the screen, and the basin and its base and all their service. 32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be leader of the leaders of the Levites, [and to have] oversight over those who are responsible for the sanctuary.

33 From Merari came the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites; these are the families of Merari. 34 And those counted of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and older, were six thousand two hundred. 35 And the leader of the father’s household of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail; they shall camp on the side of the tabernacle to the north. 36 And the assigned responsibility of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases, and all its equipment, and all its service, 37 and the pillars of the court all around, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords. 38 And those who camp in front of the tabernacle to the east, in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, Aaron and his sons, responsible for the sanctuary on behalf of the children of Israel. And the outsider who comes near shall be put to death. 39 All those counted of the Levites, whom Moses counted at the command of Shema, by their families, all the males from a month old and older, were twenty-two thousand.

40 And Shema said to Moses: “Count all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and older, and count their names. 41 And you shall take the Levites for me―I am Shema―instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the children of Israel.” 42 And Moses counted, as Shema commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. 43 And all the firstborn males according to the number of names, from a month old and older, of those counted of them were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

44 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Shema. 46 And for the redemption price of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who exceed [the number] of the Levites, 47 you shall take five shekels per head; you shall take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs, 48 and you shall give the money to Aaron and to his sons as the redemption price for those who exceed that number.” 49 And Moses took the money of the redemption price that exceeded the redemption price of the Levites; 50 from the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; 51 and Moses gave the money of the redemption price to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of Shema, as Shema commanded Moses.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households, 3 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who entered the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. 5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it, 6 and shall put on it a covering of black skin, and shall spread over it an entirely blue cloth on top of it, and shall put in its carrying poles. 7 And they shall spread over the table of the bread of the Presence a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and the cups for the drink offering; and the bread that is always present shall be on it; 8 and they shall spread over them a covering cloth of scarlet, and cover it with a covering of black skin, and shall put in its carrying poles. 9 And they shall take a blue cloth, and cover the lampstand of the light, and its lamps, and its wick trimmers, and its trays for the trimmings, and all its oil vessels, with which they serve it, 10 and they shall put it and all its vessels in a covering of black skin, and shall put it on the carrying frame. 11 And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of black skin, and shall put its carrying poles [in place]. 12 And they shall take all the utensils for service, with which they serve in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a covering of black skin, and shall put them on the carrying frame.

13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 And they shall put on it all its vessels, with which they serve at it, the firepans, and the meat forks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of black skin, and put in its carrying poles. And they shall take a purple cloth, and cover the basin and its base, and they shall put them inside a covering of black skin, and shall put them on the carrying frame. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, so that they do not die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry. 16 And the responsibility of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil, the responsibility of all the tabernacle and of all that is in it, the sanctuary and its vessels.”

17 And Shema spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 18 “Do not cut off the tribe of the family of the Kohathites from among the Levites. 19 Do this for them so that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them his duties and his load, 20 but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, so that they do not die.”

21 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ households, by their families. 23 You shall count them from thirty years old until fifty years old, all who begin the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 24 This is the service of the family of the Gershonites, in serving and in carrying loads: 25 They shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of black skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords, and all the equipment of their service; and they shall perform whatever work needs to be done with them. 27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all their carrying work and in all their service; and you shall appoint them in charge of all that they carry. 28 This is the service of the family of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their duties shall be under the supervision of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

29 As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ households; 30 you shall count them from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service, to do the work of the tent of meeting. 31 And this is their responsibilities for carrying loads, according to all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its bases, 32 and the pillars of the court all around, and their bases, and their pegs, and their cords, with all their equipment, and with all their service; and you shall assign by name all the equipment they are responsible for carrying. 33 This is the service of the family of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the tent of meeting, under the supervision of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

34 And Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation counted the sons of the Kohathites, by their families, by their fathers’ households, 35 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service, for work in the tent of meeting. 36 And those counted of them by their families were two thousand and seven hundred and fifty. 37 These are the counted of the family of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the command of Shema through Moses.

38 And those counted of the sons of Gershon, by their families, by their fathers’ households, 39 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service, for work in the tent of meeting, 40 those counted of them, by their families, by their fathers’ households, were two thousand six hundred and thirty. 41 These are the counted of the family of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the command of Shema.

42 And those counted of the family of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ households, 43 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service, for work in the tent of meeting, 44 those counted of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred. 45 These are the counted of the family of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the command of Shema through Moses. 46 All those counted among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted, by their families, by their fathers’ households, 47 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who entered to do the work of service, and the work of carrying loads in the tent of meeting, 48 those counted of them were eight thousand five hundred and eighty. 49 According to the command of Shema they were counted by Moses, everyone according to his service, and according to his load; so they were counted by him, as Shema commanded Moses.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Command the children of Israel to send everyone with leprosy out of the camp, and everyone who has a discharge, and everyone who is unclean [through contact with] the dead. 3 You shall put both male and female outside the camp; put them out so that they may not defile their camp, where I live among them.” 4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as Shema spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.

5 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 6 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘When a man or woman commits any human sin that wrongs Shema, and that person is guilty, 7 then he shall confess the sin he has committed, and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to the person he wronged. 8 But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made to Shema shall be the priest’s, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement shall be made for him. 9 And every contribution of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present to the priest, shall be his. 10 And every man’s consecrated things shall be his, and whatever any man gives the priest, it shall be his.’”

11 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 12 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him, 13 and a man has sexual relations with her, and her husband did not see it, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not caught in the act, 14 and the spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she has not defiled herself, 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, bringing wrongdoing to mind. 16 And the priest shall bring her near, and place her in the presence of Shema; 17 and the priest shall take holy water in a clay vessel, and the priest shall take some dust from the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water. 18 And the priest shall place the woman in the presence of Shema, and loosen the woman’s hair, and put the grain offering of memorial in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And the priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that causes the curse.

19 And the priest shall have her swear, and shall say to the woman, ‘If no man has had sexual relations with you, and if you have not defiled yourself by being unfaithful while married to your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that causes the curse. 20 Look, if you have gone astray, while married to your husband, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man has had sexual relations with you besides your husband, 21 then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall say to the woman ‘May Shema make you a curse and an oath among your people, when Shema makes your thigh fall away and your body swell. 22 And this water that causes the curse shall go into your intestines, and make your body swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall wash them off into the water of bitterness, 24 and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse, and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. 25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the grain offering in the presence of Shema, and bring it to the altar. 26 And the priest shall take up from the grain offering, as its memorial, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27 And when he has made [her] drink the water, then if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter, and her body shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall be a curse among her people. 28 And if the woman has not defiled herself, but is clean, then she shall be free, and shall conceive a child.’” 29 This is the law of jealousy, and when a wife, while married to her husband, goes astray, and defiles herself, 30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall place the woman in the presence of Shema, and the priest shall carry out this entire law for her. 31 And the man shall be free from wrongdoing, and that woman shall bear responsibility for her wrongdoing.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When either a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself to Shema, 3 he shall abstain from wine and other alcoholic drinks; he shall drink no vinegar made from wine or other alcoholic drinks, and he shall not drink anything made from soaked grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried 4 all the days of his separation. He shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds to the skin 5 all the days of his vow of separation. No razor shall touch his head; until the days in which he separates himself to Shema are completed he shall be holy; the hair of his head shall grow long. 6 All the days that he separates himself to Shema he shall not go near a dead body. 7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, his mother, his brother, or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to Shema.

9 And if any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his separated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burned offering, and make atonement for him, for he sinned because of the dead body, and shall consecrate his head that same day. 12 And he shall dedicate the days of his separation to Shema, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the previous days shall not count, because he defiled his separation.

13 And this is the law of the Nazirite, when the days of his separation are completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 and he shall offer his offering to Shema, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burned offering, and one ewe lamb a year old 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 mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and their grain offering, and their drink offerings. 16 And the priest shall present them in the presence of Shema, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burned offering, 17 and he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Shema, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall also offer its grain offering, and its drink offering. 18 And the Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19 And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved [the head of] his separation. 20 And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering in the presence of Shema; it shall be a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast presented as a wave offering and the thigh given as a contribution, and after that the Nazirite may drink wine.’” 21 This is the law of the Nazirite who vows, [and of] his offering to Shema for his separation, apart from whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill the vow he makes according to the law of his separation.

22 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is how you shall bless the children of Israel; you shall say to them, 24 ‘May Shema bless you and protect you. 25 May Shema make his face shine on you, and be gracious to you. 26 May Shema lift his face toward you, and give you peace.’ 27 So put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.’”

1 On the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and consecrated it, and all its furnishings, and the altar, and all its vessels, and had anointed them and consecrated them, 2 the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ households, the leaders of the tribes, who were over those who were counted, made an offering, 3 and they brought their offering in the presence of Shema, six covered wagons and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox. And they presented them in front of the tabernacle.

4 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 5 “Accept [it] from them so that they may be [used] in doing the service of the tent of meeting. And you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.” 6 And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. 7 He gave two wagons and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, according to their service, 8 and he gave four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the supervision of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9 But he gave none to the sons of Kohath, because the service of the sanctuary belonged to them; they carry it on their shoulders. 10 And the leaders offered for the dedication of the altar on the day when it was anointed; the leaders offered their offering in front of the altar. 11 And Shema said to Moses: “They shall offer their offering, each leader on his day, for the dedication of the altar.”

12 And the man who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah; 13 and his offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 14 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 15 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 16 and one male goat for a sin offering; 17 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

18 On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, offered. 19 He offered for his offering one silver platter whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 20 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 21 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 22 and one male goat for a sin offering; 23 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

24 On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, leader of the children of Zebulun; 25 and his offering was one silver platter, whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 26 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 27 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 28 and one male goat for a sin offering; 29 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

30 On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the children of Reuben; 31 and his offering was one silver platter, whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 32 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 33 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 34 and one male goat for a sin offering; 35 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

36 On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, leader of the children of Simeon; 37 and his offering was one silver platter, whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 38 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 39 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 40 and one male goat for a sin offering; 41 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

42 On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, leader of the children of Gad; 43 and his offering was one silver platter, whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 44 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 45 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 46 and one male goat for a sin offering; 47 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

48 On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, leader of the children of Ephraim; 49 and his offering was one silver platter, whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 50 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 51 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 52 and one male goat for a sin offering; 53 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

54 On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader of the children of Manasseh; 55 and his offering was one silver platter, whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 56 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 57 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 58 and one male goat for a sin offering; 59 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

60 On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, leader of the children of Benjamin; 61 and his offering was one silver platter, whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 62 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 63 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 64 and one male goat for a sin offering; 65 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

66 On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, leader of the children of Dan; 67 and his offering was one silver platter, whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 68 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 69 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 70 and one male goat for a sin offering; 71 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

72 On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ocran, leader of the children of Asher; 73 and his offering was one silver platter, whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 74 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 75 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 76 and one male goat for a sin offering; 77 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ocran.

78 On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, leader of the children of Naphtali; 79 and his offering was one silver platter, whose weight was one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 80 one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; 81 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burned offering; 82 and one male goat for a sin offering; 83 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old; this was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

84 This was the dedication of the altar, on the day when it was anointed, by the leaders of Israel: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden spoons; 85 each silver platter [weighing] one hundred and thirty [shekels], and each bowl [weighing] seventy [shekels]; all the silver of the vessels [weighing] two thousand four hundred [shekels], according to the shekel of the sanctuary; 86 the twelve golden spoons, full of incense, [weighing] ten [shekels] each, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the spoons [weighing] one hundred and twenty [shekels]; 87 all the oxen for the burned offering were twelve bulls, the rams were twelve, the male lambs a year old were twelve, and their grain offering; and the male goats for a sin offering were twelve; 88 and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, the rams were sixty, the male goats were sixty, the male lambs a year old were sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after it was anointed. 89 And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with him, then he heard the voice speaking to him from above the ark-cover that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and he spoke to him.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to Aaron, and say to him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.'” 3 And Aaron did so. He lit its lamps in front of the lampstand, as Shema commanded Moses. 4 And this was the work of the lampstand, hammered gold; to its bases and to its flowers, it was hammered; he made the lampstand according to the pattern Shema had shown Moses.

5 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 6 “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. 7 And this is how you shall cleanse them: Sprinkle the water of expiation on them, and have them shave their entire bodies, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. 8 Then let them take a young bull, and its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull for a sin offering. 9 And you shall present the Levites in front of the tent of meeting, and you shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. 10 And you shall present the Levites in the presence of Shema. And the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11 And Aaron shall offer the Levites in the presence of Shema for a wave offering, from the children of Israel, so that it may be theirs to do the service of Shema. 12 And the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and he [Aaron] shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burned offering to Shema to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall set the Levites in front of Aaron and his sons and offer them for a wave offering to Shema. 14 In this way you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. 15 And after that the Levites shall go in to do the service of the tent of meeting, and you shall cleanse them, and offer them for a wave offering. 16 For they are completely given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all the firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Israel, I have taken them for myself. 17 For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both people and animals; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself.

18 And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among 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 tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, so that there will not be a plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary.” 20 Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did this to the Levites; the children of Israel did everything Shema commanded Moses concerning the Levites. 21 And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them for a wave offering in the presence of Shema; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting in front of Aaron and his sons; as Shema had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

23 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 24 “This is what applies to the Levites: From the age of twenty-five onward they shall begin their service in the work of the tent of meeting; 25 and from the age of fifty years they shall stop doing the work and shall no longer serve, 26 but shall assist their brothers in the tent of meeting, to perform the duties, and shall do no work. This is how you shall deal with the Levites concerning their duties.”

1 And Shema spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 “Let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed seasons. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, they shall keep it in its appointed seasons; according to all its statutes, and according to all its rules, you shall keep it.” 4 And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, telling them to keep the Passover. 5 And they kept the Passover in the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; the children of Israel did everything Shema commanded Moses. 6 And there were certain men, who were unclean through contact with a man’s dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came to Moses and Aaron on that day; 7 and those men said to him: “We are unclean through contact with a man’s dead body. Why are we prevented from being able to offer the offering of Shema in its appointed seasons among the children of Israel?” 8 And Moses said to them: “Wait so that I may hear what Shema will command concerning you.”

9 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If any man among you or your descendants is unclean through contact with a dead body or is on a distant journey, he shall still keep the Passover to Shema. 11 They shall keep it in the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; 12 they shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; they shall keep it according to the entire statute of the Passover. 13 But the man who is clean, and is not on a journey, and refrains from keeping the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people; because he did not offer the offering of Shema in its appointed seasons, that man shall bear responsibility for his sin. 14 And if a foreigner lives among you and wishes to keep the Passover to Shema; according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its rules, he shall do so; you shall have one statute, both for the foreign resident and for the native of the land.’”

15 And on the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. 16 So it was always: the cloud covered it [by day], and the appearance of fire by night. 17 And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, after that the children of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud remained, the children of Israel camped. 18 At the command of Shema the children of Israel set out, and at the command of Shema they camped; as long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle they remained camped. 19 When the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel obeyed the instructions of Shema, and did not set out. 20 And sometimes the cloud was for a few days over the tabernacle; then according to the command of Shema they remained camped, and according to the command of Shema they set out. 21 And sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning, and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they set out, or [if it continued] by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they set out. 22 Whether [it were] two days or a month or a year that the cloud remained over the tabernacle, resting on it, the children of Israel remained camped, and did not set out; but when it was taken up, they set out. 23 At the command of Shema they camped, and at the command of Shema they set out; they obeyed the instructions of Shema, at the command of Shema through Moses.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Make two trumpets of silver; you shall make them of hammered metal, and you shall use them for calling the congregation together, and for moving the camps. 3 And when they blow them, all the congregation shall gather to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 4 And if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather to you. 5 And when you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall set out. 6 And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the north side shall set out; they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. 7 But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow but you shall not sound an alarm. 8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets, and this shall be a permanent statute for you throughout your generations. 9 And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets; and you shall be remembered in the presence of Shema your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. 10 Also on your days of joyful celebration, and in your appointed festivals, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burned offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial in the presence of Shema your God. I am Shema your God.” And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and set out, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their inhabitants in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland, [and] in the south and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Look, I have placed the land in front of you. Go in and take possession of the land which I swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to their offspring after them.”

11 And in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony. 12 And the children of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud remained in the wilderness of Paran. 13 And they first set out according to the command of Shema through Moses. 14 And the banner of the camp of the children of Judah set out first by their military units, and his military unit was led by Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 15 And the military unit of the tribe of the children of Issachar was led by Nethanel the son of Zuar. 16 And the military unit of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was led by Eliab the son of Helon. 17 And the tabernacle was taken down, and the children of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who carried the tabernacle, set out. 18 And the banner of the camp of the children of Reuben set out by their military units, and his military unit was led by Elizur the son of Shedeur. 19 And the military unit of the tribe of the children of Simeon was led by Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20 And the military unit of the tribe of the children of Gad was led by Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 21 And the Kohathites set out, carrying the sanctuary, and [the others] set up the tabernacle before their arrival. 22 And the banner of the camp of the children of Ephraim set out by their military units, and his military unit was led by Elishama the son of Ammihud. 23 And the military unit of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was led by Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 24 And the military unit of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was led by Abidan the son of Gideoni. 25 And the banner of the camp of the children of Dan, which was the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their military units, and his military unit was led by Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 And the military unit of the tribe of the children of Asher was led by Pagiel the son of Ocran. 27 And the military unit of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was led by Ahira the son of Enan. 28 This was how the children of Israel traveled by their military units, and they set out.

29 And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’s father-in-law: “We are traveling to the place of which Shema said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well; for Shema has spoken well concerning Israel.” 30 And he said to him: “I will not go, but I will return to my own land, and to my relatives.” 31 And he said: “Don’t leave us, please, for you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you shall serve as our eyes. 32 And if you go with us, we will do for you whatever good Shema does for us.” 33 And they set out from the mountain of Shema three days’ journey, and the ark of the covenant of Shema went ahead of them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of Shema was over them by day, when they set out from the camp. 35 And when the ark set out, Moses said: “Rise up, Shema, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee from you.” 36 And when it rested, he said: “Return, Shema, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.”

1 And the people complained in the hearing of Shema, and when Shema heard it, his anger flared, and the fire of Shema burned among them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 And the people cried to Moses, and Moses prayed to Shema, and the fire died down. 3 And that place was named Taberah, because the fire of Shema burned among them. 4 And the mixed crowd that was among them had intense cravings, and the children of Israel also wept again, and said: “Who shall give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt for free, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our soul has dried up. There is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” 7 And the manna was like peeled seed, and its appearance like the appearance of bdellium. 8 The people went around, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, and pounded it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it, and its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. 9 And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it. 10 And Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent, and the anger of Shema flared intensely, and Moses was displeased.

11 And Moses said to Shema: “Why have you treated your servant badly? And why have I not found favor with you, so that you place the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give birth to them, so that you would say to me, ‘Carry them against your chest, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land which you swore to their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they cry to me, saying, ‘Give us meat, so that we may eat.’ 14 I am not able to carry all these people alone, because it is too heavy for me. 15 And if you treat me this way, kill me, please, at once. And if I have found favor with you, let me not see my misery.”

16 And Shema said to Moses: “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, so that they may stand there with you. 17 And I will come down and talk with you there, and I will take some of the spirit which is on you and put it on them; and they shall carry the burden of the people with you, so that you may not carry it alone. 18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of Shema, saying, ‘Who shall give us meat to eat? For we were well off in Egypt.’ Therefore Shema will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes disgusting to you, because you have rejected Shema who is among you, and have cried in his presence, saying, ‘Why did we come out of Egypt?’’” 21 And Moses said: “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat a whole month.’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?”

23 And Shema said to Moses: “Is Shema’s hand shortened? You shall see whether my word shall come true for you or not.” 24 And Moses went out, and told the people the words of Shema. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the tent. 25 And Shema came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders, and when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not gather. 26 But two men remained in the camp, one of them named Eldad and the other named Modad, and the spirit rested on them; and they were among those registered, but had not gone out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said: “Eldad and Modad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said: “My lord Moses, forbid them.” 29 And Moses said to him: “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all Shema’s people were prophets, and Shema would put his spirit on them!”

30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel. 31 And a wind from Shema arose, and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall toward the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. 32 And the people rose all that day and all the night and all the next day, and gathered the quails; the person who gathered the least gathered ten homers. And they slaughtered them all around the camp. 33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of Shema flared against the people, and Shema struck the people with a very great plague. 34 And that place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved meat. 35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth, and they stayed at Hazeroth.

1 And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the beautiful woman whom he had married, for he had married a beautiful woman.⁠a 2 And they said: “Has Shema indeed spoken only through Moses? Look, he has also spoken through us!” And Shema heard [it]. 3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the face of the earth.

4 And Shema spoke suddenly to Moses and to Aaron and to Miriam: “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. 5 And Shema came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. 6 And he said: “Listen to my words: If there is a prophet among you, I Shema will make myself known to him in a vision, and in a dream I will speak with him. 7 This is different with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house, 8 I will speak with him mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles; and he shall see the form of Shema. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?” 9 And the anger of Shema flared against them, and he left. 10 And the cloud moved away from over the tent, and look, Miriam had leprosy, as [white as] snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and look, she had leprosy. 11 And Aaron said to Moses: “My lord, please do not punish us for the sin we have foolishly committed. 12 Please do not let her be like a dead child, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes from his mother’s womb.” 13 And Moses cried to Shema, saying: “Heal her, God, please."

14 And Shema said to Moses: “If her father had merely spat in her face, she would be ashamed seven days! Let her be confined outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” 15 And Miriam was confined outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam was brought in again. 16 And after that the people traveled from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran. And Moses said to the children of Israel: “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Shema our God gives us. Look, Shema your God has placed the land in front of you. Go up and take possession, as Shema, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be discouraged. And they came near to Moses, and said, ‘Let us send men ahead of us, so that they may make us love the land, and report back to us about the route by which we must go up, and the cities we shall enter.’” And Moses was pleased with the proposal.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel, you shall send a man from every ancestral tribe, each a leader among them.” 3 And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of Shema, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. 4 And these were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Uri; 6 of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 of the tribe of Ephraim, Joshua the son of Nun; 9 of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 of the tribe of Joseph, [namely] of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Joshua the son of Nun Joshua. 17 And [Moses] sent them to spy out the land of Canaan. And he said to them: “Go up by the south and go up into the hill country,

18 and see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land they live in is good or bad, whether the cities they live in are watchtowers or strongholds, 20 and whether the land is rich or poor, whether there are trees in it or not. And be courageous and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now it was the season of the first ripe grapes. 21 So they went and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath. 22 And they went up by the south, and came to Hebron. And Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. 23 And they came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried [it] on a pole between two [of them]; and of the pomegranates and of the figs [they also took]. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there. 25 And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.

26 And they returned to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh. And they reported back to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, and said: “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, and very large. And, we saw the children of Anak there. 29 Amalek lives in the land of the south, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the hill country. And the Canaanite lives by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.”

30 And Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said to him: “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 But the men who went up with him said: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they brought the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying: “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are very tall men. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who descend from the Nephilim, and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” And the children of Israel grumbled in their tents, and said: “Because Shema hates us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites, to destroy us. Where are we going up to, when our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, ‘The people are greater and more numerous than we are, the cities are great and fortified up to heaven, and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.’” And Moses said to the children of Israel: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them. Shema your God who goes ahead of you, he himself will fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how Shema your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place. Yet, look, despite this, you do not believe in Shema your God, who goes ahead of you in the way to find you a place to camp, in fire by night, to show you which way you should go, and in the cloud by day.”

1 And all the congregation raised a loud cry; and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them: “If only we had died in the land of Egypt or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is Shema bringing us into this land, so that we fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder. Look, it would be better for us to return to Egypt!” 4 And they said to one another: “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted the land, tore their clothes, 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an extremely good land. 8 If Shema delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against Shema. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. The [defence of their] idols is removed from over them, and Shema is with us. Do not fear them.” 10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. And the glory of Shema appeared in the tent of meeting to all the children of Israel.

11 And Shema said to Moses: “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs which I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them with the plague and disinherit them, and I will make you and your father’s household into a nation greater and mightier than they.” 13 And Moses said to Shema: “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Shema, are among this people, for you, Shema, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go ahead of them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard reports about you will speak, saying, 16 ‘Because Shema was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, please, let my lord’s power be great as you have spoken, saying, 18 ‘Shema is slow to anger, and abundant in steadfast love and truth, forgiving wrongdoing, and offense, and sin, and he will acquit the innocent, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and on the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 Pardon, please, the wrongdoing of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

20 And Shema said: “I have pardoned according to your words, 21 but truly, as I live, and as the glory of Shema shall fill all the earth, 22 because all those men who have seen my glory and my signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit, and has followed me fully, I will bring him into the land he entered, and his offspring shall possess it. 25 Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite live in the valley. Turn tomorrow, and set out into the wilderness by the way to the sea of Sof.”

26 And Shema spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: 27 “How long shall this evil congregation grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live, says Shema, I will do to you what you have spoken in my hearing. 29 Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and all of your number, counted from twenty years old and older, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would settle you, except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, whom you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear the consequences of your faithlessness, until your dead bodies are consumed in the wilderness. 34 You shall bear responsibility for your wrongdoings for forty years, a year for every day of the forty days you spied out the land, and you shall know my displeasure. 35 I, Shema, have spoken. I will certainly do this to all this evil congregation, who are gathered together against me; in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’”

36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and caused all the congregation to grumble against him by bringing up a bad report against the land, 37 those men who brought a bad report of the land, died by the plague in the presence of Shema. 38 Of those men who went to spy out the land only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive. 39 And Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying: “Here we are. And we will go up to the place which Shema has promised, for we have sinned.” And Shema said to Moses: “Say to them, ‘Do not go up or fight, for I am not among you, so that you are not defeated by your enemies.’”

41 And Moses said: “Why now are you transgressing the commandment of Shema, when that will not succeed? 42 Do not go up, for Shema is not among you, so that you are not defeated by your enemies. 43 For the Amalekite and the Canaanite are there ahead of you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following Shema, Shema will not be with you.” 44 But they dared to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of Shema nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekite and the Canaanite who lived in that hill country came down against them and chased them as bees do, and struck them and beat them down, as far as Hormah, and they returned to the camp.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land of your homes, which I give to you, 3 and you make an offering by fire to Shema, a burned offering, or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow, or a freewill offering, or in your appointed festivals, to make a pleasing aroma to Shema, of the herd or of the flock, 4 then the man who offers his offering shall offer to Shema a grain offering of a tenth part [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with the quarter of a hin of oil, 5 and you shall prepare a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering with the burned offering, or for the sacrifice, for each lamb. 6 Or for a ram, you shall prepare for a grain offering two tenth parts [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with the third of a hin of oil, 7 and for the drink offering you shall offer the third of a hin of wine, a pleasing aroma to Shema.

8 And when you prepare a bull for a burned offering, or for a sacrifice to fulfill a vow or for peace offerings to Shema, 9 then he shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three tenth parts [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil, 10 and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to Shema. 11 This is how it shall be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the young goats. 12 You shall do this for each one, according to the number you prepare. 13 Every native shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering made by fire of a pleasing aroma to Shema. 14 And if a foreigner lives with you, or anyone who may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire of a pleasing aroma to Shema, he shall do as you do. 15 Assembly! There shall be one statute for you and for the foreigner who lives [with you], a statute forever throughout your generations; the foreign resident shall be as you are in the presence of Shema. 16 One law and one rule shall be for you and for the foreigner who lives with you.’”

17 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 18 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land to which I bring you, 19 and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to Shema. 20 You shall offer a cake from the first of your dough as a contribution; you shall present it like the contribution from the threshing floor. 21 You shall give Shema a contribution from the first of your dough throughout your generations. 22 And when you go wrong and not observe all these commandments which Shema has spoken to Moses, 23 all that Shema has commanded you through Moses, from the day that Shema gave the command, and onward throughout your generations, 24 then if it was done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burned offering, a pleasing aroma to Shema, with its grain offering, and its drink offerings, according to the rule, and one male goat for a sin offering. 25 And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven, for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to Shema, and their sin offering in the presence of Shema, for their error. 26 And all the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, and the foreigner who lives among them, because the whole people was involved in the error.

27 And if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. 28 And the priest shall make atonement for the person who goes wrong, when he sins unintentionally, in the presence of Shema, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. 29 You shall have one law for the person who does anything unintentionally, for the person who is native among the children of Israel, and for the foreigner who lives among them. 30 But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or a foreign resident, blasphemes Shema, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of Shema and has broken his commandments, that person shall completely be cut off; he shall bear responsibility for his wrongdoing.’”

32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 34 And they put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35 And Shema said to Moses: “The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones as Shema commanded Moses.

37 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 38 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them to make fringes on the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and put a cord of blue on the fringe of each border. 39 And they shall be fringes for you to look at them and remember all the commandments of Shema, and do them, and not to follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to prostitute yourselves, 40 so that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. 41 I am Shema your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am Shema your God.”

1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, the son of Reuben, took [men], 2 and they rose up in front of Moses, with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of reputation. 3 And they assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them: “You have gone too far, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and Shema is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of Shema?” 4 And when Moses heard it, he fell on his face. 5 And he spoke to Korah and to his whole group, saying: “In the morning Shema will show who is his, and he will bring near to him the one who is holy. He will bring near to him the one whom he chooses. 6 Do this: Take incense burners, Korah and his whole group, 7 and put fire in them and put incense on them in the presence of Shema tomorrow, and the man whom Shema chooses, he [shall be] holy. You have gone too far, sons of Levi.”

8 And Moses said to Korah: “Listen, you sons of Levi: 9 Is it a small thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of Shema, to stand in front of the congregation to serve them, 10 and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you also seek the priesthood? 11 Therefore you and your whole group have gathered together against Shema, and Aaron. Who is he, that you grumble against him?” 12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and they said: “We will not come up. 13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, so that you must also make yourself a ruler over us? 14 Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields or vineyards. Will the eyes of these men be put out? We will not come up.” 15 And Moses was very angry, and said to Shema: “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken one of their precious things from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”

16 And Moses said to Korah: “Be present, you and your whole group in the presence of Shema, you and they and Aaron, tomorrow. 17 And let each of you take his incense burner and put incense on them, and each of you bring his incense burner into the presence of Shema, two hundred and fifty incense burners; you also, and Aaron, each his incense burner.” 18 And each man took his incense burner, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 And Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the glory of Shema appeared to all the congregation.

20 And Shema spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, so that I may destroy them in a moment.” 22 And they fell on their faces and said: “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin and will you be angry with all the congregation?”

23 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’” 25 And Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying: “Please move away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, so that you are not destroyed because of all their sins.” 27 So they got away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the entrance of their tents, with their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.

28 And Moses said: “By this you shall know that Shema has sent me to do all these works, for [I have] not [done them] on my own initiative. 29 If these men die as all men normally die, or if they meet the same fate as all men, then Shema has not sent me. 30 But if Shema creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised Shema.” 31 And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they, and all that belonged to them, went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they died from among the assembly. 34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said: “The earth might swallow us up.” 35 And fire came out from Shema and devoured the two hundred and fifty men who offered the incense.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the incense burners out of the blaze, and scatter the fire far and wide, for they are holy. 3 As for the incense burners of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, make them into hammered plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them in the presence of Shema; therefore they are holy, and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel.” 4 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest took the bronze incense burners, which those who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a covering for the altar, 5 to be a reminder to the children of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should come near to burn incense in the presence of Shema, so that he does not become like Korah and his group, as Shema said to him through Moses.

6 But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying: “You have killed the people of Shema.” 7 And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the tent of meeting, and look, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Shema appeared. 8 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting,

9 and Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 10 “Get away from among this congregation, so that I may destroy them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. 11 And Moses said to Aaron: “Take your incense burner, and put fire in it from the altar, and lay incense on it, and go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for anger has gone out from Shema; the plague has begun.” 12 And Aaron took [it] as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the assembly, and look, the plague had begun among the people. And he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. 13 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 14 Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the incident involving Korah. 15 And Aaron returned to Moses to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped.

16 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 17 “Speak to the children of Israel, and take from them staffs, one for each father’s household, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ households, twelve staffs. Write every man’s name on his staff, 18 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, for there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers’ household. 19 And you shall place them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. 20 And the staff of the man whom I choose shall bud. In this way I will put an end to the complaints the children of Israel make against me when they grumble against you.” 21 And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their fathers’ households, twelve staffs, and the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 22 And Moses placed the staffs in the presence of Shema in the tent of the testimony. 23 And on the next day, Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and look, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had budded and produced buds, and pstaffuced blossoms, and grew ripe almonds. 24 And Moses brought out all the staffs from before Shema to all the children of Israel, and they looked, and each man took his staff.

25 And Shema said to Moses: “Put back the staff of Aaron in front of the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious children so that you may put an end to their complaints against me and they do not die.” 26 And Moses did as Shema commanded him; so he did. 27 And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying: “Look, we are dying, we are ruined, we are all ruined. 28 Every relative who comes near to the tabernacle of Shema shall be killed. Are we all to die?”

1 And Shema said to Aaron: “You and your sons and your father’s household with you shall bear responsibility for wrongdoing involving the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear responsibility for wrongdoing involving your priesthood. 2 And bring your brothers, the tribe of Levi, your father’s tribe, near with you as well, so that they may be joined to you and serve you, but you and your sons with you shall be in front of the tent of the testimony. 3 And they shall perform your duties and the duties of the whole tent, but they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, so that neither they nor you die. 4 And they shall be joined to you, and be responsible for the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent, and an outsider shall not come near to you. 5 And you shall be responsible for the sanctuary and the altar, so that there may never again be anger against the children of Israel. 6 And I, look, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to Shema, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 7 And you and your sons with you shall perform your priestly duties for all that concerns the altar, and for that which is inside the veil; and you shall serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift of service, and the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

8 And Shema spoke to Aaron: “And I, look, I have given you the responsibility of my contributions, all the consecrated things of the children of Israel. I have given them to you and to your sons as a portion forever. 9 This shall be yours of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every guilt offering of theirs, which they offer to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. 10 You shall eat it in the most holy [place]; every male shall eat of it; it shall be holy to you. 11 And this is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever; everyone who is clean in your house shall eat it. 12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and of the grain, the firstfruits of them which they give to Shema, I have given them to you.

13 The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Shema, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house shall eat it. 14 Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours. 15 Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Shema, both human and animal, shall be yours; nevertheless you shall redeem the human firstborn and the firstborn of unclean animals. 16 And take as its redemption price, from a month old and older, according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17 But you shall not redeem the firstborn of a cow, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire of a pleasing aroma to Shema. 18 And their meat shall be yours, it shall be yours like the breast presented as a wave offering and the right thigh. 19 All the contributions of the holy things which the children of Israel offer to Shema, I have given to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever in the presence of Shema to you and to your offspring with you.”

20 And Shema said to Aaron: “You shall have no inheritance in their land, and you shall not have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel. 21 And to the children of Levi, look, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for the service they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. 22 And the children of Israel shall no longer come near the tent of meeting, so that they do not incur sin and die. 23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear responsibility for their wrongdoing. [It shall be] a statute forever throughout your generations, and among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24 For the tithe of the children of Israel which they offer as a contribution to Shema, I have given it to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’”

25 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you receive from the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritances, then you shall present a contribution from it to Shema, a tithe of the tithe. 27 And your contributions shall be credited to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the full yield of the winepress. 28 In this way you too shall offer a contribution to Shema of all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel. And from it you shall give Shema’s contribution to Aaron the priest. 29 You shall present every contribution to Shema from all your gifts; from each its best part is to be consecrated. 30 Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you present its best part, then it shall be credited to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor, and as the produce of the winepress. 31 And you shall eat it in every place, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 And you shall incur no sin because of it, when you have presented its best part. And you shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, so that you do not die.’”

1 And Shema spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: 2 “This is the statute of the law which Shema has commanded, saying, ‘Tell the children of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and which has never worn a yoke. 3 And you shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and she shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in front of him. 4 And Eleazar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. 5 And the heifer shall be burned in front of him. Her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall be burned. 6 And the priest shall take cedarwood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and throw it into the middle of the fire burning the heifer. 7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes and he shall bathe his body in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; and the priest shall be unclean until the evening. 8 And he who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.

9 And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for water for impurity; it is a sin offering. 10 And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And this shall be a permanent statute for the children of Israel and the foreigner who lives among them. 11 The person who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. 12 He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean, but if he does not purify himself on the third day, then on the seventh day he shall not be clean. 13 Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Shema, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

14 And this is the law when a man dies in a tent: Everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days. 15 And every open vessel, which has no covering and a cord on it, is unclean. 16 And whoever in the open field touches one who was killed with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. 17 And they shall take some ashes from the burned sin offering for the unclean person, and they shall add running water in a vessel. 18 And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent, and on the vessels, and on the persons who were there, and on whoever touched the bone or the person killed or the dead or the grave. 19 And the clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day. And on the seventh day he shall purify him, and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean in the evening. 20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of Shema; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. 21 And it shall be a statute forever to you, and he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. 22 And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.’”

1 And the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2 And there was no water for the congregation, and they assembled against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying: “If only we had died when our brothers died in the presence of Shema! 4 And why have you brought the assembly of Shema into this wilderness, so that we should die there, we and our cattle? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain, or figs, vines, or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” 6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces, and the glory of Shema appeared to them.

7 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 8 “Take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock in front of them, so that it gives its water. And you shall bring them water out of the rock. So you shall give the congregation and their cattle water to drink.” 9 And Moses took the staff from before Shema, as he commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock, and he said to them: “Listen, you rebels, shall we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 And Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water poured out, and the congregation and their cattle drank.

12 And Shema said to Moses and Aaron: “Because you did not believe in me, to treat me as holy in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13 These are the waters of Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled with Shema, and he was treated as holy in them. And Moses said: “Lord Shema, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? Let me go over, please, and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that beautiful mountain, and Lebanon.” And Shema said to Moses: “That is enough. Do not speak to me about this matter again. Get up to the top of Pisgah and look westward and northward and southward and eastward, and see for yourself, for you shall not go over this Jordan. But instruct Joshua the son of Nun and encourage him and strengthen him, for he shall cross ahead of this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.” And Shema spoke to Moses saying: “You have circled this mountain long enough. Turn northward, and command the people, saying ‘You are about to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who live in Seir, and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. Do not fight with them, for I will not give you a possession of their land. No, not even enough to set your foot on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. You shall purchase food from them for money, so that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them for money, so that you may drink.”

14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel, ‘You know all the hardship that has happened to us. 15 How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated harshly us, and our fathers. 16 And when we cried to Shema, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt, and look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border. 17 Let us pass, please, through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, we will not drink water of a cistern. We will go along the king’s highway. We will not turn aside to the right or to the left, until we have passed your territory.’” 18 And Edom said to him: “You shall not pass through me, or I will come out against you with the sword.” 19 And the children of Israel said to him: “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my cattle, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” 20 And he said: “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with many men, and with a strong hand. 21 So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him. 22 And they traveled from Kadesh, and the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

23 And Shema spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying: 24 “Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor, 26 and you will strip Aaron of his clothes and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron shall be gathered [to his people], and shall die there.” 27 And Moses did as Shema commanded and he brought him up to Mount Hor in front of all the congregation. 28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his clothes and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

1 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the south, heard that Israel came by the way of the scouts, and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2 And Israel made a vow to Shema, and said: “If you will indeed hand this people over to me, then I will completely destroy their cities.” 3 And Shema listened to the voice of Israel and handed the Canaanites over to him, and they completely destroyed them and their cities. So the place was named Hormah.

4 And they traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the sea of Sof to go around the land of Edom, and the people’s soul was very discouraged because of the route. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread and there is no water, and our soul detests this worthless bread.” 6 And Shema sent fiery snakes among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses, and said: “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Shema and against you. Pray to Shema to take away the snakes from us.” And Moses prayed for the people.

8 And Shema said to Moses: “Make a fiery [serpent], and set it on the pole. And everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 And Moses made a snake of bronze, and set it on the pole. And if a snake had bitten any man, he would look at the snake of bronze and live. 10 And the children of Israel traveled, and camped in Oboth. 11 And they traveled from Oboth, and camped at Iye Abarim, in the wilderness which is in front of Moab, toward the sunrise. And Shema said to Moses: “Do not harass Moab or fight with them, for I will not give you any of his land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.”

12 From there they traveled, and camped in the valley of Zered.>— — And Shema spoke to Moses saying: “You are today to cross Ar, the border of Moab. And when you come near [the border of] the children of Ammon, do not harass them or fight with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.” 13 And they traveled from the valley of Zered, and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is by the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Shema: “Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon, 15 which he caused them to inherit, and which extends toward the dwelling of a city, and reaches the border of Moab.” 16 And from there [they journeyed] to Beer, that is the well of which Shema said to Moses: “Gather the people together for me, and I will give them water.”

17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, well! Sing to it! 18 The well, which the leaders dug, which the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter, and with their staffs.” From the wilderness [they went] to Mattanah, 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamot-aggiyya that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert. And Shema said to Moses: “Rise up, set out and cross the valley of the Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and fight him in battle. Today begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of you.”

21 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites with words of peace, saying: 22 “Let me pass through your land. I will go by the king’s highway. I will not turn aside to the right or to the left. I will not turn aside into field or into vineyard. You shall sell me food for money, so that I may eat, and give me water for money, so that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, as the children of Esau who live in Seir, and the Moabites who live in Ar, did to me.” 23 And Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. And Shema said to Moses: “Look, I have begun to hand Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, so that you may inherit his land.” Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel.

24 And Israel defeated him and his sons and all his people with the edge of the sword, and they took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the children of Ammon, for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. 25 And Israel took all these cities. And Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its towns. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, and it is he who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land from him, as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore the ballad singers who come to Heshbon say: “Let the city of Sihon be built and established. 28 For a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured until Moab, the lords of the high places of the Arnon. 29 Woe to you, Moab! You are ruined, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to the Amorite king, Sihon. 30 We have caused desolation [from] Heshbon to Dibon, and we set on fire Medeba until Nophah.”

31 So Israel lived in the cities of the Amorites. 32 And Moses sent to spy out Jazer. And they took its towns, and they drove out the Amorites who were there. 33 And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 34 And Shema said to Moses: “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So they defeated him and all his people, until there was no one left to him, and they took possession of his land.

1 And the children of Israel traveled and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.

2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was terrified of the people because they were many. And Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. 4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian: “Now this horde will lick up everything around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. 5 And he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, the interpreter by the river, to the land of the children of Ammon, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come out from Egypt. And look, they cover the face of the earth, and they are living opposite me. 6 Come now, please, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that the person you bless is blessed, and the person you curse is cursed.”

7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left with their fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 And he said to them: “Stay here tonight, and I will report back to you, as Shema shall speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 And God came to Balaam, and said: “Who are these men with you?” 10 And Balaam said to God: “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent [them] to me, [saying], 11 ‘Look, a people has come out from Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.’”

12 And God said to Balaam: “You shall not go with them and you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 And Balaam rose in the morning and said to the leaders of Balak: “Go to your land, for Shema refuses to let me go with you.” 14 And the leaders of Moab rose, and they went to Balak, and said: “Balaam refuses to come with us.” 15 And Balak sent leaders once again, more numerous and more distinguished than they. 16 And they came to Balaam, and said to him: “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘Please let nothing prevent you from coming to me, 17 for I will give you very great honor, and I will do whatever you tell me. Come therefore, please, curse this people for me.’” 18 And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak: “Even if Balak gives me his house full of silver or gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Shema my God, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, please, stay here tonight also, so that I may know what more Shema will say to me.”

20 And the angel of God came to Balaam at night, and said to him: “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them, but you shall do only what I tell you.” 21 And Balaam rose in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab. 22 And Shema’s anger flared because he went, and the angel of Shema placed himself in the way to oppose him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the donkey saw the angel of Shema standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand. And the donkey turned aside off the path, and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her back onto the path. 24 Then the angel of Shema stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25 And the donkey saw the angel of Shema, and she was pressed to the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. And he struck her again. 26 And the angel of Shema went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 And the donkey saw the angel of Shema, and she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger flared, and he struck the donkey with his staff.

28 And Shema opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam: “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey: “Because you have mocked me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam: “Look, I am your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life until today! Have I ever acted this way toward you before?” And he said: “No.” 31 Then Shema opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of Shema standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand, and he bowed down, and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of Shema said to him: “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Look, I have come out to oppose you because your way is bad before me. 33 And the donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely now I would have killed you and saved her life.” 34 And Balaam said to the angel of Shema: “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases you, I will go back again.”

35 And the angel of Shema said to Balaam: “Go with the men, but you shall be careful to say only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the leaders of Balak. 36 And when Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, at the far edge of the border. 37 And Balak said to Balaam: “Look, I earnestly sent to you to call you! Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” 38 And Balaam said to Balak: “Look, I have come to you! Do I now have any power at all to say anything? I shall be careful to say the word that God puts in my mouth.” 39 And Balaam went with Balak, and he brought him to Kiriath Huzoth. 40 And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam and to the leaders who were with him. 41 And in the morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth Baal, and he saw from there the outermost part of the people.

1 And Balaam said to Balak: “Make here for me seven altars and prepare here for me seven bulls and seven rams.” 2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram. 3 And Balaam said to Balak: “Stand by your burned offerings and I will go. Perhaps God will come to meet me and will tell me what he shows me, and I will tell you.” And he went secretly. 4 And the angel of God found Balaam, and he said to him: “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.” 5 And the angel of Shema put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said: “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say.” 6 And he returned to him, and look, he was standing by his burned offerings, he and all the leaders of Moab.

7 And he began his poem, and said: “Balak, king of Moab, has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the East: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, defy Israel.’ 8 How shall I curse those whom God has not cursed? And how shall I defy those whom Shema has not defied? 9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I praise him. Look, a people lives alone and shall not be counted among the nations. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or count a quarter of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my final end be like his!”

11 And Balak said to Balaam: “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them completely.” 12 And he answered and said: “Look, I must be careful to say what Shema puts in my mouth!” 13 And Balak said to him: “Come, please, with me to another place, [so that] you may see them. You shall see only the outermost part of them, and shall not see them all, and curse them for me from there.” 14 And he took him into Sedeh Zophim to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. 15 And he said to Balak: “Stand by your burned offerings, while I call here.” 16 And the angel of Shema called Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said: “Return to Balak and this is what you shall say.” 17 And he came to him, and look, he was standing by his burned offerings, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him: “What has Shema spoken?”

18 And he began his poem and said: “Rise up, Balak, and listen; listen to me, son of Zippor. 19 God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? 20 Look, I have received [a command] to bless. I have blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 21 I have not seen wrongdoing in Jacob, nor have I seen wickedness in Israel. Shema his God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. 22 God who brings them out of Egypt is like the horns of a wild ox for them. 23 Surely there is no omen reader with Jacob, nor is there anyone who practices divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’ 24 Look, the people rises up as a lioness, and he raises himself like a lion. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey and drinks the blood of those killed.”

25 And Balak said to Balaam: “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.” 26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak: “Look, I told you, saying, ‘I must do whatever God says!’ 27 And Balak said to Balaam: “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there. 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. 29 And Balaam said to Balak: “Build me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased Shema to bless Israel, he did not go, as at the other times, to meet with the omen readers, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam looked up and he saw Israel living according to their tribes, and the spirit of God came on him.

3 And he began his poem, and said: “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is open, 4 who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down but having [his] eye open. 5 How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, and your camps, Israel! 6 Like valleys they are spread out, like gardens by the riverside, like tents which Shema has set up, like cedar trees beside the waters. 7 Water shall flow from his buckets, and his offspring shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Gog, and his kingdom shall be raised high. 8 God who has brought him out of Egypt is like the horns of a wild ox for them. He shall eat up the nations, his enemies, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce [them] with his arrows. 9 He crouches, he lies down as a lion and as a lioness. Who shall wake him? Blessed be everyone who blesses you, and cursed be everyone who curses you.” 10 And Balak’s anger flared against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam: “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have completely blessed them these three times.

11 Therefore now flee to your place. I intended to give you great honor, but look, Shema has kept you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak: “Look, I spoke to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, 13 ‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver or gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Shema, to do either good or bad on my own initiative. I will say what Shema tells me!’ 14 And now, look, I go to my people. Come, and I will let you know what this people shall do to your people in the days to come.”

15 And he began his poem, and said: “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is open, 16 the oracle of the man who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, and having his eyes open. 17 I see him, but not now; I praise him, but not near. A star shall come from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. He shall strike through the corners of Moab, and the head of all the children of Seth. 18 And Edom shall be a possession, Esau also, his enemies, shall be a possession, while Israel shall triumph. 19 And a ruler shall come from Jacob and shall destroy the remnant from the city.” 20 And he looked on Amalek and began his poem, and said: “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his final end is destruction forever.” 21 And he looked on the Kenite, and began his poem, and said: “Your home is strong, and your nest is set in the rock. 22 Nevertheless Cain shall be laid waste until your return from Ashur.” 23 And he began his poem, and said: “Woe to him who will be counted with its name. God 24 shall bring them out of the hand of Kittim, [and] they shall oppress Ashur, and shall oppress Eber, and he also shall be destroyed forever.” 25 And Balaam rose and went and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way.

1 And Israel stayed in Shittim, and the people began to prostitute themselves with the daughters of Moab. 2 They called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 And [some] of the children of Israel joined themselves to Baal Peor. And the anger of Shema flared against Israel. 4 And Shema said to Moses: “Command, and the people who joined themselves to Baal Peor shall be killed, so that the fierce anger of Shema may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel: “Each of you shall kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.” 6 And, look, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in front of Moses and in front of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 And when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a spear in his hand. 8 And he went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. 9 And those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘Look, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his offspring after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel.’” 14 Now the name of the killed man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, who was the head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.

16 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 17 “Harass the Midianites and strike them, 18 for they have harassed you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the incident involving Peor and in the incident involving Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague in the incident involving Peor.” 19 And after the plague.

1 Shema spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying: 2 “Count all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and older, by their fathers’ households, all who are able to go out to war in Israel.” 3 And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying: 4 “[Take the sum of the people] from twenty years old and older, as Shema commanded Moses and the children of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt. 5 Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, and the sons of Reuben: [of] Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; 6 of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. 7 These are the families of the Reubenites, and those counted among them were forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.

8 The sons of Pallu: Eliab. 9 And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram, who were called from the congregation, who gathered against Moses and against Aaron in the group of Korah, when they gathered against Shema, 10 and the earth opened its mouth, and the earth swallowed them up, when that group died, when the fire devoured Korah and two hundred and fifty men. And they became a sign. 11 Nevertheless, the sons of Korah did not die.

12 The sons of Simeon by the families of the Simeonites: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; 13 of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. 14 These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand two hundred.

15 The sons of Gad by their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; 16 of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Adi, the family of the Adites; 17 of Arodi, the family of the Arodites; of Aroli, the family of the Arolites. 18 These are the families of Gad according to those counted among them, forty thousand five hundred.

19 The sons of Judah: Er and Onan; and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 And the sons of Judah by their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. 21 And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamuel, the family of the Hamuelites. 22 These are the families of Judah according to those counted among them, seventy-six thousand five hundred.

23 The sons of Issachar by their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puah, the family of the Puahites; 24 of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. 25 These are the families of Issachar according to those counted among them, sixty-four thousand three hundred.

26 The sons of Zebulun by their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. 27 These are the families of Zebulun according to those counted among them, sixty thousand five hundred.

28 The sons of Joseph by their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir fathered Gilead: [of Gilead], the family of the Gileadites. 30 These are the sons of Gilead: [of] Ahiezer, the family of the Ahiezerites; and [of] Helek, the family of the Helekites; 31 and [of] Ishruwwal, the family of the Ishruwwalites; and [of] Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; 32 and [of] Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and [of] Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. 33 And Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters, and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These are the families of Manasseh according to those counted among them, fifty-two thousand seven hundred.

35 And these are the sons of Ephraim by their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Taham, the family of the Tahamites. 36 These are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eden, the family of the Edenites. 37 These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those counted among them, thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph by their families.

38 The sons of Benjamin by their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; 39 of Shupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites; 40 of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamanites. 41 These are the sons of Benjamin by their families, and those counted among them were forty-five thousand six hundred.

42 And these are the sons of Dan by their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan by their families. 43 All the families of the Shuhamites, and those counted among them were sixty-four thousand four hundred.

44 The sons of Asher by their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites; 45 of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. 46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. 47 These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those counted among them, fifty-three thousand four hundred.

48 The sons of Naphtali by their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; 49 of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. 50 These are the families of Naphtali according to their families, and those counted among them were forty-five thousand four hundred. 51 These are those counted among the children of Israel, six hundred and one thousand and seven hundred and thirty.”

52 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 53 “You shall divide the land among these for an inheritance according to the number of names. 54 You shall give a larger inheritance to the more [numerous] and a smaller inheritance to the less [numerous]; each shall receive his inheritance according to the number counted among his people. 55 Nevertheless, one shall divide the land by lot; they shall inherit according to the names of their ancestral tribes. 56 Their inheritance shall be divided by lot between the larger and the smaller.”

57 And these are those who were counted of the Levites by their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. 58 These are the families of the sons of Levi: the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Korahites, and the family of the Mushites. And Kohath fathered Amram. 59 And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And she gave birth for Amram to Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. 60 And Aaron’s children were Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 And Nadab and Abihu died when they offered alien fire in the presence of Shema. 62 And those who were counted of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and older, for they were not counted among the children of Israel, because they were given no inheritance among the children of Israel.

63 These are those who were counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64 But among these there was not a man of those who were counted by Moses and Aaron the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For Shema had said of them: “They shall surely be put to death in the wilderness. And there was no man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

1 Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph came forward; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood in front of Moses and Eleazar the priest and in front of the leaders and all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying: 3 “Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not among the group of those who gathered against Shema in the group of Korah, but our father died in his own sin, and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give us a possession of an inheritance among our father’s brothers.” 5 And Moses brought their case to Shema.

6 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers, and you shall pass their father’s inheritance to them. 8 And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall give his inheritance to his daughter. 9 And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his family, and he shall inherit him; and this shall be a statute [and] rule for the children of Israel, as Shema commanded Moses.’”

12 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: “Get up into this Mount Abarim and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel. 13 And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people as Aaron your brother was gathered, 14 because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, in the quarrel of the congregation, to treat me as holy at the waters in front of them.” (These are the waters of Meribath Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) 15 And Moses spoke to Shema, saying: 16 “Let Shema, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, 17 who may go out before them and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out and who may bring them in, so that the congregation of Shema may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”

18 And Shema said to Moses: “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom the spirit is present, and lay your hand on him, 19 and place him in front of Eleazar the priest and in front of all the congregation, and give him instructions in front of them. 20 And you shall give him some of your honor, so that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey. 21 And he shall stand in front of Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim in the presence of Shema. At his word he shall go out, and at his word he shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” 22 And Moses did as Shema commanded him, and he took Joshua, and placed him in front of Eleazar the priest, and in front of all the congregation, 23 and he laid his hand on him, and gave him instructions, as Shema spoke through Moses. And he said to him: “Your eyes have seen what Shema your God has done to these two kings. Shema shall do the same to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing into. You shall not fear them, for it is Shema your God who fights for you”.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to offer me my offering, my food for an offering made by fire of a pleasing aroma to me, in its due seasons.’ 3 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the fire which you shall offer to Shema: male lambs a year old without blemish, two each day, for a regular burned offering. 4 You shall offer one lamb in the morning, and you shall offer the other lamb at twilight; 5 and the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with the quarter of a hin of oil. 6 It is a regular burned offering, which was established at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to Shema. 7 And its drink offerings shall be the quarter of a hin for the one lamb. You shall pour out in the holy [place] a drink offering of alcoholic drink to Shema. 8 And you shall offer the other lamb at twilight. You shall offer it with the same grain offering and drink offerings as in the morning, an offering made by fire of a pleasing aroma to Shema. 9 And on the Sabbath day, offer two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenth parts [of an ephah] of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offerings. 10 This is the burned offering of every Sabbath, besides the regular burned offering and their drink offerings.

11 And at the beginnings of your months you shall offer a burned offering to Shema: two young bulls, and one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 12 and three tenth parts [of an ephah] of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull, and two tenth parts [of an ephah] of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; 13 and a tenth part [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering to every lamb; for a burned offering of a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to Shema. 14 And their drink offerings [shall be] half a hin of wine for each bull, and the third of a hin for the ram, and the quarter of a hin for each lamb. This is the burned offering of every month throughout the months of the year. 15 And one male goat for a sin offering to Shema; it shall be offered besides the regular burned offering, and their drink offerings.

16 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is Shema’s Passover. 17 And there shall be a festival on the fifteenth day of this month. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. 18 On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly. You shall do no ordinary work, 19 but you shall offer an offering made by fire, a burned offering to Shema: two young bulls, and one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish; 20 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; you shall offer three tenth parts [of an ephah] for a bull, and two tenth parts for the ram; 21 and a tenth part [of an ephah] [you shall offer] for every lamb of the seven lambs; 22 and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. 23 You shall offer these besides the burned offering of the morning, which is for a regular burned offering. 24 You shall offer in this way each day, for seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, of a pleasing aroma to Shema. It shall be offered besides the regular burned offering, and their drink offerings. 25 And on the seventh day you shall have a sacred assembly; you shall do no ordinary work.

26 On the day of the firstfruits, when you offer a new grain offering to Shema in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no ordinary work, 27 but you shall offer a burned offering, an offering made by fire of a pleasing aroma to Shema: two young bulls, and one ram, seven male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish; 28 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenth parts [of an ephah] for each bull, and two tenth parts [of an ephah] for the one ram, 29 and a tenth part [of an ephah] for every lamb of the seven lambs; 30 and one male goat, for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. 31 You shall offer them in addition to the regular burned offering and its grain offering; they shall be without blemish for you, and you shall offer their drink offerings.

1 And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow trumpets. 2 And you shall offer a burned offering for a pleasing aroma to Shema: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 3 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenth parts [of an ephah] for the bull, and two tenth parts [of an ephah] for the ram, 4 and a tenth part [of an ephah] for every lamb of the seven lambs; 5 and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; 6 besides the burned offering of the new moon, and its grain offering, and the regular burned offering and its grain offering, and its drink offerings, according to their rule, for a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to Shema.

7 And on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a sacred assembly, and you shall practice self-denial, and you shall do no work of any kind, 8 but you shall offer a burned offering to Shema for a pleasing aroma: one young bull, and one ram, seven male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish; 9 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenth parts [of an ephah] for the bull and two tenth parts [of an ephah] for the one ram, 10 and a tenth part [of an ephah] for every lamb of the seven lambs; 11 and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement and the regular burned offering and its grain offering, and its drink offerings.

12 And on the fifteenth day of this seventh month you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no ordinary work, and you shall celebrate a festival to Shema for seven days. 13 And you shall offer a burned offering, an offering made by fire of a pleasing aroma to Shema, thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish; 14 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenth parts [of an ephah] for every bull of the thirteen bulls, and two tenth parts [of an ephah] for each ram of the two rams, 15 and a tenth part [of an ephah] for every lamb of the fourteen lambs and their drink offerings; 16 and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burned offering and its grain offering and its drink offerings.

17 And on the second day [you shall offer] twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish; 18 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, according to the rule; 19 and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burned offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offerings.

20 And on the third day, offer eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 21 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, according to the rule; 22 and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burned offering and its grain offering and its drink offerings.

23 And on the fourth day, offer ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 24 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, according to the rule; 25 and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burned offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offerings.

26 And on the fifth day, offer nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 27 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, according to the rule, 28 and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burned offering, and its grain offering and its drink offerings.

29 And on the sixth day, offer eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 30 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, according to the rule, 31 and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burned offering and its grain offering, and its drink offerings.

32 And on the seventh day, offer seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 33 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, according to the rule, 34 and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burned offering and its grain offering and its drink offerings.

35 And on the eighth day you shall have a special assembly; you shall do no ordinary work, 36 but you shall offer a burned offering, an offering made by fire of a pleasing aroma to Shema: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish, 37 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, according to the rule, 38 and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burned offering and its grain offering and its drink offerings. 39 You shall offer these to Shema in your appointed festivals, besides your vows and your freewill offerings, for your burned offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.”

1 And Moses told the children of Israel everything that Shema commanded Moses.

2 And Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel saying: “This is what Shema has commanded: 3 When a man makes a vow to Shema, or swears an oath to bind himself with an obligation, he shall not break his words; he shall do according to everything he says. 4 Also when a woman makes a vow to Shema and binds herself with an obligation, while she is young and living in her father’s house, 5 and her father hears her vows and her obligations with which she has bound herself, and her father remains silent to her, then all her vows shall stand, and her obligations with which she has bound herself shall stand. 6 But if her father firmly opposes her on the day that he hears, none of her vows or of her obligations with which she has bound herself shall stand. And Shema will forgive her because her father opposed her. 7 And if she is married to a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash statement with which she has bound herself, 8 and her husband hears it and remains silent to her on the day that he hears it, then all her vows shall stand, and her obligations with which she has bound herself shall stand. 9 But if her husband opposes her on the day that he hears it, then he shall cancel her binding vows or the rash statement with which she has bound herself. And Shema will forgive her.

10 But the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. 11 And if she vowed in her husband’s house or bound herself with an obligation with an oath, 12 and her husband heard it and remains silent to her and does not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and all her obligations with which she bound herself shall stand. 13 But if her husband canceled them on the day that he heard them, then whatever she said concerning her vows or concerning the obligation she placed on herself, shall not stand. Her husband has canceled them. And Shema will forgive her. 14 Her husband may confirm or cancel every vow and every binding oath to practice self-denial. 15 But if her husband remains silent to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her obligations binding her; he has confirmed them because he remained silent to her on the day that he heard them. 16 But if he cancels them after hearing them, then he shall bear responsibility for his wrongdoing.” 17 These are the statutes which Shema commanded Moses between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter, while she is young and living in her father’s house.

1 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Avenge the children of Israel on the Midianites and afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3 And Moses spoke to the people, saying: “Arm men from among you for the war, so that they may go against Midian to execute Shema’s vengeance on Midian. 4 You shall send a thousand from every tribe to the war, from all the tribes of Israel.” 5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 And they fought against Midian as Shema commanded Moses, and they killed every male. 8 And they killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those they killed: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

9 And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and they took all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods as plunder. 10 And they burned with fire all their cities in the places where they lived and all their camps. 11 And they took all the plunder and all the captured goods, both human and animal. 12 And they brought the captives and the captured goods and the plunder to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp on the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.

13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from the service in the war. 15 And Moses said to them: “Why did you let all the women live 16 here? These caused the children of Israel, through the advice of Balaam, to act unfaithfully toward Shema in the incident involving Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of Shema. 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has had sexual relations with a man. 18 But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not had sexual relations with a man. 19 And you, camp outside the camp seven days. Whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched anyone killed, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. 20 And you shall purify every garment, anything made of skin, everything made of goats’ [hair], and anything made of wood.” And Moses said to Eleazar the priest: “Say to the soldiers who went to the battle, ‘This is the statute of the law which Shema has commanded: Only the gold, and the silver, and the bronze, and the iron, and the tin, and the lead, you shall pass everything that can withstand fire through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity. And you shall pass whatever cannot withstand fire through the water. And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you shall come into the camp.”

21 And Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who went to the battle: “This is the statute of the law which Shema has commanded Moses: 22 Only the gold, and the silver, and the bronze, and the iron, and the tin, and the lead, 23 you shall pass everything that can withstand fire through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity. And you shall pass whatever cannot withstand fire through the water. 24 And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you shall come into the camp.”

25 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 26 “You, Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ [houses] of the congregation shall count what was captured, both human and animal, 27 and divide the captured goods into two parts, between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 And collect a tribute to Shema from the soldiers who went out to battle, one in every five hundred, of the persons and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks, of all the cattle. 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest for Shema’s contribution. 30 And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take one out of every fifty, of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who are responsible for the tabernacle of Shema.” 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Shema commanded Moses.

32 Now the captured goods in addition to the plunder which the soldiers took was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 and seventy-two thousand oxen, 34 and sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35 and thirty-two thousand persons of the women who had not had sexual relations with a man. 36 And the half, which was the portion of those who went to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep. 37 And Shema’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five. 38 And the oxen were thirty-six thousand, of which Shema’s tribute was seventy-two. 39 And the donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which Shema’s tribute was sixty-one. 40 And the persons were sixteen thousand, of which Shema’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was Shema’s contribution, to Eleazar the priest, as Shema commanded Moses.

42 And of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided from that of the men who had gone to war. 43 Now the congregation’s half was three hundred and thirty and seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44 and thirty-six thousand oxen, 45 and thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand persons. 47 And Moses took from the children of Israel’s half one out of every fifty, of people and animals, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the tabernacle of Shema, as Shema commanded Moses.

48 And the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses, 49 and they said to Moses: “Your servants have counted the soldiers who are under our charge, and there is not a man missing from us. 50 And we have brought Shema’s offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads to make atonement for our souls in the presence of Shema.” 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. 52 And the gold of the contribution that they offered up to Shema, from the captains of thousands and from the captains of hundreds was sixteen thousand and seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53 (The soldiers had taken plunder, every man for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the children of Israel in the presence of Shema.

1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh had a very large number of cattle, and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, they saw that the place was suitable for cattle, 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying: 3 “Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sibmah, and Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land which Shema struck down before the congregation of Israel is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle.” 5 And they said: “If we have found favor with you, give this land to your servants for a possession and do not bring us over the Jordan.”

6 And Moses said to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh: “Shall your brothers go to the war, while you sit here? 7 And why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from crossing into the land which Shema has given them? 8 Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel from going into the land which Shema had given them. 10 And Shema’s anger flared on that day, and he swore, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and older, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not completely followed me, 12 except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have completely followed Shema.’ 13 And Shema’s anger flared against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the presence of Shema was consumed. 14 And look, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of Shema toward Israel. 15 For if you turn away from following him, he will once again make them wander in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”

16 And they came near to him, and said: “We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones, 17 but we ourselves will take up arms, ready to go ahead of the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, and our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our houses until each of the children of Israel has received his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”

20 And Moses said to them: “If you will do this thing, and if you will take up arms to go in the presence of Shema to the war, 21 and every armed man of you will cross the Jordan in the presence of Shema, until he has driven out his enemies from before him, 22 and the land is subdued in the presence of Shema, then after that you shall return and be free of guilt toward Shema and toward Israel, and this land shall be for you a possession in the presence of Shema. 23 But if you will not do so, look, you have sinned against Shema, and be sure your sins will find you out. 24 Build cities for your little ones and pens for your sheep, and do what you have said.” 25 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke to Moses, saying: “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 Our little ones, and our wives, and our flocks, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead, 27 but your servants will cross, every man who is armed for war, in the presence of Shema to battle, as my lord says.”

28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ [houses] of the tribes of the children of Israel. 29 And Moses said to them: “If the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh will cross the Jordan with you, every man who is armed to battle, in the presence of Shema, and the land shall be subdued in front of you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession, 30 but if they will not cross with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” 31 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, saying: “We will do as Shema has told your servants. 32 We will cross armed in the presence of Shema into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance [shall remain] with us beyond the Jordan.”

33 And Moses gave to them, to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, a land, according to its cities with [their] borders, the cities of the land all around. 34 And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, 35 and ʿAṭṭirot-shabbem, and Jazer, and they expanded it, 36 and Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran, fortified cities, and pens for sheep. 37 And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim, 38 and Nebo, and Baalmon, encircled there, and Sibmah, and they gave the names to the cities which they built. 39 And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and drove out the Amorites who were in it. 40 And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. 41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took Uwwatem, and called them Havvoth Jair. 42 And Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

1 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their military units under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 And Moses wrote their starting places according to their journeys by the command of Shema, and these are their journeys according to their starting places. 3 And they traveled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with a raised hand in front of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Shema had struck down among them. Shema also carried out judgments against their gods. 5 And the children of Israel traveled from Rameses and camped in Sukkoth. 6 And they traveled from Sukkoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7 And they traveled from Etham and they settled at Pi Hahiroth, which is in front of Baal Zephon, and they camped in front of Migdol. 8 And they traveled from Pi Hahiroth and passed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness, and they went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped in Marah. 9 And they traveled from Marah, and came to Elim. And in Elim were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm trees. And they camped there. 10 And they traveled from Elim and camped by the sea of Sof. 11 And they traveled from the sea of Sof and camped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 And they traveled from the wilderness of Sin and camped in Dophkah. 13 And they traveled from Dophkah and camped in Illesh. 14 And they traveled from Illesh, and camped in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15 And they traveled from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16 And they traveled from the wilderness of Sinai and camped in Kibroth Hattaavah. 17 And they traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah and camped in Hazeroth. 18 And they traveled from Hazeroth and camped in Rithmah. 19 And they traveled from Rithmah, and camped in Rimmon Perez. 20 And they traveled from Rimmon Perez and camped in Libnah. 21 And they traveled from Libnah and camped in Rissa. 22 And they traveled from Rissa and camped in Kehelathah. 23 And they traveled from Kehelathah and camped in Mount Shepher. 24 And they traveled from Mount Shepher and camped in Haradah. 25 And they traveled from Haradah and camped in Makheloth. 26 And they traveled from Makheloth and camped in Tahath. 27 And they traveled from Tahath and camped in Terah. 28 And they traveled from Terah and camped in Mithkah. 29 And they traveled from Mithkah and camped in Hashmonah. 30 And they traveled from Hashmonah and camped in Moseroth. 31 And they traveled from Moseroth, and camped in Bene Jaakan. 32 And they traveled from Bene Jaakan and camped in Mount Haggidgad. 33 And they traveled from Mount Haggidgad and camped in Jotbathah. 34 And they traveled from Jotbathah and camped in Abronah. 35 And they traveled from Abronah and camped in Ezion Geber. 36 And they traveled from Ezion Geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin—that is, Kadesh. 37 And they traveled from Kadesh and camped in Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. 38 And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of Shema and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. 39 And Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor. 40 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. 41 And they traveled from Mount Hor and camped in Zalmonah. 42 And they traveled from Zalmonah and camped in Punon. 43 And they traveled from Punon and camped in Oboth. 44 And they traveled from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the territory of Moab. 45 And they traveled from Iim and camped in Dibon Gad. 46 And they traveled from Dibon Gad and camped in Almon Diblathaim. 47 And they traveled from Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, in front of Nebo. 48 And they traveled from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 49 And they camped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth as far as Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab.

50 And Shema spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying: 51 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their carved [stones], and destroy all their cast metal images, and demolish all their high places, 53 and you shall take possession of the land, and live in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 54 And you shall inherit the land by lot according to your families. You shall give a larger inheritance to the more [numerous] and a smaller inheritance to the less [numerous]. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to your ancestral tribes. 55 But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be like sharp points in your eyes, and like thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you live. 56 And I will do to you what I intended to do to them.”

1 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its borders), 3 then your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea on the east. 4 And your border shall turn south of Maaleh Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin, and its end shall be south of Kadesh Barnea. And it shall go on to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5 And the border shall turn from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its end shall be at the sea. 6 And your western border shall be: The great sea shall form the border. This shall be your western border. 7 And this shall be your northern border: from the great sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor. 8 And from Mount Hor you shall draw a line to the entrance of Hamath, and its end shall be the border at Ṣared. 9 And the border shall go to Ziphron, and its end shall be at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border. 10 And you shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 And the border shall go down from Shepham to Arebiˈla, on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth on the east. 12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its end shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders all around.”

13 And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which Shema has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14 For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers’ households and the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers’ households have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

16 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 And you shall take one leader of every tribe to divide the land for inheritance. 19 And these are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20 Of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Eldad the son of Chislon. 22 Of the tribe of the children of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23 Of the children of Joseph: Of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24 And of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25 And of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26 And of the tribe of the children of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27 And of the tribe of the children of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28 And of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. 29 These are those whom Shema commanded to divide the inheritance among the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.”

1 And Shema spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying: 2 “Command the children of Israel to give the Levites cities to live in from the land they inherit, and give the Levites pastureland around the cities. 3 And they shall have the cities to live in and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their possessions and for all their animals. 4 And the pasturelands of the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall extend one thousand cubits outward from the city wall all around. 5 And you shall measure outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. These shall be the pasturelands of the cities for you. 6 The cities you shall give to the Levites shall include the six cities of refuge which you shall provide for the killer to flee to, and besides them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 You shall give the Levites forty-eight cities in all, with their pasturelands. 8 And concerning the cities which you shall give from the possession of the children of Israel, from the larger [tribes] you shall take many, and from the smaller [tribes] you shall take few; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance he receives.”

9 And Shema spoke to Moses, saying: 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, so that the killer who kills a person unintentionally may flee there. 12 And the cities shall be a refuge for you from the avenger, so that the killer is not put to death until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And you shall provide six cities of refuge for yourselves. 14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be a refuge for the children of Israel, for the foreigner, and for the foreign resident among them, so that anyone who kills any person unintentionally may flee there.

16 But if he struck him with a tool of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 17 And if he struck him with a stone in his hand that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 18 And if he struck him with a wooden weapon in his hand that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 19 The blood avenger shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if he pushed him out of hatred, or threw [something] at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or out of hostility struck him with his hand so that he died, the man who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer, the blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. 22 But if he pushes him suddenly without hostility, or threw something at him without lying in wait, 23 or if he dropped any stone that could cause death on him without seeing him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm,

24 then the congregation shall judge between the killer and the blood avenger according to these rules. 25 And the congregation shall rescue the killer from the power of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the killer ever goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27 and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills the killer, he shall not be guilty of bloodshed. 28 Because he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the killer may return to the land he owns.

29 And these things shall be a statute governing judgment for you throughout your generations in all your homes. 30 If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But a single witness shall not be accepted for a sentence of death. 31 Moreover, you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is deserving death, but he shall surely be put to death. 32 And you shall take no ransom for the person who has fled to his city of refuge, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 So you shall not pollute the land which you inhabit, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the person who shed it. 34 And you shall not defile the land which you inhabit, where I live among you, for I Shema live among the children of Israel.’”

1 And the heads of the fathers’ [houses] of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke in front of Moses and the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ [houses] of the children of Israel. 2 And they said: “Shema commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel, and my lord was commanded by Shema to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 And if they are married to any of the sons of the [other] tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when the jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong, so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of Shema, saying: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph is right. 6 This is what Shema commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whom they think best, but they shall marry only into the families of their father’s tribe. 7 So no inheritance of the children of Israel shall be removed from one tribe to another, for each of the children of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of his ancestral tribe.

8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall marry a man from one of the families of her father’s tribe, so that each of the children of Israel may possess his fathers’ inheritance. 9 So no inheritance shall be removed from one tribe to another tribe, for each tribe of the children of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’” 10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as Shema commanded Moses.

11 And Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

13 These are the commandments and the rules which Shema commanded through Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.