< Numbers 9 >

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they came out from the land of Egypt. He said,
And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
2 “Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its fixed time of year.
Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.
3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you must keep the Passover at its fixed time of year. You must keep it, follow all the regulations, and obey all the decrees that are related to it.”
In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, you shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall you keep it.
4 So, Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Festival of the Passover.
And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.
5 So they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the wilderness of Sinai. The people of Israel obeyed everything that Yahweh commanded Moses to do.
And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.
6 There were certain men who became unclean by the body of a dead man. They could not keep the Passover on that day. They went before Moses and Aaron on that same day.
And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:
7 Those men said to Moses, “We are unclean because of the dead body of a man. Why do you keep us from offering the sacrifice to Yahweh at the fixed time of year among the people of Israel?”
And those men said to him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: why are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel?
8 Moses said to them, “Wait for me to hear what Yahweh will instruct about you.”
And Moses said to them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.
9 Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said,
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
10 “Speak to the people of Israel. Say, 'If any of you or your descendants are unclean because of a dead body, or are on a long journey, he may still keep the Passover to Yahweh.'
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover to the LORD.
11 In the second month on the fourteenth day at evening, they will eat the Passover meal. They must eat the Passover lamb with bread that is made without yeast and with bitter herbs.
The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12 They must not leave any of it until the morning, or break any of its bones. They must follow all the regulations for the Passover.
They shall leave none of it to the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
13 But any person who is clean and is not on a journey, but who fails to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people because he did not offer the sacrifice that Yahweh requires at the fixed time of year. That man must carry his sin.
But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and declines to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
14 If a stranger lives among you and keeps the Passover in Yahweh's honor, he must keep it and do all he commands, keeping the rules of the Passover, and obeying the laws for it. You must have the same law for the foreigner and for all who have been born in the land.”
And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover to the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: you shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.
15 On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant decrees. At evening the cloud was over the tabernacle. It appeared like fire until morning.
And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was on the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.
16 It continued that way. The cloud covered the tabernacle and appeared like fire at night.
So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
17 Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, the people of Israel would set out on their journey. Wherever the cloud stopped, the people would camp.
And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud stayed, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.
18 At Yahweh's command, the people of Israel would travel, and at his command, they would camp. While the cloud stopped over the tabernacle, they would stay in their camp.
At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud stayed on the tabernacle they rested in their tents.
19 When the cloud remained on the tabernacle for many days, then the people of Israel would obey Yahweh's instructions and not travel.
And when the cloud tarried long on the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.
20 Sometimes the cloud remained a few days on the tabernacle. In that case, they would obey Yahweh's command—they would make camp and then travel on again at his command.
And so it was, when the cloud was a few days on the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they stayed in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.
21 Sometimes the cloud was present in camp from evening until morning. When the cloud lifted in the morning, they journeyed. If it continued for a day and for a night, only when the cloud lifted would they journey on.
And so it was, when the cloud stayed from even to the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.
22 Whether the cloud stayed on the tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, for as long as it stayed there, the people of Israel would stay in their camp and not travel. But whenever the cloud was taken up, they would set out on their journey.
Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried on the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel stayed in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
23 They would camp at Yahweh's command, and they would travel at his command. They obeyed Yahweh's command given through Moses.
At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

< Numbers 9 >