03 March - Numbers 18-20

Jude Fri Dec 07, 2018 5:37 pm

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

NUMBERS 18

1And יהוה said to Aharon, “You and your sons and your father’s house with you are to bear the crookedness against the set-apart place, and you and your sons with you are to bear the crookedness against your priesthood.

2“But bring with you your brothers of the tribe of Lĕwi too, the tribe of your father to join you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the Tent of the Witness.

3“And they shall guard your charge, and the duty of all the Tent, but they do not come near the furnishings of the set-apart place and the altar, lest they die, both they and you.

4“And they shall be joined with you and guard the duty to the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent, but a stranger does not come near you.

5“And you shall guard the duty of the set-apart place and the duty of the altar, so that there be no more wrath on the children of Yisra’ĕl.

6“And see, I Myself have taken your brothers the Lĕwites from the midst of the children of Yisra’ĕl – a gift to you, given by יהוה, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.

7“But you and your sons with you are to guard your priesthood for all matters at the altar and behind the veil, and you shall serve. I have given you the priesthood as a gift for service, but the stranger who comes near is put to death.”

8And יהוה spoke to Aharon, “And see, I Myself have also given you the charge of My contributions, all the set-apart gifts of the children of Yisra’ĕl. I have given them to you for the anointing, and to your sons, as a law forever.

9“This is yours of the most set-apart gifts, from the fire: all their offerings, all their grain offerings and all their sin offerings and all their guilt offerings which they render to Me, are most set-apart for you and your sons.

10“Eat it in the most set-apart place – every male eats it. It is set-apart to you.

11“This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Yisra’ĕl. I have given them to you, and your sons and daughters with you, as a law forever. Everyone who is clean in your house eats it.

12“All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine and the grain – their first-fruits which they give to יהוה – I have given them to you.

13“The first-fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to יהוה, are yours. Everyone who is clean in your house eats it.

14“All that is dedicated in Yisra’ĕl is yours.

15“Everyone opening a womb of all flesh, which they bring to יהוה, whether man or beast, is yours. But the first-born of man you shall certainly ransom, and the first-born of the unclean beast you ransom.

16“And ransom their ransomed ones when one month old, according to your valuation, five sheqels of silver, according to the sheqel of the set-apart place, which is twenty gĕrahs.

17“But the first-born of a cow, or the first-born of a sheep, or the first-born of a goat you do not ransom, they are set-apart. Sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as an offering made by fire for a sweet fragrance to יהוה.

18“And their flesh is yours, as the wave breast and as the right thigh, it is yours.

19“All the contributions of the set-apart gifts, which the children of Yisra’ĕl present to יהוה, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as a law forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before יהוה with you and your seed with you.”

20And יהוה said to Aharon, “You are not to have an inheritance in their land, nor have any portion in their midst. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Yisra’ĕl.

21“And see, I have given the children of Lĕwi all the tithes in Yisra’ĕl as an inheritance in return for the service which they are serving, the service of the Tent of Meeting.

22“And let the children of Yisra’ĕl no more come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin and die,

23because the Lĕwites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, so they themselves bear their crookedness. A law forever, throughout your generations: that among the children of Yisra’ĕl they are to have no inheritance,

24but the tithes of the children of Yisra’ĕl, which they present as a contribution to יהוה, I have given to the Lĕwites as an inheritance. That is why I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Yisra’ĕl they have no inheritance.’ ”

25And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,

26“Speak to the Lĕwites and say to them, ‘When you take from the children of Yisra’ĕl the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution of it to יהוה, a tenth of the tithe.

27‘And your contribution shall be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing-floor and as filling from the winepress.

28‘Thus you also present a contribution unto יהוה from all your tithes which you receive from the children of Yisra’ĕl. And you shall give from it the contribution to יהוה to Aharon the priest.

29‘From all your gifts you present every contribution due to יהוה, from all the best of them, the set-apart part of them.’

30“And you shall say to them, ‘When you have presented the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Lĕwites as the yield of the threshing-floor and as the yield of the winepress.

31‘And you shall eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward for your service in the Tent of Meeting,

32and bear no sin because of it, when you have presented the best of it, and do not profane the set-apart gifts of the children of Yisra’ĕl, lest you die.’ ”

NUMBERS 19

1And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying,

2“This is a law of the Torah which יהוה has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, that they bring you a red heifer, a perfect one, in which there is no blemish and on which a yoke has never come.

3‘And you shall give it to El‛azar the priest, and he shall bring it outside the camp, and shall slaughter it before him.

4‘And El‛azar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.

5‘And the heifer shall be burned before his eyes – he burns its hide, and its flesh, and its blood, and its dung.

6‘And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and throw them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.

7‘The priest shall then wash his garments, and shall bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp, but the priest is unclean until evening.

8‘And he who is burning it washes his garments in water, and shall bathe his body in water, and is unclean until evening.

9‘And a clean man shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and shall place them outside the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl for the water for uncleanness, it is for cleansing from sin.

10‘And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his garments, and is unclean until evening. And it shall be a law forever to the children of Yisra’ĕl and to the stranger who sojourns in their midst.

11‘He who touches the dead of any human being is unclean for seven days.

12‘He is to cleanse himself with the water on the third day, and on the seventh day he is clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day, then on the seventh day he is not clean.

13‘Anyone who touches the dead of a human being, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the Dwelling Place of יהוה. And that being shall be cut off from Yisra’ĕl. He is unclean, for the water for uncleanness was not sprinkled on him, his uncleanness is still upon him.

14‘This is the Torah when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent are unclean for seven days,

15and every open vessel which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean.

16‘Anyone in the open field who touches someone slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, is unclean for seven days.

17‘And for the unclean being they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for cleansing from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel.

18‘And a clean man shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and shall sprinkle it on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the beings who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or the slain, or the dead, or a grave.

19‘And the clean one shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day. And on the seventh day he shall cleanse himself, and shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and shall be clean in the evening.

20‘But the man who is unclean and does not cleanse himself, that being shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the set-apart place of יהוה – water for uncleanness has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean.

21‘And it shall be a law for them forever. And the one who sprinkles the water for uncleanness washes his garments. And the one who touches the water for uncleanness is unclean until evening.

22‘And whatever the unclean being touches is unclean. And the being who touches it is unclean until evening.’ ”

NUMBERS 20

1And the children of Yisra’ĕl, all the congregation, came into the Wilderness of Tsin in the first month, and the people stayed in Qaḏĕsh. And Miryam died there and was buried there.

2Now there was no water for the congregation and they assembled against Mosheh and against Aharon.

3And the people contended with Mosheh and spoke, saying, “If only we had died when our brothers died before יהוה!

4“Why have you brought up the assembly of יהוה into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here?

5“And why have you brought us up out of Mitsrayim, to bring us to this evil place? – not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”

6Then Mosheh and Aharon went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the esteem of יהוה appeared to them.

7And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,

8“Take the rod and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aharon. And you shall speak to the rock before their eyes, and it shall give its water. And you shall bring water for them out of the rock and give drink to the congregation and their livestock.”

9And Mosheh took the rod from before יהוה as He commanded him.

10And Mosheh and Aharon assembled the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”

11Then Mosheh lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. And much water came out, and the congregation and their livestock drank.

12But יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, “Because you did not believe Me, to set Me apart in the eyes of the children of Yisra’ĕl, therefore you do not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

13These were the waters of Meriḇah, because the children of Yisra’ĕl contended with יהוה, and He was set apart among them.

14And Mosheh sent messengers from Qaḏĕsh to the sovereign of Eḏom. “This is what your brother Yisra’ĕl said, ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

15that our fathers went down to Mitsrayim, and we dwelt in Mitsrayim a long time, and the Mitsrites did evil to us and our fathers.

16‘And we cried out to יהוה, and He heard our voice and sent the Messenger and brought us up out of Mitsrayim. And see, we are in Qaḏĕsh, a city on the edge of your border.

17‘Please let us pass over, through your land. We shall not pass over through fields or vineyards, nor drink water from wells, we shall go along the sovereign’s highway. We shall not turn aside, right or left, until we have passed over your border.’ ”

18But Eḏom said to him, “You do not pass over through me, lest I come out against you with the sword.”

19And the children of Yisra’ĕl said to him, “We shall go by the highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I shall pay for it. Let me only pass over on foot, without a word.”

20But he said, “You do not pass over.” And Eḏom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand.

21So when Eḏom refused to let Yisra’ĕl pass over through his border, Yisra’ĕl turned away from him.

22And the children of Yisra’ĕl, all the company, departed from Qaḏĕsh and came to Mount Hor.

23And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in Mount Hor near the border of the land of Eḏom, saying,

24“Aharon is to be gathered to his people, for he is not to enter the land which I have given to the children of Yisra’ĕl, because you rebelled against My mouth at the water of Meriḇah.

25“Take Aharon and El‛azar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor,

26and strip Aharon of his garments and put them on El‛azar his son, for Aharon is to be gathered to his people and die there.”

27And Mosheh did as יהוה commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor before the eyes of all the congregation.

28And Mosheh stripped Aharon of his garments and put them on El‛azar his son. And Aharon died there on the top of the mountain. And Mosheh and El‛azar came down from the mountain.

29And when all the congregation saw that Aharon was dead, all the house of Yisra’ĕl wept for Aharon, thirty days.