Numbers 19-21

1Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

2“This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.

3Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will have it brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.

4Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.

5Then the heifer must be burned in his sight. Its hide, its flesh, and its blood are to be burned, along with its dung.

6The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.

7Then the priest must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that he may enter the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

8The one who burned the heifer must also wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he too will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

9Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to gather up the ashes of the heifer and store them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept by the congregation of Israel for preparing the water of purification; this is for purification from sin.

10The man who has gathered up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will be ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner residing among them.

11Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.

12He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.

13Anyone who touches a human corpse and fails to purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person must be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean, because the water of purification has not been sprinkled on him, and his uncleanness is still on him.

14This is the law when a person dies in a tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone already in the tent will be unclean for seven days,

15and any open container without a lid fastened on it is unclean.

16Anyone in the open field who touches someone who has been killed by the sword or has died of natural causes, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

17For the purification of the unclean person, take some of the ashes of the burnt sin offering, put them in a jar, and pour fresh water over them.

18Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the furnishings, and the people who were there. He is also to sprinkle the one who touched a bone, a grave, or a person who has died or been slain.

19The man who is ceremonially clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. After he purifies the unclean person on the seventh day, the one being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe in water, and that evening he will be clean.

20But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he will be cut off from the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

21This is a permanent statute for the people: The one who sprinkles the water of purification must wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water of purification will be unclean until evening.

22Anything the unclean person touches will become unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.”

1In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

2Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron.

3The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!

4Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here?

5Why have you led us up out of Egypt to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain, figs, vines, or pomegranates—and there is no water to drink!”

6Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

7And the LORD said to Moses,

8“Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.”

9So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he had been commanded.

10Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”

11Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.

12But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

13These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.

14From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

15how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,

16and when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

17Please let us pass through your land. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

18But Edom answered, “You may not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.”

19“We will stay on the main road,” the Israelites replied, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay for it. There will be no problem; only let us pass through on foot.”

20But Edom insisted, “You may not pass through.” And they came out to confront the Israelites with a large army and a strong hand.

21So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

22After they had set out from Kadesh, the whole congregation of Israel came to Mount Hor.

23And at Mount Hor, near the border of the land of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

24“Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will not enter the land that I have given the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

25Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up Mount Hor.

26Remove Aaron’s priestly garments and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will be gathered to his people and will die there.”

27So Moses did as the LORD had commanded, and they climbed Mount Hor in the sight of the whole congregation.

28After Moses had removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

29When the whole congregation saw that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.

1When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked Israel and captured some prisoners.

2So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.”

3And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.

4Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey

5and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”

6So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.

7Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.

8Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”

9So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.

10Then the Israelites set out and camped at Oboth.

11They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness opposite Moab to the east.

12From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered.

13From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends into the Amorite territory. Now the Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.

14Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: “Waheb in Suphah and the wadis of the Arnon,

15even the slopes of the wadis that extend to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”

16From there they went on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I may give them water.”

17Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well, all of you sing to it!

18The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,

19and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

20and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.

21Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

22“Let us pass through your land. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”

23But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

24And Israel put him to the sword and took possession of his land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok—but only up to the border of the Ammonites, because it was fortified.

25Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its villages.

26Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land as far as the Arnon.

27That is why the poets say: “Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt; let the city of Sihon be restored.

28For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights.

29Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.

30But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon. We demolished them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.”

31So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.

32After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.

33Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet them in battle at Edrei.

34But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”

35So they struck down Og, along with his sons and his whole army, until no remnant was left. And they took possession of his land.