(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)

B’ha’alot’kha

Numbers 8.1. And the LORD* spoke to Moses, saying, 2. “Speak to Aaron, and say to him, When you light the lamps, the seven lamps will give light in front of the menorah.” 3. And Aaron did so. He, in front of the menorah, lighted its lamps, as the LORD* commanded Moses. 4. And this work of the menorah was of beaten gold, to its shaft, to its flowers, was beaten work, according to the pattern which the LORD* had shown Moses, so he made the menorah.

Ordination of the Levites

8:5. And the LORD* spoke to Moses saying, 6. “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them. 7. And you will do thus to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle purifying water upon them and let them pass a razor over all their flesh and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. 8. Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, and you will take another young bull for a sin offering. 9. And you will bring the Levites in front of the Tent of Meeting and you will gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together, 10. and you will bring the Levites before the LORD*, and the children of Israel will put their hands upon the Levites. 11. And Aaron will offer the Levites before the LORD*, a wave offering of the children of Israel, so they can execute the service of the LORD*. 12. And the Levites will lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls and you will offer one, a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering, to the LORD*, to make atonement for the Levites. 13. And you will set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons and offer them for an offering to the LORD*. 14. Thus you will separate the Levites from among the children of Israel and the Levites will be Mine. 15. And after that the Levites will go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting and you will cleanse them and offer them for an offering. 16. For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel, instead of those who open every womb, instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to Me. 17. For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are Mine, man and beast: on the day that I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. 18. And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of 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 there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the Sanctuary.”

8:20. Thus Moses and Aaron and the entire congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites according to all that the LORD* commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. 21. And the Levites were purified and they washed their clothes and Aaron offered them as an offering before the LORD*, 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 before Aaron and before his sons. As the LORD* had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did for them.

8:23. And the LORD* spoke to Moses saying, 24. “This is what pertains to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they will go in to wait upon the service of the Tent of Meeting. 25. And from the age of fifty years they will cease from the warfare and will serve no more, 26. but will minister with their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to keep the charge and will do no work. Thus will you do to the Levites concerning their charge.”

Passover Instructions

9.1. And the LORD* spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt saying, 2. “Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at its appointed season. 3. On the fourteenth day of this month at twilight, you will keep it in its appointed season according to all the rites of it and you will keep it according to all the ceremonies of it.”

9:4. And Moses spoke to the children of Israel that they should keep the Passover. 5. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight in the wilderness of Sinai according to all that the LORD* commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did. 6. And there were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man, so they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. 7. And those men said to him, “We are defiled by the dead body of a man, for which are we kept back, so we may not offer an offering of the LORD* in its appointed season among the children of Israel?” 8. And Moses said to them, “Stand still and I shall hear what the LORD* will command concerning you.”

9:9. And the LORD* spoke to Moses saying, 10. “Speak to the children of Israel saying, ‘If any man of you or of your posterity will be unclean by reason of a dead body, or is on a journey afar off, then he will keep the Passover to the LORD*

11. the fourteenth day of the second month at twilight they will keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12. They will leave none of it to the morning, nor break any bone of it: they will keep it according to all the ordinances of the Passover. 13. But the man who is clean, and is not on a journey and fails to keep the Passover, even the same one will be cut off from among his people because he did not bring the offering, lamb, of the LORD* in its appointed season. That man will bear his sin. 14. And if a stranger will sojourn among you and will keep the Passover to the LORD* according to the ordinance of the Passover and according to the manner of it, so will he do: you will have one ordinance, both for the stranger and for the native of the land.’”

Cloud by Day, Fire by Night

9:15. And on the day that the Tabernacle was raised, the cloud covered the Tabernacle, at the Tent of the Testimony, and at evening until the morning there was on the Tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire. 16. So it was always, the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. 17. And when the cloud was taken up from the Tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed and the children of Israel pitched their tents in the place where the cloud stayed. 18. 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 stood over the Tabernacle they rested in their tents. 19. And when the cloud tarried over the Tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD* and did not travel. 20. And sometimes the cloud was a few days over the Tabernacle, then according to the commandment of the LORD* they stayed in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD* they journeyed. 21. And sometimes the cloud remained from evening to morning, and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed; or a day and a night, when the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. 22. Or whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud tarried over the Tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel stayed in their tents and did not journey, but when it was taken up, they journeyed. 23. 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.

Silver Trumpets

10.1. And the LORD* spoke to Moses, saying, 2. “Make two silver trumpets for yourself. You will make them of a whole piece so you can use them for the calling of the assembly and for the journeying of the camps. 3. And when they blow with them, the entire assembly will assemble themselves to you at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 4. And if they blow with one trumpet, then the princes who are heads of the thousands of Israel, will gather themselves to you. 5. When you blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts will go forward. 6. When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side will take their journey. They will blow an alarm for their journeys. 7. But when the congregation is to be gathered together, you will blow, but you will not sound an alarm. 8. And the sons of Aaron, the priests will blow with the trumpets and they will be for an ordinance forever for you throughout your generations. 9. And if you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then you will blow an alarm with the trumpets and you will be remembered before the LORD* your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. 10. Also in the day of your gladness and in your solemn days and in the beginnings of your months, you will blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings so they will be to you for a memorial before your God. I am the LORD* your God.”

Tabernacle’s First Move

10:11. And it happened on the twentieth day of the second month in the second year that the cloud was taken up from off the Tabernacle of the Testimony. 12. And the children of Israel took their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran. 13. And they took their first journey according to the commandment of the LORD* by the hand of Moses. 14. The standard of the camp of the children of Judah went first according to their armies, and Nahshon the son of Amminadab was over its army. 15. And Nethaniel the son of Zuar was over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar. 16. And Eliab the son of Helon was over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun. 17. And the Tabernacle was taken down and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the Tabernacle. 18. And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies and Elisur the son of Shedeur was over its army. 19. Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai was over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon. 20. And Eliasaoh the son of Deuel was over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad. 21. And the Kohathites set forward, carrying the Sanctuary, and the others set up the Tabernacle by the time they arrived. 22. And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies, and Elishama the son of Ammihud was over its army. 23. And Gamliel the son of Pedazhur was over the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh. 24. And Abidan the son of Gideoni was over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin. 25. And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward, the rear guard of all the camps throughout their armies and Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai was over its army. 26. And Pagiel the son of Ochran was over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher. 27. And Ahira the son of Enan was over the army of the tribe of the children of Naphtali. 28. Thus were the travelings of the children of Israel according to their armies, when they set forward.

Jethro, aka Hobab

10:29. And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are journeying to the place of which the LORD* said, ‘I shall give it to you.’ Come with us for yourself and we will do you good, for the LORD* has spoken good concerning Israel.”

10:30. And he said to him, “I shall not go, but I shall leave for my own land and to my kindred.”

10:31. And he said, “Do not leave us, I pray you, for as you know we are to make camp in the wilderness and you have been as eyes for us. 32. And it will be, if you go with us – indeed it will be that what goodness the LORD* will do for us, He will do the same for you.”

Rise up LORD*! Your Enemies Will Be Scattered

10:33. And they departed from the mountain of the LORD* for three days’ journey and the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD* went before them on the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. 34. And the cloud of the LORD* was over them by day, when they went out of the camp. 35. And it was, when the Ark set forward that Moses said, “Arise LORD*! Your enemies will be scattered and those who hate You will flee before You.” 36. And when it rested he said, “Return, LORD*, to the many thousands of Israel.”

The People Complain

11.1. And the people were complaining: it displeased the LORD* and the LORD* heard it, and His anger was kindled and the fire of the LORD* burned among them and consumed those that were in the outermost parts of the camp. 2. And the people cried to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD*, the fire was quenched.

3. And he called the name of the place Taverah because the fire of the LORD* burned among them.

11:4. And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting and the children of Israel also wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5. We remember the fish, which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic, 6. but now our very beings are dried away. There is nothing at all, besides this manna before our eyes.”

11:7. And the manna was like coriander seed and the color of it was the color of bdellium. (John 6:31) 8. The people went around and gathered it and ground it in a mill or beat it in a mortar, then baked it in pans and made cakes of it, and its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. 9. And when the dew fell upon the camp during the night, the manna fell upon it.

11:10. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, each man in the door of his tent, and the anger of the LORD* was kindled greatly. Moses also was displeased. 11. And Moses said to the LORD*, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You put the burden of all these people on me? 12. Have I conceived all these people? Have I begotten them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom,’ like a nursing father carries the nursing child, to the land which You have sworn to their fathers? 13. Where should I have meat to give to all these people, for they weep to me saying, ‘Give us meat, so we can eat.’ 14. I am not able to carry all these people alone, because they are too heavy for me. 15. And if You deal this way with me, kill me, I pray You, out of hand! If I have found favor in Your sight then do not let me see my wretchedness!”

Seventy Elders Called For

11:16. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Gather to 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 they can stand there with you. 17. And I shall come down and talk with you there, and I shall take some of the Spirit which is upon you and will put it upon them and they will bear the burden of the people with you, so you won’t bear it yourself alone. 18. And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the ears of the LORD* saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.”’ Therefore the LORD* will give you meat and you will eat. 19. You will not eat one day, or two days, or five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days, 20. but even a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it will be loathsome to you because you have despised the LORD* Who is among you, and have wept before Him saying, ‘Why have we come out of Egypt?’”

11:21. Then Moses said, “The people among whom I am, are six hundred thousand foot soldiers, and You have said, ‘I shall give them meat so they can eat for a whole month.’ 22. Will the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to satisfy them? Or will all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to satisfy them?”

11:23. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Has the LORD’s* hand become short? Now you will see whether My word will come to pass or not!”

11:24. And Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD*, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and set them around the Tent. 25. And the LORD* came down in a cloud and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him and gave it to the seventy elders, and it was, that they prophesied when the Spirit rested upon them, but they did so no longer.

11:26. But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad and the Spirit rested upon them, and they were of those who were written, but did not go out to the Tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp. 27. And there ran a young man and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, “My lord Moses, forbid them.”

11:29. And Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? God will give, make, all the LORD’s* people prophets, and the LORD* will put His Spirit upon them!” 30. And Moses withdrew into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

11:31. And there went forth a wind from the LORD* and drove up quails from the sea and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and as it were two cubits high over the face of the earth. 32. And the people stood up all that day and all that night and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: the one who gathered least gathered ten homers, and they spread them all abroad for themselves all around the camp. 33. And while the meat was still between their teeth, while it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD* was kindled against the people, and the LORD* struck the people with a very great plague. 34. And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hataavah, because there they buried the people that lusted.

11:35. From Kibroth-hataavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth, and they stayed at Hazeroth.

Aaron and Miriam Criticize Moses

12.1. And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2. And they said, “Has the LORD* indeed spoken only with Moses? Has He not spoken also with us?” And the LORD* heard. 3. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men on the face of the earth.)

12:4. And the LORD* spoke suddenly to Moses, to Aaron, and to Miriam, “Come out you three to the Tent of Meeting.” And the three came out. 5. And the LORD* came down in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the Tent. He called Aaron and Miriam and they both came forth. 6. And He said, “Now hear My words! If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD*, will make Myself known to him in a vision and will speak to him in a dream. 7. My servant Moses is not one of those, he is faithful in all My house. 8. I speak with him mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches, (Mark 4:11,34) and he will see the form of the LORD*. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

12:9. And the anger of the LORD* was kindled against them and He departed. 10. And the cloud left from the Tabernacle and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow and Aaron looked at Miriam and, behold, she was leprous. 11. And Aaron said to Moses, “Alas, my lord, I beseech you, do not lay the sin on us by which we have done foolishly, and in which we have sinned. 12. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”

12:13. Then Moses yelled to the LORD*, saying, “Heal her now! O God, I beseech you!”

12:14. And the LORD* said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? She will be shut out from the camp seven days and after that she will be brought in again.” 15. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days and the people did not travel until Miriam was brought in again. 16. And afterward the people left from Hazerot and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

Next week’s Torah readings: Sh’lah L’kha

(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)