__________________________________________________________________ Title: World English Bible Creator(s): Anonymous Johnson, Michael Paul (Translator) Rights: Public Domain CCEL Subjects: All; Bible; Old Testament; New Testament __________________________________________________________________ The World English Bible Translated by Michael Paul Johnson Based on the ASV 1901 and original language versions Public Domain __________________________________________________________________ The World English Bible (WEB) FAQ This Frequently Asked Questions document covers the following about the World English Bible (WEB): * [1]Why create yet another English translation of the Holy Bible? * [2]Why is the copyright such a big deal? * [3]Isn't it dangerous not to copyright the WEB? * [4]What is the WEB Revision? * [5]Who is behind the WEB Revision work? * [6]Is the WEB a one-man translation? * [7]What are your qualifications to do translation work? * [8]What is the WEB Translation Philosophy? * [9]What original language texts are you using? * [10]How does the WEB compare to other translations? * [11]What about the King James Only movement? * [12]What makes you think that you can compete with multi-million dollar publishers? * [13]What kind of editing help do you want? * [14]How do you publish draft portions of the WEB? * [15]How do I join the WEB mailing list? * [16]How do I get off of the WEB mailing list? * [17]How do I change my address on the WEB mailing list? * [18]Is anyone else working on a public domain, Modern English translation? * [19]When will the WEB be completed? * [20]Can I get a printed copy of the WEB? * [21]Why the name WEB? * [22]Will any major publishers be interested in the WEB? * [23]Why do you use "Yahweh" for God's name in the Old Testament? * [24]Why don't you capitalize pronouns referring to God? * [25]Why do you use contractions? * [26]Where can I get the WEB? * [27]How can I help support the WEB work? * [28]Who Maintains this FAQ? Why create yet another English translation of the Holy Bible? That is a good question. There are many good English translations of the Holy Bible. Unfortunately, all of them are either (1) archaic (like the KJV and ASV of 1901), or (2) covered by copyright restrictions that prevent unrestricted free posting on the internet or other media (like the NIV and NASB). The Bible in Basic English (BBE) was in the Public Domain in the USA (but not all countries) for a while, but its copyrighted status was restored by GATT. (The BBE used a rather restricted subset of English, anyway, limiting its accuracy and readability.) In other words, there is NO OTHER complete translation of the Holy Bible in normal Modern English that can be freely copied (except for some limited "fair use") without written permission from the publisher and (usually) payment of royalties. This is the vacuum that the World English Bible is filling. [29][Contents] Why is the copyright such a big deal? The copyright laws of most nations and the international treaties that support them are a mixed blessing. By granting authors and translators a legal monopoly (for a limited, but very long, time) on the right of copying and "first sale" of their works, the law makers have made writing and translating very profitable for some people whose works are in great demand. This has, no doubt, been a factor in the creation of many of the good Modern English translations of the Holy Bible that we now enjoy. The problem with this system, with respect to the Holy Bible, is that it has had the effect of limiting distribution of God's Word in modern languages. For example, I cannot legally post copies of the entire New International Version of the Holy Bible on my web site in a downloadable, searchable, and readily copyable format without the permission of the International Bible Society and Zondervan (copyright owner and publisher). Zondervan won't grant such permission unless they get a significant royalty (they quoted me $10,000 + $10/copy distributed) and unless I convince them that my Bible search software is "good enough" for them. Needless to say, the Bible search software that I am writing with the intention of distributing as donorware will not come with the NIV. The problem of copyright protection of Modern English translations of the Holy Bible is not just significant on the Internet and various electronic information services. It also affects people who want to quote significant portions of Scripture in books, audio tapes, and other media. This drives up the price of preaching the Gospel. Basic economics tells us that this is not a good thing when our goal is to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). For example, the "free" Bibles that the Gideons place cost more if they use a modern version, like Thomas-Nelson's New King James Version, than if they use the (more difficult to read) King James Version. Naturally, I'm not suggesting that we abolish the copyright law or that existing Modern English translations be immediately released to the Public Domain. I understand the way that the profits from the sales of the NIV, for example, help fund other language translations at the International Bible Society (as well as helping to enrich some folks at Zondervan). I also understand that the business of Bible sales has helped establish a good supply of Bibles in many parts of the world, in a variety of formats, sizes, styles, and colors. What we are doing is liberating at least one Modern English translation of the Holy Bible from all copyright restrictions -- a translation that is trustworthy, accurate, and useful for evangelism and discipleship. Another concern where copyright restrictions come into play is in translation and creating derivative works. For example, the copyright notice of the NASB expressly forbids making translations or derivative works based on the NASB without getting permission from the Lockman Foundation. I don't know if they would make this easy or hard, expensive or cheap, but I do know that there will be no need to even ask when using the WEB. Isn't it dangerous not to copyright the WEB? No. Copyright protection is intended to protect the income of the copyright holder's sales of a work, but we are planning to GIVE AWAY the right to make copies of this version of the Holy Bible to anyone who wants it, so we have nothing to lose that way. There is some argument for copyrighting a Bible translation just to retain some legal control against some evil, cultic revision of a translation. The God's Living Word translations of John's Gospel and John's letters are copyrighted only for this reason, for example, even though blanket permission to make unlimited copies of that translation is published with them. This legal leverage is so much weaker than God's protection of His own Word that it is of questionable value. (See Revelation 22:18-19.) One other major concern is that somebody might later claim a copyright on the WEB and remove it from the Public Domain. Because there is a timely and public declaration of the Public Domain status of the WEB by those who are working on it, that would not work, and they would not be able to defend such a bogus copyright claim. With a Public Domain work, there is a hazard of confusion if many people start revising it or making derivative works from it and call it the same thing. For that reason, the name "World English Bible" is a trademark that may only be used to identify the World English Bible as published by Rainbow Missions, Inc., and faithful copies of that work. In addition, official distributions of the World English Bible are often digitally signed to provide a tamper-evident seal. [30][Contents] What is the WEB Revision? The WEB Revision is an update of the [31]American Standard Version of 1901, which is in the Public Domain. The revision is also in the Public Domain, which sets it apart from other revisions of the American Standard Version, like the New American Standard Bible and the Revised Standard Version. The first pass of the translation, which has already been done, was to convert about 1,000 archaic words and word forms to modern equivalents using a custom computer program. The second through seventh phases consist of manual editing and proofreading. The initial manual pass is to add quotation marks (the ASV of 1901 had none), update other punctuation, update usage, and spot check the translation against the original languages in places where the meaning is unclear or significant textual variants exist. The subsequent passes are to review of the results of the previous pass. In each pass, volunteers read the current draft, looking for typos, unclear passages, etc., then report back to the senior editor (Michael Paul Johnson <[32]mpj@ebible.org>), who checks the suggestions and merges the best suggestions into the master draft. As this is going on, the draft at the [33]WEB web page is updated. [34][Contents] Who is behind the WEB Revision work? Rainbow Missions, Inc., a Colorado nonprofit corporation -- and many volunteers who are born again and seeking to daily follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. If the Lord so moves you, tax-deductible financial gifts to help pay for WEB publishing and other costs associated with this project may be made to: Rainbow Missions, Inc. PO Box 1151 Longmont CO 80502-1151 USA Rainbow Missions gets its name from the rainbow that is a sign of the covenant between God and Noah, the rainbow around God's throne, and the rainbow that suddenly appeared in the clear blue sky right after I asked God what to name this ministry. [35][Contents] Is the WEB a one-man translation? Many people have been involved in the production and editing of the World English Bible from a variety of backgrounds. Because this is a revision of the American Standard Version of the Revised Bible, we start with the over 50 Evangelical scholars who worked on that project. They, in turn, relied on the work of those who had gone before them. We also rely on the work of many scholars who have found, compiled, combined, and published the excellent and highly accurate Hebrew and Greek texts from which we work. We also rely on the excellent lexicons of Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek that are available to us. In addition to these excellent references that represent literally hundreds of years of combined labor by many committed Christian men and women, we have access to the United Bible Society handbooks on Bible translation and a large number of other English translations to compare and consult. Among the volunteers who have contributed to this project, we have people who attend various churches, including Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, non-denominational, and many more. This broad representation helps guard against introducing sectarian bias into the work. In addition, the novel technique of publishing draft copies of the World English Bible on the Internet provides additional protection against bias, because all serious comments are carefully considered and the wording compared to the original language. Although we don't demand credentials from people who comment on the translation by email, we do validate their comments before deciding what to do with them. We do have one senior editor who is responsible for decisions regarding the text, but he is also accountable to several other Christians. Everyone who has authority to decide on the wording in the World English Bible believes in the inspiration by the Holy Spirit of the text as recorded by the original authors. In addition, we also believe that the Holy Spirit is still active in preserving the text and helps us in our work to the extent that we let Him. [36][Contents] What are your qualifications to do translation work? Standing on the shoulders of giants - those mighty men of God who provided the critically edited original language texts, translated other English versions (especially the ASV), wrote the great translation guides available from the American Bible Society, and the writers of the Greek & Hebrew study materials I use - is the most obvious. Others include having studied the Bible for years, studying several languages, and earning a Master's degree. None of those matter as much as the next reason. God called me to do this, and I willingly answered His call. God would not call me to do something without enabling me to do so. Without God's call, I would drop this project like a hot rock. Although many people contribute suggestions and typo reports, they are all checked before editing the master copy of the [37]World English Bible. [38][Contents] What is the WEB Translation Philosophy? The WEB must * be done with prayer -- specifically prayer for inspiration by the Holy Spirit. * be accurate and reliable (Revelation 22:18-19). * be understandable to the majority of the world's English-speaking population (and therefore should avoid locale-specific usage). * be kept in the Public Domain (and therefore be done by volunteers). * be made available in a short time, because we don't know the exact time of our Lord's return. * preserve the essential character of the original 1901 publication. * use language that is not faddish, but likely to retain its meaning for some time. * render God's proper Name in the Old Testament as "Yahweh." * resolve unclear passages by referring to the original Hebrew and Greek. * be done with utmost respect for God and His Word. * be done by Christians from a variety of denominations and backgrounds. * retain (at least for now) the ASV 1901's pronoun capitalization rules (lower case "he" referring to God). * retain (in most cases) the ASV 1901's use of "he" when that word might mean ("he and/or she"). * restrict footnotes to those which clarify the translation or provide significant alternate readings Bible translation (as with any natural language translation) is a balancing act, where the translators seek to preserve the following: * The meaning of each thought or sentence. * The meanings of individual words in their context. * The shades of meaning implied by word forms, tense, etc. * The impact and tone of each passage. * The style of the original authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. * Faithfulness to the target language (English, in this case). Note that some of the above goals are at odds with one another, like preservation of the original style vs. faithfulness to the target language, and expressing the last bit of the shades of meaning vs. preserving the impact. Still, it is possible to retain a good balance. Different balance points are chosen by different translation committees. Indeed, many translations can be characterized by the weight the translators gave to each of the above items. For example, The Amplified Bible excels at getting the meaning across, but falls down hard on impact, style preservation, and faithfulness to the target language. The New Living Translation excels at preserving the meanings of entire thoughts, impact, and faithfulness to the target language, but loses some of the style and shades of meaning. The New International Version excels at most of the above, but loses some elements of style and some of the subtleties of wording. The World English Bible attempts to balance all of the above with a fairly literal translation. Some people like to use the terms "formal equivalent" and "dynamic equivalent." Neither of these exactly describe what we are doing, since we have borrowed ideas from both, but I suppose that we are closer to formal equivalence than dynamic equivalence. [39][Contents] What original language texts are you using? Since this is primarily an update of the 1901 edition, the choices made by the original 50 or so Evangelical scholars that made this translation hold unless reference is made to the original languages to help with places where the Elizabethan English is not clear, or where major textual variants are known to exist. In this case, we are using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, also called The Stuttgart Bible, in the Old Testament, and the Byzantine Majority Text as published for use with The Online Bible in the New Testament (M-Text). This choice of Greek text is very close to what the KJV translators used, but does take advantage of some more recently discovered manuscripts. Although there are good scholarly arguments both for and against using the Byzantine Majority Text over the "Alexandrian" text based on the dating and critical editing work of Nestle and Aland and published by the United Bible Societies (UBS), we find the following to be compelling reasons: * The UBS text has a lot of "dropout" errors relative to the M-Text. Diligent scribes with a respect for God's Word are more likely to miss copying something (i.e. by skipping a line, etc.) than to make up a line to add in. * Different scribes copying the same passage aren't all likely to make the same mistakes at the same places, even though some mistakes are likely to be copied over many times. * When a scribe had a choice of manuscripts to copy, he would normally copy the one that he trusted the most, thus causing the most trusted text to be copied more often. * The UBS text relies heavily on the dating of the media upon which the text was written, but those texts that are used more and trusted more would both be copied more often and worn out from use sooner. * The UBS text is heavily weighted to a small number of manuscripts relative to those available to us, and relies heavily on one manuscript that was pulled from a trash can at a monastery. * The Holy Spirit takes an active interest in preserving what He has inspired. * In those few sections where the M-Text and UBS text differ significantly, I have taken my question of textual choice directly to God, and God chose to answer me by confirming in several different ways that reading which the M-Text rendered. The main passage in question is in Mark 16, but there are others, too. While I certainly don't claim to be infallible, I do know when to say, "Yes, Sir" and follow the direction I see the Lord pointing me in. [40][Contents] How does the WEB compare to other translations? The WEB is different enough to avoid copyright infringement, but similar enough to avoid incurring the wrath of God. By "different enough," I mean that the wording is about as different from any one Modern English translation as the current translations differ from each other. By "similar enough," I mean that the meaning is preserved and that the Gospel still cuts to the very soul. It is most similar to the ASV of 1901, of course, but I suppose that similarities will be found with other translations. The WEB doesn't capitalize pronouns pertaining to God. This is similar to the NRSV and NIV, and the same as the original ASV of 1901. Note that this is an English style decision, because Hebrew has no such thing as upper and lower case, and the oldest Greek manuscripts were all upper case. I kind of prefer the approach of the KJV, NKJV, and NASB of capitalizing these pronouns, because I write that way most of the time and because it is a way of offering greater honor to God. I admit that it is kind of a throw-back to the Olde English practice of capitalizing pronouns referring to the king. This is archaic, because we don't capitalize pronouns that refer to our president. It is also true that chosing to capitalize pronouns relating to God causes some difficulties in translating the coronation psalms, where the psalm was initially written for the coronation of an earthly king, but which also can equally well be sung or recited to the praise of the King of Kings. Capitalizing pronouns relating to God also makes for some strange reading where people were addressing Jesus with anything but respect. In any case, in the presence of good arguments both ways, we have decided to leave these as they were in the ASV 1901 (which also gives us fewer opportunities to make mistakes). The WEB, like the ASV of 1901, breaks the KJV tradition by printing God's proper Name in the Old Testament with a spelling closest to what we think it was pronounced like, instead of rendering that Name as "LORD" or "GOD" (with all caps or small caps). The current scholarly consensus has shifted from spelling this Name as "Jehovah" to spelling it as "Yahweh." There are a couple of other English translations that use "Yahweh," so this is not new, per se, but it does set it off a little from other translations. Because World English Bible (WEB) uses the Majority Text as the basis for the New Testament, you may notice the following differences in comparing the WEB to other translations: * The order of Matthew 23:13 and 14 is reversed in some translations. * Luke 17:36 and Acts 15:34, which are not found in the majority of the Greek Manuscripts (and are relegated to footnotes in the WEB) may be included in some other translations. Romans 14:24-26 in the WEB may appear as Romans 16:25-27 in other translations. * 1 John 5:7-8 may read differently in some translations. [41][Contents] What about the King James Only movement? May God open their eyes and give them a sound understanding. If you prefer the King James Version of the Holy Bible, then, by all means, read it and do what it teaches. I think that the KJV was a wonderful Contemporary English translation of the Holy Bible when it came out. It has been mightily used by God and has had (and continues to have) a profoundly good impact. Unfortunately, the evolution of the English language continually erodes its value as time goes on. It is now outsold by the excellent New International Version, for many good reasons. I guess that there are a few people that seem to believe that the KJV is more accurate than the original Hebrew and Greek of the Holy Bible, and that all the other versions are tainted with heresy and conspiracy. I've read some of their literature. I found it to be some of the most non-Christian and illogical literature that I have endured, thus further proving the claim that the KJV is the only valid Bible to be wrong, at least in my mind. I guess I've now put myself on record as being a heretic in their eyes, but I must follow God, rather than men. [42][Contents] What makes you think that you can compete with multi-million dollar publishers? Indeed, throwing another Modern English translation into the "market" to "compete" with solid translations like the NIV and publishing giants like Zondervan sounds as silly. It sounds like that, perhaps, until you consider that the primary target for the WEB is royalty-free distribution of the Holy Bible in unlimited copies made by many people using many computers, tape recorders, photocopiers, and presses all over the world. This is a "market" that the "giants" have excluded themselves from. Indeed, if they change that policy (don't hold your breath waiting for them to), we win, anyway. If we win this area, that is enough to justify this effort. If we do an excellent job, the WEB might possibly start competing in more conventional areas (like printed Bibles in bookstores), but not because of any significant effort or marketing on our part. After all, the bookstores have lots of Bibles in Modern English, already. Once you look at the whole picture of what is going on, the multi-million dollar publishers and Bible translators really don't have much of an effect on us, nor do we have much of an effect on them. The result of the combined efforts of both is simply more complete availability of the Holy Bible in Modern English. Of course, it does take considerable effort to pull off a decent Bible translation -- even a language update like the WEB. Fortunately, there are lots of people willing to volunteer some time to help with this cause, and the Internet helps bring those people together. The real bottom line, though, is that this is God's project, and He is fully capable of providing everything that we need to accomplish His goals. [43][Contents] What kind of editing help do you want? Specifically, we need people who will read drafts of WEB chapters carefully, checking the following things, and email suggestions for improvements in the following areas: * Typos & spelling errors. * Punctuation errors. * Grammar & usage errors. * Unclear wording or wording that may be misunderstood. * Wording that varies in meaning from other good Bible translations (realizing that some will vary due to "textual variants" in the underlying original languages). * Wording that may inadvertently be "too close" to any copyrighted Modern English translation for too many verses in a row (thus risking charges of copyright infringement). * Questions that come up with respect to specific portions of the translation. * Inconsistencies in style, usage, or translation. Note that all suggestions made in line with the above mentioned translation philosophy will be seriously considered. There is no guarantee, of course, that any suggestion will result in a change, especially in those areas that involve judgment calls, because we are likely to get conflicting suggestions for the same passage. If in doubt, suggest or ask, anyway. We want to eradicate as many of the above distractions as possible, so that the meaning and message of the Holy Bible come through clearly. [44][Contents] How do you publish draft portions of the WEB? Draft portions of the WEB are published in the WEB mailing list and at [45]http://ebible.org/bible/web, and in the unmoderated Usenet news groups alt.bible and alt.christnet.bible. Once the WEB translation is done, we plan to continue it as a daily Bible reading list. [46][Contents] How do I join the WEB mailing list? There are actually three mailing lists that can properly be called the WEB mailing list: bible Daily World English Bible readings and some announcements hnv Daily HNV readings and some announcements webnews News about status of World English Bible translation and publication. The easy way (if you have access to the World Wide Web) is to visit [47]http://ebible.org/subscribe.htm and follow the instructions there. If you can't do the above, send mail to majordomo@ebible.org with the single line in the body of the message (not the subject) with "subscribe" followed by the list name, like: subscribe bible Expect somewhere around 4 chapters of the Holy Bible per day, along with related material (like this FAQ, the glossary, and announcements). [48][Contents] How do I get off of the WEB mailing list? Visit http://ebible.org/subscribe.htm and follow the instructions there, or send mail to [49]majordomo@ebible.org with the single line in the body of the message (not the subject) saying "unsubscribe" followed by the list name, like: unsubscribe bible If you don't have access to the account you are unsubscribing from, then add your old email address to the line, like unsubscribe bible user@host.domain but substitute your own email address for user@host.domain. If that doesn't work, email [50]mpj@ebible.org for help from a real person. [51][Contents] How do I change my address on the WEB mailing list? Just unsubscribe from the old address and subscribe from the new address, using the instructions, above. [52][Contents] Is anyone else working on a public domain, Modern English translation? Yes. Dr. Maurice Robinson is overseeing another project to revise the ASV into what he is calling the Modern American Standard Version (MASV). That project is not on quite as ambitious schedule, but it should be worth looking at when it is done. There are now some other works, too, like the Updated King James Version at [53]http://www.geocities.com/updatedkjv/. People often ask if we are aware of the [54]New English Translation, and we are, but it is not Public Domain. They do allow free downloads for personal use, though, and there is a lot of scholarly work that went into that translation. [55][Contents] When will the WEB be completed? The New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs are finished (but we will still consider well-justified edits and typo corrections). We have no estimate of the completion date of the Old Testament, yet. [56][Contents] Why the name WEB? World: because God's Word is to the whole world, and this translation is to be read by English-speaking people all over the world. English: a language spoken by about 10% of the people in the world. Bible: God's Holy Book. WEB: This translation of the Holy Bible travels by way of the World-Wide Web, aided by its copyright-free status. [57][Contents] Will any major publishers be interested in the WEB? Several publishers that don't already own rights to another modern English translation of the Holy Bible are likely to be interested. Ask them. [58][Contents] Why do you use "Yahweh" for God's name in the Old Testament? "Yahweh" is the most probable best transliteration of this most holy proper name from the Hebrew consonants YOD HE WAW HE, or YHWH. This holy name is sometimes rendered "Jehovah" based on the mixture of the vowels for "Adonai" (Lord) with the consonants "YHWH" as it is written in some later Hebrew manuscripts. The original Hebrew manuscripts had no vowels, and we believe that the vowels for "adonai" were added to reflect the tradition of avoiding pronouncing God's name, and saying "Lord" instead, and was not an indication of how the name should be pronounced by those so bold as to actually utter God's name. This is a break from the tradition of the KJV and others that use "LORD" or "GOD" with all caps or small caps to translate "YHWH", and use "Lord" (normal mixed case) to translate "Adonai" and "God" (normal mixed case) to translate "Elohim." That tradition gets really confusing in some places, especially since "Yahweh" is used in conjunction with "Lord" and "God" in many places in the Old Testament. Since God's proper name really is separate from the titles "Lord" and "God" in the original Hebrew, we wanted the English translation to reflect that fact, even when read aloud. As a concession to strong tradition, the Hebrew Names Version of the World English Bible uses "LORD" or "GOD" (all capital letters) for "Yahweh." In some places, "Yah," a shortened version of God's Name is used. This is how it is written in the Hebrew manuscripts in those places. As a concession to strong tradition, the Hebrew Names Version of the World English Bible uses "LORD" or "GOD" (all capital letters) for "Yahweh." [59][Contents] Why don't you capitalize pronouns referring to God? In Hebrew, there is no such thing as upper and lower case. The original Greek manuscripts were written in all upper case letters. Therefore, this is mostly a question of English style more than a question of conforming to the original language texts. English style is a moving target, and there is not widespread agreement on capitalization of pronouns referring to God. In the time of the King James Version, it was common practice to capitalize pronouns pertaining to any king or other national leader. Since God is the King of Kings, it only made sense to capitalize pronouns referring to God. In modern English, we don't do that, even when writing very respectfully. In modern English, it is considered correct to either capitalize or not capitalize pronouns referring to God, but the practice should be consistent within a book. Other contemporary translations of the Holy Bible into English are pretty much evenly split between capitalizing and not capitalizing these pronouns. There are three other translational issues involved. One is that it seems rather awkward to translate quotations of people who were deriding Jesus Christ, and who at that point didn't believe that He was the spotless Son of God, capitalizing the pronouns they used to refer to Him. The New American Standard Bible handles this by putting in a footnote to explain that they capitalized the pronouns because of who Jesus Christ is, not who the speaker thought He was. Another issue is that in some of the coronation psalms, it was clear that the psalm was originally written for the coronation of an earthly king (i. e. King Solomon), but the psalm applies and is used more often to sing praises to the King of Kings. In that case, it is difficult to choose which case to use for the pronouns. By not capitalizing pronouns pertaining to God, we as translators preserve the ambiguity of the original Scriptures and leave the application to the Holy Spirit and the reader. The third translational issue is a more practical one. Because the World English Bible is an update of the American Standard Version of 1901, which does not capitalize pronouns referring to God, it would have required reviewing all pronouns in the Bible for capitalization, determining from the context which referred to God and which did not. Even when done carefully, there is a risk of making errors in the process, and in some cases (such as those mentioned above), footnotes would be in order to explain the ambiguities that would be totally unnecessary without the capitalization. Therefore, we have decided to retain the ASV's capitalization rules in the Bible text. [60][Contents] Why do you use contractions? Because the Greek New Testament was written not in the formal written register of the language, but in the informal register of the language used by common people, we have decided to use the less formal spoken register of the English language. This sounds much more natural when read aloud. The primary difference noticeable between spoken or informal written English and formal written English is the greater use of contractions. [61][Contents] Where can I get the WEB? At [62]http://ebible.org/bible/web or [63]http://worldenglishbible.org/. [64][Contents] How can I help support the WEB work? 1. You can pray for everyone who works on it, that they would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and correctly handle God's Holy Word, and that God would abundantly provide everything needed for this work. 2. You can partner with us, helping us to make the World English Bible freely available by sending tax-deductible donations to: Rainbow Missions PO BOX 1151 LONGMONT CO 80502-1151 USA [65][Contents] Who Maintains this FAQ? This FAQ is maintained by [66]Michael Paul Johnson. Please mail comments or suggestions to [67]mpj@ebible.org. This page is kept at [68]http://ebible.org/bible/web/webfaq.htm. [69][Contents] __________________________________________________________________ Old Testament __________________________________________________________________ Genesis __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 1 ^1In the beginning God [1] created the heavens and the earth. ^2Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. ^3God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. ^4God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. ^5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. There was evening and there was morning, one day. ^6God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." ^7God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse, and it was so. ^8God called the expanse sky. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. ^9God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear," and it was so. ^10God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. God saw that it was good. ^11God said, "Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth," and it was so. ^12The earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. ^13There was evening and there was morning, a third day. ^14God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; ^15and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth," and it was so. ^16God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. ^17God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth, ^18and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. ^19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. ^20God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky." ^21God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. ^22God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." ^23There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. ^24God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind," and it was so. ^25God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good. ^26God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." ^27God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him; male and female he created them. ^28God blessed them. God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." ^29God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. ^30To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food." And it was so. ^31God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. __________________________________________________________________ [1] After "God," the Hebrew has the two letters "Aleph Tav" (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet) as a grammatical marker. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 ^1The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their vast array. ^2On the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. ^3God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work which he had created and made. ^4This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. ^5No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, ^6but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. ^7Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. ^8Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. ^9Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ^10A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became four heads. ^11The name of the first is Pishon: this is the one which flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ^12and the gold of that land is good. There is aromatic resin and the onyx stone. ^13The name of the second river is Gihon: the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. ^14The name of the third river is Hiddekel: this is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. ^15Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. ^16Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ^17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die." ^18Yahweh God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." ^19Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ^20The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper suitable for him. ^21Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ^22He made the rib, which Yahweh God had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her to the man. ^23The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." ^24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. ^25They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 ^1Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, "Has God really said, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'" ^2The woman said to the serpent, "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, ^3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" ^4The serpent said to the woman, "You won't surely die, ^5for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." ^6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit of it, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. ^7The eyes of both them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. ^8They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. ^9Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" ^10The man said, "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." ^11God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" ^12The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." ^13Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." ^14Yahweh God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. On your belly shall you go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. ^15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel." ^16To the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." ^17To Adam he said, "Because you have listened to your wife's voice, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. ^18Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. ^19By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return." ^20The man called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. ^21Yahweh God made coats of skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. ^22Yahweh God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever..." ^23Therefore Yahweh God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ^24So he drove out the man; and he placed Cherubs at the east of the garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 ^1The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, "I have gotten a man with Yahweh's help." ^2Again she gave birth, to Cain's brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ^3As time passed, it happened that Cain brought an offering to Yahweh from the fruit of the ground. ^4Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat of it. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering, ^5but he didn't respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. ^6Yahweh said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? ^7If you do well, will it not be lifted up? If you don't do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it." ^8Cain said to Abel, his brother, "Let's go into the field." It happened when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. ^9Yahweh said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" He said, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" ^10Yahweh said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground. ^11Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. ^12From now on, when you till the ground, it won't yield its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth." ^13Cain said to Yahweh, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. ^14Behold, you have driven me out this day from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. It will happen that whoever finds me will kill me." ^15Yahweh said to him, "Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." Yahweh appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should strike him. ^16Cain went out from Yahweh's presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. ^17Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. ^18To Enoch was born Irad. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech. ^19Lamech took two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. ^20Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ^21His brother's name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe. ^22Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron. Tubal Cain's sister was Naamah. ^23Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech, For I have slain a man for wounding me, A young man for bruising me. ^24If Cain will be avenged seven times, Truly Lamech seventy-seven times." ^25Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, "for God has appointed me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." ^26There was also born a son to Seth, and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on Yahweh's name. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 ^1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God's likeness. ^2He created them male and female, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, [2] in the day when they were created. ^3Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. ^4The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ^5All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died. ^6Seth lived one hundred five years, and became the father of Enosh. ^7Seth lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^8All the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years, then he died. ^9Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. ^10Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan, eight hundred fifteen years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^11All the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years, then he died. ^12Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel. ^13Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalalel eight hundred forty years, and became the father of sons and daughters ^14and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred ten years, then he died. ^15Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared. ^16Mahalalel lived after he became the father of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^17All the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years, then he died. ^18Jared lived one hundred sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch. ^19Jared lived after he became the father of Enoch eight hundred years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^20All the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years, then he died. ^21Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. ^22Enoch walked with God after he became the father of Methuselah three hundred years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^23All the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. ^24Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. ^25Methuselah lived one hundred eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech. ^26Methuselah lived after he became the father of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^27All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years, then he died. ^28Lamech lived one hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of a son, ^29and he named him Noah, saying, "This same will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, because of the ground which Yahweh has cursed." ^30Lamech lived after he became the father of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^31All the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years, then he died. ^32Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. __________________________________________________________________ [2] "Adam" and "Man" are spelled with the exact same consonants in Hebrew, so this can be correctly translated either way. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6 ^1It happened, when men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them, ^2that God's sons saw that men's daughters were beautiful, and they took for themselves wives of all that they chose. ^3Yahweh said, "My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; yet will his days be one hundred twenty years." ^4The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God's sons came in to men's daughters. They bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. ^5Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ^6Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. ^7Yahweh said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground; man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." ^8But Noah found favor in Yahweh's eyes. ^9This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God. ^10Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ^11The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. ^12God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ^13God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ^14Make an ark of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ark, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch. ^15This is how you shall make it. The length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. ^16You shall make a roof in the ark, and to a cubit shall you finish it upward. You shall set the door of the ark in the side of it. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels. ^17I, even I, do bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die. ^18But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. ^19Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ^20Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come to you, to keep them alive. ^21Take with you of all food that is eaten, and gather it to you; and it will be for food for you, and for them." ^22Thus Noah did. According to all that God commanded him, so he did. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7 ^1Yahweh said to Noah, "Come with all of your household into the ark, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation. ^2You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female. ^3Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth. ^4In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. Every living thing that I have made, I will destroy from the surface of the ground." ^5Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him. ^6Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. ^7Noah went into the ark with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, because of the waters of the flood. ^8Clean animals, animals that are not clean, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground ^9went by pairs to Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah. ^10It happened after the seven days, that the waters of the flood came on the earth. ^11In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep were burst open, and the sky's windows were opened. ^12The rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. ^13In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ark; ^14they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. ^15They went to Noah into the ark, by pairs of all flesh with the breath of life in them. ^16Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; and Yahweh shut him in. ^17The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. ^18The waters prevailed, and increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. ^19The waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered. ^20The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. ^21All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. ^22All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died. ^23Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. ^24The waters prevailed on the earth one hundred fifty days. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 8 ^1God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided. ^2The deep's fountains and the sky's windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained. ^3The waters receded from the earth continually. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters decreased. ^4The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat's mountains. ^5The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. ^6It happened at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, ^7and he sent forth a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth. ^8He sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground, ^9but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him into the ark; for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ark. ^10He stayed yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. ^11The dove came back to him at evening, and, behold, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth. ^12He stayed yet another seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she didn't return to him any more. ^13It happened in the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dried. ^14In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. ^15God spoke to Noah, saying, ^16"Go forth from the ark, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you. ^17Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth." ^18Noah went forth, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives with him. ^19Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went forth out of the ark. ^20Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ^21Yahweh smelled the sweet savor. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done. ^22While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 9 ^1God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. ^2The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that the ground teems with, and all the fish of the sea are delivered into your hand. ^3Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As the green herb, I have given everything to you. ^4But flesh with the life of it, the blood of it, you shall not eat. ^5I will surely require your blood of your lives. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man. ^6Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image. ^7Be fruitful and multiply. Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it." ^8God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ^9"As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you, ^10and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, even every animal of the earth. ^11I will establish my covenant with you: all flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood, neither will there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth." ^12God said, "This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: ^13I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. ^14It will happen, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, ^15and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. ^16The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." ^17God said to Noah, "This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth." ^18The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan. ^19These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the whole earth was populated. ^20Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard. ^21He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent. ^22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ^23Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn't see their father's nakedness. ^24Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him. ^25He said, "Canaan is cursed. He will be servant of servants to his brothers." ^26He said, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem; Let Canaan be his servant. ^27God enlarge Japheth, Let him dwell in the tents of Shem; Let Canaan be his servant." ^28Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood. ^29All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years, then he died. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 10 ^1Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. ^2The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ^3The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. ^4The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. ^5Of these were the islands of the nations divided in their lands, everyone after his language, after their families, in their nations. ^6The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. ^7The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. ^8Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth. ^9He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Yahweh." ^10The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ^11Out of that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, ^12and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (the same is the great city). ^13Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ^14Pathrusim, Casluhim (which the Philistines descended from), and Caphtorim. ^15Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth, ^16the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, ^17the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, ^18the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. ^19The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as you go toward Gerar, to Gaza; as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, to Lasha. ^20These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, in their nations. ^21To Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born. ^22The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. ^23The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ^24Arpachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber. ^25To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. His brother's name was Joktan. ^26Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ^27Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ^28Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ^29Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. ^30Their dwelling was from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. ^31These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, after their nations. ^32These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations. Of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 11 ^1The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. ^2It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. ^3They said one to another, "Come, let's make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. ^4They said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let's make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth." ^5Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. ^6Yahweh said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. ^7Come, let's go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." ^8So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. ^9Therefore the name of it was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth. ^10This is the history of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood. ^11Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^12Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah. ^13Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^14Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber: ^15and Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^16Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg. ^17Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^18Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu. ^19Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^20Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. ^21Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^22Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor. ^23Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^24Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah. ^25Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of sons and daughters. ^26Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. ^27Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. ^28Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees. ^29Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah. ^30Sarai was barren. She had no child. ^31Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. They went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. ^32The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12 ^1Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you. ^2I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. ^3I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. In you will all of the families of the earth be blessed." ^4So Abram went, as Yahweh had spoken to him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran. ^5Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother's son, all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls whom they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. Into the land of Canaan they came. ^6Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanite was then in the land. ^7Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your seed [3] ." He built an altar there to Yahweh, who appeared to him. ^8He left from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and called on the name of Yahweh. ^9Abram traveled, going on still toward the South. ^10There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land. ^11It happened, when he had come near to enter Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at. ^12It will happen, when the Egyptians will see you, that they will say, This is his wife.' They will kill me, but they will save you alive. ^13Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you." ^14It happened that when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ^15The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. ^16He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. ^17Yahweh plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. ^18Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this that you have done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife? ^19Why did you say, She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way." ^20Pharaoh gave men charge concerning him, and they brought him on the way with his wife and all that he had. __________________________________________________________________ [3] or, offspring __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13 ^1Abram went up out of Egypt: he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South. ^2Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ^3He went on his journeys from the South even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ^4to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on the name of Yahweh. ^5Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. ^6The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together: for their substance was great, so that they could not live together. ^7There was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite lived in the land at that time. ^8Abram said to Lot, "Please, let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are relatives. ^9Isn't the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left." ^10Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. ^11So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. ^12Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ^13Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh. ^14Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, "Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, ^15for all the land which you see, I will give to you, and to your offspring forever. ^16I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then your seed may also be numbered. ^17Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it to you." ^18Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to Yahweh. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 14 ^1It happened in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, ^2that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar). ^3All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea). ^4Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled. ^5In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, ^6and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, which is by the wilderness. ^7They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. ^8The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim; ^9against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. ^10Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills. ^11They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way. ^12They took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. ^13One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Abram. ^14When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. ^15He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. ^16He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. ^17The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). ^18Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High. ^19He blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth: ^20and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." Abram gave him a tenth of all. ^21The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, and take the goods to yourself." ^22Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, ^23that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich.' ^24I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 15 ^1After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." ^2Abram said, "Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" ^3Abram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir." ^4Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir." ^5Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be." ^6He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness. ^7He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it." ^8He said, "Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?" ^9He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." ^10He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds. ^11The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. ^12When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. ^13He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. ^14I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth, ^15but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age. ^16In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full." ^17It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ^18In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: ^19the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ^20the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ^21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 16 ^1Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. ^2Sarai said to Abram, "See now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my handmaid. It may be that I will obtain children by her." Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ^3Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. ^4He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. ^5Sarai said to Abram, "This wrong is your fault. I gave my handmaid into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. Yahweh judge between me and you." ^6But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes." Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face. ^7The angel of Yahweh found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. ^8He said, "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, where did you come from? Where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai." ^9The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands." ^10The angel of Yahweh said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude." ^11The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. ^12He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers." ^13She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees," for she said, "Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?" ^14Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. [4] Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. ^15Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ^16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. __________________________________________________________________ [4] Beer Lahai Roi means "well of the one who lives and sees me." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 17 ^1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless. ^2I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." ^3Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, ^4"As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. ^5Neither will your name any more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ^6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. ^7I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you. ^8I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God." ^9God said to Abraham, "As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. ^10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. ^11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you. ^12He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed. ^13He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ^14The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant." ^15God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. ^16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her." ^17Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?" ^18Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!" ^19God said, "No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. [5] I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. ^20As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ^21But my covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year." ^22When he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. ^23Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money; every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as God had said to him. ^24Abraham was ninety-nine years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ^25Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ^26In the same day both Abraham and Ishmael, his son, were circumcised. ^27All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money of a foreigner, were circumcised with him. __________________________________________________________________ [5] Isaac means "he laughs." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 18 ^1Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. ^2He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, ^3and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don't go away from your servant. ^4Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ^5I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant." They said, "Very well, do as you have said." ^6Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly make ready three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes." ^7Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it. ^8He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate. ^9They said to him, "Where is Sarah, your wife? He said, "See, in the tent." ^10He said, "I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. ^11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. It had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. ^12Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" ^13Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?' ^14Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son." ^15Then Sarah denied, saying, "I didn't laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh." ^16The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. ^17Yahweh said, "Will I hide from Abraham what I do, ^18seeing that Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? ^19For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him." ^20Yahweh said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, ^21I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know." ^22The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh. ^23Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? ^24What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? ^25Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?" ^26Yahweh said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake." ^27Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes. ^28What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?" He said, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there." ^29He spoke to him yet again, and said, "What if there are forty found there?" He said, "I will not do it for the forty's sake." ^30He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?" He said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." ^31He said, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake." ^32He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake." ^33Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 19 ^1The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth, ^2and he said, "See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you will rise up early, and go on your way." They said, "No, but we will stay in the street all night." ^3He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ^4But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. ^5They called to Lot, and said to him, "Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them." ^6Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him. ^7He said, "Please, my brothers, don't act so wickedly. ^8See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don't do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof." ^9They said, "Stand back!" They said, "This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now will we deal worse with you, than with them!" They pressed hard on the man Lot, and drew near to break the door. ^10But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. ^11They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door. ^12The men said to Lot, "Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring them out of the place: ^13for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before Yahweh that Yahweh has sent us to destroy it." ^14Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, "Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. ^15When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, "Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city." ^16But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife's hand, and his two daughters' hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city. ^17It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, "Escape for your life! Don't look behind you, and don't stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!" ^18Lot said to them, "Oh, not so, my lord. ^19See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can't escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. ^20See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn't it a little one?), and my soul will live." ^21He said to him, "Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. ^22Hurry, escape there, for I can't do anything until you get there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. [6] ^23The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ^24Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky. ^25He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. ^26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. ^27Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. ^28He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. ^29It happened, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. ^30Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. ^31The firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. ^32Come, let's make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed." ^33They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn't know when she lay down, nor when she arose. ^34It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, "Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed." ^35They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn't know when she lay down, nor when she got up. ^36Thus both of Lot's daughters were with child by their father. ^37The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. ^38The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day. __________________________________________________________________ [6] Zoar means "little." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 20 ^1Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar. ^2Abraham said about Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. ^3But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken. For she is a man's wife." ^4Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, "Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation? ^5Didn't he tell me, She is my sister?' She, even she herself, said, He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands have I done this." ^6God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn't allow you to touch her. ^7Now therefore, restore the man's wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don't restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours." ^8Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. ^9Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!" ^10Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you see, that you have done this thing?" ^11Abraham said, "Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife's sake.' ^12Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ^13It happened, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, "He is my brother."'" ^14Abimelech took sheep and oxen, male servants and womale servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. ^15Abimelech said, "Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you." ^16To Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated." ^17Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. ^18For Yahweh had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 21 ^1Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken. ^2Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ^3Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. [7] ^4Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ^5Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him. ^6Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me." ^7She said, "Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age." ^8The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ^9Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. ^10Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this handmaid and her son! For the son of this handmaid will not be heir with my son, Isaac." ^11The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son. ^12God said to Abraham, "Don't let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your handmaid. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For from Isaac will your seed be called. ^13I will also make a nation of the son of the handmaid, because he is your seed." ^14Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. ^15The water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. ^16She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, "Don't let me see the death of the child." She sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. ^17God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Don't be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ^18Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand. For I will make him a great nation." ^19God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the bottle with water, and gave the boy drink. ^20God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer. ^21He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt. ^22It happened at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in all that you do. ^23Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner." ^24Abraham said, "I will swear." ^25Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. ^26Abimelech said, "I don't know who has done this thing. Neither did you tell me, neither did I hear of it, until today." ^27Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant. ^28Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. ^29Abimelech said to Abraham, "What do these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves mean?" ^30He said, "You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well." ^31Therefore he called that place Beersheba, [8] because they both swore there. ^32So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. ^33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God. ^34Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days. __________________________________________________________________ [7] Isaac means "He laughs." [8] Beersheba can mean "well of the oath" or "well of seven." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 22 ^1It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" He said, "Here I am." ^2He said, "Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of." ^3Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him. ^4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off. ^5Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you. ^6Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together. ^7Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, "My father?" He said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" ^8Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they both went together. ^9They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood. ^10Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to kill his son. ^11The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" He said, "Here I am." ^12He said, "Don't lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." ^13Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. ^14Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide [9] . As it is said to this day, "On Yahweh's mountain, it will be provided. ^15The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky, ^16and said, "I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, ^17that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. ^18In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." ^19So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba. ^20It happened after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, "Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ^21Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ^22Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel." ^23Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. ^24His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah. __________________________________________________________________ [9] or, Yahweh-Jireh, or, Yahweh-Seeing __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 23 ^1Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah's life. ^2Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. ^3Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Heth, saying, ^4"I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight." ^5The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ^6"Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead." ^7Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. ^8He talked with them, saying, "If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, ^9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying-place." ^10Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, ^11"No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead." ^12Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. ^13He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, "But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there." ^14Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ^15"My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead." ^16Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants' standard. ^17So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded ^18to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. ^19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. ^20The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 24 ^1Abraham was old, and well stricken in age. Yahweh had blessed Abraham in all things. ^2Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please put your hand under my thigh. ^3I will make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live. ^4But you shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac." ^5The servant said to him, "What if the woman isn't willing to follow me to this land? Must I bring your son again to the land you came from?" ^6Abraham said to him, "Beware that you don't bring my son there again. ^7Yahweh, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, I will give this land to your seed [10] .' He will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ^8If the woman isn't willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this my oath. Only you shall not bring my son there again." ^9The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. ^10The servant took ten camels, of his master's camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master's with him. He arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. ^11He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water. ^12He said, "Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. ^13Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. The daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ^14Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, Please let down your pitcher, that I may drink,' and she will say, Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink,'"let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master." ^15It happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder. ^16The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin, neither had any man known her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up. ^17The servant ran to meet her, and said, "Please give me a drink, a little water from your pitcher." ^18She said, "Drink, my lord." She hurried, and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him drink. ^19When she had done giving him drink, she said, "I will also draw for your camels, until they have done drinking." ^20She hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw, and drew for all his camels. ^21The man looked steadfastly at her, remaining silent, to know whether Yahweh had made his journey prosperous or not. ^22It happened, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, ^23and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father's house for us to lodge in?" ^24She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor." ^25She said moreover to him, "We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in." ^26The man bowed his head, and worshiped Yahweh. ^27He said, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth toward my master. As for me, Yahweh has led me in the way to the house of my master's relatives." ^28The young lady ran, and told her mother's house about these words. ^29Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban. Laban ran out to the man, to the spring. ^30It happened, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, "This is what the man said to me," that he came to the man. Behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ^31He said, "Come in, you blessed of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels." ^32The man came into the house, and he unloaded the camels. He gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ^33Food was set before him to eat, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told my message." He said, "Speak on." ^34He said, "I am Abraham's servant. ^35Yahweh has blessed my master greatly. He has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ^36Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master when she was old. He has given all that he has to him. ^37My master made me swear, saying, You shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, ^38but you shall go to my father's house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.' ^39I said to my master, What if the woman will not follow me?' ^40He said to me, Yahweh, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you, and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son of my relatives, and of my father's house. ^41Then will you be clear from my oath, when you come to my relatives. If they don't give her to you, you shall be clear from my oath.' ^42I came this day to the spring, and said, Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, if now you do prosper my way which I go" ^43behold, I am standing by this spring of water. Let it happen, that the maiden who comes forth to draw, to whom I will say, "Give me, I pray you, a little water from your pitcher to drink," ^44and she will tell me, "Drink, and I will also draw for your camels,""let her be the woman whom Yahweh has appointed for my master's son.' ^45Before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder. She went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, Please let me drink.' ^46She hurried and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.' So I drank, and she made the camels drink also. ^47I asked her, and said, Whose daughter are you?' She said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands. ^48I bowed my head, and worshiped Yahweh, and blessed Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter for his son. ^49Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left." ^50Then Laban and Bethuel answered, "The thing proceeds from Yahweh. We can't speak to you bad or good. ^51Behold, Rebekah is before you. Take her, and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as Yahweh has spoken." ^52It happened that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth to Yahweh. ^53The servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and her mother. ^54They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. They rose up in the morning, and he said, "Send me away to my master." ^55Her brother and her mother said, "Let the young lady stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she will go." ^56He said to them, "Don't hinder me, seeing Yahweh has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master." ^57They said, "We will call the young lady, and ask her." ^58They called Rebekah, and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" She said, "I will go." ^59They sent away Rebekah, their sister, with her nurse, Abraham's servant, and his men. ^60They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, "Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of those who hate them." ^61Rebekah arose with her ladies. They rode on the camels, and followed the man. The servant took Rebekah, and went his way. ^62Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he lived in the land of the South. ^63Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the evening. He lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were camels coming. ^64Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel. ^65She said to the servant, "Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." She took her veil, and covered herself. ^66The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ^67Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. He loved her. Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. __________________________________________________________________ [10] or, offspring __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 25 ^1Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. ^2She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ^3Jokshan became the father of Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ^4The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. ^5Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac, ^6but to the sons of Abraham's concubines, Abraham gave gifts. He sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, to the east country. ^7These are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived: one hundred seventy-five years. ^8Abraham gave up the spirit, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people. ^9Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre, ^10the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife. ^11It happened after the death of Abraham that God blessed Isaac, his son. Isaac lived by Beer Lahai Roi. ^12Now this is the history of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore to Abraham. ^13These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to the order of their birth: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ^14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ^15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ^16These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments: twelve princes, according to their nations. ^17These are the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred thirty-seven years. He gave up the spirit and died, and was gathered to his people. ^18They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives. ^19This is the history of the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham became the father of Isaac. ^20Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife. ^21Isaac entreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ^22The children struggled together within her. She said, "If it be so, why do I live?" She went to inquire of Yahweh. ^23Yahweh said to her, Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples will be separated from your body. The one people will be stronger than the other people. The elder will serve the younger. ^24When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ^25The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau. ^26After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau's heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. ^27The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. ^28Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob. ^29Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. ^30Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom. ^31Jacob said, "First, sell me your birthright." ^32Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?" ^33Jacob said, "Swear to me first." He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob. ^34Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 26 ^1There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar. ^2Yahweh appeared to him, and said, "Don't go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about. ^3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For to you, and to your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ^4I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and will give to your seed all these lands. In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, ^5because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." ^6Isaac lived in Gerar. ^7The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say, "My wife," lest, he thought, "the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at." ^8It happened, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife. ^9Abimelech called Isaac, and said, "Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, She is my sister?'" Isaac said to him, "Because I said, Lest I die because of her.'" ^10Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!" ^11Abimelech charged all the people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death." ^12Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh blessed him. ^13The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great. ^14He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him. ^15Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth. ^16Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go from us, for you are much mightier than we." ^17Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there. ^18Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them. ^19Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. ^20The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. ^21They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called the name of it Sitnah. ^22He left that place, and dug another well. They didn't argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, "For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land." ^23He went up from there to Beersheba. ^24Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father. Don't be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my servant Abraham's sake." ^25He built an altar there, and called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac's servants dug a well. ^26Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army. ^27Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?" ^28They said, "We saw plainly that Yahweh was with you. We said, Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you, ^29that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.' You are now the blessed of Yahweh." ^30He made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ^31They rose up some time in the morning, and swore one to another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. ^32It happened the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water." ^33He called it Shibah. [11] Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba [12] to this day. ^34When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. ^35They grieved Isaac's and Rebekah's spirits. __________________________________________________________________ [11] Shibah means "oath" or "seven." [12] Beersheba means "well of the oath" or "well of the seven" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 27 ^1It happened, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, "My son?" He said to him, "Here I am." ^2He said, "See now, I am old. I don't know the day of my death. ^3Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison. ^4Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die." ^5Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. ^6Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ^7Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death.' ^8Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. ^9Go now to the flock, and get me from there two good kids of the goats. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves. ^10You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death." ^11Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. ^12What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing." ^13His mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me." ^14He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved. ^15Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son. ^16She put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck. ^17She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. ^18He came to his father, and said, "My father?" He said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?" ^19Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me." ^20Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He said, "Because Yahweh your God gave me success." ^21Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not." ^22Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." ^23He didn't recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau's hands. So he blessed him. ^24He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He said, "I am." ^25He said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless you." He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank. ^26His father Isaac said to him, "Come near now, and kiss me, my son." ^27He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, "Behold, the smell of my son Is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed. ^28God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine. ^29Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers; Let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you; Blessed be everyone who blesses you." ^30It happened, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ^31He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, "Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that your soul may bless me." ^32Isaac his father said to him, "Who are you?" He said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau." ^33Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed." ^34When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, my father." ^35He said, "Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing." ^36He said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing." He said, "Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?" ^37Isaac answered Esau, "Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants. With grain and new wine have I sustained him. What then will I do for you, my son?" ^38Esau said to his father, "Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father." Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. ^39Isaac his father answered him, "Behold, of the fatness of the earth will be your dwelling, and of the dew of the sky from above. ^40By your sword will you live, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, That you shall shake his yoke from off your neck." ^41Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob." ^42The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. ^43Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran. ^44Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury turns away; ^45until your brother's anger turn away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?" ^46Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 28 ^1Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, "You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. ^2Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. ^3May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples, ^4and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you, and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land where you travel, which God gave to Abraham." ^5Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Paddan Aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, Rebekah's brother, Jacob's and Esau's mother. ^6Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram, to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, "You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan," ^7and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan Aram. ^8Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan didn't please Isaac, his father. ^9Esau went to Ishmael, and took, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife. ^10Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. ^11He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. ^12He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. ^13Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, "I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed. ^14Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed. ^15Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you." ^16Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, "Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I didn't know it." ^17He was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is this place! This is none other than God's house, and this is the gate of heaven." ^18Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. ^19He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ^20Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, ^21so that I come again to my father's house in peace, and Yahweh will be my God, ^22then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God's house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give the tenth to you." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 29 ^1Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. ^2He looked, and behold, a well in the field, and, behold, three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well's mouth was large. ^3There all the flocks were gathered. They rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the well's mouth in its place. ^4Jacob said to them, "My relatives, where are you from?" They said, "We are from Haran." ^5He said to them, "Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?" They said, "We know him." ^6He said to them, "Is it well with him?" They said, "It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep." ^7He said, "Behold, it is still the middle of the day, not time to gather the livestock together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them." ^8They said, "We can't, until all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well's mouth. Then we water the sheep." ^9While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she kept them. ^10It happened, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. ^11Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. ^12Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son. She ran and told her father. ^13It happened, when Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister's son, that he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things. ^14Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh. He lived with him for a month. ^15Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?" ^16Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ^17Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and attractive. ^18Jacob loved Rachel. He said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter." ^19Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me." ^20Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her. ^21Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her." ^22Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. ^23It happened in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him. He went in to her. ^24Laban gave Zilpah his handmaid to his daughter Leah for a handmaid. ^25It happened in the morning that, behold, it was Leah. He said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Didn't I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?" ^26Laban said, "It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn. ^27Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me yet seven other years." ^28Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife. ^29Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah, his handmaid, to be her handmaid. ^30He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. ^31Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ^32Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, "Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction. For now my husband will love me." ^33She conceived again, and bare a son, and said, "Because Yahweh has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also." She named him Simeon. ^34She conceived again, and bare a son. Said, "Now this time will my husband be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons." Therefore was his name called Levi. ^35She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, "This time will I praise Yahweh." Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 30 ^1When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I will die." ^2Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in God's place, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" ^3She said, "Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her." ^4She gave him Bilhah her handmaid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. ^5Bilhah conceived, and bore Jacob a son. ^6Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son." Therefore called she his name Dan. ^7Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, conceived again, and bore Jacob a second son. ^8Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed." She named him Naphtali. ^9When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ^10Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, bore Jacob a son. ^11Leah said, "How fortunate!" She named him Gad. ^12Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, bore Jacob a second son. ^13Leah said, "Happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy." She named him Asher. ^14Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes." ^15She said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes, also?" Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes." ^16Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, "You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." He lay with her that night. ^17God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son. ^18Leah said, "God has given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband." She named him Issachar. ^19Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ^20Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons." She named him Zebulun. ^21Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah. ^22God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb. ^23She conceived, bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach." ^24She named him Joseph, [13] saying, "May Yahweh add another son to me." ^25It happened, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country. ^26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you." ^27Laban said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that Yahweh has blessed me for your sake." ^28He said, "Appoint me your wages, and I will give it." ^29He said to him, "You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me. ^30For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?" ^31He said, "What shall I give you?" Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it. ^32I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This will be my hire. ^33So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be counted stolen." ^34Laban said, "Behold, I desire it to be according to your word." ^35That day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. ^36He set three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks. ^37Jacob took to himself rods of fresh poplar, almond, plane tree, peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. ^38He set the rods which he had peeled opposite the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink. They conceived when they came to drink. ^39The flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. ^40Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the black in the flock of Laban: and he put his own droves apart, and didn't put them into Laban's flock. ^41It happened, whenever the stronger of the flock conceived, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods; ^42but when the flock were feeble, he didn't put them in. So the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. ^43The man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys. __________________________________________________________________ [13] Joseph means "may he add." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 31 ^1He heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's. From that which was our father's, has he gotten all this wealth." ^2Jacob saw the expression on Laban's face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. ^3Yahweh said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you." ^4Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock, ^5and said to them, "I see the expression on your father's face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. ^6You know that I have served your father with all of my strength. ^7Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn't allow him to hurt me. ^8If he said this, The speckled will be your wages,' then all the flock bore speckled. If he said this, The streaked will be your wages,' then all the flock bore streaked. ^9Thus God has taken away your father's livestock, and given them to me. ^10It happened during mating season that I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which leaped on the flock were streaked, speckled, and grizzled. ^11The angel of God said to me in the dream, Jacob,' and I said, Here I am.' ^12He said, Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have seen all that Laban does to you. ^13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth." ^14Rachel and Leah answered him, "Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? ^15Aren't we accounted by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also quite devoured our money. ^16For all the riches which God has taken away from our father, that is ours and our children's. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do." ^17Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives on the camels, ^18and he took away all his livestock, and all his possessions which he had gathered, including the livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan. ^19Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the teraphim [14] that were her father's. ^20Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he didn't tell him that he was running away. ^21So he fled with all that he had. He rose up, passed over the River, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead. ^22Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. ^23He took his relatives with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey. He overtook him in the mountain of Gilead. ^24God came to Laban, the Syrian, in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Take heed to yourself that you don't speak to Jacob either good or bad." ^25Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain, and Laban with his relatives encamped in the mountain of Gilead. ^26Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword? ^27Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn't tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp; ^28and didn't allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now have you done foolishly. ^29It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, Take heed to yourself that you don't speak to Jacob either good or bad.' ^30Now, you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father's house, but why have you stolen my gods?" ^31Jacob answered Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I said, Lest you should take your daughters from me by force.' ^32Anyone you find your gods with shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it." For Jacob didn't know that Rachel had stolen them. ^33Laban went into Jacob's tent, into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two female servants; but he didn't find them. He went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent. ^34Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt about all the tent, but didn't find them. ^35She said to her father, "Don't let my lord be angry that I can't rise up before you; for the manner of women is on me." He searched, but didn't find the teraphim. ^36Jacob was angry, and argued with Laban. Jacob answered Laban, "What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me? ^37Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two. ^38These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven't eaten the rams of your flocks. ^39That which was torn of animals, I didn't bring to you. I bore the loss of it. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ^40This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes. ^41These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. ^42Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night." ^43Laban answered Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine: and what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne? ^44Now come, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be for a witness between me and you." ^45Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. ^46Jacob said to his relatives, "Gather stones." They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there by the heap. ^47Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, [15] but Jacob called it Galeed. [16] ^48Laban said, "This heap is witness between me and you this day." Therefore it was named Galeed ^49and Mizpah, for he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you, when we are absent one from another. ^50If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, no man is with us; behold, God is witness between me and you." ^51Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap, and see the pillar, which I have set between me and you. ^52May this heap be a witness, and the pillar be a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. ^53The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." Then Jacob swore by the fear of his father, Isaac. ^54Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain. ^55Early in the morning, Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Laban departed and returned to his place. __________________________________________________________________ [14] teraphim were household idols that may have been associated with inheritance rights to the household property. [15] "Jegar Sahadutha" means "Witness Heap" in Aramaic. [16] "Galeed" means "Witness Heap" in Hebrew. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 32 ^1Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ^2When he saw them, Jacob said, "This is God's army." He called the name of that place Mahanaim. ^3Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. ^4He commanded them, saying, "This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now. ^5I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.'" ^6The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau. Not only that, but he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him." ^7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies; ^8and he said, "If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape." ^9Jacob said, "God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,' ^10I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. ^11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and strike me, and the mothers with the children. ^12You said, I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which can't be numbered because there are so many.'" ^13He lodged there that night, and took from that which he had with him, a present for Esau, his brother: ^14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ^15thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. ^16He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd." ^17He commanded the foremost, saying, "When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?' ^18Then you shall say, They are your servant, Jacob's. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.'" ^19He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, "This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him. ^20You shall say, Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.'" For, he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me." ^21So the present passed over before him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp. ^22He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok. ^23He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. ^24Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. ^25When he saw that he didn't prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled. ^26The man said, "Let me go, for the day breaks." Jacob said, "I won't let you go, unless you bless me." ^27He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob." ^28He said, "Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed." ^29Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." He said, "Why is it that you ask what my name is?" He blessed him there. ^30Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [17] : for, he said, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." ^31The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh. ^32Therefore the children of Israel don't eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip. __________________________________________________________________ [17] Peniel means "face of God." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 33 ^1Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. He divided the children between Leah, Rachel, and the two handmaids. ^2He put the handmaids and their children in front, Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear. ^3He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. ^4Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept. ^5He lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, "Who are these with you?" He said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant." ^6Then the handmaids came near with their children, and they bowed themselves. ^7Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves. After them, Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed themselves. ^8Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company which I met?" Jacob said, "To find favor in the sight of my lord." ^9Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; let that which you have be yours." ^10Jacob said, "Please, no, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, because I have seen your face, as one sees the face of God, and you were pleased with me. ^11Please take the gift that I brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." He urged him, and he took it. ^12Esau said, "Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before you." ^13Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young, and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die. ^14Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the livestock that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir." ^15Esau said, "Let me now leave with you some of the folk who are with me." He said, "Why? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord." ^16So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ^17Jacob traveled to Succoth, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. [18] ^18Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan Aram; and encamped before the city. ^19He bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money. ^20He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel. [19] __________________________________________________________________ [18] succoth means shelters or booths. [19] El Elohe Israel means "God, the God of Israel" or "The God of Israel is mighty." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 34 ^1Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. ^2Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her. ^3His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady. ^4Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, "Get me this young lady as a wife." ^5Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came. ^6Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him. ^7The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; a which thing ought not to be done. ^8Hamor talked with them, saying, "The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. ^9Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ^10You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it." ^11Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give. ^12Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife." ^13The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, and spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister, ^14and said to them, "We can't do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us. ^15Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised; ^16then will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. ^17But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our sister, [20] and we will be gone." ^18Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son. ^19The young man didn't wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was honored above all the house of his father. ^20Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying, ^21"These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. ^22Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. ^23Won't their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let us give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us." ^24All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. ^25It happened on the third day, when they were sore, that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males. ^26They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away. ^27Jacob's sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. ^28They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field, ^29and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house. ^30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house." ^31They said, "Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?" __________________________________________________________________ [20] Hebrew has, literally, "daughter" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 35 ^1God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother." ^2Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change your garments. ^3Let us arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went." ^4They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. ^5They traveled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn't pursue the sons of Jacob. ^6So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ^7He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother. ^8Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and the name of it was called Allon Bacuth. ^9God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him. ^10God said to him, "Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel." He named him Israel. ^11God said to him, "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body. ^12The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your seed after you will I give the land." ^13God went up from him in the place where he spoke with him. ^14Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. ^15Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him "Bethel." ^16They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor. ^17When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for now you will have another son." ^18It happened, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Benoni, [21] but his father named him Benjamin. [22] ^19Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem). ^20Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel's grave to this day. ^21Israel traveled, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder. ^22It happened, while Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. ^23The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ^24The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ^25The sons of Bilhah (Rachel's handmaid): Dan and Naphtali. ^26The sons of Zilpah (Leah's handmaid): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram. ^27Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners. ^28The days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years. ^29Isaac gave up the spirit, and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him. __________________________________________________________________ [21] "Benoni" means "son of my trouble." [22] "Benjamin" means "son of my right hand." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 36 ^1Now this is the history of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). ^2Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon, the Hittite; and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite; ^3and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebaioth. ^4Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz. Basemath bore Reuel. ^5Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan. ^6Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his livestock, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and went into a land away from his brother Jacob. ^7For their substance was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their travels couldn't bear them because of their livestock. ^8Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom. ^9This is the history of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir: ^10these are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; and Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. ^11The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz. ^12Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau's son; and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife. ^13These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. ^14These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. ^15These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, ^16chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek: these are the chiefs who came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. ^17These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah: these are the chiefs who came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. ^18These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah: these are the chiefs who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. ^19These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs. ^20These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ^21Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs who came of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom. ^22The children of Lotan were Hori and Heman. Lotan's sister was Timna. ^23These are the children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. ^24These are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father. ^25These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ^26These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ^27These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. ^28These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ^29These are the chiefs who came of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, ^30chief Dishon, chief Ezer, and chief Dishan: these are the chiefs who came of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir. ^31These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel. ^32Bela, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah. ^33Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his place. ^34Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. ^35Husham died, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith. ^36Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. ^37Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river, reigned in his place. ^38Shaul died, and Baal Hanan, the son of Achbor reigned in his place. ^39Baal Hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. The name of his city was Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. ^40These are the names of the chiefs who came from Esau, according to their families, after their places, and by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, ^41chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, ^42chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, ^43chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of the Edomites. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 37 ^1Jacob lived in the land of his father's travels, in the land of Canaan. ^2This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father. ^3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. ^4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn't speak peaceably to him. ^5Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. ^6He said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ^7for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf." ^8His brothers said to him, "Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?" They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. ^9He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me." ^10He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?" ^11His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind. ^12His brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. ^13Israel said to Joseph, "Aren't your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." He said to him, "Here I am." ^14He said to him, "Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again." So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ^15A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, "What are you looking for?" ^16He said, "I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock." ^17The man said, "They have left here, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan.'" Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. ^18They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. ^19They said one to another, "Behold, this dreamer comes. ^20Come now therefore, and let's kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil animal has devoured him.' We will see what will become of his dreams." ^21Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, "Let's not take his life." ^22Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him""that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. ^23It happened, when Joseph came to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; ^24and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it. ^25They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. ^26Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ^27Come, and let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh." His brothers listened to him. ^28Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt. ^29Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn't in the pit; and he tore his clothes. ^30He returned to his brothers, and said, "The child is no more; and I, where will I go?" ^31They took Joseph's coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood. ^32They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, "We have found this. Examine it, now, whether it is your son's coat or not." ^33He recognized it, and said, "It is my son's coat. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces." ^34Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ^35All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, "For I will go down to Sheol [23] to my son mourning." His father wept for him. ^36The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard. __________________________________________________________________ [23] Sheol is the place of the dead. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 38 ^1It happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ^2Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her, and went in to her. ^3She conceived, and bore a son; and he named him Er. ^4She conceived again, and bore a son; and she named him Onan. ^5She yet again bore a son, and named him Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bore him. ^6Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ^7Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of Yahweh. Yahweh killed him. ^8Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother." ^9Onan knew that the seed wouldn't be his; and it happened, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. ^10The thing which he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he killed him also. ^11Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house, until Shelah, my son, is grown up;" for he said, "Lest he also die, like his brothers." Tamar went and lived in her father's house. ^12After many days, Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite. ^13It was told Tamar, saying, "Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep." ^14She took off of her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn't given to him as a wife. ^15When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ^16He turned to her by the way, and said, "Please come, let me come in to you," for he didn't know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?" ^17He said, "I will send you a kid of the goats from the flock." She said, "Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?" ^18He said, "What pledge will I give you?" She said, "Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand." He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him. ^19She arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. ^20Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand, but he didn't find her. ^21Then he asked the men of her place, saying, "Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the road?" They said, "There has been no prostitute here." ^22He returned to Judah, and said, "I haven't found her; and also the men of the place said, There has been no prostitute here.'" ^23Judah said, "Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this kid, and you haven't found her." ^24It happened about three months later, that it was told Judah, saying, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute; and moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution." Judah said, "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt." ^25When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, "By the man, whose these are, I am with child." She also said, "Please discern whose are these"the signet, and the cords, and the staff." ^26Judah acknowledged them, and said, "She is more righteous than I, because I didn't give her to Shelah, my son." He knew her again no more. ^27It happened in the time of her travail, that behold, twins were in her womb. ^28When she travailed, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, "This came out first." ^29It happened, as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out, and she said, "Why have you made a breach for yourself?" Therefore his name was called Perez. [24] ^30Afterward his brother came out, that had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah. [25] __________________________________________________________________ [24] Perez means "breaking out." [25] Zerah means "scarlet" or "brightness." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 39 ^1Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there. ^2Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ^3His master saw that Yahweh was with him, and that Yahweh made all that he did prosper in his hand. ^4Joseph found favor in his sight. He ministered to him, and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. ^5It happened from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that Yahweh blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of Yahweh was on all that he had, in the house and in the field. ^6He left all that he had in Joseph's hand. He didn't concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate. Joseph was well-built and handsome. ^7It happened after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph; and she said, "Lie with me." ^8But he refused, and said to his master's wife, "Behold, my master doesn't know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. ^9He isn't greater in this house than I, neither has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" ^10As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he didn't listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. ^11About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. ^12She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside. ^13When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside, ^14she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, "Behold, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. ^15It happened, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and ran outside." ^16She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. ^17She spoke to him according to these words, saying, "The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me, ^18and it happened, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and ran outside." ^19It happened, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, "This is what your servant did to me," that his wrath was kindled. ^20Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody. ^21But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ^22The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it. ^23The keeper of the prison didn't look after anything that was under his hand, because Yahweh was with him; and that which he did, Yahweh made it prosper. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 40 ^1It happened after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ^2Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. ^3He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. ^4The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days. ^5They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison. ^6Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and saw that they were sad. ^7He asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, saying, "Why do you look so sad today?" ^8They said to him, "We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it." Joseph said to them, "Don't interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me." ^9The chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream, behold, a vine was in front of me, ^10and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters of it brought forth ripe grapes. ^11Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand." ^12Joseph said to him, "This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days. ^13Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh's cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cupbearer. ^14But remember me when it will be well with you, and show kindness, please, to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. ^15For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon." ^16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, "I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head. ^17In the uppermost basket there was all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head." ^18Joseph answered, "This is the interpretation of it. The three baskets are three days. ^19Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you, and will hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from off you." ^20It happened the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ^21He restored the chief cupbearer to his position again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand; ^22but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ^23Yet the chief cupbearer didn't remember Joseph, but forgot him. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 41 ^1It happened at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river. ^2Behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass. ^3Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river. ^4The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke. ^5He slept and dreamed a second time: and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good. ^6Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. ^7The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ^8It happened in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt's magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh. ^9Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I remember my faults today. ^10Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker. ^11We dreamed a dream in one night, I and he. We dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. ^12There was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man according to his dream he interpreted. ^13It happened, as he interpreted to us, so it was: he restored me to my office, and he hanged him." ^14Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh. ^15Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." ^16Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It isn't in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace." ^17Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river: ^18and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass, ^19and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness. ^20The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle, ^21and when they had eaten them up, it couldn't be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke. ^22I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good: ^23and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. ^24The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me." ^25Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. ^26The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one. ^27The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine. ^28That is the thing which I spoke to Pharaoh. What God is about to do he has shown to Pharaoh. ^29Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. ^30There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, ^31and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous. ^32The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. ^33Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ^34Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt's produce in the seven plenteous years. ^35Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ^36The food will be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; that the land not perish through the famine." ^37The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. ^38Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?" ^39Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has shown you all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as you. ^40You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne I will be greater than you." ^41Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt." ^42Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck, ^43and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, "Bow the knee!" He set him over all the land of Egypt. ^44Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt." ^45Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-Paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. ^46Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ^47In the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth abundantly. ^48He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, he laid up in the same. ^49Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. ^50To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. ^51Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, [26] "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house." ^52The name of the second, he called Ephraim [27] : "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." ^53The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end. ^54The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ^55When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do." ^56The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ^57All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth. __________________________________________________________________ [26] "Manasseh" sounds like the Hebrew for "forget." [27] "Ephraim" sounds like the Hebrew for "twice fruitful." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 42 ^1Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?" ^2He said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die." ^3Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ^4But Jacob didn't send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers; for he said, "Lest perhaps harm happen to him." ^5The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. ^6Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph's brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. ^7Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, "Where did you come from?" They said, "From the land of Canaan to buy food." ^8Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn't recognize him. ^9Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land." ^10They said to him, "No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ^11We are all one man's sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies." ^12He said to them, "No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land." ^13They said, "We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more." ^14Joseph said to them, "It is like I told you, saying, You are spies.' ^15By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go forth from here, unless your youngest brother comes here. ^16Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies." ^17He put them all together into custody for three days. ^18Joseph said to them the third day, "Do this, and live, for I fear God. ^19If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. ^20Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won't die." They did so. ^21They said one to another, "We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn't listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us." ^22Reuben answered them, saying, "Didn't I tell you, saying, Don't sin against the child,' and you wouldn't listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required." ^23They didn't know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. ^24He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. ^25Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them. ^26They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there. ^27As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ^28He said to his brothers, "My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack!" Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying, "What is this that God has done to us?" ^29They came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying, ^30"The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. ^31We said to him, We are honest men. We are no spies. ^32We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.' ^33The man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way. ^34Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.'" ^35It happened as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. ^36Jacob, their father, said to them, "You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me." ^37Reuben spoke to his father, saying, "Kill my two sons, if I don't bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again." ^38He said, "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 43 ^1The famine was severe in the land. ^2It happened, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little more food." ^3Judah spoke to him, saying, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.' ^4If you'll send our brother with us, we'll go down and buy you food, ^5but if you'll not send him, we'll not go down, for the man said to us, You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.'" ^6Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?" ^7They said, "The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, Bring your brother down?'" ^8Judah said to Israel, his father, "Send the boy with me, and we'll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones. ^9I'll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don't bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever, ^10for if we hadn't delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now." ^11Their father, Israel, said to them, "If it must be so, then do this. Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; ^12and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. ^13Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man. ^14May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved." ^15The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. ^16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and make ready; for the men will dine with me at noon." ^17The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph's house. ^18The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, "Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time, we're brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and sieze us as slaves, along with our donkeys." ^19They came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, ^20and said, "Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food. ^21When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand. ^22We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don't know who put our money in our sacks." ^23He said, "Peace be to you. Don't be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money." He brought Simeon out to them. ^24The man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. ^25They made ready the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there. ^26When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to him to the earth. ^27He asked them of their welfare, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?" ^28They said, "Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive." They bowed the head, and did homage. ^29He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?" He said, "God be gracious to you, my son." ^30Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there. ^31He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, "Serve the meal." ^32They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians, that ate with him, by themselves, because the Egyptians don't eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. ^33They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one with another. ^34He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 44 ^1He commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth. ^2Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, with his grain money." He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. ^3As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. ^4When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, Why have you rewarded evil for good? ^5Isn't this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.'" ^6He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them. ^7They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! ^8Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord's house? ^9With whoever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondservants." ^10He said, "Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found will be my bondservant; and you will be blameless." ^11Then they hurried, and every man took his sack down to the ground, and every man opened his sack. ^12He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack. ^13Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city. ^14Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him. ^15Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have done? Don't you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?" ^16Judah said, "What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord's bondservants, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found." ^17He said, "Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my bondservant; but as for you, go up in peace to your father." ^18Then Judah came near to him, and said, "Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and don't let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. ^19My lord asked his servants, saying, Have you a father, or a brother?' ^20We said to my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.' ^21You said to your servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.' ^22We said to my lord, The boy can't leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.' ^23You said to your servants, Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.' ^24It happened when we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ^25Our father said, Go again, buy us a little food.' ^26We said, We can't go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man's face, unless our youngest brother is with us.' ^27Your servant, my father, said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons: ^28and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces;" and I haven't seen him since. ^29If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.' ^30Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the boy's life; ^31it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol. ^32For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, If I don't bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.' ^33Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, a bondservant to my lord; and let the boy go up with his brothers. ^34For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn't with me?"lest I see the evil that will come on my father." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 45 ^1Then Joseph couldn't control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me!" No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ^2He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. ^3Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Does my father still live?" His brothers couldn't answer him; for they were terrified at his presence. ^4Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." They came near. "He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ^5Now don't be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. ^6For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ^7God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. ^8So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ^9Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, This is what your son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don't wait. ^10You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children's children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ^11There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have."' ^12Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ^13You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here." ^14He fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. ^15He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him. ^16The report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brothers have come." It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. ^17Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, Do this. Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan. ^18Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.' ^19Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. ^20Also, don't concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all of the land of Egypt is yours." ^21The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. ^22He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. ^23To his father, he sent after this manner: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way. ^24So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, "See that you don't quarrel on the way." ^25They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. ^26They told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." His heart fainted, for he didn't believe them. ^27They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. ^28Israel said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 46 ^1Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. ^2God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob!" He said, "Here I am." ^3He said, "I am God, the God of your father. Don't be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation. ^4I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes." ^5Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ^6They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt"Jacob, and all his seed with him, ^7his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and he brought all his seed with him into Egypt. ^8These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn. ^9The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ^10The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. ^11The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ^12The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ^13The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. ^14The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ^15These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three. ^16The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. ^17The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. ^18These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls. ^19The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin. ^20To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. ^21The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. ^22These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. ^23The son of Dan: Hushim. ^24The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. ^25These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were seven. ^26All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct descendants, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were sixty-six. ^27The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy. ^28He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. ^29Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. ^30Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive." ^31Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father's house, "I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, My brothers, and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ^32These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.' ^33It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, What is your occupation?' ^34that you shall say, Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:' that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 47 ^1Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen." ^2From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. ^3Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" They said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers." ^4They said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen." ^5Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you. ^6The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock." ^7Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ^8Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the days of the years of your life?" ^9Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." ^10Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. ^11Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. ^12Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father's household, with bread, according to their families. ^13There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. ^14Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. ^15When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, "Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails." ^16Joseph said, "Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone." ^17They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year. ^18When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands. ^19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won't be desolate." ^20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh's. ^21As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it. ^22Only he didn't buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn't sell their land. ^23Then Joseph said to the people, "Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. ^24It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones." ^25They said, "You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants." ^26Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn't become Pharaoh's. ^27Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly. ^28Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years. ^29The time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don't bury me in Egypt, ^30but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place." He said, "I will do as you have said." ^31He said, "Swear to me," and he swore to him. Israel bowed himself on the bed's head. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 48 ^1It happened after these things, that someone said to Joseph, "Behold, your father is sick." He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ^2Someone told Jacob, and said, "Behold, your son Joseph comes to you," and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed. ^3Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, ^4and said to me, Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession.' ^5Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine. ^6Your issue, who you become the father of after them, will be yours. They will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ^7As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem)." ^8Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, "Who are these?" ^9Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." He said, "Please bring them to me, and I will bless them." ^10Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn't see. He brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. ^11Israel said to Joseph, "I didn't think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your seed also." ^12Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. ^13Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near to him. ^14Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. ^15He blessed Joseph, and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, ^16the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." ^17When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. ^18Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head." ^19His father refused, and said, "I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations." ^20He blessed them that day, saying, "In you will Israel bless, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh'" He set Ephraim before Manasseh. ^21Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers. ^22Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 49 ^1Jacob called to his sons, and said: "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come. ^2Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob; Listen to Israel, your father. ^3"Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; Excelling in dignity, and excelling in power. ^4Boiling over as water, you shall not excell; Because you went up to your father's bed; Then defiled it. He went up to my couch. ^5"Simeon and Levi are brothers; Weapons of violence are their swords. ^6My soul, don't come into their council; My glory, don't be united to their assembly; For in their anger they killed men, In their self-will they hamstrung oxen. ^7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; And their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, Scatter them in Israel. ^8"Judah, your brothers will praise you: Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's sons will bow down before you. ^9Judah is a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, As a lioness. Who will rouse him up? ^10The scepter will not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be. ^11Binding his foal to the vine, His donkey's colt to the choice vine; He has washed his garments in wine, His robes in the blood of grapes: ^12His eyes will be red with wine, His teeth white with milk. ^13"Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea. He will be for a haven of ships. His border will be on Sidon. ^14"Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between the saddlebags. ^15He saw a resting place, that it was good, The land, that it was pleasant; He bows his shoulder to the burden, And becomes a servant doing forced labor. ^16"Dan will judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. ^17Dan will be a serpent in the way, An adder in the path, That bites the horse's heels, So that his rider falls backward. ^18I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh. ^19"Gad, a troop will press on him; But he will press on their heel. ^20Out of Asher his bread will be fat, He will yield royal dainties. ^21"Naphtali is a doe set free, Who bears beautiful fawns. ^22"Joseph is a fruitful vine, A fruitful vine by a spring; His branches run over the wall. ^23The archers have sorely grieved him, Shot at him, and persecute him: ^24But his bow abode in strength, The arms of his hands were made strong, By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel), ^25Even by the God of your father, who will help you, By the Almighty, who will bless you, With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies below, Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. ^26The blessings of your father Have prevailed above the blessings of your ancestors, Above the boundaries of the ancient hills. They will be on the head of Joseph, On the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers. ^27"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the spoil." ^28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his blessing. ^29He charged them, and said to them, "I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ^30in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. ^31There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah: ^32the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth." ^33When Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 50 ^1Joseph fell on his father's face, wept on him, and kissed him. ^2Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. ^3Forty days were fulfilled for him, for that is how many the days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for him for seventy days. ^4When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ^5My father made me swear, saying, "Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan." Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.'" ^6Pharaoh said, "Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear." ^7Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt, ^8all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. ^9There went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. ^10They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days. ^11When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, "This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians." Therefore, the name of it was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. ^12His sons did to him just as he commanded them, ^13for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. ^14Joseph returned into Egypt"he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. ^15When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him. ^16They sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father commanded before he died, saying, ^17"So you shall tell Joseph, Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.' Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ^18His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we are your servants." ^19Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid, for am I in the place of God? ^20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive. ^21Now therefore don't be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones." He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them. ^22Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father's house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years. ^23Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph's knees. ^24Joseph said to his brothers, "I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." ^25Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here." ^26So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Exodus __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 1 ^1Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob): ^2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ^3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ^4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ^5All the souls who came out of Jacob's body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already. ^6Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation. ^7The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. ^8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn't know Joseph. ^9He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. ^10Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies, and fight against us, and escape out of the land." ^11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. ^12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel. ^13The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve, ^14and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve. ^15The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, ^16and he said, "When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live." ^17But the midwives feared God, and didn't do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive. ^18The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and have saved the boys alive?" ^19The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them." ^20God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. ^21It happened, because the midwives feared God, that he gave them families. ^22Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, "You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 ^1A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife. ^2The woman conceived, and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. ^3When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. ^4His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him. ^5Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to get it. ^6She opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." ^7Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?" ^8Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." The maiden went and called the child's mother. ^9Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." The woman took the child, and nursed it. ^10The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, [28] and said, "Because I drew him out of the water." ^11It happened in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers, and looked at their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. ^12He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. ^13He went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, "Why do you strike your fellow?" ^14He said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?" Moses was afraid, and said, "Surely this thing is known." ^15Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. ^16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ^17The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. ^18When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, "How is it that you have returned so early today?" ^19They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock." ^20He said to his daughters, "Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." ^21Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter. ^22She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, [29] for he said, "I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land." ^23It happened in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. ^24God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ^25God saw the children of Israel, and God was concerned about them. __________________________________________________________________ [28] "Moses" sounds like the Hebrew for "draw out". [29] "Gershom" sounds like the Hebrew for "an alien there." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 ^1Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God's mountain, to Horeb. ^2The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. ^3Moses said, "I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." ^4When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Here I am." ^5He said, "Don't come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground." ^6Moreover he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God. ^7Yahweh said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ^8I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ^9Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ^10Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." ^11Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" ^12He said, "Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." ^13Moses said to God, "Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you;' and they ask me, What is his name?' What should I tell them?" ^14God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," and he said, "You shall tell the children of Israel this: "I AM has sent me to you." ^15God said moreover to Moses, "You shall tell the children of Israel this, Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. ^16Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt; ^17and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey."' ^18They will listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.' ^19I know that the king of Egypt won't give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. ^20I will put forth my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst of it, and after that he will let you go. ^21I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. ^22But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall despoil the Egyptians. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 ^1Moses answered, "But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, Yahweh has not appeared to you.'" ^2Yahweh said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." ^3He said, "Throw it on the ground." He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it. ^4Yahweh said to Moses, "Put forth your hand, and take it by the tail." He put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand. ^5"That they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." ^6Yahweh said furthermore to him, "Now put your hand inside your cloak." He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. ^7He said, "Put your hand inside your cloak again." He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh. ^8"It will happen, if they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. ^9It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land." ^10Moses said to Yahweh, "Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." ^11Yahweh said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh? ^12Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak." ^13He said, "Oh, Lord, please send someone else." ^14The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Moses, and he said, "What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he comes forth to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ^15You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. ^16He will be your spokesman to the people; and it will happen, that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God. ^17You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs." ^18Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive." Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." ^19Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead." ^20Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God's rod in his hand. ^21Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. ^22You shall tell Pharaoh, Thus says Yahweh, Israel is my son, my firstborn, ^23and I have said to you, "Let my son go, that he may serve me;" and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.'" ^24It happened on the way at a lodging place, that Yahweh met him and wanted to kill him. ^25Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me." ^26So he let him alone. Then she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision. ^27Yahweh said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." He went, and met him on God's mountain, and kissed him. ^28Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had charged him. ^29Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. ^30Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. ^31The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 ^1Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, "This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'" ^2Pharaoh said, "Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don't know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go." ^3They said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword." ^4The king of Egypt said to them, "Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!" ^5Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens." ^6The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, ^7"You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ^8The number of the bricks, which they made before, you require from them. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' ^9Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor therein; and don't let them pay any attention to lying words." ^10The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, This is what Pharaoh says: "I will not give you straw. ^11Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished." ^12So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ^13The taskmasters were urgent saying, "Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!" ^14The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, "Why haven't you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?" ^15Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you deal this way with your servants? ^16No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, Make brick!' and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people." ^17But he said, "You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.' ^18Go therefore now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet shall you deliver the same number of bricks!" ^19The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, "You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!" ^20They met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: ^21and they said to them, "May Yahweh look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us." ^22Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? ^23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people; neither have you delivered your people at all." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6 ^1Yahweh said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land." ^2God spoke to Moses, and said to him, "I am Yahweh; ^3and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. ^4I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens. ^5Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. ^6Therefore tell the children of Israel, I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: ^7and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ^8I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.'" ^9Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn't listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. ^10Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^11"Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land." ^12Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, "Behold, the children of Israel haven't listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?" ^13Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. ^14These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ^15The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. ^16These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years. ^17The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ^18The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years. ^19The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ^20Amram took Jochebed his father's sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years. ^21The sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. ^22The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. ^23Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ^24The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. ^25Eleazar Aaron's son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites according to their families. ^26These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Yahweh said, "Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies." ^27These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron. ^28It happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ^29that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you." ^30Moses said before Yahweh, "Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7 ^1Yahweh said to Moses, "Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. ^2You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. ^3I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. ^4But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring forth my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. ^5The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch forth my hand on Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them." ^6Moses and Aaron did so. As Yahweh commanded them, so they did. ^7Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh. ^8Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^9"When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Perform a miracle!' then you shall tell Aaron, Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent.'" ^10Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. ^11Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their enchantments. ^12For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. ^13Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken. ^14Yahweh said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. ^15Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he goes out to the water; and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. ^16You shall tell him, Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness:" and behold, until now you haven't listened. ^17Thus says Yahweh, "In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold, I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. ^18The fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall become foul; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink water from the river."'" ^19Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'" ^20Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ^21The fish that were in the river died; and the river became foul, and the Egyptians couldn't drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt. ^22The magicians of Egypt did in like manner with their enchantments; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken. ^23Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he lay even this to heart. ^24All the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink; for they couldn't drink of the water of the river. ^25Seven days were fulfilled, after Yahweh had struck the river. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 8 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, "This is what Yahweh says, Let my people go, that they may serve me. ^2If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs: ^3and the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs: ^4and the frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.'" ^5Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, Stretch forth your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.'" ^6Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. ^7The magicians did in like manner with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt. ^8Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, "Entreat Yahweh, that he take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh." ^9Moses said to Pharaoh, "I give you the honor of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only." ^10He said, "Tomorrow." He said, "Be it according to your word, that you may know that there is none like Yahweh our God. ^11The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only." ^12Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to Yahweh concerning the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh. ^13Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. ^14They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ^15But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn't listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. ^16Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.'" ^17They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. ^18The magicians tried with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they couldn't. There were lice on man, and on animal. ^19Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God:" and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken. ^20Yahweh said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes forth to the water; and tell him, This is what Yahweh says, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. ^21Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. ^22I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the earth. ^23I will put a division between my people and your people: by tomorrow shall this sign be."'" ^24Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. ^25Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!" ^26Moses said, "It isn't appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Yahweh our God. Behold, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and won't they stone us? ^27We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he shall command us." ^28Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me." ^29Moses said, "Behold, I go out from you, and I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don't let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh." ^30Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. ^31Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. ^32Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he didn't let the people go. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 9 ^1Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, that they may serve me. ^2For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still, ^3behold, the hand of Yahweh is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence. ^4Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belongs to the children of Israel."'" ^5Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, "Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land." ^6Yahweh did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. ^7Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn't let the people go. ^8Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, "Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. ^9It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt." ^10They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became a boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal. ^11The magicians couldn't stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians, and on all the Egyptians. ^12Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn't listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses. ^13Yahweh said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, that they may serve me. ^14For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. ^15For now I would have put forth my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth; ^16but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth; ^17as you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won't let them go. ^18Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. ^19Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. Every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn't brought home, the hail shall come down on them, and they shall die."'" ^20Those who feared the word of Yahweh among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses. ^21Whoever didn't regard the word of Yahweh left his servants and his livestock in the field. ^22Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch forth your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt." ^23Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt. ^24So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ^25The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. ^26Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail. ^27Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. ^28Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer." ^29Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh's. ^30But as for you and your servants, I know that you don't yet fear Yahweh God." ^31The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom. ^32But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up. ^33Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. ^34When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. ^35The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn't let the children of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken through Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 10 ^1Yahweh said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs in the midst of them, ^2and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son's son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh." ^3Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, "This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. ^4Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, ^5and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won't be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. ^6Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.'" He turned, and went out from Pharaoh. ^7Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don't you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?" ^8Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go, serve Yahweh your God; but who are those who will go?" ^9Moses said, "We will go with our young and with our old; with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast to Yahweh." ^10He said to them, "Yahweh be with you if I will let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces. ^11Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire!" They were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. ^12Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left." ^13Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ^14The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. ^15For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt. ^16Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, "I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you. ^17Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that he may also take away from me this death." ^18He went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. ^19Yahweh turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt. ^20But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he didn't let the children of Israel go. ^21Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt." ^22Moses stretched forth his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. ^23They didn't see one another, neither did anyone rise from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. ^24Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, "Go, serve Yahweh. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you." ^25Moses said, "You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God. ^26Our livestock also shall go with us. There shall not a hoof be left behind, for of it we must take to serve Yahweh our God; and we don't know with what we must serve Yahweh, until we come there." ^27But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he wouldn't let them go. ^28Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!" ^29Moses said, "You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 11 ^1Yahweh said to Moses, "Yet one plague more will I bring on Pharaoh, and on Egypt; afterwards he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will surely thrust you out altogether. ^2Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold." ^3Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people. ^4Moses said, "This is what Yahweh says: About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt, ^5and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of livestock. ^6There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been, nor shall be any more. ^7But against any of the children of Israel a dog won't even bark or move its tongue, against man or animal; that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel. ^8All these your servants shall come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, Get out, and all the people who follow you; and after that I will go out.'" He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. ^9Yahweh said to Moses, "Pharaoh won't listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt." ^10Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he didn't let the children of Israel go out of his land. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ^2"This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. ^3Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household; ^4and if the household be too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. ^5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: ^6and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening. ^7They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it. ^8They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. ^9Don't eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts. ^10You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. ^11This is how you shall eat it: with your waist girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh's Passover. ^12For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh. ^13The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. ^14This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. ^15Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. ^16In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. ^17You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever. ^18In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening. ^19Seven days shall there be no yeast found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a foreigner, or one who is born in the land. ^20You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.'" ^21Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, "Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover. ^22You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. ^23For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two doorposts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. ^24You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. ^25It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as he has promised, that you shall keep this service. ^26It will happen, when your children ask you, What do you mean by this service?' ^27that you shall say, It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.'" The people bowed their heads and worshiped. ^28The children of Israel went and did so; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. ^29It happened at midnight, that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of livestock. ^30Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. ^31He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, "Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said! ^32Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!" ^33The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, "We are all dead men." ^34The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. ^35The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing. ^36Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They despoiled the Egyptians. ^37The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, besides children. ^38A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock. ^39They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it wasn't leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn't wait, neither had they prepared for themselves any food. ^40Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. ^41It happened at the end of four hundred thirty years, even the same day it happened, that all the armies of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt. ^42It is a night to be much observed to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of Yahweh, to be much observed of all the children of Israel throughout their generations. ^43Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover. There shall no foreigner eat of it, ^44but every man's servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it. ^45A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it. ^46In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth anything of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone of it. ^47All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ^48When a stranger shall live as a foreigner with you, and will keep the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ^49One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you." ^50Thus did all the children of Israel. As Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. ^51It happened the same day, that Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Sanctify to me all of the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine." ^3Moses said to the people, "Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. ^4This day you go forth in the month Abib. ^5It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. ^6Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. ^7Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you, neither shall there be yeast seen with you, in all your borders. ^8You shall tell your son in that day, saying, It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.' ^9It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt. ^10You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. ^11"It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it you, ^12that you shall set apart to Yahweh all that opens the womb, and every firstborn which you have that comes from an animal. The males shall be Yahweh's. ^13Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of man among your sons. ^14It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What is this?' that you shall tell him, By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage; ^15and it happened, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of animal. Therefore I sacrifice to Yahweh all that opens the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.' ^16It shall be for a sign on your hand, and for symbols between your eyes: for by strength of hand Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt." ^17It happened, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God didn't lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt;" ^18but God led the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt. ^19Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you." ^20They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. ^21Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night: ^22the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn't depart from before the people. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 14 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea. ^3Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.' ^4I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh." They did so. ^5It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" ^6He made ready his chariot, and took his army with him; ^7and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them. ^8Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; for the children of Israel went out with a high hand. ^9The Egyptians pursued after them: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon. ^10When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh. ^11They said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us forth out of Egypt? ^12Isn't this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness." ^13Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again. ^14Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still." ^15Yahweh said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. ^16Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. ^17I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen. ^18The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen." ^19The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. ^20It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one didn't come near the other all the night. ^21Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. ^22The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. ^23The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea: all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ^24It happened in the morning watch, that Yahweh looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army. ^25He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, "Let's flee from the face of Israel, for Yahweh fights for them against the Egyptians!" ^26Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen." ^27Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. ^28The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh's army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them. ^29But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. ^30Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ^31Israel saw the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh, and in his servant Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 15 ^1Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, "I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. ^2Yah is my strength and song, He has become my salvation: This is my God, and I will praise him; My father's God, and I will exalt him. ^3Yahweh is a man of war. Yahweh is his name. ^4He has cast Pharaoh's chariots and his army into the sea; His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea. ^5The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone. ^6Your right hand, Yahweh, is glorious in power, Your right hand, Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces. ^7In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you: You send forth your wrath. It consumes them as stubble. ^8With the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. ^9The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.' ^10You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. ^11Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders? ^12You stretched out your right hand. The earth swallowed them. ^13"You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation. ^14The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia. ^15Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away. ^16Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone; Until your people pass over, Yahweh, Until the people pass over who you have purchased. ^17You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, The place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell in; The sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established. ^18Yahweh shall reign forever and ever." ^19For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and Yahweh brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. ^20Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances. ^21Miriam answered them, "Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea." ^22Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. ^23When they came to Marah, they couldn't drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. [30] ^24The people murmured against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" ^25Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them; ^26and he said, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you." ^27They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters. __________________________________________________________________ [30] Marah means bitter. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 16 ^1They took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. ^2The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; ^3and the children of Israel said to them, "We wish that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger." ^4Then said Yahweh to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law, or not. ^5It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." ^6Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, "At evening, then you shall know that Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt; ^7and in the morning, then you shall see the glory of Yahweh; because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?" ^8Moses said, "Now Yahweh shall give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you; because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh." ^9Moses said to Aaron, "Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before Yahweh, for he has heard your murmurings.'" ^10It happened, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud. ^11Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^12"I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.'" ^13It happened at evening that quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp. ^14When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground. ^15When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, "What is it?" For they didn't know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat." ^16This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: "Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, shall you take it, every man for those who are in his tent." ^17The children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less. ^18When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating. ^19Moses said to them, "Let no one leave of it until the morning." ^20Notwithstanding they didn't listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them. ^21They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted. ^22It happened that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. ^23He said to them, "This is that which Yahweh has spoken, Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning." ^24They laid it up until the morning, as Moses asked, and it didn't become foul, neither was there any worm in it. ^25Moses said, "Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you shall not find it in the field. ^26Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none." ^27It happened on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. ^28Yahweh said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ^29Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day." ^30So the people rested on the seventh day. ^31The house of Israel called the name of it Manna, [31] and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. ^32Moses said, "This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt." ^33Moses said to Aaron, "Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before Yahweh, to be kept throughout your generations." ^34As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. ^35The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. ^36Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah. __________________________________________________________________ [31] "Manna" means "What is it?" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 17 ^1All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, by their journeys, according to Yahweh's commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. ^2Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?" ^3The people were thirsty for water there; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?" ^4Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, "What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." ^5Yahweh said to Moses, "Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. ^6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. ^7He called the name of the place Massah, [32] and Meribah, [33] because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, "Is Yahweh among us, or not?" ^8Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. ^9Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God's rod in my hand." ^10So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ^11It happened, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. ^12But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset. ^13Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. ^14Yahweh said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky." ^15Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Yahweh our Banner. [34] ^16He said, "Yah has sworn: Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.'" __________________________________________________________________ [32] Massah means testing. [33] Meribah means quarreling. [34] Hebrew, Yahweh Nissi __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 18 ^1Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how that Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. ^2Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, received Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her away, ^3and her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom, [35] for Moses said, "I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land". ^4The name of the other was Eliezer, [36] for he said, "My father's God was my help and delivered me from Pharaoh's sword." ^5Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the Mountain of God. ^6He said to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, have come to you with your wife, and her two sons with her. ^7Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent. ^8Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how Yahweh delivered them. ^9Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. ^10Jethro said, "Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ^11Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the thing in which they dealt arrogantly against them." ^12Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron came with all of the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God. ^13It happened on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from the morning to the evening. ^14When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, "What is this thing that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning to evening?" ^15Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God. ^16When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws." ^17Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you do is not good. ^18You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it yourself alone. ^19Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God. ^20You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. ^21Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ^22Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you. ^23If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all of these people also will go to their place in peace." ^24So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. ^25Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ^26They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard causes to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. ^27Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land. __________________________________________________________________ [35] "Gershom" sounds like the Hebrew for "an alien there." [36] Eliezer means "God is my helper." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 19 ^1In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on that same day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. ^2When they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain. ^3Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him out of the mountain, saying, "This is what you shall tell the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ^4You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself. ^5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; ^6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel." ^7Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which Yahweh commanded him. ^8All the people answered together, and said, "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do." Moses reported the words of the people to Yahweh. ^9Yahweh said to Moses, "Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever." Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. ^10Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, ^11and be ready against the third day; for on the third day Yahweh will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai. ^12You shall set bounds to the people round about, saying, Be careful that you don't go up onto the mountain, or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain shall be surely put to death. ^13No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether it is animal or man, he shall not live.' When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come up to the mountain." ^14Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. ^15He said to the people, "Be ready by the third day. Don't have sexual relations with a woman." ^16It happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. ^17Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain. ^18Mount Sinai, the whole of it, smoked, because Yahweh descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. ^19When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. ^20Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. ^21Yahweh said to Moses, "Go down, charge the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to gaze, and many of them perish. ^22Let the priests also, who come near to Yahweh, sanctify themselves, lest Yahweh break forth on them." ^23Moses said to Yahweh, "The people can't come up to Mount Sinai, for you charged us, saying, Set bounds around the mountain, and sanctify it.'" ^24Yahweh said to him, "Go down and you shall bring Aaron up with you, but don't let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he break forth on them." ^25So Moses went down to the people, and told them. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 20 ^1God [37] spoke all these words, saying, ^2"I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ^3You shall have no other gods before me. ^4"You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: ^5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, ^6and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. ^7"You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. ^8"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9You shall labor six days, and do all your work, ^10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; ^11for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy. ^12"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ^13"You shall not murder. ^14"You shall not commit adultery. ^15"You shall not steal. ^16"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. ^17"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." ^18All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance. ^19They said to Moses, "Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don't let God speak with us, lest we die." ^20Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won't sin." ^21The people stayed at a distance, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. ^22Yahweh said to Moses, "This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. ^23You shall most certainly not make alongside of me gods of silver, or gods of gold for yourselves. ^24You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you. ^25If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it. ^26Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.' __________________________________________________________________ [37] After "God," the Hebrew has the two letters "Aleph Tav" (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet), not as a word, but as a grammatical marker. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 21 ^1"Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them. ^2If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. ^3If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him. ^4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. ^5But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;' ^6then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever. ^7"If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. ^8If she doesn't please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, seeing he has dealt deceitfully with her. ^9If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. ^10If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights. ^11If he doesn't do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money. ^12"One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death, ^13but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen: then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee. ^14If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. ^15"Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. ^16"Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. ^17"Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. ^18"If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn't die, but is confined to bed; ^19if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed. ^20"If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. ^21Notwithstanding, if he gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his property. ^22"If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman's husband demands and the judges allow. ^23But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, ^24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ^25burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise. ^26"If a man strikes his servant's eye, or his maid's eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. ^27If he strikes out his male servant's tooth, or his female servant's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake. ^28"If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible. ^29But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and it has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death. ^30If a ransom is laid on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid on him. ^31Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. ^32If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned. ^33"If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn't cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it, ^34the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his. ^35"If one man's bull injures another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal. ^36Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 22 ^1"If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it, or sells it; he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. ^2If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him. ^3If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt of bloodshed for him; he shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. ^4If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double. ^5"If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten, and lets his animal loose, and it grazes in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field, and from the best of his own vineyard. ^6"If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution. ^7"If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man's house; if the thief is found, he shall pay double. ^8If the thief isn't found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out if he hasn't put his hand to his neighbor's goods. ^9For every matter of trespass, whether it be for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind of lost thing, about which one says, This is mine,' the cause of both parties shall come before God. He whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor. ^10"If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it; ^11the oath of Yahweh shall be between them both, whether he hasn't put his hand to his neighbor's goods; and the owner of it shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. ^12But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it. ^13If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn. ^14"If a man borrows anything of his neighbor's, and it is injured, or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make restitution. ^15If the owner of it is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease. ^16"If a man entices a virgin who isn't pledged to be married, and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife. ^17If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. ^18"You shall not allow a sorceress to live. ^19"Whoever has sex with an animal shall surely be put to death. ^20"He who sacrifices to any god, except to Yahweh only, shall be utterly destroyed. ^21"You shall not wrong an alien, neither shall you oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. ^22"You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child. ^23If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry; ^24and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. ^25"If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor; neither shall you charge him interest. ^26If you take your neighbor's garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, ^27for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious. ^28"You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people. ^29"You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. "You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me. ^30You shall do likewise with your oxen and with your sheep. Seven days it shall be with its mother, then on the eighth day you shall give it me. ^31"You shall be holy men to me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by animals in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 23 ^1"You shall not spread a false report. Don't join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. ^2You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; neither shall you testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice; ^3neither shall you favor a poor man in his cause. ^4"If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. ^5If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don't leave him, you shall surely help him with it. ^6"You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. ^7"Keep far from a false charge, and don't kill the innocent and righteous: for I will not justify the wicked. ^8You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous. ^9"You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, seeing you were aliens in the land of Egypt. ^10"For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, ^11but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove. ^12"Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the alien may be refreshed. ^13"Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don't invoke the name of other gods, neither let them be heard out of your mouth. ^14"You shall observe a feast to me three times a year. ^15You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out from Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty. ^16And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field: and the feast of harvest, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. ^17Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh. ^18"You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, neither shall the fat of my feast remain all night until the morning. ^19The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of Yahweh your God. "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. ^20"Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. ^21Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don't provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. ^22But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. ^23For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. ^24You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. ^25You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from your midst. ^26No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. ^27I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. ^28I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. ^29I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. ^30Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. ^31I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. ^32You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. ^33They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 24 ^1He said to Moses, "Come up to Yahweh, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship from a distance. ^2Moses alone shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near, neither shall the people go up with him." ^3Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahweh, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, "All the words which Yahweh has spoken will we do." ^4Moses wrote all the words of Yahweh, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. ^5He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to Yahweh. ^6Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ^7He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, "All that Yahweh has spoken will we do, and be obedient." ^8Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, "Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words." ^9Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. ^10They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire [38] stone, like the skies for clearness. ^11He didn't lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank. ^12Yahweh said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the tables of stone with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them." ^13Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God's Mountain. ^14He said to the elders, "Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them." ^15Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ^16The glory of Yahweh settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. ^17The appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. ^18Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. __________________________________________________________________ [38] or, lapis lazuli __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 25 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take my offering. ^3This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, brass, ^4blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair, ^5rams' skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, ^6oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, ^7onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. ^8Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. ^9According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tent, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it. ^10"They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. ^11You shall overlay it with pure gold. Inside and outside shall you overlay it, and shall make a gold molding around it. ^12You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. ^13You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ^14You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. ^15The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it. ^16You shall put the testimony which I shall give you into the ark. ^17You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. ^18You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. ^19Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim on its two ends of one piece with the mercy seat. ^20The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. ^21You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. ^22There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel. ^23"You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth, and one and a half cubits its height. ^24You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. ^25You shall make a rim of a handbreadth around it. You shall make a golden molding on its rim around it. ^26You shall make four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet. ^27the rings shall be close to the rim, for places for the poles to carry the table. ^28You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them. ^29You shall make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls to pour out offerings with. Of pure gold shall you make them. ^30You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me always. ^31"You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. Of hammered work shall the lampstand be made, even its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers, shall be of one piece with it. ^32There shall be six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of its one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of its other side; ^33three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower; and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower, so for the six branches going out of the lampstand; ^34and in the lampstand four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; ^35and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the lampstand. ^36Their buds and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it one beaten work of pure gold. ^37You shall make its lamps seven, and they shall light its lamps to give light to the space in front of it. ^38Its snuffers and its snuff dishes shall be of pure gold. ^39It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these accessories. ^40See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 26 ^1"Moreover you shall make the tent with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman you shall make them. ^2The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits: all the curtains shall have one measure. ^3Five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and the other five curtains shall be coupled one to another. ^4You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling; and likewise shall you make in the edge of the curtain that is outmost in the second coupling. ^5You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that is in the second coupling. The loops shall be opposite one to another. ^6You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to another with the clasps: and the tent shall be a unit. ^7"You shall make curtains of goats' hair for a covering over the tent: eleven curtains shall you make them. ^8The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits: the eleven curtains shall have one measure. ^9You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shall double over the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tent. ^10You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is outmost in the second coupling. ^11You shall make fifty clasps of brass, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. ^12The overhanging part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tent. ^13The cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, of that which remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tent on this side and on that side, to cover it. ^14You shall make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above. ^15"You shall make the boards for the tent of acacia wood, standing up. ^16Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and one and a half cubits the breadth of each board. ^17There shall be two tenons in each board, joined to one another: thus shall you make for all the boards of the tent. ^18You shall make the boards for the tent, twenty boards for the south side southward. ^19You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. ^20For the second side of the tent, on the north side, twenty boards, ^21and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. ^22For the far part of the tent westward you shall make six boards. ^23Two boards shall you make for the corners of the tent in the far part. ^24They shall be double beneath, and in like manner they shall be entire to the top of it to one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. ^25There shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. ^26"You shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tent, ^27and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tent, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tent, for the far part westward. ^28The middle bar in the midst of the boards shall pass through from end to end. ^29You shall overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and you shall overlay the bars with gold. ^30You shall set up the tent according to the way that it was shown to you on the mountain. ^31"You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman shall it be made. ^32You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. ^33You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil: and the veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you. ^34You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. ^35You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand over against the table on the side of the tent toward the south: and you shall put the table on the north side. ^36"You shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer. ^37You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold: their hooks shall be of gold: and you shall cast five sockets of brass for them. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 27 ^1"You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and its height shall be three cubits. ^2You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it; and you shall overlay it with brass. ^3You shall make its pots to take away its ashes, its shovels, its basins, its flesh hooks, and its fire pans: all its vessels you shall make of brass. ^4You shall make a grating for it of network of brass: and on the net you shall make four brazen rings in its four corners. ^5You shall put it under the ledge around the altar beneath, that the net may reach halfway up the altar. ^6You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with brass. ^7Its poles shall be put into the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar, when carrying it. ^8Hollow with planks shall you make it: as it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it. ^9"You shall make the court of the tent: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side: ^10and the pillars of it shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. ^11Likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and the pillars of it twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. ^12For the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. ^13The breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. ^14The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. ^15For the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. ^16For the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four. ^17All the pillars of the court round about shall be filleted with silver; their hooks of silver, and their sockets of brass. ^18The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits, of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass. ^19All the instruments of the tent in all its service, and all the pins of it, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass. ^20"You shall command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. ^21In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 28 ^1"Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. ^2You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. ^3You shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest's office. ^4These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest's office. ^5They shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen. ^6"They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skillful workman. ^7It shall have two shoulder straps joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together. ^8The skillfully woven band, which is on it, that is on him, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. ^9You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel: ^10six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, in the order of their birth. ^11With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shall you engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel: you shall make them to be enclosed in settings of gold. ^12You shall put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for a memorial. ^13You shall make settings of gold, ^14and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them like cords of braided work: and you shall put the braided chains on the settings. ^15"You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, shall you make it. ^16It shall be square and folded double; a span [39] shall be its length of it, and a span its breadth. ^17You shall set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and beryl shall be the first row; ^18and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire [40] , and an emerald; ^19and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ^20and the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be enclosed in gold in their settings. ^21The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes. ^22You shall make on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. ^23You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ^24You shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. ^25The other two ends of the two braided chains you shall put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the forepart of it. ^26You shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which is toward the side of the ephod inward. ^27You shall make two rings of gold, and shall put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in the forepart of it, close by the coupling of it, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ^28They shall bind the breastplate by the rings of it to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not swing out from the ephod. ^29Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before Yahweh continually. ^30You shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron's heart, when he goes in before Yahweh: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before Yahweh continually. ^31"You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. ^32It shall have a hole for the head in the midst of it: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn. ^33On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, around its hem; and bells of gold between them round about: ^34a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe round about. ^35It shall be on Aaron to minister: and the sound of it shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Yahweh, and when he comes out, that he not die. ^36"You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLY TO YAHWEH.' ^37You shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be on the sash; on the front of the sash it shall be. ^38It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh. ^39You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer. ^40"You shall make coats for Aaron's sons, and you shall make sashes for them and headbands shall you make for them, for glory and for beauty. ^41You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office. ^42You shall make them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness; from the waist even to the thighs they shall reach: ^43They shall be on Aaron, and on his sons, when they go in to the tent of meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place; that they don't bear iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute forever to him and to his descendants after him. __________________________________________________________________ [39] A span is the length from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger when the hand is stretched out (about 9 inches or 22.8 cm.) [40] or, lapis lazuli __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 29 ^1"This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the priest's office: take one young bull and two rams without blemish, ^2unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil: you shall make them of fine wheat flour. ^3You shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams. ^4You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water. ^5You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and dress him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; ^6and you shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. ^7Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him. ^8You shall bring his sons, and put coats on them. ^9You shall dress them with belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them: and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute: and you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons. ^10"You shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting: and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. ^11You shall kill the bull before Yahweh, at the door of the tent of meeting. ^12You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. ^13You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ^14But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp: it is a sin offering. ^15"You shall also take the one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ^16You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar. ^17You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head. ^18You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^19"You shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ^20Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood on the altar round about. ^21You shall take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him. ^22Also you shall take some of the ram's fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), ^23and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh. ^24You shall put all of this in Aaron's hands, and in his sons' hands, and shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ^25You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a sweet savor before Yahweh: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^26"You shall take the breast of Aaron's ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh: and it shall be your portion. ^27You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: ^28and it shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a wave offering: and it shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to Yahweh. ^29"The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them. ^30Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place. ^31"You shall take the ram of consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place. ^32Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting. ^33They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are holy. ^34If anything of the flesh of the consecration, or of the bread, remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy. ^35"Thus shall you do to Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Seven days shall you consecrate them. ^36Every day shall you offer the bull of sin offering for atonement: and you shall cleanse the altar, when you make atonement for it; and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it. ^37Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it: and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall be holy. ^38"Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. ^39The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at evening: ^40and with the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. ^41The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning, and according to its drink offering, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^42It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you. ^43There I will meet with the children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory. ^44I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar: Aaron also and his sons I will sanctify, to minister to me in the priest's office. ^45I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. ^46They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them: I am Yahweh their God. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 30 ^1"You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood. ^2Its length shall be a cubit, and its breadth a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. ^3You shall overlay it with pure gold, the top of it, the sides of it around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it. ^4You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it. ^5You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ^6You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. ^7Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it. ^8When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations. ^9You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it. ^10Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh." ^11Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^12"When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are numbered among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you number them; that there be no plague among them when you number them. ^13They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; (the shekel is twenty gerahs;) half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh. ^14Everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh. ^15The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls. ^16You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls." ^17Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^18"You shall also make a basin of brass, and the base of it of brass, in which to wash. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. ^19Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it. ^20When they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^21So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations." ^22Moreover Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^23"Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty; ^24and of cassia five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil. ^25You shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil. ^26You shall use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, ^27the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, ^28the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base. ^29You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. ^30You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office. ^31You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. ^32It shall not be poured on man's flesh, neither shall you make any like it, according to its composition: it is holy. It shall be holy to you. ^33Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.'" ^34Yahweh said to Moses, "Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be an equal weight; ^35and you shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy: ^36and you shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy. ^37The incense which you shall make, according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh. ^38Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 31 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: ^3and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, ^4to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, ^5and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship. ^6I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: ^7the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent, ^8the table and its vessels, the pure lampstand with all its vessels, the altar of incense, ^9the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base, ^10the finely worked garments"the holy garments for Aaron the priest"the garments of his sons to minister in the priest's office, ^11the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do." ^12Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^13"Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, Most assuredly you shall keep my Sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. ^14You shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ^15Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. ^16Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. ^17It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.'" ^18He gave to Moses, when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with God's finger. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 32 ^1When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him." ^2Aaron said to them, "Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me." ^3All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. ^4He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt." ^5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh." ^6They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. ^7Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! ^8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'" ^9Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. ^10Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation." ^11Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, "Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ^12Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, He brought them forth for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?' Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. ^13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.'" ^14Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people. ^15Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. ^16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tables. ^17When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is the noise of war in the camp." ^18He said, "It isn't the voice of those who shout for victory, neither is it the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear." ^19It happened, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain. ^20He took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. ^21Moses said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?" ^22Aaron said, "Don't let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. ^23For they said to me, Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him.' ^24I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let them take it off:' so they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf." ^25When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies), ^26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on Yahweh's side, come to me!" All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. ^27He said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor." ^28The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. ^29Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, yes, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow on you a blessing this day." ^30It happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin." ^31Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. ^32Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin"and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written." ^33Yahweh said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. ^34Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin." ^35Yahweh struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 33 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Depart, go up from here, you and the people that you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, I will give it to your seed.' ^2I will send an angel before you; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: ^3to a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way." ^4When the people heard this evil news, they mourned: and no one put on his jewelry. ^5Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell the children of Israel, You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up into your midst for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do to you." ^6The children of Israel stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward. ^7Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it "The tent of meeting." It happened that everyone who sought Yahweh went out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. ^8It happened that when Moses went out to the Tent, that all the people rose up, and stood, everyone at their tent door, and watched Moses, until he had gone into the Tent. ^9It happened, when Moses entered into the Tent, that the pillar of cloud descended, stood at the door of the Tent, and spoke with Moses. ^10All the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent, and all the people rose up and worshiped, everyone at their tent door. ^11Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn't depart out of the Tent. ^12Moses said to Yahweh, "Behold, you tell me, Bring up this people:' and you haven't let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.' ^13Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight: and consider that this nation is your people." ^14He said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." ^15He said to him, "If your presence doesn't go with me, don't carry us up from here. ^16For how would people know that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn't it in that you go with us, so that we are separated, I and your people, from all the people who are on the surface of the earth?" ^17Yahweh said to Moses, "I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name." ^18He said, "Please show me your glory." ^19He said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." ^20He said, "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live." ^21Yahweh also said, "Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. ^22It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; ^23then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 34 ^1Yahweh said to Moses, "Chisel two stone tablets like the first: and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ^2Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. ^3No one shall come up with you; neither let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mountain." ^4He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets. ^5Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Yahweh. ^6Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, "Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, ^7keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children's children, on the third and on the fourth generation." ^8Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. ^9He said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us; although this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance." ^10He said, "Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among which you are shall see the work of Yahweh; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you. ^11Observe that which I command you this day. Behold, I drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ^12Be careful, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare in the midst of you: ^13but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherim; ^14for you shall worship no other god: for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. ^15Don't make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice; ^16and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods. ^17You shall make no cast idols for yourselves. ^18"You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. ^19All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep. ^20The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb: and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. No one shall appear before me empty. ^21Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. ^22You shall observe the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of harvest at the year's end. ^23Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel. ^24For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh, your God, three times in the year. ^25"You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left to the morning. ^26You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." ^27Yahweh said to Moses, "Write you these words: for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." ^28He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. ^29It happened, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mountain, that Moses didn't know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. ^30When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come near him. ^31Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. ^32Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them all of the commandments that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ^33When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. ^34But when Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Israel that which he was commanded. ^35The children of Israel saw Moses' face, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 35 ^1Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said to them, "These are the words which Yahweh has commanded, that you should do them. ^2Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to Yahweh: whoever does any work in it shall be put to death. ^3You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day.'" ^4Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which Yahweh commanded, saying, ^5Take from among you an offering to Yahweh. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, Yahweh's offering: gold, silver, brass, ^6blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair, ^7rams' skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, ^8oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, ^9onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. ^10"Let every wise-hearted man among you come, and make all that Yahweh has commanded: ^11the tent, its outer covering, its roof, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; ^12the ark, and its poles, the mercy seat, the veil of the screen; ^13the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the show bread; ^14the lampstand also for the light, with its vessels, its lamps, and the oil for the light; ^15and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door, at the door of the tent; ^16the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of brass, it poles, and all its vessels, the basin and its base; ^17the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; ^18the pins of the tent, the pins of the court, and their cords; ^19the finely worked garments, for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office.'" ^20All the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. ^21They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought Yahweh's offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all of its service, and for the holy garments. ^22They came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, earrings, signet rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an offering of gold to Yahweh. ^23Everyone, with whom was found blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair, rams' skins dyed red, and sea cow hides, brought them. ^24Everyone who did offer an offering of silver and brass brought Yahweh's offering; and everyone, with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. ^25All the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen. ^26All the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats' hair. ^27The rulers brought the onyx stones, and the stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastplate; ^28and the spice, and the oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. ^29The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to Yahweh; every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which Yahweh had commanded to be made by Moses. ^30Moses said to the children of Israel, "Behold, Yahweh has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ^31He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; ^32and to make skillful works, to work in gold, in silver, in brass, ^33in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skillful workmanship. ^34He has put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. ^35He has filled them with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any workmanship, and of those who make skillful works. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 36 ^1"Bezalel and Oholiab shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom Yahweh has put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that Yahweh has commanded." ^2Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart Yahweh had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it: ^3and they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, with which to make it. They brought yet to him freewill offerings every morning. ^4All the wise men, who performed all the work of the sanctuary, each came from his work which they did. ^5They spoke to Moses, saying, "The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which Yahweh commanded to make." ^6Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, "Let neither man nor woman make anything else for the offering for the sanctuary." So the people were restrained from bringing. ^7For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much. ^8All the wise-hearted men among those who did the work made the tent with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of the skillful workman, they made them. ^9The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains had one measure. ^10He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled one to another. ^11He made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling. Likewise he made in the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the second coupling. ^12He made fifty loops in the one curtain, and he made fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that was in the second coupling. The loops were opposite one to another. ^13He made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to another with the clasps: so the tent was a unit. ^14He made curtains of goats' hair for a covering over the tent. He made them eleven curtains. ^15The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits the breadth of each curtain. The eleven curtains had one measure. ^16He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. ^17He made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the coupling, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which was outmost in the second coupling. ^18He made fifty clasps of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be a unit. ^19He made a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above. ^20He made the boards for the tent of acacia wood, standing up. ^21Ten cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board. ^22Each board had two tenons, joined one to another. He made all the boards of the tent this way. ^23He made the boards for the tent: twenty boards for the south side southward. ^24He made forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. ^25For the second side of the tent, on the north side, he made twenty boards, ^26and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. ^27For the far part of the tent westward he made six boards. ^28He made two boards for the corners of the tent in the far part. ^29They were double beneath, and in like manner they were all the way to the top of it to one ring. He did thus to both of them in the two corners. ^30There were eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; under every board two sockets. ^31He made bars of acacia wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tent, ^32and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tent, and five bars for the boards of the tent for the hinder part westward. ^33He made the middle bar to pass through in the midst of the boards from the one end to the other. ^34He overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold for places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold. ^35He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful workman. ^36He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold. He cast four sockets of silver for them. ^37He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer; ^38and the five pillars of it with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold, and their five sockets were of brass. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 37 ^1Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. ^2He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold for it round about. ^3He cast four rings of gold for it, in its four feet; even two rings on its one side, and two rings on its other side. ^4He made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. ^5He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. ^6He made a mercy seat of pure gold. Its length was two and a half cubits, and a cubit and a half its breadth. ^7He made two cherubim of gold. He made them of beaten work, at the two ends of the mercy seat; ^8one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. He made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. ^9The cherubim spread out their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat. ^10He made the table of acacia wood. Its length was two cubits, and its breadth was a cubit, and its height was a cubit and a half. ^11He overlaid it with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. ^12He made a border of a handbreadth around it, and made a golden molding on its border around it. ^13He cast four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that were on its four feet. ^14The rings were close by the border, the places for the poles to carry the table. ^15He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table. ^16He made the vessels which were on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its bowls, and its pitchers with which to pour out, of pure gold. ^17He made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of beaten work. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers were of one piece with it. ^18There were six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of its one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of its other side: ^19three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower, and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower: so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. ^20In the lampstand were four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; ^21and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of it. ^22Their buds and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole thing was one beaten work of pure gold. ^23He made its seven lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, of pure gold. ^24He made it of a talent of pure gold, with all its vessels. ^25He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. It was square: its length was a cubit, and its breadth a cubit. Its height was two cubits. Its horns were of one piece with it. ^26He overlaid it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns. He made a gold molding around it. ^27He made two golden rings for it under its molding crown, on its two ribs, on its two sides, for places for poles with which to carry it. ^28He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. ^29He made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, after the art of the perfumer. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 38 ^1He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. It was square. Its length was five cubits, its breadth was five cubits, and its height was three cubits. ^2He made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with brass. ^3He made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its vessels of brass. ^4He made for the altar a grating of a network of brass, under the ledge around it beneath, reaching halfway up. ^5He cast four rings for the four ends of brass grating, to be places for the poles. ^6He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with brass. ^7He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks. ^8He made the basin of brass, and its base of brass, out of the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the tent of meeting. ^9He made the court: for the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, one hundred cubits; ^10their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. ^11For the north side one hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. ^12For the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. ^13For the east side eastward fifty cubits. ^14The hangings for the one side were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three; ^15and so for the other side: on this hand and that hand by the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. ^16All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen. ^17The sockets for the pillars were of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver; and the overlaying of their capitals, of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. ^18The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, like to the hangings of the court. ^19Their pillars were four, and their sockets four, of brass; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals, and their fillets, of silver. ^20All the pins of the tent, and around the court, were of brass. ^21This is the amount of material used for the tent, even the Tent of the Testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. ^22Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that Yahweh commanded Moses. ^23With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen. ^24All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. ^25The silver of those who were numbered of the congregation was one hundred talents, and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: ^26a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed over to those who were numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men. ^27The one hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; one hundred sockets for the one hundred talents, a talent for a socket. ^28Of the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them. ^29The brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand four hundred shekels. ^30With this he made the sockets to the door of the tent of meeting, the brazen altar, the brazen grating for it, all the vessels of the altar, ^31the sockets around the court, the sockets of the gate of the court, all the pins of the tent, and all the pins around the court. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 39 ^1Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely worked garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^2He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. ^3They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, in the purple, in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skillful workman. ^4They made shoulder straps for it, joined together. At the two ends it was joined together. ^5The skillfully woven band that was on it, with which to fasten it on, was of the same piece, like its work; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^6They worked the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold, engraved with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel. ^7He put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^8He made the breastplate, the work of a skillful workman, like the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. ^9It was square. They made the breastplate double. Its length was a span, and its breadth a span, being double. ^10They set in it four rows of stones. A row of ruby, topaz, and beryl was the first row; ^11and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire [41] , and an emerald; ^12and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ^13and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold settings. ^14The stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, for the twelve tribes. ^15They made on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. ^16They made two settings of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ^17They put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. ^18The other two ends of the two braided chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, in the front of it. ^19They made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which was toward the side of the ephod inward. ^20They made two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in the front of it, close by its coupling, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ^21They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not come loose from the ephod, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^22He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. ^23The opening of the robe in the midst of it was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around its opening, that it should not be torn. ^24They made on the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet, and twined linen. ^25They made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates around the skirts of the robe, between the pomegranates; ^26a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, around the skirts of the robe, to minister in, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^27They made the coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, ^28and the turban of fine linen, and the linen headbands of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twined linen, ^29and the sash of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^30They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it a writing, like the engravings of a signet: "HOLY TO YAHWEH." ^31They tied to it a lace of blue, to fasten it on the turban above, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^32Thus all the work of the tent of the tent of meeting was finished. The children of Israel did according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses; so they did. ^33They brought the tent to Moses, the tent, with all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, it bars, its pillars, its sockets, ^34the covering of rams' skins dyed red, the covering of sea cow hides, the veil of the screen, ^35the ark of the testimony with its poles, the mercy seat, ^36the table, all its vessels, the show bread, ^37the pure lampstand, its lamps, even the lamps to be set in order, all its vessels, the oil for the light, ^38the golden altar, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door of the Tent, ^39the brazen altar, its grating of brass, its poles, all of its vessels, the basin and its base, ^40the hangings of the court, its pillars, its sockets, the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, its pins, all the instruments of the service of the tent, for the tent of meeting, ^41the finely worked garments for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office. ^42According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. ^43Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as Yahweh had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them. __________________________________________________________________ [41] or, lapis lazuli __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 40 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"On the first day of the first month you shall raise up the tent of the Tent of Meeting. ^3You shall put the ark of the testimony in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. ^4You shall bring in the table, and set in order the things that are on it. You shall bring in the lampstand, and light the lamps of it. ^5You shall set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the door to the tent. ^6You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tent of the tent of meeting. ^7You shall set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shall put water therein. ^8You shall set up the court around it, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court. ^9You shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tent, and all that is in it, and shall make it holy, and all its furniture: and it will be holy. ^10You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and sanctify the altar: and the altar will be most holy. ^11You shall anoint the basin and its base, and sanctify it. ^12You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water. ^13You shall put on Aaron the holy garments; and you shall anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest's office. ^14You shall bring his sons, and put coats on them. ^15You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to me in the priest's office. Their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations. ^16Thus did Moses: according to all that Yahweh commanded him, so he did. ^17It happened in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tent was raised up. ^18Moses raised up the tent, and laid its sockets, and set up the boards of it, and put in the bars of it, and raised up its pillars. ^19He spread the covering over the tent, and put the roof of the tent above on it, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^20He took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the poles on the ark, and put the mercy seat above on the ark. ^21He brought the ark into the tent, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^22He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the side of the tent northward, outside of the veil. ^23He set the bread in order on it before Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^24He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the side of the tent southward. ^25He lit the lamps before Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^26He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil; ^27and he burnt incense of sweet spices on it, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^28He put up the screen of the door to the tent. ^29He set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tent of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^30He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water therein, with which to wash. ^31Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and their feet there. ^32When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they came near to the altar, they washed, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^33He raised up the court around the tent and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work. ^34Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tent. ^35Moses wasn't able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud stayed on it, and Yahweh's glory filled the tent. ^36When the cloud was taken up from over the tent, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys; ^37but if the cloud wasn't taken up, then they didn't travel until the day that it was taken up. ^38For the cloud of Yahweh was on the tent by day, and there was fire in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Leviticus __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 1 ^1Yahweh called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the Tent of Meeting, saying, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When anyone of you offers an offering to Yahweh, you shall offer your offering of the livestock, from the herd and from the flock. ^3"If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it at the door of the Tent of Meeting, that he may be accepted before Yahweh. ^4He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. ^5He shall kill the bull before Yahweh. Aaron's sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ^6He shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into pieces. ^7The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay wood in order on the fire; ^8and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar; ^9but its innards and its legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall burn the whole on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^10"If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep, or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without blemish. ^11He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before Yahweh. Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ^12He shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. The priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar, ^13but the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^14"If his offering to Yahweh is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall offer his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons. ^15The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar; ^16and he shall take away its crop with its filth, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes. ^17He shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart. The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 ^1"When anyone offers an offering of a meal offering to Yahweh, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it. ^2He shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests; and he shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^3That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'. It is a most holy thing of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. ^4"When you offer an offering of a meal offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. ^5If your offering is a meal offering of the baking pan, it shall be of unleavened fine flour, mixed with oil. ^6You shall cut it in pieces, and pour oil on it. It is a meal offering. ^7If your offering is a meal offering of the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. ^8You shall bring the meal offering that is made of these things to Yahweh: and it shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar. ^9The priest shall take from the meal offering its memorial, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^10That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'. It is a thing most holy of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. ^11"No meal offering, which you shall offer to Yahweh, shall be made with yeast; for you shall burn no yeast, nor any honey, as an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^12As an offering of firstfruits you shall offer them to Yahweh: but they shall not come up for a sweet savor on the altar. ^13Every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt; neither shall you allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your meal offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt. ^14"If you offer a meal offering of first fruits to Yahweh, you shall offer for the meal offering of your first fruits grain in the ear parched with fire, bruised grain of the fresh ear. ^15You shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it: it is a meal offering. ^16The priest shall burn as its memorial, part of its bruised grain, and part of its oil, along with all its frankincense: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 ^1"If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings; if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before Yahweh. ^2He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tent of meeting: and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood on the altar round about. ^3He shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to Yahweh; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, ^4and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. ^5Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^6"If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh is from the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. ^7If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before Yahweh; ^8and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tent of meeting: and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle its blood on the altar round about. ^9He shall offer from the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to Yahweh; its fat, the entire tail fat, he shall take away close to the backbone; and the fat that covers the inwards, and all the fat that is on the inwards, ^10and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. ^11The priest shall burn it on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^12"If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before Yahweh: ^13and he shall lay his hand on its head, and kill it before the tent of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood on the altar round about. ^14He shall offer from it as his offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, ^15and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. ^16The priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a sweet savor; all the fat is Yahweh's. ^17"It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.'" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them: ^3if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin, which he has sinned, a young bull without blemish to Yahweh for a sin offering. ^4He shall bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and kill the bull before Yahweh. ^5The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting. ^6The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh, before the veil of the sanctuary. ^7The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before Yahweh, which is in the tent of meeting; and he shall pour out all of rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ^8He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering off of it; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, ^9and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away, ^10as it is taken off of the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. ^11The bull's skin, all its flesh, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung, ^12even the whole bull shall he carry forth outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. Where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned. ^13"If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and are guilty; ^14when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. ^15The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yahweh; and the bull shall be killed before Yahweh. ^16The anointed priest shall bring of the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting: ^17and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before Yahweh, before the veil. ^18He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before Yahweh, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ^19All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar. ^20Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. ^21He shall carry forth the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly. ^22"When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty; ^23if his sin, in which he has sinned, is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish. ^24He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before Yahweh. It is a sin offering. ^25The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. ^26All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven. ^27"If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and is guilty; ^28if his sin, which he has sinned, is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned. ^29He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. ^30The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ^31All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet savor to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven. ^32"If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. ^33He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. ^34The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ^35All its fat he shall take away, like the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 ^1"If anyone sins, in that he hears the voice of adjuration, he being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he doesn't report it, then he shall bear his iniquity. ^2"Or if anyone touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and it is hidden from him, and he is unclean, then he shall be guilty. ^3"Or if he touches the uncleanness of man, whatever his uncleanness is with which he is unclean, and it is hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty. ^4"Or if anyone swears rashly with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatever it is that a man might utter rashly with an oath, and it is hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty of one of these. ^5It shall be, when he is guilty of one of these, he shall confess that in which he has sinned: ^6and he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh for his sin which he has sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin. ^7"If he can't afford a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to Yahweh; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. ^8He shall bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one which is for the sin offering, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not sever it completely. ^9He shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. ^10He shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has sinned, and he shall be forgiven. ^11"But if he can't afford two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he shall bring his offering for that in which he has sinned, the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, neither shall he put any frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. ^12He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. It is a sin offering. ^13The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned in any of these things, and he will be forgiven; and the rest shall be the priest's, as the meal offering.'" ^14Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^15"If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly, in the holy things of Yahweh; then he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering. ^16He shall make restitution for that which he has done wrong in the holy thing, and shall add a fifth part to it, and give it to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and he will be forgiven. ^17"If anyone sins, and does any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done; though he didn't know it, yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. ^18He shall bring a ram without blemish from of the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning the thing in which he sinned and didn't know it, and he will be forgiven. ^19It is a trespass offering. He is certainly guilty before Yahweh." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against Yahweh, and deals falsely with his neighbor in a matter of deposit, or of bargain, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbor, ^3or has found that which was lost, and dealt falsely therein, and swearing to a lie; in any of all these things that a man does, sinning therein; ^4then it shall be, if he has sinned, and is guilty, he shall restore that which he took by robbery, or the thing which he has gotten by oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing which he found, ^5or any thing about which he has sworn falsely; he shall restore it even in full, and shall add a fifth part more to it. To him to whom it belongs he shall give it, in the day of his being found guilty. ^6He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest. ^7The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh, and he will be forgiven concerning whatever he does to become guilty." ^8Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^9"Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning; and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. ^10The priest shall put on his linen garment, and he shall put on his linen breeches upon his body; and he shall remove the ashes from where the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. ^11He shall take off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. ^12The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning: and he shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. ^13Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out. ^14"This is the law of the meal offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before Yahweh, before the altar. ^15He shall take from there his handful of the fine flour of the meal offering, and of its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the meal offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a sweet savor, as its memorial, to Yahweh. ^16That which is left of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten without yeast in a holy place. They shall eat it in the court of the Tent of Meeting ^17It shall not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy, as the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. ^18Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as their portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Whoever touches them shall be holy.'" ^19Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^20"This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to Yahweh in the day when he is anointed: the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening. ^21It shall be made with oil in a baking pan. When it is soaked, you shall bring it in. You shall offer the meal offering in baked pieces for a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^22The anointed priest that will be in his place from among his sons shall offer it. By a statute forever, it shall be wholly burnt to Yahweh. ^23Every meal offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten." ^24Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^25"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before Yahweh. It is most holy. ^26The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the Tent of Meeting. ^27Whatever shall touch its flesh shall be holy. When there is any of its blood sprinkled on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled in a holy place. ^28But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken; and if it is boiled in a brazen vessel, it shall be scoured, and rinsed in water. ^29Every male among the priests shall eat of it: it is most holy. ^30No sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be eaten: it shall be burned with fire. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7 ^1"This is the law of the trespass offering. It is most holy. ^2In the place where they kill the burnt offering, he shall kill the trespass offering; and its blood he shall sprinkle on the altar round about. ^3He shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards, ^4and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, shall he take away; ^5and the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to Yahweh: it is a trespass offering. ^6Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. ^7"As is the sin offering, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with them shall have it. ^8The priest who offers any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered. ^9Every meal offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is dressed in the frying pan, and on the baking pan, shall be the priest's who offers it. ^10Every meal offering, mixed with oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, one as well as another. ^11"This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to Yahweh. ^12If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mixed with oil. ^13With cakes of leavened bread he shall offer his offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving. ^14Of it he shall offer one out of each offering for a heave offering to Yahweh. It shall be the priest's who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings. ^15The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. ^16"But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice; and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten: ^17but what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. ^18If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats any of it will bear his iniquity. ^19"The flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. As for the flesh, everyone who is clean may eat it; ^20but the soul who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people. ^21When anyone touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats some of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which belong to Yahweh, that soul shall be cut off from his people.'" ^22Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^23"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, You shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep, or goat. ^24The fat of that which dies of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of animals, may be used for any other service, but you shall in no way eat of it. ^25For whoever eats the fat of the animal, of which men offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off from his people. ^26You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings. ^27Whoever it is who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.'" ^28Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^29"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to Yahweh shall bring his offering to Yahweh out of the sacrifice of his peace offerings. ^30With his own hands he shall bring the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before Yahweh. ^31The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'. ^32The right thigh you shall give to the priest for a heave offering out of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. ^33He among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for a portion. ^34For the waved breast and the heaved thigh I have taken from the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel.'" ^35This is the anointing portion of Aaron, and the anointing portion of his sons, out of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister to Yahweh in the priest's office; ^36which Yahweh commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion forever throughout their generations. ^37This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meal offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecration, and of the sacrifice of peace offerings; ^38which Yahweh commanded Moses in Mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 8 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread; ^3and assemble all the congregation at the door of the Tent of Meeting." ^4Moses did as Yahweh commanded him; and the congregation was assembled at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ^5Moses said to the congregation, "This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded to be done." ^6Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. ^7He put the coat on him, tied the sash on him, clothed him with the robe, put the ephod on him, and he tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod on him, and fastened it to him with it. ^8He placed the breastplate on him; and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim. ^9He set the turban on his head; and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^10Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and sanctified them. ^11He sprinkled it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its base, to sanctify them. ^12He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him. ^13Moses brought Aaron's sons, and clothed them with coats, and tied sashes on them, and put headbands on them; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^14He brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. ^15He killed it; and Moses took the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it. ^16He took all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moses burned it on the altar. ^17But the bull, and its skin, and its flesh, and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^18He presented the ram of the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ^19He killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar round about. ^20He cut the ram into its pieces; and Moses burned the head, and the pieces, and the fat. ^21He washed the innards and the legs with water; and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a sweet savor. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^22He presented the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ^23He killed it; and Moses took some of its blood, and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot. ^24He brought Aaron's sons; and Moses put some of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar round about. ^25He took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right thigh; ^26and out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before Yahweh, he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat, and on the right thigh. ^27He put all these in Aaron's hands and in his sons' hands, and waved them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ^28Moses took them from their hands, and burned them on the altar on the burnt offering. They were a consecration for a sweet savor. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^29Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before Yahweh. It was Moses' portion of the ram of consecration, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^30Moses took some of the anointing oil, and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, and on his sons, and on his sons' garments with him, and sanctified Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him. ^31Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, "Boil the flesh at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it.' ^32What remains of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn with fire. ^33You shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting seven days, until the days of your consecration are fulfilled: for he shall consecrate you seven days. ^34What has been done this day, so Yahweh has commanded to do, to make atonement for you. ^35At the door of the Tent of Meeting you shall stay day and night seven days, and keep the charge of Yahweh, that you don't die: for so I am commanded." ^36Aaron and his sons did all the things which Yahweh commanded by Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 9 ^1It happened on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; ^2and he said to Aaron, "Take a calf from the herd for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before Yahweh. ^3You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, Take a male goat for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without blemish, for a burnt offering; ^4and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before Yahweh; and a meal offering mixed with oil: for today Yahweh appears to you.'" ^5They brought what Moses commanded before the Tent of Meeting: and all the congregation drew near and stood before Yahweh. ^6Moses said, "This is the thing which Yahweh commanded that you should do: and the glory of Yahweh shall appear to you." ^7Moses said to Aaron, "Draw near to the altar, and offer your sin offering, and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself, and for the people; and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them; as Yahweh commanded." ^8So Aaron drew near to the altar, and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. ^9The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him; and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar: ^10but the fat, and the kidneys, and the cover from the liver of the sin offering, he burned upon the altar; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^11The flesh and the skin he burned with fire outside the camp. ^12He killed the burnt offering; and Aaron's sons delivered the blood to him, and he sprinkled it on the altar round about. ^13They delivered the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head: and he burned them upon the altar. ^14He washed the innards and the legs, and burned them on the burnt offering on the altar. ^15He presented the people's offering, and took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people, and killed it, and offered it for sin, like the first. ^16He presented the burnt offering, and offered it according to the ordinance. ^17He presented the meal offering, and filled his hand from there, and burned it upon the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning. ^18He also killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people: and Aaron's sons delivered to him the blood, which he sprinkled on the altar round about, ^19and the fat of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the innards, and the kidneys, and the cover of the liver: ^20and they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burned the fat on the altar: ^21and the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before Yahweh, as Moses commanded. ^22Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people, and blessed them; and he came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings. ^23Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the people. ^24There came forth fire from before Yahweh, and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar: and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 10 ^1Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before Yahweh, which he had not commanded them. ^2And fire came forth from before Yahweh, and devoured them, and they died before Yahweh. ^3Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what Yahweh spoke of, saying, "I will show myself holy to those who come near me, And before all the people I will be glorified.'" Aaron held his peace. ^4Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, "Draw near, carry your brothers from before the sanctuary out of the camp." ^5So they drew near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. ^6Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, "Don't let the hair of your heads go loose, neither tear your clothes; that you don't die, and that he not be angry with all the congregation: but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which Yahweh has kindled. ^7You shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting, lest you die; for the anointing oil of Yahweh is on you." They did according to the word of Moses. ^8Yahweh spoke to Aaron, saying, ^9"Drink no wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, that you don't die: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations: ^10and that you are to make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; ^11and that you are to teach the children of Israel all the statutes which Yahweh has spoken to them by Moses." ^12Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons who were left, "Take the meal offering that remains of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, and eat it without yeast beside the altar; for it is most holy; ^13and you shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your portion, and your sons' portion, of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire: for so I am commanded. ^14The waved breast and the heaved thigh you shall eat in a clean place, you, and your sons, and your daughters with you: for they are given as your portion, and your sons' portion, out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the children of Israel. ^15The heaved thigh and the waved breast they shall bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh: and it shall be yours, and your sons' with you, as a portion forever; as Yahweh has commanded." ^16Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burned: and he was angry with Eleazar and with Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, ^17"Why haven't you eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, seeing it is most holy, and he has given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Yahweh? ^18Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary: you certainly should have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded." ^19Aaron spoke to Moses, "Behold, this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before Yahweh; and such things as these have happend to me: and if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been pleasing in the sight of Yahweh?" ^20When Moses heard that, it was pleasing in his sight. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 11 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, These are the living things which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. ^3Whatever parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and chews the cud among the animals, that you may eat. ^4"Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those who part the hoof: the camel, because he chews the cud but doesn't have a parted hoof, he is unclean to you. ^5The coney, because he chews the cud but doesn't have a parted hoof, he is unclean to you. ^6The hare, because she chews the cud but doesn't part the hoof, she is unclean to you. ^7The pig, because he has a split hoof, and is cloven-footed, but doesn't chew the cud, he is unclean to you. ^8Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you. ^9These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, that you may eat. ^10All that don't have fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are an abomination to you, ^11and you detest them. You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. ^12Whatever has no fins nor scales in the waters, that is an abomination to you. ^13"These you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the vulture, and the black vulture, ^14and the red kite, any kind of black kite, ^15any kind of raven, ^16the horned owl, the screech owl, and the gull, any kind of hawk, ^17the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ^18the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, ^19the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. ^20"All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination to you. ^21Yet you may eat these: of all winged creeping things that go on all fours, which have legs above their feet, with which to hop on the earth. ^22Even of these you may eat: any kind of locust, any kind of katydid, any kind of cricket, and any kind of grasshopper. ^23But all winged creeping things which have four feet, are an abomination to you. ^24"By these you will become unclean: whoever touches the carcass of them shall be unclean until the evening. ^25Whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. ^26"Every animal which parts the hoof, and is not cloven-footed, nor chews the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. ^27Whatever goes on its paws, among all animals that go on all fours, they are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ^28He who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you. ^29"These are they which are unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, ^30the gecko, and the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink, and the chameleon. ^31These are they which are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead, shall be unclean until the evening. ^32On whatever any of them falls when they are dead, it shall be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, with which any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it will be clean. ^33Every earthen vessel, into which any of them falls, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it. ^34All food which may be eaten, that on which water comes, shall be unclean; and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. ^35Everything whereupon part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces: they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. ^36Nevertheless a spring or a cistern in which water is a gathered shall be clean: but that which touches their carcass shall be unclean. ^37If part of their carcass falls on any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean. ^38But if water is put on the seed, and part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you. ^39"If any animal, of which you may eat, dies; he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ^40He who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. ^41"Every creeping thing that creeps on the earth is an abomination. It shall not be eaten. ^42Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination. ^43You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, neither shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled thereby. ^44For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth. ^45For I am Yahweh who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. ^46"This is the law of the animal, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, ^47to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.'" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her monthly period she shall be unclean. ^3In the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ^4She shall continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. ^5But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her period; and she shall continue in the blood of purification sixty-six days. ^6"When the days of her purification are completed, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the Tent of Meeting, a year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering: ^7and he shall offer it before Yahweh, and make atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. "This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female. ^8If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons; the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.'" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^2"When a man shall have a rising in his body's skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests: ^3and the priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body: and if the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body's skin, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean. ^4If the bright spot is white in the skin of his body, and the appearance of it isn't deeper than the skin, and the hair of it hasn't turned white, then the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days. ^5The priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and, behold, if in his eyes the plague is arrested, and the plague hasn't spread in the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days. ^6The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day; and behold, if the plague has faded, and the plague hasn't spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is a scab. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean. ^7But if the scab spreads on the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again. ^8The priest shall examine him; and behold, if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy. ^9"When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought to the priest; ^10and the priest shall examine him. Behold, if there is a white rising in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the rising, ^11it is a chronic leprosy in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not isolate him, for he is unclean. ^12"If the leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the infected person from his head even to his feet, as far as it appears to the priest; ^13then the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean of the plague. It has all turned white: he is clean. ^14But whenever raw flesh appears in him, he shall be unclean. ^15The priest shall examine the raw flesh, and pronounce him unclean: the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy. ^16Or if the raw flesh turns again, and is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest; ^17and the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the plague has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean of the plague. He is clean. ^18"When the body has a boil on its skin, and it has healed, ^19and in the place of the boil there is a white rising, or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest; ^20and the priest shall examine it; and behold, if the appearance of it is lower than the skin, and the hair of it has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. It has broken out in the boil. ^21But if the priest examines it, and behold, there are no white hairs in it, and it isn't deeper than the skin, but is dim, then the priest shall isolate him seven days. ^22If it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a plague. ^23But if the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn't spread, it is the scar from the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean. ^24"Or when the body has a burn from fire on its skin, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white, or white, ^25then the priest shall examine it; and behold, if the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and the appearance of it is deeper than the skin; it is leprosy. It has broken out in the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. ^26But if the priest examines it, and behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot, and it isn't lower than the skin, but is faded; then the priest shall isolate him seven days. ^27The priest shall examine him on the seventh day. If it has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. ^28If the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn't spread in the skin, but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar from the burn. ^29"When a man or woman has a plague on the head or on the beard, ^30then the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if the appearance of it is deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is an itch, it is leprosy of the head or of the beard. ^31If the priest examines the plague of itching, and behold, its appearance isn't deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate him the person infected with itching seven days. ^32On the seventh day the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if the itch hasn't spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the appearance of the itch isn't deeper than the skin, ^33then he shall be shaved, but he shall not shave the itch; and the priest shall shut him up who has the itch seven more days. ^34On the seventh day, the priest shall examine the itch; and behold, if the itch hasn't spread in the skin, and its appearance isn't deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean. ^35But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, ^36then the priest shall examine him; and behold, if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest shall not look for the yellow hair; he is unclean. ^37But if in his eyes the itch is arrested, and black hair has grown in it; the itch is healed, he is clean. The priest shall pronounce him clean. ^38"When a man or a woman has bright spots in the skin of the body, even white bright spots; ^39then the priest shall examine them; and behold, if the bright spots on the skin of their body are a dull white, it is a harmless rash, it has broken out in the skin; he is clean. ^40"If a man's hair has fallen from his head, he is bald. He is clean. ^41If his hair has fallen off from the front part of his head, he is forehead bald. He is clean. ^42But if there is in the bald head, or the bald forehead, a reddish-white plague; it is leprosy breaking out in his bald head, or his bald forehead. ^43Then the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the rising of the plague is reddish-white in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the flesh, ^44he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean. His plague is on his head. ^45"The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean! Unclean!' ^46All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. Outside of the camp shall be his dwelling. ^47"The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it is a woolen garment, or a linen garment; ^48whether it is in warp, or woof; of linen, or of wool; whether in a skin, or in anything made of skin; ^49if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything made of skin; it is the plague of leprosy, and shall be shown to the priest. ^50The priest shall examine the plague, and isolate the plague seven days. ^51He shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever use the skin is used for, the plague is a destructive mildew. It is unclean. ^52He shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of skin, in which the plague is: for it is a destructive mildew. It shall be burned in the fire. ^53"If the priest examines it, and behold, the plague hasn't spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin; ^54then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which the plague is, and he shall isolate it seven more days. ^55Then the priest shall examine it, after the plague is washed; and behold, if the plague hasn't changed its color, and the plague hasn't spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire. It is a mildewed spot, whether the bareness is inside or outside. ^56If the priest looks, and behold, the plague has faded after it is washed, then he shall tear it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof: ^57and if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire that in which the plague is. ^58The garment, either the warp, or the woof, or whatever thing of skin it is, which you shall wash, if the plague has departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and it will be clean." ^59This is the law of the plague of mildew in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or in anything of skin, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 14 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, ^3and the priest shall go forth out of the camp. The priest shall examine him, and behold, if the plague of leprosy is healed in the leper, ^4then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop. ^5The priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. ^6As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. ^7He shall sprinkle on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field. ^8"He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days. ^9It shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water, then he shall be clean. ^10"On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. ^11The priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed, and those things, before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ^12"The priest shall take one of the male lambs, and offer him for a trespass offering, with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ^13He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary; for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy. ^14The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ^15The priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. ^16The priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before Yahweh. ^17The priest shall put some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering. ^18The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh. ^19"The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness: and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering; ^20and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean. ^21"If he is poor, and can't afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil; ^22and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. ^23"On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before Yahweh. ^24The priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ^25He shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ^26The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand; ^27and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Yahweh. ^28Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering. ^29The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before Yahweh. ^30He shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he is able to afford, ^31even such as he is able to afford, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before Yahweh." ^32This is the law for him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to afford the sacrifice for his cleansing. ^33Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^34"When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession, ^35then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, There seems to me to be some sort of plague in the house.' ^36The priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes in to examine the plague, that all that is in the house not be made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house. ^37He shall examine the plague; and behold, if the plague is in the walls of the house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, and it appears to be deeper than the wall; ^38then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days. ^39The priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the plague has spread in the walls of the house, ^40then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the plague, and cast them into an unclean place outside of the city: ^41and he shall cause the inside of the house to be scraped round about, and they shall pour out the mortar, that they scraped off, outside of the city into an unclean place. ^42They shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house. ^43"If the plague comes again, and breaks out in the house, after he has taken out the stones, and after he has scraped the house, and after it was plastered; ^44then the priest shall come in and look; and behold, if the plague has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew in the house. It is unclean. ^45He shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house's mortar. He shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place. ^46"Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening. ^47He who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes. ^48"If the priest shall come in, and examine it, and behold, the plague hasn't spread in the house, after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. ^49To cleanse the house he shall take two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop. ^50He shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. ^51He shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ^52He shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, with the living bird, with the cedar wood, with the hyssop, and with the scarlet; ^53but he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field. So shall he make atonement for the house; and it shall be clean." ^54This is the law for any plague of leprosy, and for an itch, ^55and for the destructive mildew of a garment, and for a house, ^56and for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot; ^57to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 15 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean. ^3This shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body has stopped from his discharge, it is his uncleanness. ^4"Every bed whereon he who has the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything he sits on shall be unclean. ^5Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^6He who sits on anything whereon the man who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^7"He who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^8"If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^9"Whatever saddle he who has the discharge rides on shall be unclean. ^10Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. He who carries those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^11"Whoever he who has the discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^12"The earthen vessel, which he who has the discharge touches, shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water. ^13"When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean. ^14"On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before Yahweh to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest: ^15and the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh for his discharge. ^16"If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^17Every garment, and every skin, whereon the semen is, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening. ^18If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^19"If a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days: and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. ^20"Everything that she lies on in her impurity shall be unclean. Everything also that she sits on shall be unclean. ^21Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^22Whoever touches anything that she sits on shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^23If it is on the bed, or on anything whereon she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until the evening. ^24"If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed whereon he lies shall be unclean. ^25"If a woman has a discharge of her blood many days not in the time of her period, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her period; all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness shall be as in the days of her period: she is unclean. ^26Every bed whereon she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her period: and everything whereon she sits shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her period. ^27Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. ^28"But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. ^29On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. ^30The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before Yahweh for the uncleanness of her discharge. ^31"Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is in their midst.'" ^32This is the law of him who has a discharge, and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean thereby; ^33and of her who has her period, and of a man or woman who has a discharge, and of him who lies with her who is unclean. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 16 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before Yahweh, and died; ^2and Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother, not to come at all times into the Most Holy Place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; lest he die: for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat. ^3"Herewith shall Aaron come into the sanctuary: with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. ^4He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches on his body, and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be dressed with the linen turban. They are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and put them on. ^5He shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. ^6"Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. ^7He shall take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ^8Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats; one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for the scapegoat. ^9Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer him for a sin offering. ^10But the goat, on which the lot fell for the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away for the scapegoat into the wilderness. ^11"Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. ^12He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: ^13and he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony, so that he will not die. ^14He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. ^15"Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: ^16and he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting, that dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness. ^17There shall be no one in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. ^18"He shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull's blood, and some of the goat's blood, and put it on the horns of the altar round about. ^19He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. ^20"When he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ^21Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. ^22The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness. ^23"Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting, and shall take off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. ^24Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. ^25The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. ^26"He who lets the goat go for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. ^27The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried forth outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire. ^28He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. ^29"It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the native-born, or the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you: ^30for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before Yahweh. ^31It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls; it is a statute forever. ^32The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father's place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments. ^33Then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ^34"This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel once in the year because of all their sins." It was done as Yahweh commanded Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 17 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, ^3Whatever man there is of the house of Israel, who kills an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, ^4and hasn't brought it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to offer it as an offering to Yahweh before the tabernacle of Yahweh: blood shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people. ^5This is to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh. ^6The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^7They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.' ^8"You shall say to them, Any man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ^9and doesn't bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to sacrifice it to Yahweh; that man shall be cut off from his people. ^10"Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ^11For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life. ^12Therefore I have said to the children of Israel, "No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who lives as a foreigner among you eat blood." ^13"Whatever man there is of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who takes in hunting any animal or bird that may be eaten; he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust. ^14For as to the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life: therefore I said to the children of Israel, "You shall not eat the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off." ^15"Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening: then he shall be clean. ^16But if he doesn't wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.'" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 18 ^1Yahweh said to Moses, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, I am Yahweh your God. ^3You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived: and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you; neither shall you walk in their statutes. ^4You shall do my ordinances, and you shall keep my statutes, and walk in them: I am Yahweh your God. ^5You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances; which if a man does, he shall live in them: I am Yahweh. ^6"None of you shall approach anyone who are his close relatives, to uncover their nakedness: I am Yahweh. ^7"You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, nor the nakedness of your mother: she is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness. ^8"You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife: it is your father's nakedness. ^9"You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home, or born abroad. ^10"You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter, or of your daughter's daughter, even their nakedness: for theirs is your own nakedness. ^11"You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, conceived by your father, since she is your sister. " ^12You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister: she is your father's near kinswoman. ^13"You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister: for she is your mother's near kinswoman. ^14"You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, you shall not approach his wife: she is your aunt. ^15"You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son's wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness. ^16"You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife: it is your brother's nakedness. ^17"You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter. You shall not take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are near kinswomen: it is wickedness. ^18"You shall not take a wife to her sister, to be a rival, to uncover her nakedness, while her sister is yet alive. ^19"You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness. ^20"You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, and defile yourself with her. ^21"You shall not give any of your children to sacrifice to Molech; neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am Yahweh. ^22"You shall not lie with a man, as with a woman. That is detestible. ^23"You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it; neither shall any woman give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion. ^24"Don't defile yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled. ^25The land was defiled: therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomitted out her inhabitants. ^26You therefore shall keep my statutes and my ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the native-born, nor the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you; ^27(for all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you, and the land became defiled); ^28that the land not vomit you out also, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. ^29"For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people. ^30Therefore you shall keep my charge, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs, which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them: I am Yahweh your God.'" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 19 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, You shall be holy; for I Yahweh your God am holy. ^3"Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God. ^4"Don't turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God. ^5"When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. ^6It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day: and if anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned with fire. ^7If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted; ^8but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his people. ^9"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ^10You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God. ^11"You shall not steal; neither shall you deal falsely, nor lie to one another. ^12"You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh. ^13"You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning. ^14"You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh. ^15"You shall do no injustice in judgment: you shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. ^16"You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people; neither shall you stand against the life [42] of your neighbor. I am Yahweh. ^17"You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. ^18You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh. ^19"You shall keep my statutes. "You shall not crossbreed different kinds of animals. "you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; "neither shall there come upon on you a garment made of two kinds of material. ^20"If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed, or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free. ^21He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, even a ram for a trespass offering. ^22The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed: and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him. ^23"When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. [43] Three years shall they be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten. ^24But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to Yahweh. ^25In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am Yahweh your God. ^26"You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it; neither shall you use enchantments, nor practice sorcery. ^27You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your heads, neither shall you clip off the edge of your beard. ^28"You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am Yahweh. ^29Don't profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness. ^30"You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am Yahweh. ^31"Don't turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don't seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God. ^32You shall rise up before the gray head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh. ^33"If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ^34The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God. ^35"You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity. ^36Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall you have. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ^37You shall observe all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them. I am Yahweh.'" __________________________________________________________________ [42] literally, "blood" [43] literally, "uncircumcised" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 20 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Moreover, you shall tell the children of Israel, Anyone of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners in Israel, who gives any of his seed to Molech; he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. ^3I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people because he has given of his seed to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. ^4If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person, when he gives of his seed to Molech, and don't put him to death; ^5then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who play the prostitute after him, to play the prostitute with Molech, from among their people. ^6"The person that turns to those who are mediums, and to the wizards, to play the prostitute after them, I will even set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people. ^7"Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Yahweh your God. ^8You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. ^9"For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death: he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. ^10"The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. ^11The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. ^12"If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have committed a perversion; their blood shall be upon them. ^13If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. ^14"If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burned with fire, both he and they; that there may be no wickedness among you. ^15"If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; and you shall kill the animal. ^16"If a woman approaches any animal, and lies down with it, you shall kill the woman, and the animal: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. ^17"If a man takes his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness; it is a shameful thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people: he has uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity. ^18"If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness; he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people. ^19"You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, nor of your father's sister; for he has made naked his close relative: they shall bear their iniquity. ^20If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. ^21"If a man takes his brother's wife, it is an impurity: he has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless. ^22"You shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them; that the land, where I am bringing you to dwell, may not vomit you out. ^23You shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I am casting out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. ^24But I have said to you, "You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples. ^25"You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and you shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you. ^26You shall be holy to me: for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine. ^27"A man or a woman that is a medium, or is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them.'" __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 21 ^1Yahweh said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, A priest shall not defile himself for the dead among his people; ^2except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother, ^3and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. ^4He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. ^5"They shall not shave their heads, neither shall they shave off the corners of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. ^6They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. ^7"They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband: for he is holy to his God. ^8You shall sanctify him therefore; for he offers the bread of your God: he shall be holy to you: for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy. ^9"The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father: she shall be burned with fire. ^10"He who is the high priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, nor tear his clothes; ^11neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother; ^12neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am Yahweh. ^13"He shall take a wife in her virginity. ^14A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry: but a virgin of his own people shall he take as a wife. ^15He shall not profane his seed among his people: for I am Yahweh who sanctifies him.'" ^16Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^17"Say to Aaron, None of your seed throughout their generations who has a blemish, may approach to offer the bread of his God. ^18For whatever man he is that has a blemish, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity, ^19or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand, ^20or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles; ^21no man of the seed of Aaron the priest, who has a blemish, shall come near to offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Since has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. ^22He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. ^23He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a blemish; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.'" ^24So Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 22 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Tell Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they make holy to me, and that they not profane my holy name. I am Yahweh. ^3Tell them, If anyone of all your seed throughout your generations approaches the holy things, which the children of Israel make holy to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from before me. I am Yahweh. ^4"Whoever of the seed of Aaron is a leper or has an issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goes from him; ^5or whoever touches any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatever uncleanness he has; ^6the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his body in water. ^7When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread. ^8That which dies of itself, or is torn by animals, he shall not eat, defiling himself by it. I am Yahweh. ^9"They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they profane it. I am Yahweh who sanctifies them. ^10"No stranger shall eat of the holy thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. ^11But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and such as are born in his house, they shall eat of his bread. ^12If a priest's daughter is married to an outsider, she shall not eat of the heave offering of the holy things. ^13But if a priest's daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's bread: but no stranger shall eat any of it. ^14"If a man eats something holy unwittingly, then he shall add the fifth part of its value to it, and shall give the holy thing to the priest. ^15The priests shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer to Yahweh, ^16and so cause them to bear the iniquity that brings guilt, when they eat their holy things: for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.'" ^17Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^18"Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it be any of their vows, or any of their freewill offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering; ^19that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without blemish, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats. ^20But whatever has a blemish, that you shall not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you. ^21Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. ^22Blind, injured, maimed, having a wart, festering, or having a running sore, you shall not offer these to Yahweh, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to Yahweh. ^23Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. ^24That which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut, you shall not offer to Yahweh; neither shall you do thus in your land. ^25Neither from the hand of a foreigner shall you offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them. There is a blemish in them. They shall not be accepted for you.'" ^26Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^27"When a bull, or a sheep, or a goat, is born, then it shall remain seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for the offering of an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^28Whether it is a cow or ewe, you shall not kill it and its young both in one day. ^29"When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. ^30It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the morning. I am Yahweh. ^31"Therefore you shall keep my commandments, and do them. I am Yahweh. ^32You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be made holy among the children of Israel. I am Yahweh who makes you holy, ^33who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am Yahweh." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 23 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, The set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts. ^3"Six days shall work be done: but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no manner of work. It is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings. ^4"These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season. ^5In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh's Passover. ^6On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ^7In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. ^8But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.'" ^9Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^10"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its the harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest: ^11and he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. ^12On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without blemish a year old for a burnt offering to Yahweh. ^13The meal offering with it shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to Yahweh for a sweet savor; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. ^14You shall eat neither bread, nor roasted grain, nor fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ^15"You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be completed: ^16even to the next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh. ^17You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to Yahweh. ^18You shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to Yahweh. ^19You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. ^20The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before Yahweh, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest. ^21You shall make proclamation on the same day: there shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. ^22"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap into the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest: you shall leave them for the poor, and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.'" ^23Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^24"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ^25You shall do no regular work; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh.'" ^26Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^27"However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^28You shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God. ^29For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day; shall be cut off from his people. ^30Whoever it is who does any manner of work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. ^31You shall do no manner of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ^32It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath." ^33Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^34"Speak to the children of Israel, and say, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tents for seven days to Yahweh. ^35On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work. ^36Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work. ^37"These are the appointed feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, and a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day; ^38besides the Sabbaths of Yahweh, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to Yahweh. ^39"So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahweh seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. ^40You shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God seven days. ^41You shall keep it a feast to Yahweh seven days in the year: it is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month. ^42You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in booths, ^43that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.'" ^44Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of Yahweh. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 24 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. ^3Outside of the veil of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, shall Aaron keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh continually: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. ^4He shall keep in order the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before Yahweh continually. ^5"You shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenth parts of an ephah shall be in one cake. ^6You shall set them in two rows, six on a row, on the pure gold table before Yahweh. ^7You shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^8Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Yahweh continually. It is on the behalf of the children of Israel an everlasting covenant. ^9It shall be for Aaron and his sons; and they shall eat it in a holy place: for it is most holy to him of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire by a perpetual statute." ^10The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and the son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp. ^11The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. ^12They put him in custody, until the will of Yahweh should be declared to them. ^13Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^14"Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. ^15You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. ^16He who blasphemes the name of Yahweh, he shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him: the foreigner as well as the native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. ^17"He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death. ^18He who strikes a animal mortally shall make it good, life for life. ^19If anyone injures his neighbor; as he has done, so shall it be done to him: ^20fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has injured someone, so shall it be done to him. ^21He who kills an animal shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death. ^22You shall have one kind of law, for the foreigner as well as the native-born: for I am Yahweh your God.'" ^23Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they brought forth him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. The children of Israel did as Yahweh commanded Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 25 ^1Yahweh said to Moses in Mount Sinai, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to Yahweh. ^3Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruits; ^4but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahweh. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. ^5What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and the grapes of your undressed vine you shall not gather. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. ^6The Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you. ^7For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all the increase of it be for food. ^8"You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years. ^9Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. ^10You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. ^11That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines. ^12For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field. ^13"In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property. ^14"If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. ^15According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you. ^16According to the length of the years you shall increase the price of it, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish the price of it; for he is selling the number of the crops to you. ^17You shall not wrong one another; but you shall fear your God: for I am Yahweh your God. ^18"Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety. ^19The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. ^20If you said, "What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;" ^21then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for the three years. ^22You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits, the old store; until the ninth year, until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store. ^23"The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me. ^24In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land. ^25"If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold. ^26If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it; ^27then let him reckon the years since the sale of it, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property. ^28But if he isn't able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee: and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property. ^29"If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. ^30If it isn't redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. ^31But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be reckoned with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. ^32"Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. ^33The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. ^34But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession. ^35"If your brother has become poor, and his hand can't support him among you; then you shall uphold him. As a stranger and a sojourner he shall live with you. ^36Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God; that your brother may live among you. ^37You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. ^38I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. ^39"If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a slave. ^40As a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee: ^41then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers. ^42For they are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves. ^43You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your God. ^44"As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have; of the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. ^45Moreover of the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property. ^46You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them may you take your slaves forever: but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness. ^47"If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among you, or to a member of the stranger's family; ^48after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him; ^49or his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself. ^50He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; according to the time of a hired servant shall he be with him. ^51If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. ^52If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption. ^53As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him: he shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight. ^54"If he isn't redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he, and his children with him. ^55For to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 26 ^1"You shall make for yourselves no idols, neither shall you raise up an engraved image or a pillar, neither shall you place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am Yahweh your God. ^2"You shall keep my Sabbaths, and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am Yahweh. ^3"If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; ^4then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. ^5Your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. ^6"I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one will make you afraid; and I will remove evil animals out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. ^7You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. ^8Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. ^9"I will have respect for you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you. ^10You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall move out the old because of the new. ^11I will set my tent among you: and my soul won't abhor you. ^12I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you will be my people. ^13I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright. ^14"But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments; ^15and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant; ^16I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and you will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it. ^17I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you. ^18"If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. ^19I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron, and your soil like brass; ^20and your strength will be spent in vain; for your land won't yield its increase, neither will the trees of the land yield their fruit. ^21"If you walk contrary to me, and won't listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins. ^22I will send the wild animals among you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your roads will become desolate. ^23"If by these things you won't be reformed to me, but will walk contrary to me; ^24then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins. ^25I will bring a sword upon you, that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; and you will be gathered together within your cities: and I will send the pestilence among you; and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy. ^26When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight: and you shall eat, and not be satisfied. ^27"If you in spite of this won't listen to me, but walk contrary to me; ^28then I will walk contrary to you in wrath; and I also will chastise you seven times for your sins. ^29You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters. ^30I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you. ^31I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not take delight in the sweet fragrence of your offerings. ^32I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein will be astonished at it. ^33I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. ^34Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land. Even then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. ^35As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it didn't have in your sabbaths, when you lived on it. ^36"As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies: and the sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword; and they will fall when no one pursues. ^37They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues: and you will have no power to stand before your enemies. ^38You will perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will eat you up. ^39Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. ^40"If they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary to me, ^41I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies: if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity; ^42then I will remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land. ^43The land also will be left by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them: and they will accept the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected my ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes. ^44Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am Yahweh their God; ^45but I will for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am Yahweh.'" ^46These are the statutes, ordinances and laws, which Yahweh made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 27 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When a man makes a vow, the persons shall be for Yahweh by your valuation. ^3Your valuation shall be of a male from twenty years old even to sixty years old, even your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. ^4If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. ^5If the person is from five years old even to twenty years old, then your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. ^6If the person is from a month old even to five years old, then your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver. ^7If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. ^8But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of him who vowed shall the priest value him. ^9"If it is an animal, of which men offer an offering to Yahweh, all that any man gives of such to Yahweh becomes holy. ^10He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy. ^11If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to Yahweh, then he shall set the animal before the priest; ^12and the priest shall value it, whether it is good or bad. As you the priest values it, so shall it be. ^13But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation. ^14"When a man dedicates his house to be holy to Yahweh, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad: as the priest shall evaluate it, so shall it stand. ^15If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his. ^16"If a man dedicates to Yahweh part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it: the sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. ^17If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. ^18But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation. ^19If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his. ^20If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more; ^21but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to Yahweh, as a field devoted; it shall be owned by the priests. ^22"If he dedicates to Yahweh a field which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession, ^23then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to Yahweh. ^24In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs. ^25All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel. ^26"Only the firstborn among animals, which is made a firstborn to Yahweh, no man may dedicate it; whether an ox or sheep, it is Yahweh's. ^27If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it: or if it isn't redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation. ^28"Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote to Yahweh of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to Yahweh. ^29"No one devoted, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death. ^30"All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahweh's. It is holy to Yahweh. ^31If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it. ^32All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh. ^33He shall not search whether it is good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he changes it at all, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.'" ^34These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Numbers __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 1 ^1Yahweh 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 all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, every male, one by one; ^3from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their divisions. ^4With you there shall be a man of every tribe; everyone head of his fathers' house. ^5These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: Of Reuben: Elizur the son of Shedeur. ^6Of Simeon: Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. ^7Of Judah: Nahshon the son of Amminadab. ^8Of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar. ^9Of Zebulun: Eliab the son of Helon. ^10Of the children of Joseph: Of Ephraim: Elishama the son of Ammihud. Of Manasseh: Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. ^11Of Benjamin: Abidan the son of Gideoni. ^12Of Dan: Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. ^13Of Asher: Pagiel the son of Ochran. ^14Of Gad: Eliasaph the son of Deuel. ^15Of Naphtali: Ahira the son of Enan." ^16These are those who were called of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel. ^17Moses and Aaron took these men who are mentioned by name. ^18They assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their ancestry by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, one by one. ^19As Yahweh commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. ^20The children of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war; ^21those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty-six thousand five hundred. ^22Of the children of Simeon, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, those who were numbered of it, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war; ^23those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred. ^24Of the children of Gad, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war; ^25those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty. ^26Of the children of Judah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war; ^27those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Judah, were sixty-four thousand six hundred. ^28Of the children of Issachar, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war; ^29those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty-four thousand four hundred. ^30Of the children of Zebulun, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war; ^31those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred. ^32Of the children of Joseph, of the children of Ephraim, their generations, by thir families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war; ^33those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand five hundred. ^34Of the children of Manasseh, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war; ^35those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty-two thousand two hundred. ^36Of the children of Benjamin, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war; ^37those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty-five thousand four hundred. ^38Of the children of Dan, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war; ^39those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Dan, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred. ^40Of the children of Asher, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war; ^41those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Asher, were forty-one thousand five hundred. ^42Of the children of Naphtali, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war; ^43those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty-three thousand four hundred. ^44These are those who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men: they were each one for his fathers' house. ^45So all those who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war in Israel; ^46even all those who were numbered were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty. ^47But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. ^48For Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^49"Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel; ^50but 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 take care of it, and shall encamp around it. ^51When the tabernacle is to move, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death. ^52The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their divisions. ^53But the Levites shall encamp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be responsible for the Tabernacle of the Testimony." ^54Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they did. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^2"The children of Israel shall encamp every man by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers' houses: at a distance from the tent of meeting shall they encamp around it." ^3Those who encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions: and the prince of the children of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab. ^4His division, and those who were numbered of them, were seventy-four thousand six hundred. ^5Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and the prince of the children of Issachar shall be Nethanel the son of Zuar. ^6His division, and those who were numbered of it, were fifty-four thousand four hundred. ^7The tribe of Zebulun: and the prince of the children of Zebulun shall be Eliab the son of Helon. ^8His division, and those who were numbered of it, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred. ^9All who were numbered of the camp of Judah were one hundred eighty-six thousand four hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out first. ^10"On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur. ^11His division, and those who were numbered of it, were forty-six thousand five hundred. ^12"Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon. The prince of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. ^13His division, and those who were numbered of them, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred. ^14"The tribe of Gad: and the prince of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. ^15His division, and those who were numbered of them, were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty. ^16"All who were numbered of the camp of Reuben were one hundred fifty-one thousand four hundred fifty, according to their armies. They shall set out second. ^17"Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps. As they encamp, so shall they set out, every man in his place, by their standards. ^18"On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their divisions: and the prince of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. ^19His division, and those who were numbered of them, were forty thousand five hundred. ^20"Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the prince of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. ^21His division, and those who were numbered of them, were thirty-two thousand two hundred. ^22"The tribe of Benjamin: and the prince of the children of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. ^23His army, and those who were numbered of them, were thirty-five thousand four hundred. ^24"All who were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were one hundred eight thousand one hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out third. ^25"On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan according to their divisions: and the prince of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. ^26His division, and those who were numbered of them, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred. ^27"Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the prince of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ochran. ^28His division, and those who were numbered of them, were forty-one thousand and five hundred. ^29"The tribe of Naphtali: and the prince of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. ^30His division, and those who were numbered of them, were fifty-three thousand four hundred. ^31"All who were numbered of the camp of Dan were one hundred fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last by their standards." ^32These are those who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers' houses. All who were numbered of the camps according to their armies were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty. ^33But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^34Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, everyone by their families, according to their fathers' houses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 ^1Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Yahweh spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai. ^2These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ^3These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office. ^4Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh, when they offered strange fire before Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the presence of Aaron their father. ^5Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^6"Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ^7They shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. ^8They shall keep all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, and the obligations of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. ^9You shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Israel. ^10You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death." ^11Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^12"Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine: ^13for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I made holy to me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am Yahweh." ^14Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ^15"Number the children of Levi by their fathers' houses, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shall you number." ^16Moses numbered them according to the word of Yahweh, as he was commanded. ^17These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. ^18These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. ^19The sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ^20The sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers' houses. ^21Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites: these are the families of the Gershonites. ^22Those who were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those who were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred. ^23The families of the Gershonites shall encamp behind the tabernacle westward. ^24The prince of the fathers' house of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael. ^25The charge of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, ^26and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service. ^27Of Kohath was 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. ^28According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. ^29The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle. ^30The prince of the fathers' house of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ^31Their charge shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service. ^32Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the charge of the sanctuary. ^33Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. ^34Those who were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred. ^35The prince of the fathers' house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle. ^36The appointed charge of the sons of Merari shall be the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service, ^37the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords. ^38Those who encamp before the tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tent of Meeting toward the sunrise, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death. ^39All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of Yahweh, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand. ^40Yahweh said to Moses, "Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. ^41You shall take the Levites for me (I am Yahweh) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel." ^42Moses numbered, as Yahweh commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel. ^43All the firstborn males according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three. ^44Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^45"Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock; and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh. ^46For the redemption of the two hundred seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who exceed the number of the Levites, ^47you shall take five shekels apiece for each one; after the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs): ^48and you shall give the money, with which the remainder of them is redeemed, to Aaron and to his sons." ^49Moses took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites; ^50from the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred sixty-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: ^51and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^2"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses, ^3from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting. ^4This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, the most holy things. ^5When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it, ^6and shall put a covering of sealskin on it, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles. ^7On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it. ^8They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles. ^9They shall take a blue cloth, and cover the lampstand of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it. ^10They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame. ^11On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles. ^12They shall take all the vessels of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame. ^13They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it. ^14They shall put on it all its vessels, with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the flesh hooks, the shovels, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles. ^15"When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting. ^16"The charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the charge of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings." ^17Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^18"Don't cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites; ^19but thus do to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them everyone to his service and to his burden; ^20but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die." ^21Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^22"Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses, by their families; ^23from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shall you number them; all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting. ^24This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens: ^25they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin that is above on it, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting, ^26and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. Therein shall they serve. ^27At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden, and in all their service; and you shall appoint to them in charge all their burden. ^28This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ^29"As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers' houses; ^30from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old shall you number them, everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting. ^31This is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, ^32and the pillars of the court around it, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name you shall appoint the instruments of the charge of their burden. ^33This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest." ^34Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers' houses, ^35from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting. ^36Those who were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty. ^37These are those who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses. ^38Those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their fathers' houses, ^39from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting, ^40even those who were numbered of them, by their families, by their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty. ^41These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh. ^42Those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses, ^43from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting, ^44even those who were numbered of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred. ^45These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses. ^46All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, by their families, and by their fathers' houses, ^47from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting, ^48even those who were numbered of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty. ^49According to the commandment of Yahweh they were numbered by Moses, everyone according to his service, and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and everyone who has an issue, and whoever is unclean by the dead. ^3Both male and female shall you put out, outside of the camp shall you put them; that they not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell." ^4The children of Israel did so, and put them out outside of the camp; as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so did the children of Israel. ^5Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^6"Speak to the children of Israel: When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against Yahweh, and that soul is guilty; ^7then he shall confess his sin which he has done, and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, and add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty. ^8But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made to Yahweh shall be the priest's; besides the ram of the atonement, by which atonement shall be made for him. ^9Every heave offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present to the priest, shall be his. ^10Every man's holy things shall be his: whatever any man gives the priest, it shall be his." ^11Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^12"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: If any man's wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him, ^13and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she isn't taken in the act; ^14and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she isn't defiled: ^15then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. ^16The priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh; ^17and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water. ^18The priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman's head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse. ^19The priest shall cause her to swear, and shall tell the woman, If no man has lain with you, and if you haven't gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. ^20But if you have gone astray, being under your husband, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband:' ^21then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people, when Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; ^22and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.' The woman shall say, Amen, Amen.' ^23"The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out into the water of bitterness. ^24He 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. ^25The priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the meal offering before Yahweh, and bring it to the altar. ^26The priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as the memorial of it, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. ^27When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled, and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away: and the woman will be a curse among her people. ^28If the woman isn't defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. ^29"This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and is defiled; ^30or when the spirit of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before Yahweh, and the priest shall execute on her all this law. ^31The man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh, ^3he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. ^4All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins. ^5"All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. ^6"All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go near a dead body. ^7He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation to God is on his head. ^8All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh. ^9"If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it. ^10On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. ^11The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day. ^12He shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled. ^13"This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting, ^14and he shall offer his offering to Yahweh, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, ^15and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings. ^16The priest shall present them before Yahweh, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering. ^17He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering, and its drink offering. ^18The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door 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. ^19The 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; ^20and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. This is holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine. ^21"This is the law of the Nazirite who vows, and of his offering to Yahweh for his separation, besides that which he is able to get. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation." ^22Yahweh 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 tell them, ^24Yahweh bless you, and keep you. ^25Yahweh make his face to shine on you, And be gracious to you. ^26Yahweh lift up his face toward you, And give you peace.' ^27"So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7 ^1It happened on the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it, with all its furniture, and the altar with all its vessels, and had anointed and sanctified them; ^2that the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, offered. These were the princes of the tribes. These are they who were over those who were numbered: ^3and they brought their offering before Yahweh, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they presented them before the tabernacle. ^4Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^5"Accept these from them, 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." ^6Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. ^7He gave two wagons and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, according to their service: ^8and he gave four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ^9But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonged to them; they carried it on their shoulders. ^10The princes gave offerings for the dedication of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes gave their offerings before the altar. ^11Yahweh said to Moses, "They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedication of the altar." ^12He who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah, ^13and his offering was: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^14one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^15one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^16one male goat for a sin offering; ^17and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab. ^18On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, gave his offering. ^19He offered for his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^20one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^21one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^22one male goat for a sin offering; ^23and 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. ^24On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun ^25gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^26one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^27one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^28one male goat for a sin offering; ^29and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon. ^30On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben ^31gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^32one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^33one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^34one male goat for a sin offering; ^35and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur. ^36On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of Simeon ^37gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^38one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^39one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^40one male goat for a sin offering; ^41and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old: this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. ^42On the sixth day, Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad ^43gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^44one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^45one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^46one male goat for a sin offering; ^47and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel. ^48On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of Ephraim ^49gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^50one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^51one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^52one male goat for a sin offering; ^53and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud. ^54On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of Manasseh ^55gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^56one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^57one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^58one male goat for a sin offering; ^59and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. ^60On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin ^61gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^62one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^63one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^64one male goat for a sin offering; ^65and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni. ^66On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children of Dan ^67gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^68one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^69one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^70one male goat for a sin offering; ^71and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. ^72On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ochran, prince of the children of Asher ^73gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^74one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; ^75one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^76one male goat for a sin offering; ^77and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran. ^78On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali ^79gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; ^80one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense; ^81one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ^82one male goat for a sin offering; ^83and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan. ^84This was the dedication of the altar, on the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden ladles; ^85each silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, and each bowl seventy; all the silver of the vessels two thousand four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; ^86the twelve golden ladles, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the ladles weighed one hundred twenty shekels; ^87all the oxen for the burnt offering twelve bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs a year old twelve, and their meal offering; and the male goats for a sin offering twelve; ^88and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after it was anointed. ^89When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Yahweh, he heard his voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim: and he spoke to him. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 8 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2"Speak to Aaron, and tell him, When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.'" ^3Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lampstand, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^4This was the workmanship of the lampstand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work: according to the pattern which Yahweh had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. ^5Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^6"Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. ^7Thus shall you do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. ^8Then let them take a young bull, and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering. ^9You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. ^10You shall present the Levites before Yahweh. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, ^11and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Yahweh for a wave offering, on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh. ^12The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. ^13You shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Yahweh. ^14Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. ^15"After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. ^16For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me. ^17For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. ^18I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel. ^19I 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; that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary." ^20Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the Levites. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. ^21The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before Yahweh; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ^22After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron, and before his sons: as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them. ^23Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^24"This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting; ^25and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting on the work, and shall serve no more, ^26but shall minister with their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites concerning their duties." __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 9 ^1Yahweh 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"Moreover let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed season. ^3On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it in its appointed season"according to all its statutes, and according to all its ordinances, you shall keep it." ^4Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover. ^5They kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did. ^6There were certain men, who were unclean because of the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. ^7Those men said to him, "We are unclean because of the dead body of a man. Why are we kept back, that we may not offer the offering of Yahweh in its appointed season among the children of Israel?" ^8Moses answered them, "Wait, that I may hear what Yahweh will command concerning you." ^9Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^10"Say to the children of Israel, If any man of you or of your generations is unclean by reason of a dead body, or is on a journey far away, he shall still keep the Passover to Yahweh. ^11In the second month, on the fourteenth day at evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ^12They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it. According to all the statute of the Passover they shall keep it. ^13But the man who is clean, and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people. Because he didn't offer the offering of Yahweh in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. ^14If a foreigner lives among you, and desires to keep the Passover to Yahweh; according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its ordinance, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the foreigner, and for him who is born in the land.'" ^15On the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the Tent of the Testimony: and at evening it was over the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until morning. ^16So it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night. ^17Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, then after that the children of Israel traveled; and in the place where the cloud remained, there the children of Israel encamped. ^18At the commandment of Yahweh, the children of Israel traveled, and at the commandment of Yahweh they encamped. As long as the cloud remained on the tabernacle they remained encamped. ^19When the cloud stayed on the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of Yahweh, and didn't travel. ^20Sometimes the cloud was a few days on the tabernacle; then according to the commandment of Yahweh they remained encamped, and according to the commandment of Yahweh they traveled. ^21Sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they traveled: or by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they traveled. ^22Whether it was two days, or a month, or a year that the cloud stayed on the tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and didn't travel; but when it was taken up, they traveled. ^23At the commandment of Yahweh they encamped, and at the commandment of Yahweh they traveled. They kept the charge of Yahweh, at the commandment of Yahweh by Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 10 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2Make you two trumpets of silver; of beaten work shall you make them: and you shall use them for the calling of the congregation, and for the journeying of the camps. ^3When they shall blow them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the tent of meeting. ^4If they blow but one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. ^5When you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall take their journey. ^6When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. ^7But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm. ^8The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and they shall be to you for a statute forever throughout your generations. ^9When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets; and you shall be remembered before Yahweh your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. ^10Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am Yahweh your God. ^11It happened in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, that the cloud was taken up from over the tent of the testimony. ^12The children of Israel set forward according to their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud abode in the wilderness of Paran. ^13They first took their journey according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses. ^14In the first place the standard of the camp of the children of Judah set forward according to their armies: and over his army was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. ^15Over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. ^16Over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. ^17The tent was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who bore the tent, set forward. ^18The standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies: and over his army was Elizur the son of Shedeur. ^19Over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. ^20Over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. ^21The Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the others did set up the tent against their coming. ^22The standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies: and over his army was Elishama the son of Ammihud. ^23Over the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. ^24Over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni. ^25The standard of the camp of the children of Dan, which was the rearward of all the camps, set forward according to their armies: and over his army was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. ^26Over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ochran. ^27Over the army of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. ^28Thus were the travels of the children of Israel according to their armies; and they set forward. ^29Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, We are journeying to the place of which Yahweh said, I will give it you: come you with us, and we will do you good; for Yahweh has spoken good concerning Israel. ^30He said to him, I will not go; but I will depart to my own land, and to my relatives. ^31He said, Don't leave us, please; because you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you shall be to us instead of eyes. ^32It shall be, if you go with us, yes, it shall be, that whatever good Yahweh shall do to us, the same will we do to you. ^33They set forward from the Mount of Yahweh three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them. ^34The cloud of Yahweh was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp. ^35It happened, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Yahweh, and let your enemies be scattered; and let those who hate you flee before you. ^36When it rested, he said, Return, Yahweh, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 11 ^1The people were as murmurers, speaking evil in the ears of Yahweh: and when Yahweh heard it, his anger was kindled; and the fire of Yahweh burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp. ^2The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated. ^3The name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of Yahweh burnt among them. ^4The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? ^5We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: ^6but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all save this manna to look on. ^7The manna was like coriander seed, and the appearance of it as the appearance of bdellium. ^8The people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. ^9When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it. ^10Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent: and the anger of Yahweh was kindled greatly; and Moses was displeased. ^11Moses said to Yahweh, Why have you dealt ill with your servant? and why haven't I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? ^12Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them forth, that you should tell me, Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers? ^13Where should I get meat to give to all this people? for they weep to me, saying, Give us meat, that we may eat. ^14I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. ^15If you deal thus with me, please kill me out of hand, if I have found favor in your sight; and let me not see my wretchedness. ^16Yahweh 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, that they may stand there with you. ^17I will come down and talk with you there: and I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you not bear it yourself alone. ^18Say you to the people, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore Yahweh will give you flesh, and you shall eat. ^19You shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days, ^20but a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome to you; because that you have rejected Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? ^21Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and you have said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month. ^22Shall flocks and herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them? ^23Yahweh said to Moses, Has Yahweh's hand grown short? now shall you see whether my word shall happen to you or not. ^24Moses went out, and told the people the words of Yahweh: and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the Tent. ^25Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders: and it happened that when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. ^26But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested on them; and they were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. ^27There ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. ^28Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, My lord Moses, forbid them. ^29Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? would that all Yahweh's people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them! ^30Moses got him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. ^31There went forth a wind from Yahweh, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth. ^32The people rose up all that day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails: he who gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. ^33While the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of Yahweh was kindled against the people, and Yahweh struck the people with a very great plague. ^34The name of that place was called Kibrothhattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted. ^35From Kibrothhattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth; and they abode at Hazeroth. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12 ^1Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman. ^2They said, Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn't he spoken also with us? Yahweh heard it. ^3Now the man Moses was very humble, above all the men who were on the surface of the earth. ^4Yahweh spoke suddenly to Moses, and to Aaron, and to Miriam, Come out you three to the tent of meeting. They three came out. ^5Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forth. ^6He said, Hear now my words: if there be a prophet among you, I Yahweh will make myself known to him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream. ^7My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house: ^8with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form of Yahweh shall he see: why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses? ^9The anger of Yahweh was kindled against them; and he departed. ^10The cloud removed from over the Tent; and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow: and Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. ^11Aaron said to Moses, Oh, my lord, please don't lay sin on us, for that we have done foolishly, and for that we have sinned. ^12Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb. ^13Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, Heal her, God, I beg you. ^14Yahweh said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn't she be ashamed seven days? let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again. ^15Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days: and the people didn't travel until Miriam was brought in again. ^16Afterward the people traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2Send you men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, everyone a prince among them. ^3Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Yahweh: all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. ^4These were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. ^5Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. ^6Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ^7Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. ^8Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun. ^9Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. ^10Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. ^11Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. ^12Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. ^13Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. ^14Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. ^15Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. ^16These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. ^17Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country: ^18and see the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; ^19and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; ^20and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes. ^21So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. ^22They 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.) ^23They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two; they brought also of the pomegranates, and of the figs. ^24That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from there. ^25They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. ^26They went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and shown them the fruit of the land. ^27They told him, and said, We came to the land where you sent us; and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. ^28However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. ^29Amalek dwells in the land of the South: and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan. ^30Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. ^31But the men who went up with him said, We aren't able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. ^32They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up the inhabitants of it; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. ^33There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 14 ^1All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. ^2All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness! ^3Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: wouldn't it be better for us to return into Egypt? ^4They said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. ^5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. ^6Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes: ^7and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. ^8If Yahweh delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey. ^9Only don't rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us: don't fear them. ^10But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. The glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of meeting to all the children of Israel. ^11Yahweh said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them? ^12I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they. ^13Moses said to Yahweh, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them; ^14and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are in the midst of this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. ^15Now if you shall kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, ^16Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness. ^17Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying, ^18Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation. ^19Pardon, Please, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and according as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. ^20Yahweh said, I have pardoned according to your word: ^21but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Yahweh; ^22because all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; ^23surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it: ^24but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him will I bring into the land into which he went; and his seed shall possess it. ^25Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley: tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea. ^26Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^27How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. ^28Tell them, As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you: ^29your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me, ^30surely you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. ^31But your little ones, that you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. ^32But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. ^33Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness. ^34After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my alienation. ^35I, Yahweh, have spoken, surely this will I do to all this evil congregation, who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. ^36The men, whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land, ^37even those men who did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Yahweh. ^38But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land. ^39Moses told these words to all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. ^40They rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised: for we have sinned. ^41Moses said, Why now do you disobey the commandment of Yahweh, seeing it shall not prosper? ^42Don't go up, for Yahweh isn't among you; that you not be struck down before your enemies. ^43For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you shall fall by the sword: because you are turned back from following Yahweh, therefore Yahweh will not be with you. ^44But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and Moses, didn't depart out of the camp. ^45Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 15 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When you are come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you, ^3and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a freewill offering, or in your set feasts, to make a sweet savor to Yahweh, of the herd, or of the flock; ^4then shall he who offers his offering offer to Yahweh a meal offering of a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of oil: ^5and wine for the drink offering, the fourth part of a hin, shall you prepare with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, for each lamb. ^6Or for a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil: ^7and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^8When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh; ^9then shall he offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil: ^10and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^11Thus shall it be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the young goats. ^12According to the number that you shall prepare, so shall you do to everyone according to their number. ^13All who are native-born shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^14If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh; as you do, so he shall do. ^15For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you, a statute forever throughout your generations: as you are, so shall the foreigner be before Yahweh. ^16One law and one ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you. ^17Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^18Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When you come into the land where I bring you, ^19then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to Yahweh. ^20Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering: as the wave offering of the threshing floor, so shall you heave it. ^21Of the first of your dough you shall give to Yahweh a wave offering throughout your generations. ^22When you shall err, and not observe all these commandments, which Yahweh has spoken to Moses, ^23even all that Yahweh has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yahweh gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations; ^24then it shall be, if it be done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor to Yahweh, with the meal offering of it, and the drink offering of it, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering. ^25The 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 Yahweh, and their sin offering before Yahweh, for their error: ^26and all the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them; for in respect of all the people it was done unwittingly. ^27If one person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. ^28The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs, when he sins unwittingly, before Yahweh, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven. ^29You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them. ^30But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, the same blasphemes Yahweh; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ^31Because he has despised the word of Yahweh, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be on him. ^32While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ^33Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. ^34They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. ^35Yahweh said to Moses, The man shall surely be put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp. ^36All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^37Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^38Speak to the children of Israel, and bid those who they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each border a cord of blue: ^39and it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute; ^40that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. ^41I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Yahweh your God. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 16 ^1Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: ^2and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown; ^3and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take too much on you, seeing all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them: why then lift yourselves up above the assembly of Yahweh? ^4When Moses heard it, he fell on his face: ^5and he spoke to Korah and to all his company, saying, In the morning Yahweh will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him: even him whom he shall choose he will cause to come near to him. ^6This do: take you censers, Korah, and all his company; ^7and put fire in them, and put incense on them before Yahweh tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom Yahweh does choose, he shall be holy: you take too much on you, you sons of Levi. ^8Moses said to Korah, Hear now, you sons of Levi: ^9seems it but a small thing to 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 tent of Yahweh, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; ^10and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? and seek you the priesthood also? ^11Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against Yahweh: and Aaron, what is he who you murmur against him? ^12Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, We won't come up: ^13is 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, but you must needs make yourself also a prince over us? ^14Moreover you haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: will you put out the eyes of these men? we won't come up. ^15Moses was very angry, and said to Yahweh, "Don't respect their offering: I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them." ^16Moses said to Korah, You and all your company go before Yahweh, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow: ^17and take every man his censer, and put incense on them, and bring you before Yahweh every man his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer. ^18They took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood at the door of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. ^19Korah assembled all the congregation against them to the door of the tent of meeting: and the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the congregation. ^20Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^21Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. ^22They 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? ^23Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^24Speak to the congregation, saying, Get away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. ^25Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. ^26He spoke to the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins. ^27So they got them up from the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones. ^28Moses said, Hereby you shall know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of my own mind. ^29If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then Yahweh hasn't sent me. ^30But if Yahweh make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain to them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then you shall understand that these men have despised Yahweh. ^31It happened, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground split apart that was under them; ^32and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who appertained to Korah, and all their goods. ^33So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into Sheol: and the earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly. ^34All Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up. ^35Fire came forth from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense. ^36Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^37Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter you the fire yonder; for they are holy, ^38even the censers of these sinners against their own lives; and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before Yahweh; therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign to the children of Israel. ^39Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, which those who were burnt had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar, ^40to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger, who isn't of the seed of Aaron, comes near to burn incense before Yahweh; that he not be as Korah, and as his company: as Yahweh spoke to him by Moses. ^41But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of Yahweh. ^42It happened, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting: and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Yahweh appeared. ^43Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting. ^44Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^45Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. They fell on their faces. ^46Moses said to Aaron, Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from Yahweh; the plague is begun. ^47Aaron took as Moses spoke, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. ^48He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. ^49Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died about the matter of Korah. ^50Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tent of meeting: and the plague was stayed. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 17 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2Speak to the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods: write you every man's name on his rod. ^3You shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers' houses. ^4You shall lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. ^5It shall happen, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you. ^6Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. ^7Moses laid up the rods before Yahweh in the tent of the testimony. ^8It happened on the next day, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. ^9Moses brought out all the rods from before Yahweh to all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. ^10Yahweh said to Moses, Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their murmurings against me, that they not die. ^11Thus did Moses: as Yahweh commanded him, so did he. ^12The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. ^13Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tent of Yahweh, dies: shall we perish all of us? __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 18 ^1Yahweh said to Aaron, You and your sons and your fathers' house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. ^2Your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, bring you near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you: but you and your sons with you shall be before the tent of the testimony. ^3They shall keep your charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they, nor you. ^4They shall be joined to you, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come near to you. ^5You shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there be wrath no more on the children of Israel. ^6I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are a gift, given to Yahweh, to do the service of the tent of meeting. ^7You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil; and you shall serve: I give you the priesthood as a service of gift: and the stranger who comes near shall be put to death. ^8Yahweh spoke to Aaron, I, behold, I have given you the charge of my wave offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Israel; to you have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever. ^9This shall be your of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. ^10As the most holy things shall you eat of it; every male shall eat of it: it shall be holy to you. ^11This is your: the wave offering of their gift, even 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 of it. ^12All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to Yahweh, to you have I given them. ^13The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it. ^14Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours. ^15Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal shall be yours: nevertheless the firstborn of man shall you surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals shall you redeem. ^16Those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old shall you redeem, according to your estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs). ^17But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy: you shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^18The flesh of them shall be your, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours. ^19All the wave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Yahweh, have I given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever: it is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your seed with you. ^20Yahweh said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them: I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel. ^21To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting. ^22Henceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin, and die. ^23But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations; and among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. ^24For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a wave offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance: therefore I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. ^25Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^26Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe. ^27Your wave offering shall be reckoned to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. ^28Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to Yahweh of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and of it you shall give Yahweh's wave offering to Aaron the priest. ^29Out of all your gifts you shall offer every wave offering of Yahweh, of all the best of it, even the holy part of it out of it. ^30Therefore you shall tell them, When you heave the best of it from it, then it shall be reckoned to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the winepress. ^31You 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. ^32You shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it the best of it: and you shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that you not die. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 19 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ^2This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, and on which never came yoke. ^3You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her forth outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face: ^4and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. ^5One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: ^6and the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. ^7Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even. ^8He who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. ^9A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water for impurity: it is a sin offering. ^10He who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them, for a statute forever. ^11He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days: ^12the same shall purify himself therewith on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he doesn't purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. ^13Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and doesn't purify himself, defiles the tent of Yahweh; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet on him. ^14This 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. ^15Every open vessel, which has no covering bound on it, is unclean. ^16Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. ^17For the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering; and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: ^18and a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave: ^19and 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 at even. ^20But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh: the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. ^21It shall be a perpetual statute to them: and he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until even. ^22Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until even. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 20 ^1The children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. ^2There was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ^3The people strove with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh! ^4Why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals? ^5Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. ^6Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces: and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them. ^7Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^8Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak you to the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink. ^9Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him. ^10Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock? ^11Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. ^12Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, Because you didn't believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them. ^13These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and he was sanctified in them. ^14Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, Thus says your brother Israel, You know all the travail that has happened to us: ^15how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and our fathers: ^16and when we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of your border. ^17Please let us pass through your land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king's highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border. ^18Edom said to him, You shall not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you. ^19The children of Israel said to him, We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then will I give the price of it: let me only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet. ^20He said, You shall not pass through. Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. ^21Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: why Israel turned away from him. ^22They traveled from Kadesh: and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. ^23Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ^24Aaron 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. ^25Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; ^26and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there. ^27Moses did as Yahweh commanded: and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ^28Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, 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. ^29When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 21 ^1The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. ^2Israel vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. ^3Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and the name of the place was called Hormah. ^4They traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. ^5The people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this light bread. ^6Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. ^7The people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh, and against you; pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents from us. Moses prayed for the people. ^8Yahweh said to Moses, Make you a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard: and it shall happen, that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. ^9Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it on the standard: and it happened, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the serpent of brass, he lived. ^10The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in Oboth. ^11They traveled from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrise. ^12From there they traveled, and encamped in the valley of Zered. ^13From there they traveled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that comes out of the border of the Amorites: for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ^14Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Yahweh, Vaheb in Suphah, The valleys of the Arnon, ^15The slope of the valleys That inclines toward the dwelling of Ar, Leans on the border of Moab. ^16From there they traveled to Beer: that is the well of which Yahweh said to Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. ^17Then sang Israel this song: Spring up, well; sing you to it: ^18The well, which the princes dug, Which the nobles of the people dug, With the scepter, and with their poles. From the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; ^19and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; ^20and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert. ^21Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ^22Let me pass through your land: we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard; we will not drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's highway, until we have passed your border. ^23Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz; and he fought against Israel. ^24Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. ^25Israel took all these cities: and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the towns of it. ^26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon. ^27Therefore those who speak in proverbs say, Come you to Heshbon; Let the city of Sihon be built and established: ^28For a fire is gone out of Heshbon, A flame from the city of Sihon: It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon. ^29Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh: He has given his sons as fugitives, His daughters into captivity, To Sihon king of the Amorites. ^30We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even to Dibon, We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba. ^31Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ^32Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took the towns of it, and drove out the Amorites who were there. ^33They 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. ^34Yahweh said to Moses, Don't 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. ^35So they struck him, and his sons and all his people, until there was none left him remaining: and they possessed his land. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 22 ^1The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. ^2Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ^3Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. ^4Moab said to the elders of Midian, Now will this multitude lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field. Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ^5He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they abide over against me. ^6Please come now therefore curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may strike them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed. ^7The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak. ^8He said to them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Yahweh shall speak to me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. ^9God came to Balaam, and said, What men are these with you? ^10Balaam said to God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, ^11Behold, the people that is come out of Egypt, it covers the surface of the earth: now, come curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out. ^12God said to Balaam, You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people; for they are blessed. ^13Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Get you into your land; for Yahweh refuses to give me leave to go with you. ^14The princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, Balaam refuses to come with us. ^15Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable than they. ^16They came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me: ^17for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me. ^18Balaam answered the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of Yahweh my God, to do less or more. ^19Now therefore, please wait also here this night, that I may know what Yahweh will speak to me more. ^20God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, If the men are come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that shall you do. ^21Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. ^22God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of Yahweh placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ^23The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the way. ^24Then the angel of Yahweh stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. ^25The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he struck her again. ^26The angel of Yahweh went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. ^27The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, and she lay down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. ^28Yahweh 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? ^29Balaam said to the donkey, Because you have mocked me, I would there were a sword in my hand, for now I had killed you. ^30The donkey said to Balaam, Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? was I ever wont to do so to you? and he said, No. ^31Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. ^32The angel of Yahweh said to him, Why have you struck your donkey these three times? behold, I am come forth for an adversary, because your way is perverse before me: ^33and the donkey saw me, and turned aside before me these three times: unless she had turned aside from me, surely now I had even slain you, and saved her alive. ^34Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, I have sinned; for I didn't know that you stood in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease you, I will get me back again. ^35The angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. ^36When Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border. ^37Balak said to Balaam, Didn't I earnestly send to you to call you? why didn't you come to me? am I not able indeed to promote you to honor? ^38Balaam said to Balak, Behold, I have come to you: have I now any power at all to speak anything? the word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak. ^39Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. ^40Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him. ^41It happened in the morning, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw from there the utmost part of the people. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 23 ^1Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams. ^2Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram. ^3Balaam said to Balak, Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go: perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you. He went to a bare height. ^4God met 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. ^5Yahweh put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak. ^6He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. ^7He took up his parable, and said, From Aram has Balak brought me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, Come, defy Israel. ^8How shall I curse, whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy, whom Yahweh has not defied? ^9For from the top of the rocks I see him, From the hills I see him: behold, it is a people that dwells alone, And shall not be reckoned among the nations. ^10Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, Let my last end be like his! ^11Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether. ^12He answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth? ^13Balak said to him, Please come with me to another place, from whence you may see them; you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them from there. ^14He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. ^15He said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet Yahweh yonder. ^16Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak. ^17He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, What has Yahweh spoken? ^18He took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, you son of Zippor: ^19God is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good? ^20Behold, I have received commandment to bless: He has blessed, and I can't reverse it. ^21He has not saw iniquity in Jacob; Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel: Yahweh his God is with him, The shout of a king is among them. ^22God brings them forth out of Egypt; He has as it were the strength of the wild ox. ^23Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel: Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God done! ^24Behold, the people rises up as a lioness, As a lion does he lift himself up: He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, Drink the blood of the slain. ^25Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. ^26But Balaam answered Balak, Didn't I tell you, saying, All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do? ^27Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; peradventure it will please God that you may curse me them from there. ^28Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert. ^29Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams. ^30Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 24 ^1When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he didn't go, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. ^2Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him. ^3He took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor says, The man whose eye was closed says; ^4He says, who hears the words of God, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open: ^5How goodly are your tents, Jacob, Your tents, Israel! ^6As valleys are they spread forth, As gardens by the riverside, As aloes which Yahweh has planted, As cedar trees beside the waters. ^7Water shall flow from his buckets, His seed shall be in many waters, His king shall be higher than Agag, His kingdom shall be exalted. ^8God brings him forth out of Egypt; He has as it were the strength of the wild ox: He shall eat up the nations his adversaries, Shall break their bones in pieces, Smite them through with his arrows. ^9He couched, he lay down as a lion, As a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Blessed be everyone who blesses you, Cursed be everyone who curses you. ^10Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times. ^11Therefore now flee you to your place: I thought to promote you to great honor; but, behold, Yahweh has kept you back from honor. ^12Balaam said to Balak, Didn't I also tell your messengers who you sent to me, saying, ^13If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of Yahweh, to do either good or bad of my own mind; what Yahweh speaks, that will I speak? ^14Now, behold, I go to my people: come, and I will advertise you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days. ^15He took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor says, The man whose eye was closed says; ^16He says, who hears the words of God, Knows the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open: ^17I see him, but not now; I see him, but not near: There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, A scepter shall rise out of Israel, Shall strike through the corners of Moab, Break down all the sons of tumult. ^18Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession, who were his enemies; While Israel does valiantly. ^19Out of Jacob shall one have dominion, Shall destroy the remnant from the city. ^20He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; But his latter end shall come to destruction. ^21He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is your dwelling place, Your nest is set in the rock. ^22Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted, Until Asshur shall carry you away captive. ^23He took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God does this? ^24But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, They shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber; He also shall come to destruction. ^25Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 25 ^1Israel abode in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab: ^2for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods; and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods. ^3Israel joined himself to Baal Peor: and the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel. ^4Yahweh said to Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to Yahweh before the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel. ^5Moses said to the judges of Israel, Kill you everyone his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor. ^6Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting. ^7When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand; ^8and he went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. ^9Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand. ^10Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^11Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I didn't consume the children of Israel in my jealousy. ^12Therefore say, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace: ^13and it shall be to him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel. ^14Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers' house among the Simeonites. ^15The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a fathers' house in Midian. ^16Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^17Vex the Midianites, and strike them; ^18for they vex you with their wiles, with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 26 ^1It happened after the plague, that Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, ^2Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all who are able to go forth to war in Israel. ^3Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ^4Take the sum of the people, from twenty years old and upward; as Yahweh commanded Moses and the children of Israel, that came forth out of the land of Egypt. ^5Reuben, the firstborn of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; ^6of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. ^7These are the families of the Reubenites; and those who were numbered of them were forty-three thousand seven hundred thirty. ^8The sons of Pallu: Eliab. ^9The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. These are that Dathan and Abiram, who were called of the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against Yahweh, ^10and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died; what time the fire devoured two hundred fifty men, and they became a sign. ^11Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah didn't die. ^12The sons of Simeon after their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; ^13of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. ^14These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand two hundred. ^15The sons of Gad after their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; ^16of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; ^17of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. ^18These are the families of the sons of Gad according to those who were numbered of them, forty thousand and five hundred. ^19The sons of Judah: Er and Onan; and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. ^20The sons of Judah after their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. ^21The sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. ^22These are the families of Judah according to those who were numbered of them, seventy-six thousand five hundred. ^23The sons of Issachar after their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; ^24of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. ^25These are the families of Issachar according to those who were numbered of them, sixty-four thousand three hundred. ^26The sons of Zebulun after their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. ^27These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those who were numbered of them, sixty thousand five hundred. ^28The sons of Joseph after their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. ^29The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir became the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. ^30These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; ^31and of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; ^32and of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. ^33Zelophehad 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. ^34These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were fifty-two thousand seven hundred. ^35These are the sons of Ephraim after their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. ^36These are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. ^37These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were numbered of them, thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph after their families. ^38The sons of Benjamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; ^39of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. ^40The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites. ^41These are the sons of Benjamin after their families; and those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand six hundred. ^42These are the sons of Dan after their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan after their families. ^43All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those who were numbered of them, were sixty-four thousand four hundred. ^44The sons of Asher after their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Berites. ^45Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. ^46The name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. ^47These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those who were numbered of them, fifty-three thousand and four hundred. ^48The sons of Naphtali after their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; ^49of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. ^50These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand four hundred. ^51These are those who were numbered of the children of Israel, six hundred one thousand seven hundred thirty. ^52Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^53To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. ^54To the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance: to everyone according to those who were numbered of him shall his inheritance be given. ^55Notwithstanding, the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. ^56According to the lot shall their inheritance be divided between the more and the fewer. ^57These are those who were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. ^58These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. Kohath became the father of Amram. ^59The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt: and she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. ^60To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ^61Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before Yahweh. ^62Those who were numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward: for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel. ^63These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ^64But among these there was not a man of them who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. ^65For Yahweh had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. There was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 27 ^1Then drew near 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; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. ^2They stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the tent of meeting, saying, ^3Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against Yahweh in the company of Korah: but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. ^4Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among the brothers of our father. ^5Moses brought their cause before Yahweh. ^6Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^7The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: you shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers; and you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. ^8You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. ^9If he have no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. ^10If he have no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. ^11If his father have no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be to the children of Israel a statute and ordinance, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^12Yahweh said to Moses, Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel. ^13When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered; ^14because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes. (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) ^15Moses spoke to Yahweh, saying, ^16Let Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, ^17who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of Yahweh not be as sheep which have no shepherd. ^18Yahweh said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; ^19and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. ^20You shall put of your honor on him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey. ^21He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Yahweh: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. ^22Moses did as Yahweh commanded him; and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: ^23and he laid his hands on him, and gave him a charge, as Yahweh spoke by Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 28 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2Command the children of Israel, and tell them, My offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, of a sweet savor to me, shall you observe to offer to me in their due season. ^3You shall tell them, This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to Yahweh: male lambs a year old without blemish, two day by day, for a continual burnt offering. ^4The one lamb shall you offer in the morning, and the other lamb shall you offer at even; ^5and the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil. ^6It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in Mount Sinai for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^7The drink offering of it shall be the fourth part of a hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shall you pour out a drink offering of strong drink to Yahweh. ^8The other lamb shall you offer at even: as the meal offering of the morning, and as the drink offering of it, you shall offer it, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ^9On the Sabbath day two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and the drink offering of it: ^10this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the continual burnt offering, and the drink offering of it. ^11In the beginnings of your months you shall offer a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, and one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; ^12and three tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, for each bull; and two tenth parts of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; ^13and a tenth part of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering to every lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^14Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, and the third part of a hin for the ram, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year. ^15One male goat for a sin offering to Yahweh; it shall be offered besides the continual burnt offering, and the drink offering of it. ^16In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is Yahweh's Passover. ^17On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. ^18In the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no servile work; ^19but you shall offer an offering made by fire, a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, and one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish; ^20and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenth parts shall you offer for a bull, and two tenth parts for the ram; ^21a tenth part shall you offer for every lamb of the seven lambs; ^22and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. ^23You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. ^24After this manner you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh: it shall be offered besides the continual burnt offering, and the drink offering of it. ^25On the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation: you shall do no servile work. ^26Also in the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new meal offering to Yahweh in your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no servile work; ^27but you shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savor to Yahweh: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; ^28and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenth parts for each bull, two tenth parts for the one ram, ^29a tenth part for every lamb of the seven lambs; ^30one male goat, to make atonement for you. ^31Besides the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering of it, you shall offer them (they shall be to you without blemish), and their drink offerings. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 29 ^1In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing of trumpets to you. ^2You shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savor to Yahweh: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; ^3and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenth parts for the bull, two tenth parts for the ram, ^4and one tenth part for every lamb of the seven lambs; ^5and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; ^6besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and the meal offering of it, and the continual burnt offering and the meal offering of it, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ^7On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; and you shall afflict your souls: you shall do no manner of work; ^8but you shall offer a burnt offering to Yahweh for a sweet savor: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish; ^9and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenth parts for the bull, two tenth parts for the one ram, ^10a tenth part for every lamb of the seven lambs: ^11one male goat for a sin offering; besides the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering of it, and their drink offerings. ^12On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no servile work, and you shall keep a feast to Yahweh seven days: ^13and you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh; thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old; they shall be without blemish; ^14and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenth parts for every bull of the thirteen bulls, two tenth parts for each ram of the two rams, ^15and a tenth part for every lamb of the fourteen lambs; ^16and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, the meal offering of it, and the drink offering of it. ^17On the second day you shall offer twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish; ^18and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; ^19and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering of it, and their drink offerings. ^20On the third day eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish; ^21and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; ^22and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering of it, and the drink offering of it. ^23On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish; ^24their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; ^25and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, the meal offering of it, and the drink offering of it. ^26On the fifth day nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish; ^27and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; ^28and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering of it, and the drink offering of it. ^29On the sixth day eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish; ^30and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; ^31and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, the meal offering of it, and the drink offerings of it. ^32On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish; ^33and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; ^34and one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, the meal offering of it, and the drink offering of it. ^35On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly: you shall do no servile work; ^36but you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; ^37their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the ordinance: ^38and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, and the meal offering of it, and the drink offering of it. ^39These you shall offer to Yahweh in your set feasts, besides your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meal offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings. ^40Moses told the children of Israel according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 30 ^1Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded. ^2When a man vows a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. ^3Also when a woman vows a vow to Yahweh, and binds herself by a bond, being in her father's house, in her youth, ^4and her father hears her vow, and her bond with which she has bound her soul, and her father holds his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she has bound her soul shall stand. ^5But if her father disallow her in the day that he hears, none of her vows, or of her bonds with which she has bound her soul, shall stand: and Yahweh will forgive her, because her father disallowed her. ^6If she be married to a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul, ^7and her husband hear it, and hold his peace at her in the day that he hears it; then her vows shall stand, and her bonds with which she has bound her soul shall stand. ^8But if her husband disallow her in the day that he hears it, then he shall make void her vow which is on her, and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul: and Yahweh will forgive her. ^9But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, even everything with which she has bound her soul, shall stand against her. ^10If she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, ^11and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and didn't disallow her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she bound her soul shall stand. ^12But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband has made them void; and Yahweh will forgive her. ^13Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. ^14But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows, or all her bonds, which are on her: he has established them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them. ^15But if he shall make them null and void after that he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity. ^16These are the statutes, which Yahweh commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter, being in her youth, in her father's house. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 31 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward you shall be gathered to your people. ^3Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm you men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Yahweh's vengeance on Midian. ^4Of every tribe one thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall you send to the war. ^5So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ^6Moses sent them, one 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. ^7They warred against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses; and they killed every male. ^8They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they killed with the sword. ^9The children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their livestock, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey. ^10All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire. ^11They took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of animal. ^12They brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho. ^13Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside of the camp. ^14Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war. ^15Moses said to them, Have you saved all the women alive? ^16Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh. ^17Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. ^18But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. ^19Encamp you outside of the camp seven days: whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. ^20As to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood, you shall purify yourselves. ^21Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded Moses: ^22however the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ^23everything that may abide the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity: and all that doesn't withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water. ^24You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterward you shall come into the camp. ^25Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^26Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation; ^27and divide the prey into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. ^28Levy a tribute to Yahweh of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the oxen, and of the donkeys, and of the flocks: ^29take it of their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh's wave offering. ^30Of the children of Israel's half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, even of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who keep the charge of the tent of Yahweh. ^31Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^32Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep, ^33and seventy-two thousand oxen, ^34and seventy-one thousand donkeys, ^35and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him. ^36The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep: ^37and Yahweh's tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five. ^38The oxen were thirty-six thousand; of which Yahweh's tribute was seventy-two. ^39The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred; of which Yahweh's tribute was sixty-one. ^40The persons were sixteen thousand; of whom Yahweh's tribute was thirty-two persons. ^41Moses gave the tribute, which was Yahweh's wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^42Of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided off from the men who warred ^43(now the congregation's half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, ^44and thirty-six thousand oxen, ^45and thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, ^46and sixteen thousand persons), ^47even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the charge of the tent of Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^48The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses; ^49and they said to Moses, Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our charge, and there lacks not one man of us. ^50We have brought Yahweh's offering, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh. ^51Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all worked jewels. ^52All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to Yahweh, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels. ^53(For the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.) ^54Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, for a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 32 ^1Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for livestock; ^2the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, ^3Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, ^4the land which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock. ^5They said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; don't bring us over the Jordan. ^6Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brothers go to the war, and shall you sit here? ^7Why discourage you the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Yahweh has given them? ^8Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. ^9For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Yahweh had given them. ^10Yahweh's anger was kindled in that day, and he swore, saying, ^11Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: ^12save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed Yahweh. ^13Yahweh's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, who had done evil in the sight of Yahweh, was consumed. ^14Behold, you are risen up in your fathers' place, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel. ^15For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people. ^16They came near to him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones: ^17but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ^18We will not return to our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. ^19For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward. ^20Moses said to them, If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before Yahweh to the war, ^21and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before Yahweh, until he has driven out his enemies from before him, ^22and the land is subdued before Yahweh; then afterward you shall return, and be guiltless towards Yahweh, and towards Israel; and this land shall be to you for a possession before Yahweh. ^23But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out. ^24Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth. ^25The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, Your servants will do as my lord commands. ^26Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock, shall be there in the cities of Gilead; ^27but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before Yahweh to battle, as my lord says. ^28So Moses gave charge 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. ^29Moses said to them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle, before Yahweh, and the land shall be subdued before you; then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: ^30but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. ^31The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As Yahweh has said to your servants, so will we do. ^32We will pass over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan. ^33Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, 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, the land, according to the cities of it with their borders, even the cities of the land round about. ^34The children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, ^35and Atrothshophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah, ^36and Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities, and folds for sheep. ^37The children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim, ^38and Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah: and they gave other names to the cities which they built. ^39The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein. ^40Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein. ^41Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the towns of it, and called them Havvoth Jair. ^42Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages of it, and called it Nobah, after his own name. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 33 ^1These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. ^2Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of Yahweh: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. ^3They traveled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians, ^4while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Yahweh had struck among them: on their gods also Yahweh executed judgments. ^5The children of Israel traveled from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth. ^6They traveled from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. ^7They traveled from Etham, and turned back to Pihahiroth, which is before Baal Zephon: and they encamped before Migdol. ^8They traveled from before Hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness: and they went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah. ^9They traveled from Marah, and came to Elim: and in Elim were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there. ^10They traveled from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea. ^11They traveled from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. ^12They traveled from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. ^13They traveled from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. ^14They traveled from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink. ^15They traveled from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. ^16They traveled from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth Hattaavah. ^17They traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah, and encamped in Hazeroth. ^18They traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in Rithmah. ^19They traveled from Rithmah, and encamped in Rimmon Perez. ^20They traveled from Rimmon Perez, and encamped in Libnah. ^21They traveled from Libnah, and encamped in Rissah. ^22They traveled from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah. ^23They traveled from Kehelathah, and encamped in Mount Shepher. ^24They traveled from Mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah. ^25They traveled from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth. ^26They traveled from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath. ^27They traveled from Tahath, and encamped in Terah. ^28They traveled from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah. ^29They traveled from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah. ^30They traveled from Hashmonah, and encamped in Moseroth. ^31They traveled from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene Jaakan. ^32They traveled from Bene Jaakan, and encamped in Hor Haggidgad. ^33They traveled from Hor Haggidgad, and encamped in Jotbathah. ^34They traveled from Jotbathah, and encamped in Abronah. ^35They traveled from Abronah, and encamped in Ezion Geber. ^36They traveled from Ezion Geber, and encamped in the wilderness of Zin (the same is Kadesh). ^37They traveled from Kadesh, and encamped in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. ^38Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of Yahweh, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. ^39Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died in Mount Hor. ^40The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. ^41They traveled from Mount Hor, and encamped in Zalmonah. ^42They traveled from Zalmonah, and encamped in Punon. ^43They traveled from Punon, and encamped in Oboth. ^44They traveled from Oboth, and encamped in Iye Abarim, in the border of Moab. ^45They traveled from Iyim, and encamped in Dibon Gad. ^46They traveled from Dibon Gad, and encamped in Almon Diblathaim. ^47They traveled from Almon Diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. ^48They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ^49They encamped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth even to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab. ^50Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ^51Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ^52then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places: ^53and you shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for to you have I given the land to possess it. ^54You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance: wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers shall you inherit. ^55But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those who you let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes, and as thorns in your sides, and they shall vex you in the land in which you dwell. ^56It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so will I do to you. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 34 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^2Command the children of Israel, and tell them, When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to the borders of it), ^3then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward; ^4and your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and the goings out of it shall be southward of Kadesh Barnea; and it shall go forth to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon; ^5and the border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. ^6For the western border, you shall have the great sea and the border of it: this shall be your west border. ^7This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for you Mount Hor; ^8from Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the goings out of the border shall be at Zedad; ^9and the border shall go forth to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazar Enan: this shall be your north border. ^10You shall mark out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; ^11and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down, and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward; ^12and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to the borders of it round about. ^13Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe; ^14for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers' houses, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers' houses, have received, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received, their inheritance: ^15the two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise. ^16Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^17These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. ^18You shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance. ^19These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ^20Of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. ^21Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. ^22Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli. ^23Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod. ^24Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. ^25Of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. ^26Of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. ^27Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. ^28Of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. ^29These are they whom Yahweh commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 35 ^1Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ^2Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and suburbs for the cities round about them shall you give to the Levites. ^3The cities shall they have to dwell in; and their suburbs shall be for their livestock, and for their substance, and for all their animals. ^4The suburbs of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits round about. ^5You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities. ^6The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to: and besides them you shall give forty-two cities. ^7All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities; them shall you give with their suburbs. ^8Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many; and from the few you shall take few: everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites. ^9Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ^10Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ^11then you shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. ^12The cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer not die, until he stands before the congregation for judgment. ^13The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge. ^14You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities shall you give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge. ^15For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the foreigner living among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. ^16But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. ^17If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. ^18Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. ^19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death: when he meets him, he shall put him to death. ^20If he thrust him of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died, ^21or in enmity struck him with his hand, so that he died; he who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him. ^22But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, ^23or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm; ^24then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances; ^25and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he was fled: and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. ^26But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge, where he flees, ^27and the avenger of blood find him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kill the manslayer; he shall not be guilty of blood, ^28because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession. ^29These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ^30Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die. ^31Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death. ^32You shall take no ransom for him who is fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. ^33So you shall not pollute the land in which you are: for blood, it pollutes the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him who shed it. ^34You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell: for I, Yahweh, dwell in the midst of the children of Israel. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 36 ^1The heads of the fathers' houses of the family 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 before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers' houses of the children of Israel: ^2and they said, Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ^3If they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. ^4When the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers. ^5Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of Yahweh, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks right. ^6This is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married. ^7So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall cleave everyone to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. ^8Every daughter, who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers. ^9So shall no inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave everyone to his own inheritance. ^10Even as Yahweh commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad: ^11for Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father's brothers' sons. ^12They 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. ^13These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. __________________________________________________________________ Deuteronomy __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 1 ^1These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ^2It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. ^3It happened in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that Yahweh had given him in commandment to them; ^4after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. ^5Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, ^6Yahweh our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, You have lived long enough in this mountain: ^7turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all the places near there, in the Arabah, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the seashore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. ^8Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them. ^9I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: ^10Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day as the stars of the sky for multitude. ^11Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you! ^12How can I myself alone bear your encumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? ^13Take wise men of understanding and well known according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you. ^14You answered me, and said, The thing which you have spoken is good for us to do. ^15So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. ^16I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. ^17You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it. ^18I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do. ^19We traveled from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. ^20I said to you, You are come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us. ^21Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you: go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you; don't be afraid, neither be dismayed. ^22You came near to me everyone of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come. ^23The thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe: ^24and they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. ^25They took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Yahweh our God gives to us. ^26Yet you wouldn't go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God: ^27and you murmured in your tents, and said, Because Yahweh hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. ^28Where are we going up? our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there. ^29Then I said to you, Don't dread, neither be afraid of them. ^30Yahweh your God who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, ^31and in the wilderness, where you have seen how that Yahweh your God bore you, as a man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place. ^32Yet in this thing you didn't believe Yahweh your God, ^33who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day. ^34Yahweh heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying, ^35Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers, ^36save Caleb the son of Jephunneh: he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he has trodden on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh. ^37Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, You also shall not go in there: ^38Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there: encourage you him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. ^39Moreover your little ones, whom you said should be a prey, and your children, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, and to them will I give it, and they shall possess it. ^40But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea. ^41Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against Yahweh, we will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us. You girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill country. ^42Yahweh said to me, Tell them, Don't go up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest you be struck before your enemies. ^43So I spoke to you, and you didn't listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country. ^44The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah. ^45You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh didn't listen to your voice, nor gave ear to you. ^46So you abode in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you abode there. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 ^1Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Yahweh spoke to me; and we compassed Mount Seir many days. ^2Yahweh spoke to me, saying, ^3You have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. ^4Command you the people, saying, You are to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you: take good heed to yourselves therefore; ^5don't contend with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. ^6You shall purchase food of them for money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water of them for money, that you may drink. ^7For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand; he has known your walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing. ^8So we passed by from our brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion Geber. We turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. ^9Yahweh said to me, Don't bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession. ^10(The Emim lived therein before, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim: ^11these also are accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim. ^12The Horites also lived in Seir before, but the children of Esau succeeded them; and they destroyed them from before them, and lived in their place; as Israel did to the land of his possession, which Yahweh gave to them.) ^13Now rise up, and get you over the brook Zered. We went over the brook Zered. ^14The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty-eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as Yahweh swore to them. ^15Moreover the hand of Yahweh was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed. ^16So it happened, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, ^17that Yahweh spoke to me, saying, ^18You are this day to pass over Ar, the border of Moab: ^19and when you come near over against the children of Ammon, don't bother them, nor contend with them; for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession. ^20(That also is accounted a land of Rephaim: Rephaim lived therein before; but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, ^21a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Yahweh destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place; ^22as he did for the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place even to this day: ^23and the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and lived in their place.) ^24Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon: behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. ^25This day will I begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of you. ^26I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, ^27Let me pass through your land: I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. ^28You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only let me pass through on my feet, ^29as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me; until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us. ^30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as at this day. ^31Yahweh said to me, Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you: begin to possess, that you may inherit his land. ^32Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. ^33Yahweh our God delivered him up before us; and we struck him, and his sons, and all his people. ^34We took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones; we left none remaining: ^35only the livestock we took for a prey to ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken. ^36From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us; Yahweh our God delivered up all before us: ^37only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn't come near; all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbade us. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 ^1Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. ^2Yahweh said to me, Don't fear him; for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon. ^3So Yahweh our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we struck him until none was left to him remaining. ^4We took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we didn't take from them; sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ^5All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars; besides the unwalled towns a great many. ^6We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. ^7But all the livestock, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves. ^8We took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon; ^9(which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir;) ^10all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, to Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ^11(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; isn't it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length of it, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.) ^12This land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead, and the cities of it, gave I to the Reubenites and to the Gadites: ^13and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I to the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim. ^14Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth Jair, to this day.) ^15I gave Gilead to Machir. ^16To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and the border of it, even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; ^17the Arabah also, and the Jordan and the border of it, from Chinnereth even to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward. ^18I commanded you at that time, saying, Yahweh your God has given you this land to possess it: you shall pass over armed before your brothers the children of Israel, all the men of valor. ^19But your wives, and your little ones, and your livestock, (I know that you have much livestock), shall abide in your cities which I have given you, ^20until Yahweh give rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also possess the land which Yahweh your God gives them beyond the Jordan: then shall you return every man to his possession, which I have given you. ^21I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings: so shall Yahweh do to all the kingdoms where you go over. ^22You shall not fear them; for Yahweh your God, he it is who fights for you. ^23I begged Yahweh at that time, saying, ^24Lord Yahweh, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand: for what god is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to your works, and according to your mighty acts? ^25Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. ^26But Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and didn't listen to me; and Yahweh said to me, Let it suffice you; speak no more to me of this matter. ^27Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes: for you shall not go over this Jordan. ^28But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see. ^29So we abode in the valley over against Beth Peor. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 ^1Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you. ^2You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you. ^3Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from the midst of you. ^4But you who did cleave to Yahweh your God are alive everyone of you this day. ^5Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it. ^6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. ^7For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him? ^8What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? ^9Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children's children; ^10the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children. ^11You came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. ^12Yahweh spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; only you heard a voice. ^13He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tables of stone. ^14Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it. ^15Take therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no manner of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. ^16Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, ^17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, ^18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; ^19and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky. ^20But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as at this day. ^21Furthermore Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance: ^22but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but you shall go over, and possess that good land. ^23Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make you an engraved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you. ^24For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. ^25When you shall father children, and children's children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, to provoke him to anger; ^26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over the Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed. ^27Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh shall lead you away. ^28There you shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. ^29But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. ^30When you are in oppression, and all these things are come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God, and listen to his voice: ^31for Yahweh your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them. ^32For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been any such thing as this great thing is, or has been heard like it? ^33Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? ^34Or has God tried to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ^35To you it was shown, that you might know that Yahweh he is God; there is none else besides him. ^36Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you: and on earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. ^37Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt; ^38to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day. ^39Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that Yahweh he is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is none else. ^40You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh your God gives you, forever. ^41Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise; ^42that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and didn't hate him in time past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live: ^43namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites. ^44This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: ^45these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt, ^46beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck, when they came forth out of Egypt. ^47They took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise; ^48from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Sion (the same is Hermon), ^49and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 ^1Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears this day, that you may learn them, and observe to do them. ^2Yahweh our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. ^3Yahweh didn't make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. ^4Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the midst of the fire, ^5(I stood between Yahweh and you at that time, to show you the word of Yahweh: for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn't go up onto the mountain;) saying, ^6"I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ^7You shall have no other gods before me. ^8"You shall not make an engraved image for yourself, nor any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: ^9you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them; for I, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me; ^10and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. ^11"You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain: for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. ^12"Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. ^13Six days shall you labor, and do all your work; ^14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ^15You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm: therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. ^16"Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ^17"You shall not murder. ^18"Neither shall you commit adultery. ^19"Neither shall you steal. ^20"Neither shall you give false testimony against your neighbor. ^21"Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; neither shall you desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." ^22These words Yahweh spoke to all your assembly on the mountain out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. He wrote them on two tables of stone, and gave them to me. ^23It happened, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; ^24and you said, Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God does speak with man, and he lives. ^25Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of Yahweh our God any more, then we shall die. ^26For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? ^27Go you near, and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say: and speak you to us all that Yahweh our God shall speak to you; and we will hear it, and do it. ^28Yahweh heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me; and Yahweh said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you: they have well said all that they have spoken. ^29Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever! ^30Go tell them, Return you to your tents. ^31But as for you, stand you here by me, and I will speak to you all the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. ^32You shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you: you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ^33You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6 ^1Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it; ^2that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. ^3Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. ^4Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one: ^5and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. ^6These words, which I command you this day, shall be on your heart; ^7and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. ^8You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for symbols between your eyes. ^9You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates. ^10It shall be, when Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn't build, ^11and houses full of all good things, which you didn't fill, and cisterns dug out, which you didn't dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you didn't plant, and you shall eat and be full; ^12then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ^13You shall fear Yahweh your God; and him shall you serve, and shall swear by his name. ^14You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are round about you; ^15for Yahweh your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. ^16You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah. ^17You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. ^18You shall do that which is right and good in the sight of Yahweh; that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, ^19to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken. ^20When your son asks you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you? ^21then you shall tell your son, We were Pharaoh's bondservants in Egypt: and Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; ^22and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; ^23and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. ^24Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day. ^25It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7 ^1When Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before you, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you; ^2and when Yahweh your God shall deliver them up before you, and you shall strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them: you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them; ^3neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give to his son, nor his daughter shall you take to your son. ^4For he will turn away your son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he will destroy you quickly. ^5But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their engraved images with fire. ^6For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God: Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth. ^7Yahweh didn't set his love on you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples: ^8but because Yahweh loves you, and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, has Yahweh brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ^9Know therefore that Yahweh your God, he is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations, ^10and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him who hates him, he will repay him to his face. ^11You shall therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day, to do them. ^12It shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that Yahweh your God will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which he swore to your fathers: ^13and he will love you, and bless you, and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you. ^14You shall be blessed above all peoples: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your livestock. ^15Yahweh will take away from you all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, he will put on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you. ^16You shall consume all the peoples who Yahweh your God shall deliver to you; your eye shall not pity them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that will be a snare to you. ^17If you shall say in your heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? ^18you shall not be afraid of them: you shall well remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh, and to all Egypt; ^19the great trials which your eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which Yahweh your God brought you out: so shall Yahweh your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. ^20Moreover Yahweh your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you. ^21You shall not be scared of them; for Yahweh your God is in the midst of you, a great and awesome God. ^22Yahweh your God will cast out those nations before you by little and little: you may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you. ^23But Yahweh your God will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they be destroyed. ^24He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name to perish from under the sky: there shall no man be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them. ^25The engraved images of their gods shall you burn with fire: you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it to you, lest you be snared therein; for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God. ^26You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and become a devoted thing like it: you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 8 ^1All the commandment which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers. ^2You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not. ^3He humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn't know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh does man live. ^4Your clothing didn't grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years. ^5You shall consider in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so Yahweh your God chastens you. ^6You shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. ^7For Yahweh your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills; ^8a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey; ^9a land in which you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper. ^10You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless Yahweh your God for the good land which he has given you. ^11Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God, in not keeping his commandments, and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you this day: ^12lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and lived therein; ^13and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ^14then your heart be lifted up, and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; ^15who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint; ^16who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn't know; that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end: ^17and lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth. ^18But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as at this day. ^19It shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. ^20As the nations that Yahweh makes to perish before you, so shall you perish; because you wouldn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 9 ^1Hear, Israel: you are to pass over the Jordan this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky, ^2a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, Who can stand before the sons of Anak? ^3Know therefore this day, that Yahweh your God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will bring them down before you: so shall you drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as Yahweh has spoken to you. ^4Don't speak in your heart, after that Yahweh your God has thrust them out from before you, saying, For my righteousness Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land; whereas for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh does drive them out from before you. ^5Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. ^6Know therefore, that Yahweh your God doesn't give you this good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people. ^7Remember, don't forget, how you provoked Yahweh your God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that you went forth out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Yahweh. ^8Also in Horeb you provoked Yahweh to wrath, and Yahweh was angry with you to destroy you. ^9When I was gone up onto the mountain to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which Yahweh made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water. ^10Yahweh delivered to me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which Yahweh spoke with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. ^11It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that Yahweh gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. ^12Yahweh said to me, Arise, get you down quickly from hence; for your people whom you have brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they have quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image. ^13Furthermore Yahweh spoke to me, saying, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people: ^14let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they. ^15So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. ^16I looked, and behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God; you had made you a molten calf: you had turned aside quickly out of the way which Yahweh had commanded you. ^17I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. ^18I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water; because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger. ^19For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also. ^20Yahweh was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. ^21I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust: and I cast the dust of it into the brook that descended out of the mountain. ^22At Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah, you provoked Yahweh to wrath. ^23When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you didn't believe him, nor listen to his voice. ^24You have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day that I knew you. ^25So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Yahweh had said he would destroy you. ^26I prayed to Yahweh, and said, Lord Yahweh, don't destroy your people and your inheritance, that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ^27Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; don't look to the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin, ^28lest the land whence you brought us out say, Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness. ^29Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 10 ^1At that time Yahweh said to me, Hew you two tables of stone like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make an ark of wood. ^2I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark. ^3So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone like the first, and went up onto the mountain, having the two tables in my hand. ^4He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which Yahweh spoke to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and Yahweh gave them to me. ^5I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as Yahweh commanded me. ^6(The children of Israel traveled from Beeroth Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his place. ^7From there they traveled to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. ^8At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. ^9Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; Yahweh is his inheritance, according as Yahweh your God spoke to him.) ^10I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights: and Yahweh listened to me that time also; Yahweh would not destroy you. ^11Yahweh said to me, Arise, take your journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give to them. ^12Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ^13to keep the commandments of Yahweh, and his statutes, which I command you this day for your good? ^14Behold, to Yahweh your God belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein. ^15Only Yahweh had a delight in your fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as at this day. ^16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked. ^17For Yahweh your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn't regard persons, nor takes reward. ^18He does execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the foreigner, in giving him food and clothing. ^19Therefore love the foreigner; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. ^20You shall fear Yahweh your God; him shall you serve; and to him shall you cleave, and by his name shall you swear. ^21He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things, which your eyes have seen. ^22Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons; and now Yahweh your God has made you as the stars of the sky for multitude. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 11 ^1Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always. ^2Know you this day: for I don't speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm, ^3and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land; ^4and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day; ^5and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; ^6and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel: ^7but your eyes have seen all the great work of Yahweh which he did. ^8Therefore shall you keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, where you go over to possess it; ^9and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey. ^10For the land, where you go in to possess it, isn't as the land of Egypt, from whence you came out, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs; ^11but the land, where you go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks water of the rain of the sky, ^12a land which Yahweh your God cares for: the eyes of Yahweh your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year. ^13It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, ^14that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, and your new wine, and your oil. ^15I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. ^16Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; ^17and the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you. ^18Therefore shall you lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for symbols between your eyes. ^19You shall teach them your children, talking of them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. ^20You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates; ^21that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth. ^22For if you shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave to him; ^23then will Yahweh drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. ^24Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the hinder sea shall be your border. ^25There shall no man be able to stand before you: Yahweh your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread on, as he has spoken to you. ^26Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: ^27the blessing, if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day; ^28and the curse, if you shall not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known. ^29It shall happen, when Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal. ^30Aren't they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? ^31For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein. ^32You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12 ^1These are the statutes and the ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth. ^2You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree: ^3and you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods; and you shall destroy their name out of that place. ^4You shall not do so to Yahweh your God. ^5But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation shall you seek, and there you shall come; ^6and there you shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock: ^7and there you shall eat before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you. ^8You shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatever is right in his own eyes; ^9for you haven't yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Yahweh your God gives you. ^10But when you go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety; ^11then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there shall you bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Yahweh. ^12You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your male servants, and your female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you. ^13Take heed to yourself that you don't offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; ^14but in the place which Yahweh shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you. ^15Notwithstanding, you may kill and eat flesh within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which he has given you: the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart. ^16Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth as water. ^17You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand; ^18but you shall eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates: and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God in all that you put your hand to. ^19Take heed to yourself that you don't forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land. ^20When Yahweh your God shall enlarge your border, as he has promised you, and you shall say, I will eat flesh, because your soul desires to eat flesh; you may eat flesh, after all the desire of your soul. ^21If the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to put his name there, be too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul. ^22Even as the gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so you shall eat of it: the unclean and the clean may eat of it alike. ^23Only be sure that you don't eat the blood: for the blood is the life; and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. ^24You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth as water. ^25You shall not eat it; that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh. ^26Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which Yahweh shall choose: ^27and you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Yahweh your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Yahweh your God; and you shall eat the flesh. ^28Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God. ^29When Yahweh your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their land; ^30take heed to yourself that you not be ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. ^31You shall not do so to Yahweh your God: for every abomination to Yahweh, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods. ^32Whatever thing I command you, that shall you observe to do: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13 ^1If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give you a sign or a wonder, ^2and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them; ^3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for Yahweh your God proves you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ^4You shall walk after Yahweh your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him. ^5That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So shall you put away the evil from the midst of you. ^6If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you, nor your fathers; ^7of the gods of the peoples who are round about you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; ^8you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him: ^9but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. ^10You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ^11All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more such wickedness as this is in the midst of you. ^12If you shall hear tell concerning one of your cities, which Yahweh your God gives you to dwell there, saying, ^13Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known; ^14then shall you inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in the midst of you, ^15you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and the livestock of it, with the edge of the sword. ^16You shall gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street of it, and shall burn with fire the city, and all the spoil of it every whit, to Yahweh your God: and it shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. ^17There shall cleave nothing of the devoted thing to your hand; that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers; ^18when you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all his commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 14 ^1You are the children of Yahweh your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. ^2For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth. ^3You shall not eat any abominable thing. ^4These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, ^5the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the ibex, and the antelope, and the chamois. ^6Every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof cloven in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, that may you eat. ^7Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the rabbit; because they chew the cud but don't part the hoof, they are unclean to you. ^8The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn't chew the cud, is unclean to you: of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. ^9These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales may you eat; ^10and whatever doesn't have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean to you. ^11Of all clean birds you may eat. ^12But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, and the vulture, and the ospray, ^13and the red kite, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind, ^14and every raven after its kind, ^15and the ostrich, and the owl, and the seagull, and the hawk after its kind, ^16the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl, ^17and the pelican, and the vulture, and the cormorant, ^18and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. ^19All winged creeping things are unclean to you: they shall not be eaten. ^20Of all clean birds you may eat. ^21You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner: for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. ^22You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes forth from the field year by year. ^23You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always. ^24If the way be too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it, because the place is too far from you, which Yahweh your God shall choose, to set his name there, when Yahweh your God shall bless you; ^25then shall you turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose: ^26and you shall bestow the money for whatever your soul desires, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you; and you shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. ^27The Levite who is within your gates, you shall not forsake him; for he has no portion nor inheritance with you. ^28At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates: ^29and the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the foreigner living among you, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 15 ^1At the end of every seven years you shall make a release. ^2This is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother; because Yahweh's release has been proclaimed. ^3Of a foreigner you may exact it: but whatever of your is with your brother your hand shall release. ^4However there shall be no poor with you; (for Yahweh will surely bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it;) ^5if only you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you this day. ^6For Yahweh your God will bless you, as he promised you: and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. ^7If there be with you a poor man, one of your brothers, within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; ^8but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wants. ^9Beware that there not be a base thought in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you. ^10You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because that for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you put your hand to. ^11For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land. ^12If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold to you, and serve you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ^13When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty: ^14you shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress; as Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. ^15You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you: therefore I command you this thing today. ^16It shall be, if he tell you, I will not go out from you; because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you; ^17then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. ^18It shall not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you; for to the double of the hire of a hireling has he served you six years: and Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do. ^19All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock you shall sanctify to Yahweh your God: you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ^20You shall eat it before Yahweh your God year by year in the place which Yahweh shall choose, you and your household. ^21If it have any blemish, as if it be lame or blind, any ill blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God. ^22You shall eat it within your gates: the unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the hart. ^23Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground as water. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 16 ^1Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night. ^2You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ^3You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shall you eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. ^4There shall be no yeast seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which you sacrifice the first day at even, remain all night until the morning. ^5You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you; ^6but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt. ^7You shall roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose: and you shall turn in the morning, and go to your tents. ^8Six days you shall eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God; you shall do no work therein. ^9Seven weeks shall you number to you: from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain shall you begin to number seven weeks. ^10You shall keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give, according as Yahweh your God blesses you: ^11and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates, and the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are in the midst of you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ^12You shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt: and you shall observe and do these statutes. ^13You shall keep the feast of tents seven days, after that you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your winepress: ^14and you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite, and the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates. ^15Seven days shall you keep a feast to Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh shall choose; because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful. ^16Three times in a year shall all your males appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents; and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty: ^17every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which he has given you. ^18Judges and officers shall you make you in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. ^19You shall not wrest justice: you shall not respect persons; neither shall you take a bribe; for a bribe does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. ^20That which is altogether just shall you follow, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ^21You shall not plant you an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Yahweh your God, which you shall make you. ^22Neither shall you set yourself up a pillar; which Yahweh your God hates. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 17 ^1You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a blemish, or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God. ^2If there be found in the midst of you, within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you, man or woman, who does that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, in transgressing his covenant, ^3and has gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the army of the sky, which I have not commanded; ^4and it be told you, and you have heard of it, then shall you inquire diligently; and behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in Israel, ^5then shall you bring forth that man or that woman, who has done this evil thing, to your gates, even the man or the woman; and you shall stone them to death with stones. ^6At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he who is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. ^7The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. ^8If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates; then shall you arise, and go up to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose; ^9and you shall come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days: and you shall inquire; and they shall show you the sentence of judgment. ^10You shall do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show you from that place which Yahweh shall choose; and you shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you: ^11according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand, nor to the left. ^12The man who does presumptuously, in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and you shall put away the evil from Israel. ^13All the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously. ^14When you are come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me; ^15you shall surely set him king over you, whom Yahweh your God shall choose: one from among your brothers shall you set king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ^16Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, You shall henceforth return no more that way. ^17Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. ^18It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites: ^19and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; ^20that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 18 ^1The priests the Levites, even all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, and his inheritance. ^2They shall have no inheritance among their brothers: Yahweh is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them. ^3This shall be the priests' due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. ^4The first fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him. ^5For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in the name of Yahweh, him and his sons for ever. ^6If a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he lives as a foreigner, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which Yahweh shall choose; ^7then he shall minister in the name of Yahweh his God, as all his brothers the Levites do, who stand there before Yahweh. ^8They shall have like portions to eat, besides that which comes of the sale of his patrimony. ^9When you are come into the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. ^10There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, ^11or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer. ^12For whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh: and because of these abominations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before you. ^13You shall be perfect with Yahweh your God. ^14For these nations, that you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice sorcery, and to diviners; but as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you so to do. ^15Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers, like me; to him you shall listen; ^16according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die. ^17Yahweh said to me, They have well said that which they have spoken. ^18I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. ^19It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. ^20But the prophet, who shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. ^21If you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken? ^22when a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing doesn't follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken: the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 19 ^1When Yahweh your God shall cut off the nations, whose land Yahweh your God gives you, and you succeed them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses; ^2you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it. ^3You shall prepare you the way, and divide the borders of your land, which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee there. ^4This is the case of the manslayer, that shall flee there and live: whoever kills his neighbor unawares, and didn't hate him in time past; ^5as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetches a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle, and lights on his neighbor, so that he dies; he shall flee to one of these cities and live: ^6lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he didn't hate him in time past. ^7Therefore I command you, saying, You shall set apart three cities for you. ^8If Yahweh your God enlarge your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and give you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers; ^9if you shall keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shall you add three cities more for you, besides these three: ^10that innocent blood not be shed in the midst of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and so blood be on you. ^11But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and strike him mortally so that he dies, and he flee into one of these cities; ^12then the elders of his city shall send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. ^13Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you. ^14You shall not remove your neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that Yahweh your God gives you to possess it. ^15One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. ^16If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of wrong-doing, ^17then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; ^18and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother; ^19then shall you do to him, as he had thought to do to his brother: so shall you put away the evil from the midst of you. ^20Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of you. ^21Your eyes shall not pity; life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 20 ^1When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and see horses, and chariots, and a people more than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. ^2It shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people, ^3and shall tell them, Hear, Israel, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: don't let your heart faint; don't be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them; ^4for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. ^5The officers shall speak to the people, saying, What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. ^6What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not used the fruit of it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use the fruit of it. ^7What man is there who has pledged to be married a wife, and has not taken her? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her. ^8The officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return to his house, lest his brother's heart melt as his heart. ^9It shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking to the people, that they shall appoint captains of armies at the head of the people. ^10When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it. ^11It shall be, if it make you answer of peace, and open to you, then it shall be, that all the people who are found therein shall become tributary to you, and shall serve you. ^12If it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, then you shall besiege it: ^13and when Yahweh your God delivers it into your hand, you shall strike every male of it with the edge of the sword: ^14but the women, and the little ones, and the livestock, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil of it, shall you take for a prey to yourself; and you shall eat the spoil of your enemies, which Yahweh your God has given you. ^15Thus shall you do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. ^16But of the cities of these peoples, that Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes; ^17but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as Yahweh your God has commanded you; ^18that they not teach you to do after all their abominations, which they have done to their gods; so would you sin against Yahweh your God. ^19When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy the trees of it by wielding an axe against them; for you may eat of them, and you shall not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of you? ^20Only the trees of which you know that they are not trees for food, you shall destroy and cut them down; and you shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it fall. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 21 ^1If one be found slain in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it isn't known who has struck him; ^2then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain: ^3and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn't been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke; ^4and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. ^5The priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Yahweh your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Yahweh; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. ^6All the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; ^7and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. ^8Forgive, Yahweh, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don't allow innocent blood to remain in the midst of your people Israel. The blood shall be forgiven them. ^9So shall you put away the innocent blood from the midst of you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh. ^10When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God delivers them into your hands, and you carry them away captive, ^11and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you have a desire to her, and would take her to you as wife; ^12then you shall bring her home to your house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; ^13and she shall put the clothing of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that you shall go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. ^14It shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she will; but you shall not sell her at all for money, you shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled her. ^15If a man have two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers who was hated; ^16then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn: ^17but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. ^18If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not listen to them; ^19then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place; ^20and they shall tell the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. ^21All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so shall you put away the evil from the midst of you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. ^22If a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and you hang him on a tree; ^23his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God; that you don't defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 22 ^1You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely bring them again to your brother. ^2If your brother isn't near to you, or if you don't know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him. ^3So shall you do with his donkey; and so shall you do with his garment; and so shall you do with every lost thing of your brother's, which he has lost, and you have found: you may not hide yourself. ^4You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely help him to lift them up again. ^5A woman shall not wear men's clothing, neither shall a man put on women's clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God. ^6If a bird's nest chance to be before you in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the hen sitting on the young, or on the eggs, you shall not take the hen with the young: ^7you shall surely let the hen go, but the young you may take to yourself; that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days. ^8When you build a new house, then you shall make a battlement for your roof, that you don't bring blood on your house, if any man fall from there. ^9You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole fruit be forfeited, the seed which you have sown, and the increase of the vineyard. ^10You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. ^11You shall not wear a mixed stuff, wool and linen together. ^12You shall make you fringes on the four borders of your cloak, with which you cover yourself. ^13If any man take a wife, and go in to her, and hate her, ^14and lay shameful things to her charge, and bring up an evil name on her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came near to her, I didn't find in her the tokens of virginity; ^15then shall the father of the young lady, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the young lady's virginity to the elders of the city in the gate; ^16and the young lady's father shall tell the elders, I gave my daughter to this man to wife, and he hates her; ^17and behold, he has laid shameful things to her charge, saying, I didn't find in your daughter the tokens of virginity; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. They shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. ^18The elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him; ^19and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young lady, because he has brought up an evil name on a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. ^20But if this thing be true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young lady; ^21then they shall bring out the young lady to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done folly in Israel, to play the prostitute in her father's house: so shall you put away the evil from the midst of you. ^22If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman: so shall you put away the evil from Israel. ^23If there be a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; ^24then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she didn't cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor's wife: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. ^25But if the man find the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only who lay with her shall die: ^26but to the lady you shall do nothing; there is in the lady no sin worthy of death: for as when a man rises against his neighbor, and kills him, even so is this matter; ^27for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was none to save her. ^28If a man find a lady who is a virgin, who is not pledged to be married, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; ^29then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has humbled her; he may not put her away all his days. ^30A man shall not take his father's wife, and shall not uncover his father's skirt. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 23 ^1He who is wounded in the stones, or has his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh. ^2A bastard shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of Yahweh. ^3An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none belonging to them enter into the assembly of Yahweh forever: ^4because they didn't meet you with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. ^5Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn't listen to Balaam; but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God loved you. ^6You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. ^7You shall not abhor an Edomite; for he is your brother: you shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land. ^8The children of the third generation who are born to them shall enter into the assembly of Yahweh. ^9When you go forth in camp against your enemies, then you shall keep you from every evil thing. ^10If there be among you any man, who is not clean by reason of that which happens him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp: ^11but it shall be, when evening comes on, he shall bathe himself in water; and when the sun is down, he shall come within the camp. ^12You shall have a place also outside of the camp, where you shall go forth abroad: ^13and you shall have a paddle among your weapons; and it shall be, when you sit down abroad, you shall dig therewith, and shall turn back and cover that which comes from you: ^14for Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you; therefore shall your camp be holy, that he may not see an unclean thing in you, and turn away from you. ^15You shall not deliver to his master a servant who is escaped from his master to you: ^16he shall dwell with you, in the midst of you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best: you shall not oppress him. ^17There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel. ^18You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a dog, into the house of Yahweh your God for any vow: for even both these are an abomination to Yahweh your God. ^19You shall not lend on interest to your brother; interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest: ^20to a foreigner you may lend on interest; but to your brother you shall not lend on interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it. ^21When you shall vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not be slack to pay it: for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you. ^22But if you shall forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in you. ^23That which is gone out of your lips you shall observe and do; according as you have vowed to Yahweh your God, a freewill offering, which you have promised with your mouth. ^24When you come into your neighbor's vineyard, then you may eat of grapes your fill at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your vessel. ^25When you come into your neighbor's standing grain, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not move a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 24 ^1When a man takes a wife, and marries her, then it shall be, if she find no favor in his eyes, because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a bill of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. ^2When she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. ^3If the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife; ^4her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before Yahweh: and you shall not cause the land to sin, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance. ^5When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, neither shall he be charged with any business: he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he has taken. ^6No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone to pledge; for he takes a man's life to pledge. ^7If a man be found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deal with him as a slave, or sell him; then that thief shall die: so shall you put away the evil from the midst of you. ^8Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so you shall observe to do. ^9Remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam, by the way as you came forth out of Egypt. ^10When you do lend your neighbor any manner of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. ^11You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you do lend shall bring forth the pledge outside to you. ^12If he be a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge; ^13you shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless you: and it shall be righteousness to you before Yahweh your God. ^14You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he be of your brothers, or of your foreigners who are in your land within your gates: ^15in his day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor, and sets his heart on it: lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you. ^16The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. ^17You shall not wrest the justice due to the foreigner, or to the fatherless, nor take the widow's clothing to pledge; ^18but you shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you there: therefore I command you to do this thing. ^19When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgot a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. ^20When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. ^21When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it after you: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. ^22You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt: therefore I command you to do this thing. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 25 ^1If there be a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked; ^2and it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number. ^3Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then your brother should seem vile to you. ^4You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain. ^5If brothers dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in to her, and take her to him as wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. ^6It shall be, that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel. ^7If the man doesn't want to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me. ^8Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him: and if he stand, and say, I don't want to take her; ^9then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house. ^10His name shall be called in Israel, The house of him who has his shoe untied. ^11When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts forth her hand, and takes him by the secrets; ^12then you shall cut off her hand, your eye shall have no pity. ^13You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, a great and a small. ^14You shall not have in your house diverse measures, a great and a small. ^15A perfect and just weight shall you have; a perfect and just measure shall you have: that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ^16For all who do such things, even all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God. ^17Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came forth out of Egypt; ^18how he met you by the way, and struck the hindmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn't fear God. ^19Therefore it shall be, when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky; you shall not forget. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 26 ^1It shall be, when you are come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell therein, ^2that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you; and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ^3You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, I profess this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us. ^4The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God. ^5You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. ^6The Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage: ^7and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression; ^8and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs, and with wonders; ^9and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ^10Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Yahweh, have given me. You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God. ^11You shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is in the midst of you. ^12When you have made an end of tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled. ^13You shall say before Yahweh your God, I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them: ^14I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I put away of it, being unclean, nor given of it for the dead: I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done according to all that you have commanded me. ^15Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. ^16This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul. ^17You have declared Yahweh this day to be your God, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice: ^18and Yahweh has declared you this day to be a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments; ^19and to make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as he has spoken. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 27 ^1Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandment which I command you this day. ^2It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and plaster them with plaster: ^3and you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you are passed over; that you may go in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you. ^4It shall be, when you are passed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. ^5There shall you build an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones: you shall lift up no iron tool on them. ^6You shall build the altar of Yahweh your God of uncut stones; and you shall offer burnt offerings thereon to Yahweh your God: ^7and you shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God. ^8You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly. ^9Moses and the priests the Levites spoke to all Israel, saying, Keep silence, and listen, Israel: this day you are become the people of Yahweh your God. ^10You shall therefore obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day. ^11Moses charged the people the same day, saying, ^12These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you are passed over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin. ^13These shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ^14The Levites shall answer, and tell all the men of Israel with a loud voice, ^15Cursed be the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret. All the people shall answer and say, Amen. ^16Cursed be he who sets light by his father or his mother. All the people shall say, Amen. ^17Cursed be he who removes his neighbor's landmark. All the people shall say, Amen. ^18Cursed be he who makes the blind to wander out of the way. All the people shall say, Amen. ^19Cursed be he who wrests the justice due to the foreigner, fatherless, and widow. All the people shall say, Amen. ^20Cursed be he who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's skirt. All the people shall say, Amen. ^21Cursed be he who lies with any manner of animal. All the people shall say, Amen. ^22Cursed be he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. All the people shall say, Amen. ^23Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law. All the people shall say, Amen. ^24Cursed be he who strikes his neighbor in secret. All the people shall say, Amen. ^25Cursed be he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person. All the people shall say, Amen. ^26Cursed be he who doesn't confirm the words of this law to do them. All the people shall say, Amen. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 28 ^1It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that Yahweh your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth: ^2and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. ^3Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. ^4Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. ^5Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading trough. ^6Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. ^7Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you: they shall come out against you one way, and shall flee before you seven ways. ^8Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to; and he will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ^9Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you; if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways. ^10All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Yahweh; and they shall be afraid of you. ^11Yahweh will make you plenteous for good, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. ^12Yahweh will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow. ^13Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do them, ^14and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. ^15But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you. ^16Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. ^17Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading trough. ^18Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. ^19Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. ^20Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. ^21Yahweh will make the pestilence cleave to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it. ^22Yahweh will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish. ^23Your sky that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron. ^24Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed. ^25Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. ^26Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away. ^27Yahweh will strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. ^28Yahweh will strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart; ^29and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you. ^30You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use the fruit of it. ^31Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it: your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you: your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you. ^32Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people; and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nothing in the power of your hand. ^33The fruit of your ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you don't know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always; ^34so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. ^35Yahweh will strike you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. ^36Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and there shall you serve other gods, wood and stone. ^37You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away. ^38You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it. ^39You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them. ^40You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olive shall cast its fruit. ^41You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. ^42All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess. ^43The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall mount up above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower. ^44He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. ^45All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you: ^46and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever. ^47Because you didn't serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; ^48therefore shall you serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he have destroyed you. ^49Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand; ^50a nation of fierce facial expressions, that shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young, ^51and shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; that also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. ^52They shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahweh your God has given you. ^53You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. ^54The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining; ^55so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates. ^56The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, ^57and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates. ^58If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD; ^59then Yahweh will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. ^60He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cleave to you. ^61Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will Yahweh bring on you, until you are destroyed. ^62You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. ^63It shall happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go in to possess it. ^64Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. ^65Among these nations shall you find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot: but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul; ^66and your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. ^67In the morning you shall say, Would it were even! and at even you shall say, Would it were morning! for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. ^68Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall see it no more again: and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for bondmaids, and no man shall buy you. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 29 ^1These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. ^2Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, You have seen all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; ^3the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders: ^4but Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. ^5I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes have not grown old on you, and your shoe has not grown old on your foot. ^6You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink; that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. ^7When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we struck them: ^8and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites. ^9Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. ^10You stand this day all of you before Yahweh your God; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, ^11your little ones, your wives, and your foreigner who is in the midst of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water; ^12that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you this day; ^13that he may establish you this day to himself for a people, and that he may be to you a God, as he spoke to you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. ^14Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, ^15but with him who stands here with us this day before Yahweh our God, and also with him who is not here with us this day ^16(for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed; ^17and you have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them); ^18lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood; ^19and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry. ^20Yahweh will not pardon him, but then the anger of Yahweh and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. ^21Yahweh will set him apart to evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law. ^22The generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick; ^23and that the whole land of it is sulfur, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: ^24even all the nations shall say, Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? what means the heat of this great anger? ^25Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, ^26and went and served other gods, and worshiped them, gods that they didn't know, and that he had not given to them: ^27therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse that is written in this book; ^28and Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day. ^29The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 30 ^1It shall happen, when all these things are come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where Yahweh your God has driven you, ^2and shall return to Yahweh your God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul; ^3that then Yahweh your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples, where Yahweh your God has scattered you. ^4If any of your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there will Yahweh your God gather you, and from there he will bring you back: ^5and Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers. ^6Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live. ^7Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies, and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. ^8You shall return and obey the voice of Yahweh, and do all his commandments which I command you this day. ^9Yahweh your God will make you plenteous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, for good: for Yahweh will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers; ^10if you shall obey the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul. ^11For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. ^12It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it? ^13Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it? ^14But the word is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it. ^15Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil; ^16in that I command you this day to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it. ^17But if your heart turn away, and you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; ^18I denounce to you this day, that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land, where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it. ^19I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed; ^20to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cleave to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 31 ^1Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. ^2He said to them, I am one hundred twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: and Yahweh has said to me, You shall not go over this Jordan. ^3Yahweh your God, he will go over before you; he will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before you, as Yahweh has spoken. ^4Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land; whom he destroyed. ^5Yahweh will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you. ^6Be strong and of good courage, don't be afraid, nor be scared of them: for Yahweh your God, he it is who does go with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you. ^7Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage: for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. ^8Yahweh, he it is who does go before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you, neither forsake you: don't be afraid, neither be dismayed. ^9Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel. ^10Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tents, ^11when all Israel is come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ^12Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your foreigner who is within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; ^13and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it. ^14Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, your days approach that you must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge. Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. ^15Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud: and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent. ^16Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. ^17Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, Haven't these evils come on us because our God is not among us? ^18I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they shall have worked, in that they are turned to other gods. ^19Now therefore write you this song for you, and teach you it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. ^20For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant. ^21It shall happen, when many evils and troubles are come on them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they frame this day, before I have brought them into the land which I swore. ^22So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. ^23He gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them: and I will be with you. ^24It happened, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, ^25that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying, ^26Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. ^27For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against Yahweh; and how much more after my death? ^28Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ^29For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. ^30Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 32 ^1Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak; Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. ^2My doctrine shall drop as the rain; My speech shall condense as the dew, As the small rain on the tender grass, As the showers on the herb. ^3For I will proclaim the name of Yahweh: Ascribe greatness to our God. ^4The Rock, his work is perfect; For all his ways are justice: A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, Just and right is he. ^5They have dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, it is their blemish; They are a perverse and crooked generation. ^6Do you thus requite Yahweh, Foolish people and unwise? Isn't he your father who has bought you? He has made you, and established you. ^7Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask your father, and he will show you; Your elders, and they will tell you. ^8When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel. ^9For Yahweh's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. ^10He found him in a desert land, In the waste howling wilderness; He compassed him about, he cared for him, He kept him as the apple of his eye. ^11As an eagle that stirs up her nest, That flutters over her young, He spread abroad his wings, he took them, He bore them on his feathers. ^12Yahweh alone did lead him, There was no foreign god with him. ^13He made him ride on the high places of the earth, He ate the increase of the field; He made him to suck honey out of the rock, Oil out of the flinty rock; ^14Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, Rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the finest of the wheat; Of the blood of the grape you drank wine. ^15But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked: You have grown fat, you are grown thick, you are become sleek; Then he forsook God who made him, Lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. ^16They moved him to jealousy with strange gods; With abominations provoked they him to anger. ^17They sacrificed to demons, which were no God, To gods that they didn't know, To new gods that came up of late, Which your fathers didn't dread. ^18Of the Rock that became your father, you are unmindful, Have forgotten God who gave you birth. ^19Yahweh saw it, and abhorred them, Because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. ^20He said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: For they are a very perverse generation, Children in whom is no faithfulness. ^21They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; They have provoked me to anger with their vanities: I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. ^22For a fire is kindled in my anger, Burns to the lowest Sheol, Devours the earth with its increase, Sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. ^23I will heap evils on them; I will spend my arrows on them: ^24They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat Bitter destruction; The teeth of animals will I send on them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust. ^25Outside shall the sword bereave, In the chambers terror; It shall destroy both young man and virgin, The suckling with the man of gray hairs. ^26I said, I would scatter them afar, I would make the memory of them to cease from among men; ^27Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, Lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this. ^28For they are a nation void of counsel, There is no understanding in them. ^29Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would consider their latter end! ^30How should one chase a thousand, Two put ten thousand to flight, Except their Rock had sold them, Yahweh had delivered them up? ^31For their rock is not as our Rock, Even our enemies themselves being judges. ^32For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, Of the fields of Gomorrah: Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter: ^33Their wine is the poison of serpents, The cruel venom of asps. ^34Isn't this laid up in store with me, Sealed up among my treasures? ^35Vengeance is mine, and recompense, At the time when their foot shall slide: For the day of their calamity is at hand, The things that are to come on them shall make haste. ^36For Yahweh will judge his people, Repent himself for his servants; When he sees that their power is gone, There is none remaining, shut up or left at large. ^37He will say, Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge; ^38Which ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your protection. ^39See now that I, even I, am he, There is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; There is none who can deliver out of my hand. ^40For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live forever, ^41If I whet my glittering sword, My hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to my adversaries, Will recompense those who hate me. ^42I will make my arrows drunk with blood, My sword shall devour flesh; With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the head of the leaders of the enemy. ^43Rejoice, you nations, with his people: For he will avenge the blood of his servants, Will render vengeance to his adversaries, Will make expiation for his land, for his people. ^44Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. ^45Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel; ^46He said to them, Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, even all the words of this law. ^47For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it. ^48Yahweh spoke to Moses that same day, saying, ^49Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and see the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel for a possession; ^50and die on the mountain where you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people: ^51because you trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn't sanctify me in the midst of the children of Israel. ^52For you shall see the land before you; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 33 ^1This is the blessing, with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. ^2He said, Yahweh came from Sinai, Rose from Seir to them; He shined forth from Mount Paran, He came from the ten thousands of holy ones: At his right hand was a fiery law for them. ^3Yes, he loves the people; All his saints are in your hand: They sat down at your feet; Everyone shall receive of your words. ^4Moses commanded us a law, An inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. ^5He was king in Jeshurun, When the heads of the people were gathered, All the tribes of Israel together. ^6Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few. ^7This is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, Yahweh, the voice of Judah, Bring him in to his people. With his hands he contended for himself; You shall be a help against his adversaries. ^8Of Levi he said, Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one, Whom you did prove at Massah, With whom you did strive at the waters of Meribah; ^9Who said of his father, and of his mother, I have not seen him; Neither did he acknowledge his brothers, Nor knew he his own children: For they have observed your word, Keep your covenant. ^10They shall teach Jacob your ordinances, Israel your law: They shall put incense before you, Whole burnt offering on your altar. ^11Bless, Yahweh, his substance, Accept the work of his hands: Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him, Of those who hate him, that they not rise again. ^12Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of Yahweh shall dwell in safety by him; He covers him all the day long, He dwells between his shoulders. ^13Of Joseph he said, Blessed of Yahweh be his land, For the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, For the deep that couches beneath, ^14For the precious things of the fruits of the sun, For the precious things of the growth of the moons, ^15For the chief things of the ancient mountains, For the precious things of the everlasting hills, ^16For the precious things of the earth and the fullness of it, The good will of him who lived in the bush. Let the blessing come on the head of Joseph, On the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers. ^17The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his; His horns are the horns of the wild ox: With them he shall push the peoples all of them, even the ends of the earth: They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, They are the thousands of Manasseh. ^18Of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; Issachar, in your tents. ^19They shall call the peoples to the mountain; There shall they offer sacrifices of righteousness: For they shall suck the abundance of the seas, The hidden treasures of the sand. ^20Of Gad he said, Blessed be he who enlarges Gad: He dwells as a lioness, Tears the arm, yes, the crown of the head. ^21He provided the first part for himself, For there was the lawgiver's portion reserved; He came with the heads of the people; He executed the righteousness of Yahweh, His ordinances with Israel. ^22Of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's cub, That leaps forth from Bashan. ^23Of Naphtali he said, Naphtali, satisfied with favor, Full with the blessing of Yahweh, Possess you the west and the south. ^24Of Asher he said, Blessed be Asher with children; Let him be acceptable to his brothers, Let him dip his foot in oil. ^25Your bars shall be iron and brass; As your days, so shall your strength be. ^26There is none like God, Jeshurun, Who rides on the heavens for your help, In his excellency on the skies. ^27The eternal God is your dwelling place, Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, Said, Destroy. ^28Israel dwells in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; Yes, his heavens drop down dew. ^29Happy are you, Israel: Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, The shield of your help, The sword of your excellency! Your enemies shall submit themselves to you; You shall tread on their high places. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 34 ^1Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. Yahweh showed him all the land of Gilead, to Dan, ^2and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the hinder sea, ^3and the South, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, to Zoar. ^4Yahweh said to him, This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, I will give it to your seed: I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there. ^5So Moses the servant of Yahweh died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Yahweh. ^6He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor: but no man knows of his tomb to this day. ^7Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. ^8The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended. ^9Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands on him: and the children of Israel listened to him, and did as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^10There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face, ^11in all the signs and the wonders, which Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, ^12and in all the mighty hand, and in all the great terror, which Moses worked in the sight of all Israel. __________________________________________________________________ Joshua __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 1 ^1Now it happened after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, ^2Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you, and all this people, to the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. ^3Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread on, to you have I given it, as I spoke to Moses. ^4From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. ^5There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you, nor forsake you. ^6Be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ^7Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you: don't turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. ^8This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate thereon day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. ^9Haven't I commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; don't be afraid, neither be dismayed: for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go. ^10Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, ^11Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare food; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it. ^12To the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, spoke Joshua, saying, ^13Remember the word which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, saying, Yahweh your God gives you rest, and will give you this land. ^14Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock, shall abide in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but you shall pass over before your brothers armed, all the mighty men of valor, and shall help them; ^15until Yahweh has given your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they also have possessed the land which Yahweh your God gives them: then you shall return to the land of your possession, and possess it, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise. ^16They answered Joshua, saying, All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ^17According as we listened to Moses in all things, so will we listen to you: only Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses. ^18Whoever he be who shall rebel against your commandment, and shall not listen to your words in all that you command him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of good courage. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 ^1Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men as spies secretly, saying, Go, view the land, and Jericho. They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and lay there. ^2It was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in here tonight of the children of Israel to search out the land. ^3The king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men who are come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to search out all the land. ^4The woman took the two men, and hid them; and she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I didn't know whence they were: ^5and it happened about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out; where the men went I don't know: pursue after them quickly; for you will overtake them. ^6But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof. ^7The men pursued after them the way to the Jordan to the fords: and as soon as those who pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. ^8Before they were laid down, she came up to them on the roof; ^9and she said to the men, I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you is fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. ^10For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. ^11As soon as we had heard it, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath. ^12Now therefore, please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a true token; ^13and that you will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death. ^14The men said to her, Our life for yours, if you don't utter this our business; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you. ^15Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall. ^16She said to them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers light on you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may you go your way. ^17The men said to her, We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear. ^18Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by: and you shall gather to you into the house your father, and your mother, and your brothers, and all your father's household. ^19It shall be, that whoever shall go out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his head, and we shall be guiltless: and whoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be on him. ^20But if you utter this our business, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you have made us to swear. ^21She said, According to your words, so be it. She sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window. ^22They went, and came to the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but didn't find them. ^23Then the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they told him all that had happened to them. ^24They said to Joshua, Truly Yahweh has delivered into our hands all the land; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land do melt away before us. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 ^1Joshua rose up early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel; and they lodged there before they passed over. ^2It happened after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp; ^3and they commanded the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place, and go after it. ^4Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: don't come near to it, that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way heretofore. ^5Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you. ^6Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. ^7Yahweh said to Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. ^8You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When you are come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. ^9Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come here, and hear the words of Yahweh your God. ^10Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite. ^11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan. ^12Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man. ^13It shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap. ^14It happened, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people; ^15and when those who bore the ark were come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest), ^16that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. ^17The priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation were passed clean over the Jordan. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 ^1It happened, when all the nation were clean passed over the Jordan, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, ^2Take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, ^3and command you them, saying, Take hence out of the midst of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging place, where you shall lodge this night. ^4Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: ^5and Joshua said to them, Pass over before the ark of Yahweh your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up every man of you a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; ^6that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying, What do you mean by these stones? ^7then you shall tell them, Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever. ^8The children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as Yahweh spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. ^9Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there to this day. ^10For the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished that Yahweh commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hurried and passed over. ^11It happened, when all the people had completely passed over, that the ark of Yahweh passed over, with the priests, in the presence of the people. ^12The children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spoke to them: ^13about forty thousand ready armed for war passed over before Yahweh to battle, to the plains of Jericho. ^14On that day Yahweh magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. ^15Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, ^16Command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan. ^17Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come up out of the Jordan. ^18It happened, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh were come up out of the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before. ^19The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho. ^20Those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, did Joshua set up in Gilgal. ^21He spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? ^22Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. ^23For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until you were passed over, as Yahweh your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were passed over; ^24that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Yahweh, that it is mighty; that you may fear Yahweh your God forever. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 ^1It happened, when all the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard how that Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. ^2At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, Make you flint knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. ^3Joshua made himself flint knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. ^4This is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: all the people who came forth out of Egypt, who were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came forth out of Egypt. ^5For all the people who came out were circumcised; but all the people who were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, they had not circumcised. ^6For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, even the men of war who came forth out of Egypt, were consumed, because they didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh: to whom Yahweh swore that he wouldn't let them see the land which Yahweh swore to their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ^7Their children, whom he raised up in their place, them did Joshua circumcise: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. ^8It happened, when they had done circumcising all the nation, that they abode in their places in the camp, until they were whole. ^9Yahweh said to Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Therefore the name of that place was called Gilgal, to this day. ^10The children of Israel encamped in Gilgal; and they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. ^11They ate of the produce of the land on the next day after the Passover, unleavened cakes and parched grain, in the same day. ^12The manna ceased on the next day, after they had eaten of the produce of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. ^13It happened, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went to him, and said to him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries? ^14He said, No; but I have come now as commander of Yahweh's army. Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said to him, What says my lord to his servant? ^15The prince of Yahweh's army said to Joshua, Put off your shoe from off your foot; for the place whereon you stand is holy. Joshua did so. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6 ^1Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. ^2Yahweh said to Joshua, Behold, I have given into your hand Jericho, and the king of it, and the mighty men of valor. ^3You shall compass the city, all the men of war, going about the city once. Thus shall you do six days. ^4Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark: and the seventh day you shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ^5It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him. ^6Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Yahweh. ^7They said to the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of Yahweh. ^8It was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before Yahweh passed on, and blew the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh followed them. ^9The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rearward went after the ark, the priests blowing the trumpets as they went. ^10Joshua commanded the people, saying, You shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall you shout. ^11So he caused the ark of Yahweh to compass the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. ^12Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of Yahweh. ^13The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Yahweh went on continually, and blew the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; and the rearward came after the ark of Yahweh, the priests blowing the trumpets as they went. ^14The second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. ^15It happened on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on the day they compassed the city seven times. ^16It happened at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, Shout; for Yahweh has given you the city. ^17The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is therein, to Yahweh: only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. ^18But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so would you make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it. ^19But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are holy to Yahweh: they shall come into the treasury of Yahweh. ^20So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets; and it happened, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. ^21They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword. ^22Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, Go into the prostitute's house, and bring out there the woman, and all that she has, as you swore to her. ^23The young men the spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brothers, and all that she had; all her relatives also they brought out; and they set them outside of the camp of Israel. ^24They burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein; only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of Yahweh. ^25But Rahab the prostitute, and her father's household, and all that she had, did Joshua save alive; and she lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. ^26Joshua charged them with an oath at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before Yahweh, that rises up and builds this city Jericho: with the loss of his firstborn shall he lay the foundation of it, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. ^27So Yahweh was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7 ^1But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted thing; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the devoted thing: and the anger of Yahweh was kindled against the children of Israel. ^2Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. The men went up and spied out Ai. ^3They returned to Joshua, and said to him, Don't let all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai; don't make all the people to toil there; for they are but few. ^4So there went up there of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. ^5The men of Ai struck of them about thirty-six men; and they chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent; and the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. ^6Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of Yahweh until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. ^7Joshua said, Alas, Lord Yahweh, why have you at all brought this people over the Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? would that we had been content and lived beyond the Jordan! ^8Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after that Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! ^9For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will compass us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what will you do for your great name? ^10Yahweh said to Joshua, Get you up; why are you thus fallen on your face? ^11Israel has sinned; yes, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: yes, they have even taken of the devoted thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also; and they have even put it among their own stuff. ^12Therefore the children of Israel can't stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, because they are become accursed: I will not be with you any more, except you destroy the devoted thing from among you. ^13Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, There is a devoted thing in the midst of you, Israel; you can not stand before your enemies, until you take away the devoted thing from among you. ^14In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which Yahweh takes shall come near by families; and the family which Yahweh shall take shall come near by households; and the household which Yahweh shall take shall come near man by man. ^15It shall be, that he who is taken with the devoted thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he has; because he has transgressed the covenant of Yahweh, and because he has done folly in Israel. ^16So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel near by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: ^17and he brought near the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zerahites: and he brought near the family of the Zerahites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: ^18and he brought near his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. ^19Joshua said to Achan, My son, please give glory to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and make confession to him; and tell me now what you have done; don't hide it from me. ^20Achan answered Joshua, and said, Of a truth I have sinned against Yahweh, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: ^21when I saw among the spoil a goodly Babylonian mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. ^22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. ^23They took them from the midst of the tent, and brought them to Joshua, and to all the children of Israel; and they laid them down before Yahweh. ^24Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the mantle, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his donkeys, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them up to the valley of Achor. ^25Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? Yahweh shall trouble you this day. All Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones. ^26They raised over him a great heap of stones, to this day; and Yahweh turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called "The valley of Achor" to this day. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 8 ^1Yahweh said to Joshua, Don't be afraid, neither be dismayed: take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai; behold, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land; ^2You shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king: only the spoil of it, and the livestock of it, shall you take for a prey to yourselves: set you an ambush for the city behind it. ^3So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them forth by night. ^4He commanded them, saying, Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city; don't go very far from the city, but be all ready: ^5and I, and all the people who are with me, will approach to the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them; ^6and they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: so we will flee before them; ^7and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city: for Yahweh your God will deliver it into your hand. ^8It shall be, when you have seized on the city, that you shall set the city on fire; according to the word of Yahweh shall you do: behold, I have commanded you. ^9Joshua sent them forth; and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people. ^10Joshua arose up early in the morning, and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. ^11All the people, even the men of war who were with him, went up, and drew near, and came before the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between him and Ai. ^12He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. ^13So they set the people, even all the army who was on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city; and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley. ^14It happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hurried and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he didn't know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. ^15Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. ^16All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. ^17There was not a man left in Ai or Beth El, who didn't go out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel. ^18Yahweh said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai; for I will give it into your hand. Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. ^19The ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and entered into the city, and took it; and they hurried and set the city on fire. ^20When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way: and the people who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers. ^21When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and killed the men of Ai. ^22The others came forth out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side: and they struck them, so that they let none of them remain or escape. ^23The king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. ^24It happened, when Israel had made an end of killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them, and they were all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all Israel returned to Ai, and struck it with the edge of the sword. ^25All that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. ^26For Joshua didn't draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. ^27Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took for prey to themselves, according to the word of Yahweh which he commanded Joshua. ^28So Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap forever, even a desolation, to this day. ^29The king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the evening: and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised thereon a great heap of stones, to this day. ^30Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal, ^31as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones, on which no man had lifted up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings to Yahweh, and sacrificed peace offerings. ^32He wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote, in the presence of the children of Israel. ^33All Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, as well the foreigner as the native; half of them in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of Yahweh had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel. ^34Afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. ^35There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua didn't read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the foreigners who were among them. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 9 ^1It happened, when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard of it; ^2that they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord. ^3But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, ^4they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins, old and torn and bound up, ^5and old and patched shoes on their feet, and old garments on them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and was become moldy. ^6They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, We are come from a far country: now therefore make you a covenant with us. ^7The men of Israel said to the Hivites, What if you dwell among us; and how shall we make a covenant with you? ^8They said to Joshua, We are your servants. Joshua said to them, Who are you? and from whence come you? ^9They said to him, From a very far country your servants are come because of the name of Yahweh your God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, ^10and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. ^11Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and tell them, We are your servants: and now make you a covenant with us. ^12This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go to you; but now, behold, it is dry, and is become moldy: ^13and these wineskins, which we filled, were new; and behold, they are torn: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. ^14The men took of their provision, and didn't ask counsel at the mouth of Yahweh. ^15Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation swore to them. ^16It happened at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they lived among them. ^17The children of Israel traveled, and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. ^18The children of Israel didn't strike them, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel. All the congregation murmured against the princes. ^19But all the princes said to all the congregation, We have sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. ^20This we will do to them, and let them live; lest wrath be on us, because of the oath which we swore to them. ^21The princes said to them, Let them live: so they became wood cutters and drawers of water to all the congregation, as the princes had spoken to them. ^22Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, Why have you deceived us, saying, We are very far from you; when you dwell among us? ^23Now therefore you are cursed, and there shall never fail to be of you bondservants, both wood cutters and drawers of water for the house of my God. ^24They answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told your servants, how that Yahweh your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were sore afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. ^25Now, behold, we are in your hand: as it seems good and right to you to do to us, do. ^26So did he to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they didn't kill them. ^27That day Joshua made those wood cutters and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of Yahweh, to this day, in the place which he should choose. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 10 ^1Now it happened, when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them; ^2that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men of it were mighty. ^3Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, ^4Come up to me, and help me, and let us strike Gibeon; for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel. ^5Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their armies, and encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it. ^6The men of Gibeon sent to Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Don't slack your hand from your servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill country are gathered together against us. ^7So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. ^8Yahweh said to Joshua, Don't fear them: for I have delivered them into your hands; there shall not a man of them stand before you. ^9Joshua therefore came on them suddenly; for he went up from Gilgal all the night. ^10Yahweh confused them before Israel, and he killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth Horon, and struck them to Azekah, and to Makkedah. ^11It happened, as they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth Horon, that Yahweh cast down great stones from the sky on them to Azekah, and they died: they were more who died with the hailstones than they whom the children of Israel killed with the sword. ^12Then spoke Joshua to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand you still on Gibeon; You, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon. ^13The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, Until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isn't this written in the book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the midst of the sky, and didn't hurry to go down about a whole day. ^14There was no day like that before it or after it, that Yahweh listened to the voice of a man: for Yahweh fought for Israel. ^15Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal. ^16These five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. ^17It was told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah. ^18Joshua said, Roll great stones to the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to keep them: ^19but don't stay; pursue after your enemies, and strike the hindmost of them; don't allow them to enter into their cities: for Yahweh your God has delivered them into your hand. ^20It happened, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of killing them with a very great slaughter, until they were consumed, and the remnant which remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, ^21that all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. ^22Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring forth those five kings to me out of the cave. ^23They did so, and brought forth those five kings to him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon. ^24It happened, when they brought forth those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who went with him, Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings. They came near, and put their feet on the necks of them. ^25Joshua said to them, Don't be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage: for thus shall Yahweh do to all your enemies against whom you fight. ^26Afterward Joshua struck them, and put them to death, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging on the trees until the evening. ^27It happened at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave in which they had hidden themselves, and laid great stones on the mouth of the cave, to this very day. ^28Joshua took Makkedah on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and the king of it: he utterly destroyed them and all the souls who were therein; he left none remaining; and he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho. ^29Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, to Libnah, and fought against Libnah: ^30and Yahweh delivered it also, and the king of it, into the hand of Israel; and he struck it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls who were therein; he left none remaining in it; and he did to the king of it as he had done to the king of Jericho. ^31Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it: ^32and Yahweh delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel; and he took it on the second day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls who were therein, according to all that he had done to Libnah. ^33Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua struck him and his people, until he had left him none remaining. ^34Joshua passed from Lachish, and all Israel with him, to Eglon; and they encamped against it, and fought against it; ^35and they took it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword; and all the souls who were therein he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish. ^36Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, to Hebron; and they fought against it: ^37and they took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and the king of it, and all the cities of it, and all the souls who were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but he utterly destroyed it, and all the souls who were therein. ^38Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir, and fought against it: ^39and he took it, and the king of it, and all the cities of it; and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls who were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king of it; as he had done also to Libnah, and to the king of it. ^40So Joshua struck all the land, the hill country, and the South, and the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded. ^41Joshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea even to Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even to Gibeon. ^42All these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. ^43Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 11 ^1It happened, when Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, ^2and to the kings who were on the north, in the hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west, ^3to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the hill country, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. ^4They went out, they and all their armies with them, much people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. ^5All these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel. ^6Yahweh said to Joshua, Don't be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: you shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. ^7So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell on them. ^8Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and chased them to great Sidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they struck them, until they left them none remaining. ^9Joshua did to them as Yahweh bade him: he hamstrung their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire. ^10Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and struck the king of it with the sword: for Hazor before was the head of all those kingdoms. ^11They struck all the souls who were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there was none left who breathed: and he burnt Hazor with fire. ^12All the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them, did Joshua take, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them; as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded. ^13But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn. ^14All the spoil of these cities, and the livestock, the children of Israel took for a prey to themselves; but every man they struck with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any who breathed. ^15As Yahweh commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua: and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that Yahweh commanded Moses. ^16So Joshua took all that land, the hill country, and all the South, and all the land of Goshen, and the lowland, and the Arabah, and the hill country of Israel, and the lowland of the same; ^17from Mount Halak, that goes up to Seir, even to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and struck them, and put them to death. ^18Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. ^19There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: they took all in battle. ^20For it was of Yahweh to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ^21Joshua came at that time, and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel: Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. ^22There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain. ^23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that Yahweh spoke to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. The land had rest from war. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12 ^1Now these are the kings of the land, whom the children of Israel struck, and possessed their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah eastward: ^2Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and half Gilead, even to the river Jabbok, the border of the children of Ammon; ^3and the Arabah to the sea of Chinneroth, eastward, and to the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, eastward, the way to Beth Jeshimoth; and on the south, under the slopes of Pisgah: ^4and the border of Og king of Bashan, of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, ^5and ruled in Mount Hermon, and in Salecah, and in all Bashan, to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon. ^6Moses the servant of Yahweh and the children of Israel struck them: and Moses the servant of Yahweh gave it for a possession to the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ^7These are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel struck beyond the Jordan westward, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon even to Mount Halak, that goes up to Seir; and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions; ^8in the hill country, and in the lowland, and in the Arabah, and in the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the South; the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: ^9the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; ^10the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; ^11the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; ^12the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; ^13the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; ^14the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; ^15the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; ^16the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; ^17the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; ^18the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lassharon, one; ^19the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; ^20the king of Shimron Meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; ^21the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; ^22the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; ^23the king of Dor in the height of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one; ^24the king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty-one. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13 ^1Now Joshua was old and well stricken in years; and Yahweh said to him, You are old and well stricken in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed. ^2This is the land that yet remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all the Geshurites; ^3from the Shihor, which is before Egypt, even to the border of Ekron northward, which is reckoned to the Canaanites; the five lords of the Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avvim, ^4on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the border of the Amorites; ^5and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath; ^6all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, even all the Sidonians; them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only allot you it to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. ^7Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ^8With him the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them: ^9from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba to Dibon; ^10and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon; ^11and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah; ^12all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (the same was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for these did Moses strike, and drove them out. ^13Nevertheless the children of Israel didn't drive out the Geshurites, nor the Maacathites: but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day. ^14Only to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance; the offerings of Yahweh, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spoke to him. ^15Moses gave to the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their families. ^16Their border was from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain by Medeba; ^17Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the plain; Dibon, and Bamoth Baal, and Beth Baal Meon, ^18and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, ^19and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth Shahar in the mount of the valley, ^20and Beth Peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth, ^21and all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land. ^22Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel kill with the sword among the rest of their slain. ^23The border of the children of Reuben was the Jordan, and the border of it. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and the villages of it. ^24Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad, according to their families. ^25Their border was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer that is before Rabbah; ^26and from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir; ^27and in the valley, Beth Haram, and Beth Nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan and the border of it, to the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward. ^28This is the inheritance of the children of Gad according to their families, the cities and the villages of it. ^29Moses gave inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh: and it was for the half-tribe of the children of Manasseh according to their families. ^30Their border was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities: ^31and half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even for the half of the children of Machir according to their families. ^32These are the inheritances which Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho, eastward. ^33But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance: Yahweh, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he spoke to them. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 14 ^1These are the inheritances which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed to them, ^2by the lot of their inheritance, as Yahweh commanded by Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half-tribe. ^3For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan: but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. ^4For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: and they gave no portion to the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with the suburbs of it for their livestock and for their substance. ^5As Yahweh commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did; and they divided the land. ^6Then the children of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, You know the thing that Yahweh spoke to Moses the man of God concerning me and concerning you in Kadesh Barnea. ^7Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of Yahweh sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. ^8Nevertheless my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed Yahweh my God. ^9Moses swore on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have wholly followed Yahweh my God. ^10Now, behold, Yahweh has kept me alive, as he spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that Yahweh spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness: and now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. ^11As yet I am as strong this day as I as in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, and to go out and to come in. ^12Now therefore give me this hill country, of which Yahweh spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and cities great and fortified: it may be that Yahweh will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as Yahweh spoke. ^13Joshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. ^14Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day; because that he wholly followed Yahweh, the God of Israel. ^15Now the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba; which Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. The land had rest from war. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 15 ^1The lot for the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families was to the border of Edom, even to the wilderness of Zin southward, at the uttermost part of the south. ^2Their south border was from the uttermost part of the Salt Sea, from the bay that looks southward; ^3and it went out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and went up by the south of Kadesh Barnea, and passed along by Hezron, and went up to Addar, and turned about to Karka; ^4and it passed along to Azmon, and went out at the brook of Egypt; and the goings out of the border were at the sea: this shall be your south border. ^5The east border was the Salt Sea, even to the end of the Jordan. The border of the north quarter was from the bay of the sea at the end of the Jordan; ^6and the border went up to Beth Hoglah, and passed along by the north of Beth Arabah; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben; ^7and the border went up to Debir from the valley of Achor, and so northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is over against the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the river; and the border passed along to the waters of En Shemesh, and the goings out of it were at En Rogel; ^8and the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom to the side of the Jebusite southward (the same is Jerusalem); and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the uttermost part of the valley of Rephaim northward; ^9and the border extended from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of Mount Ephron; and the border extended to Baalah (the same is Kiriath Jearim); ^10and the border turned about from Baalah westward to Mount Seir, and passed along to the side of Mount Jearim on the north (the same is Chesalon), and went down to Beth Shemesh, and passed along by Timnah; ^11and the border went out to the side of Ekron northward; and the border extended to Shikkeron, and passed along to Mount Baalah, and went out at Jabneel; and the goings out of the border were at the sea. ^12The west border was to the great sea, and the border of it. This is the border of the children of Judah round about according to their families. ^13To Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a portion among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of Yahweh to Joshua, even Kiriath Arba, which Arba was the father of Anak (the same is Hebron). ^14Caleb drove out there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak. ^15He went up there against the inhabitants of Debir: now the name of Debir before was Kiriath Sepher. ^16Caleb said, He who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife. ^17Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. ^18It happened, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she alighted from off her donkey; and Caleb said, What would you? ^19She said, Give me a blessing; for that you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water. He gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. ^20This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families. ^21The uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the border of Edom in the South were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur, ^22and Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah, ^23and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan, ^24Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth, ^25Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth, Hezron (the same is Hazor), ^26Amam, and Shema, and Moladah, ^27and Hazar Gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth Pelet, ^28and Hazar Shual, and Beersheba, and Biziothiah, ^29Baalah, and Iim, and Ezem, ^30and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, ^31and Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah, ^32and Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities are twenty-nine, with their villages. ^33In the lowland, Eshtaol, and Zorah, and Ashnah, ^34and Zanoah, and En Gannim, Tappuah, and Enam, ^35Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah, ^36and Shaaraim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen cities with their villages. ^37Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal Gad, ^38and Dilean, and Mizpeh, and Joktheel, ^39Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon, ^40and Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Chitlish, ^41and Gederoth, Beth Dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages. ^42Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan, ^43and Iphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib, ^44and Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages. ^45Ekron, with its towns and its villages; ^46from Ekron even to the sea, all that were by the side of Ashdod, with their villages. ^47Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the brook of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border of it. ^48In the hill country, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh, ^49and Dannah, and Kiriath Sannah (the same is Debir), ^50and Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim, ^51and Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages. ^52Arab, and Dumah, and Eshan, ^53and Janim, and Beth Tappuah, and Aphekah, ^54and Humtah, and Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron), and Zior; nine cities with their villages. ^55Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Jutah, ^56and Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah, ^57Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities with their villages. ^58Halhul, Beth Zur, and Gedor, ^59and Maarath, and Beth Anoth, and Eltekon; six cities with their villages. ^60Kiriath Baal (the same is Kiriath Jearim), and Rabbah; two cities with their villages. ^61In the wilderness, Beth Arabah, Middin, and Secacah, ^62and Nibshan, and the City of Salt, and En Gedi; six cities with their villages. ^63As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah couldn't drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 16 ^1The lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel; ^2and it went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed along to the border of the Archites to Ataroth; ^3and it went down westward to the border of the Japhletites, to the border of Beth Horon the lower, even to Gezer; and the goings out of it were at the sea. ^4The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance. ^5The border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: the border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth Addar, to Beth Horon the upper; ^6and the border went out westward at Michmethath on the north; and the border turned about eastward to Taanath Shiloh, and passed along it on the east of Janoah; ^7and it went down from Janoah to Ataroth, and to Naarah, and reached to Jericho, and went out at the Jordan. ^8From Tappuah the border went along westward to the brook of Kanah; and the goings out of it were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families; ^9together with the cities which were set apart for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. ^10They didn't drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and are become servants to do forced labor. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 17 ^1This was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan. ^2So the lot was for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families. ^3But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ^4They came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, Yahweh commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers: therefore according to the commandment of Yahweh he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. ^5There fell ten parts to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan; ^6because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh. ^7The border of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, which is before Shechem; and the border went along to the right hand, to the inhabitants of En Tappuah. ^8The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim. ^9The border went down to the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook: these cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh: and the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and the goings out of it were at the sea: ^10southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea was his border; and they reached to Asher on the north, and to Issachar on the east. ^11Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth Shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, even the three heights. ^12Yet the children of Manasseh couldn't drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. ^13It happened, when the children of Israel had grown strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn't utterly drive them out. ^14The children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, Why have you given me but one lot and one part for an inheritance, seeing I am a great people, because hitherto Yahweh has blessed me? ^15Joshua said to them, If you are a great people, go up to the forest, and cut down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim; since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you. ^16The children of Joseph said, The hill country is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are in Beth Shean and its towns, and they who are in the valley of Jezreel. ^17Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, You are a great people, and have great power; you shall not have one lot only: ^18but the hill country shall be yours; for though it is a forest, you shall cut it down, and the goings out of it shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 18 ^1The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there: and the land was subdued before them. ^2There remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet divided their inheritance. ^3Joshua said to the children of Israel, How long are you slack to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you? ^4Appoint for you three men of each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall arise, and walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; and they shall come to me. ^5They shall divide it into seven portions: Judah shall abide in his border on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their border on the north. ^6You shall describe the land into seven portions, and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God. ^7For the Levites have no portion among you; for the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance: and Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them. ^8The men arose, and went: and Joshua charged those who went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me; and I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh in Shiloh. ^9The men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven portions in a book; and they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh. ^10Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Yahweh: and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions. ^11The lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the border of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. ^12Their border on the north quarter was from the Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward; and the goings out of it were at the wilderness of Beth Aven. ^13The border passed along from there to Luz, to the side of Luz (the same is Bethel), southward; and the border went down to Ataroth Addar, by the mountain that lies on the south of Beth Horon the lower. ^14The border extended there, and turned about on the west quarter southward, from the mountain that lies before Beth Horon southward; and the goings out of it were at Kiriath Baal (the same is Kiriath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter. ^15The south quarter was from the uttermost part of Kiriath Jearim; and the border went out westward, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah; ^16and the border went down to the uttermost part of the mountain that lies before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En Rogel; ^17and it extended northward, and went out at En Shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is over against the ascent of Adummim; and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben; ^18and it passed along to the side over against the Arabah northward, and went down to the Arabah; ^19and the border passed along to the side of Beth Hoglah northward; and the goings out of the border were at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this was the south border. ^20The Jordan was the border of it on the east quarter. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the borders of it round about, according to their families. ^21Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth Hoglah, and Emek Keziz, ^22and Beth Arabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel, ^23and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah, ^24and Chephar Ammoni, and Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities with their villages: ^25Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth, ^26and Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah, ^27and Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah, ^28and Zelah, Eleph, and the Jebusite (the same is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 19 ^1The second lot came out for Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Judah. ^2They had for their inheritance Beersheba, or Sheba, and Moladah, ^3and Hazar Shual, and Balah, and Ezem, ^4and Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah, ^5and Ziklag, and Beth Marcaboth, and Hazar Susah, ^6and Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities with their villages: ^7Ain, Rimmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities with their villages: ^8and all the villages that were round about these cities to Baalath Beer, Ramah of the South. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. ^9Out of the part of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon; for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them: therefore the children of Simeon had inheritance in the midst of their inheritance. ^10The third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their families; and the border of their inheritance was to Sarid; ^11and their border went up westward, even to Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth; and it reached to the brook that is before Jokneam; ^12and it turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrise to the border of Chisloth Tabor; and it went out to Daberath, and went up to Japhia; ^13and from there it passed along eastward to Gath Hepher, to Ethkazin; and it went out at Rimmon which stretches to Neah; ^14and the border turned about it on the north to Hannathon; and the goings out of it were at the valley of Iphtah El; ^15and Kattath, and Nahalal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages. ^16This is the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages. ^17The fourth lot came out for Issachar, even for the children of Issachar according to their families. ^18Their border was to Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem, ^19and Hapharaim, and Shion, and Anaharath, ^20and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Ebez, ^21and Remeth, and Engannim, and En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez, ^22and the border reached to Tabor, and Shahazumah, and Beth Shemesh; and the goings out of their border were at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages. ^23This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities with their villages. ^24The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families. ^25Their border was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph, ^26and Allammelech, and Amad, and Mishal; and it reached to Carmel westward, and to Shihorlibnath; ^27and it turned toward the sunrise to Beth Dagon, and reached to Zebulun, and to the valley of Iphtah El northward to Beth Emek and Neiel; and it went out to Cabul on the left hand, ^28and Ebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, even to great Sidon; ^29and the border turned to Ramah, and to the fortified city of Tyre; and the border turned to Hosah; and the goings out of it were at the sea by the region of Achzib; ^30Ummah also, and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty-two cities with their villages. ^31This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages. ^32The sixth lot came out for the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families. ^33Their border was from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adaminekeb, and Jabneel, to Lakkum; and the goings out of it were at the Jordan; ^34and the border turned westward to Aznoth Tabor, and went out from there to Hukkok; and it reached to Zebulun on the south, and reached to Asher on the west, and to Judah at the Jordan toward the sunrise. ^35The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath, and Chinnereth, ^36and Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor, ^37and Kedesh, and Edrei, and En Hazor, ^38Iron, and Migdal El, Horem, and Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh; nineteen cities with their villages. ^39This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities with their villages. ^40The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. ^41The border of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Irshemesh, ^42and Shaalabbin, and Aijalon, and Ithlah, ^43and Elon, and Timnah, and Ekron, ^44and Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath, ^45and Jehud, and Bene Berak, and Gath Rimmon, ^46and Me Jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border over against Joppa. ^47The border of the children of Dan went out beyond them; for the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and lived therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father. ^48This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages. ^49So they made an end of distributing the land for inheritance by the borders of it; and the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun in the midst of them: ^50according to the commandment of Yahweh they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnathserah in the hill country of Ephraim; and he built the city, and lived therein. ^51These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before Yahweh, at the door of the tent of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the land. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 20 ^1Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, ^2Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Assign you the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses, ^3that the manslayer who kills any person unwittingly and unawares may flee there: and they shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood. ^4He shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city to them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. ^5If the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver up the manslayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor unawares, and didn't hate him before. ^6He shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the manslayer return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city from whence he fled. ^7They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ^8Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. ^9These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any person unwittingly might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 21 ^1Then came near the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel; ^2and they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, Yahweh commanded Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs of it for our livestock. ^3The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Yahweh, these cities with their suburbs. ^4The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities. ^5The rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities. ^6The children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities. ^7The children of Merari according to their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. ^8The children of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as Yahweh commanded by Moses. ^9They gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name: ^10and they were for the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot. ^11They gave them Kiriath Arba, which Arba was the father of Anak (the same is Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with the suburbs of it round about it. ^12But the fields of the city, and the villages of it, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession. ^13To the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Libnah with its suburbs, ^14and Jattir with its suburbs, and Eshtemoa with its suburbs, ^15and Holon with its suburbs, and Debir with its suburbs, ^16and Ain with its suburbs, and Juttah with its suburbs, and Beth Shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes. ^17Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its suburbs, Geba with its suburbs, ^18Anathoth with its suburbs, and Almon with its suburbs; four cities. ^19All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs. ^20The families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. ^21They gave them Shechem with its suburbs in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with its suburbs, ^22and Kibzaim with its suburbs, and Beth Horon with its suburbs; four cities. ^23Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its suburbs, Gibbethon with its suburbs, ^24Aijalon with its suburbs, Gath Rimmon with its suburbs; four cities. ^25Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Gath Rimmon with its suburbs; two cities. ^26All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with their suburbs. ^27To the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Be Eshterah with its suburbs; two cities. ^28Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its suburbs, Daberath with its suburbs, ^29Jarmuth with its suburbs, En Gannim with its suburbs; four cities. ^30Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its suburbs, Abdon with its suburbs, ^31Helkath with its suburbs, and Rehob with its suburbs; four cities. ^32Out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Hammothdor with its suburbs, and Kartan with its suburbs; three cities. ^33All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs. ^34To the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its suburbs, and Kartah with its suburbs, ^35Dimnah with its suburbs, Nahalal with its suburbs; four cities. ^36Out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its suburbs, and Jahaz with its suburbs, ^37Kedemoth with its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs; four cities. ^38Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with its suburbs, ^39Heshbon with its suburbs, Jazer with its suburbs; four cities in all. ^40All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities. ^41All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their suburbs. ^42These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus it was with all these cities. ^43So Yahweh gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers; and they possessed it, and lived therein. ^44Yahweh gave them rest round about, according to all that he swore to their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; Yahweh delivered all their enemies into their hand. ^45There failed not anything of any good thing which Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 22 ^1Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ^2and said to them, You have kept all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you: ^3you have not left your brothers these many days to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of Yahweh your God. ^4Now Yahweh your God has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them: therefore now turn you, and get you to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan. ^5Only take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, to love Yahweh your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. ^6So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went to their tents. ^7Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half gave Joshua among their brothers beyond the Jordan westward; moreover when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, ^8and spoke to them, saying, Return with much wealth to your tents, and with very much livestock, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much clothing: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers. ^9The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they owned, according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses. ^10When they came to the region about the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, a great altar to look on. ^11The children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar in the forefront of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that pertains to the children of Israel. ^12When the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war. ^13The children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, ^14and with him ten princes, one prince of a fathers' house for each of the tribes of Israel; and they were everyone of them head of their fathers' houses among the thousands of Israel. ^15They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, ^16Thus says the whole congregation of Yahweh, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following Yahweh, in that you have built you an altar, to rebel this day against Yahweh? ^17Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh, ^18that you must turn away this day from following Yahweh? and it will be, seeing you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. ^19However, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh's tent dwells, and take possession among us: but don't rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of Yahweh our God. ^20Didn't Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man didn't perish alone in his iniquity. ^21Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel, ^22The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel he shall know: if it be in rebellion, or if in trespass against Yahweh (don't save us this day), ^23that we have built us an altar to turn away from following Yahweh; or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings thereon, let Yahweh himself require it; ^24and if we have not rather out of carefulness done this, and of purpose, saying, In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, What have you to do with Yahweh, the God of Israel? ^25for Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad; you have no portion in Yahweh: so might your children make our children cease from fearing Yahweh. ^26Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice: ^27but it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may do the service of Yahweh before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not tell our children in time to come, You have no portion in Yahweh. ^28Therefore said we, It shall be, when they so tell us or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say, Behold the pattern of the altar of Yahweh, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you. ^29Far be it from us that we should rebel against Yahweh, and turn away this day from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of Yahweh our God that is before his tent. ^30When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well. ^31Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we know that Yahweh is in the midst of us, because you have not committed this trespass against Yahweh: now have you delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of Yahweh. ^32Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again. ^33The thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and spoke no more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and the children of Gad lived. ^34The children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: For, said they, it is a witness between us that Yahweh is God. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 23 ^1It happened after many days, when Yahweh had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, and Joshua was old and well stricken in years; ^2that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, I am old and well stricken in years: ^3and you have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you; for Yahweh your God, he it is that has fought for you. ^4Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun. ^5Yahweh your God, he will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and you shall possess their land, as Yahweh your God spoke to you. ^6Therefore be you very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left; ^7that you not come among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down yourselves to them; ^8but cleave to Yahweh your God, as you have done to this day. ^9For Yahweh has driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. ^10One man of you shall chase a thousand; for Yahweh your God, he it is who fights for you, as he spoke to you. ^11Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love Yahweh your God. ^12Else if you do at all go back, and cleave to the remnant of these nations, even these who remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you; ^13know for a certainty that Yahweh your God will no more drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, and a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you. ^14Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you; all are happen to you, not one thing has failed of it. ^15It shall happen, that as all the good things are come on you of which Yahweh your God spoke to you, so will Yahweh bring on you all the evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you. ^16When you disobey the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them; then will the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 24 ^1Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. ^2Joshua said to all the people, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods. ^3I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. ^4I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it: and Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. ^5I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in the midst of it: and afterward I brought you out. ^6I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea. ^7When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt: and you lived in the wilderness many days. ^8I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and you possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before you. ^9Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel: and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you; ^10but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. ^11You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand. ^12I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. ^13I gave you a land whereon you had not labored, and cities which you didn't build, and you dwell therein; of vineyards and olive groves which you didn't plant do you eat. ^14Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt; and serve you Yahweh. ^15If it seem evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh. ^16The people answered, Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods; ^17for Yahweh our God, he it is who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed; ^18and Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land: therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God. ^19Joshua said to the people, You can't serve Yahweh; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. ^20If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after that he has done you good. ^21The people said to Joshua, No; but we will serve Yahweh. ^22Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen you Yahweh, to serve him. They said, We are witnesses. ^23Now therefore put away, said he, the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel. ^24The people said to Joshua, Yahweh our God will we serve, and to his voice will we listen. ^25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. ^26Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. ^27Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of Yahweh which he spoke to us: it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God. ^28So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance. ^29It happened after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old. ^30They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. ^31Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of Yahweh, that he had worked for Israel. ^32The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money: and they became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. ^33Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim. __________________________________________________________________ Judges __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 1 ^1It happened after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel asked of Yahweh, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them? ^2Yahweh said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. ^3Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into your lot. So Simeon went with him. ^4Judah went up; and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they struck of them in Bezek ten thousand men. ^5They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him, and they struck the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ^6But Adoni-Bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. ^7Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their food under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. ^8The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. ^9Afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland. ^10Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba); and they struck Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. ^11From there he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (Now the name of Debir before was Kiriath Sepher.) ^12Caleb said, He who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife. ^13Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. ^14It happened, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she alighted from off her donkey; and Caleb said to her, What would you? ^15She said to him, Give me a blessing; for that you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water. Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. ^16The children of the Kenite, Moses' brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. ^17Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. ^18Also Judah took Gaza with the border of it, and Ashkelon with the border of it, and Ekron with the border of it. ^19Yahweh was with Judah; and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. ^20They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had spoken: and he drove out there the three sons of Anak. ^21The children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. ^22The house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel; and Yahweh was with them. ^23The house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) ^24The watchers saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said to him, Show us, we pray you, the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you. ^25He shown them the entrance into the city; and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man go and all his family. ^26The man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name of it Luz, which is the name of it to this day. ^27Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its towns, nor of Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. ^28It happened, when Israel had grown strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and did not utterly drive them out. ^29Ephraim didn't drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; but the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. ^30Zebulun didn't drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites lived among them, and became subject to forced labor. ^31Asher didn't drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Sidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob; ^32but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. ^33Naphtali didn't drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but he lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and of Beth Anath became subject to forced labor. ^34The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the hill country; for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; ^35but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor. ^36The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 ^1The angel of Yahweh came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I swore to your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you: ^2and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars. But you have not listened to my voice: why have you done this? ^3Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you. ^4It happened, when the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. ^5They called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there to Yahweh. ^6Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man to his inheritance to possess the land. ^7The people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Yahweh that he had worked for Israel. ^8Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old. ^9They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. ^10Also all that generation were gathered to their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, who didn't know Yahweh, nor yet the work which he had worked for Israel. ^11The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals; ^12and they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were round about them, and bowed themselves down to them: and they provoked Yahweh to anger. ^13They forsook Yahweh, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. ^14The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers who despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. ^15Wherever they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them for evil, as Yahweh had spoken, and as Yahweh had sworn to them: and they were sore distressed. ^16Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who despoiled them. ^17Yet they didn't listen to their judges; for they played the prostitute after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them: they turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of Yahweh; but they didn't do so. ^18When Yahweh raised them up judges, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it grieved Yahweh because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and vexed them. ^19But it happened, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them; they didn't cease from their doings, nor from their stubborn way. ^20The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel; and he said, Because this nation have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not listened to my voice; ^21I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died; ^22that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of Yahweh to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. ^23So Yahweh left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 ^1Now these are the nations which Yahweh left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; ^2only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing of it: ^3namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ^4They were left, to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to the commandments of Yahweh, which he commanded their fathers by Moses. ^5The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: ^6and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods. ^7The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and forgot Yahweh their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth. ^8Therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan Rishathaim eight years. ^9When the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a savior to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. ^10The Spirit of Yahweh came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Yahweh delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim. ^11The land had rest forty years. Othniel the son of Kenaz died. ^12The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and Yahweh strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh. ^13He gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the city of palm trees. ^14The children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. ^15But when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised them up a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. The children of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. ^16Ehud made him a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it under his clothing on his right thigh. ^17He offered the tribute to Eglon king of Moab: now Eglon was a very fat man. ^18When he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people who bore the tribute. ^19But he himself turned back from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand to you, king. He said, Keep silence. All who stood by him went out from him. ^20Ehud came to him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. Ehud said, I have a message from God to you. He arose out of his seat. ^21Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body: ^22and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed on the blade, for he didn't draw the sword out of his body; and it came out behind. ^23Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them. ^24Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber. ^25They waited until they were ashamed; and behold, he didn't open the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened them, and behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth. ^26Ehud escaped while they waited, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped to Seirah. ^27It happened, when he had come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he before them. ^28He said to them, Follow after me; for Yahweh has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. They went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and didn't allow a man to pass over. ^29They struck of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man. ^30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. The land had rest eighty years. ^31After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck of the Philistines six hundred men with an oxgoad: and he also saved Israel. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 ^1The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, when Ehud was dead. ^2Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles. ^3The children of Israel cried to Yahweh: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. ^4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. ^5She lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. ^6She sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh Naphtali, and said to him, Hasn't Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded, saying, Go and draw to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? ^7I will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand. ^8Barak said to her, If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go. ^9She said, I will surely go with you: notwithstanding, the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. ^10Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and there went up ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him. ^11Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh. ^12They told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to Mount Tabor. ^13Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles, to the river Kishon. ^14Deborah said to Barak, Up; for this is the day in which Yahweh has delivered Sisera into your hand; hasn't Yahweh gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. ^15Yahweh confused Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot, and fled away on his feet. ^16But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the army, to Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; there was not a man left. ^17However Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. ^18Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; don't be afraid. He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. ^19He said to her, Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. She opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. ^20He said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man does come and inquire of you, and say, Is there any man here? that you shall say, No. ^21Then Jael Heber's wife took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died. ^22Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek. He came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent peg was in his temples. ^23So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. ^24The hand of the children of Israel prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 ^1Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, ^2For that the leaders took the lead in Israel, For that the people offered themselves willingly, Bless you Yahweh. ^3Hear, you kings; give ear, you princes; I, even I, will sing to Yahweh; I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel. ^4Yahweh, when you went forth out of Seir, When you marched out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the sky also dropped, Yes, the clouds dropped water. ^5The mountains quaked at the presence of Yahweh, Even yon Sinai at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ^6In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, The travelers walked through byways. ^7The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, Until that I Deborah arose, That I arose a mother in Israel. ^8They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates: Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel? ^9My heart is toward the governors of Israel, Who offered themselves willingly among the people: Bless you Yahweh. ^10Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, You who sit on rich carpets, You who walk by the way. ^11Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Yahweh, Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates. ^12Awake, awake, Deborah; Awake, awake, utter a song: Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam. ^13Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people; Yahweh came down for me against the mighty. ^14Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek; After you, Benjamin, among your peoples; Out of Machir came down governors, Out of Zebulun those who handle the marshal's staff. ^15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben There were great resolves of heart. ^16Why sat you among the sheepfolds, To hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben There were great searchings of heart. ^17Gilead abode beyond the Jordan: Dan, why did he remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, Abode by his creeks. ^18Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death, Naphtali, on the high places of the field. ^19The kings came and fought; Then fought the kings of Canaan. In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: They took no gain of money. ^20From the sky the stars fought, From their courses they fought against Sisera. ^21The river Kishon swept them away, That ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength. ^22Then did the horse hoofs stamp By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their strong ones. ^23Curse you Meroz, said the angel of Yahweh. Curse you bitterly the inhabitants of it, Because they didn't come to the help of Yahweh, To the help of Yahweh against the mighty. ^24Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Blessed shall she be above women in the tent. ^25He asked water, and she gave him milk; She brought him butter in a lordly dish. ^26She put her hand to the tent peg, Her right hand to the workmen's hammer; With the hammer she struck Sisera, she struck through his head; Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples. ^27At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay; At her feet he bowed, he fell; Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. ^28Through the window she looked forth, and cried, The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots wait? ^29Her wise ladies answered her, Yes, she returned answer to herself, ^30Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A lady, two ladies to every man; To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil? ^31So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh: But let those who love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might. The land had rest forty years. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6 ^1The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. ^2The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. ^3So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them; ^4and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey. ^5For they came up with their livestock and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it. ^6Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh. ^7It happened, when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh because of Midian, ^8that Yahweh sent a prophet to the children of Israel: and he said to them, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; ^9and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land; ^10and I said to you, I am Yahweh your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to my voice. ^11The angel of Yahweh came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. ^12The angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor. ^13Gideon said to him, Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt? but now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian. ^14Yahweh looked at him, and said, Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent you? ^15He said to him, Oh, Lord, with which shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. ^16Yahweh said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. ^17He said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. ^18Please don't go away, until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you. He said, I will wait until you come again. ^19Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it. ^20The angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth. He did so. ^21Then the angel of Yahweh put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Yahweh departed out of his sight. ^22Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, Alas, Lord Yahweh! because I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face. ^23Yahweh said to him, Peace be to you; don't be afraid: you shall not die. ^24Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it Yahweh is Peace [44] : to this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ^25It happened the same night, that Yahweh said to him, Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it; ^26and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down. ^27Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him: and it happened, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. ^28When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built. ^29They said one to another, Who has done this thing? When they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing. ^30Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it. ^31Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? he who will contend for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one has broken down his altar. ^32Therefore on that day he named him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar. ^33Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. ^34But the Spirit of Yahweh came on Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him. ^35He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. ^36Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken, ^37behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken. ^38It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. ^39Gideon said to God, Don't let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew. ^40God did so that night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. __________________________________________________________________ [44] or, Yahweh Shalom __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7 ^1Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod: and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. ^2Yahweh said to Gideon, The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, My own hand has saved me. ^3Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead. There returned of the people twenty-two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. ^4Yahweh said to Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for you there: and it shall be, that of whom I tell you, This shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whoever I tell you, This shall not go with you, the same shall not go. ^5So he brought down the people to the water: and Yahweh said to Gideon, Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him shall you set by himself; likewise everyone who bows down on his knees to drink. ^6The number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water. ^7Yahweh said to Gideon, By the three hundred men who lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand; and let all the people go every man to his place. ^8So the people took food in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the men of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men: and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley. ^9It happened the same night, that Yahweh said to him, Arise, get you down into the camp; for I have delivered it into your hand. ^10But if you fear to go down, go you with Purah your servant down to the camp: ^11and you shall hear what they say; and afterward shall your hands be strengthened to go down into the camp. Then went he down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp. ^12The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude. ^13When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow; and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream; and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat. ^14His fellow answered, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: into his hand God has delivered Midian, and all the army. ^15It was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation of it, that he worshiped; and he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, Arise; for Yahweh has delivered into your hand the army of Midian. ^16He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers. ^17He said to them, Look on me, and do likewise: and behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall you do. ^18When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow you the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, For Yahweh and for Gideon. ^19So Gideon, and the hundred men who were with him, came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. ^20The three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow; and they cried, The sword of Yahweh and of Gideon. ^21They stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the army ran; and they shouted, and put them to flight. ^22They blew the three hundred trumpets, and Yahweh set every man's sword against his fellow, and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth Shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. ^23The men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after Midian. ^24Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters, as far as Beth Barah, even the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and took the waters as far as Beth Barah, even the Jordan. ^25They took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian: and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 8 ^1The men of Ephraim said to him, Why have you served us thus, that you didn't call us, when you went to fight with Midian? They did chide with him sharply. ^2He said to them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn't the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ^3God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. ^4Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing. ^5He said to the men of Succoth, Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. ^6The princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmun