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And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sina in the second year after they had gone forth from the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying, ² Speak, and let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its season. ³ On the fourteenth day of the first month at even, thou shall keep it in its season; thou shall keep it according to its law, and according to its ordinance. ⁴ And Moses ordered the children of Israel to sacrifice the passover, ⁵ on the fourteenth day of the first month in the wilderness of Sina, as the Lord appointed Moses, so the children of Israel did.

⁶ And there came men who were unclean by reason of a dead body, and they were not able to keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. ⁷ And those men said to ¹Moses, We are unclean by reason of the dead body of a man: shall we therefore fail to offer the gift to the Lord in its season in the midst of the children of Israel? ⁸ And Moses said to them, Stand there, and I will hear what charge the Lord will give concerning you. ⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Whatever man shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or on a journey far off, among you, or among your posterity; he shall then keep the passover to the Lord, ¹¹ in the second month, on the fourteenth day; in the evening they shall offer it, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs shall they eat it. ¹² They shall not leave of it until the morrow, and they shall not break a bone of it; they shall sacrifice it according to the ordinance of the passover. ¹³ And whatsoever man shall be clean, and is not far off on a journey, and shall fail to keep the passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people, because he has not offered the gift to the Lord in its season: that man shall bear his iniquity. ¹⁴ And if there should come to you a stranger in your land, and should keep the passover to the Lord, he shall keep it according to the law of the passover and according to its ordinance: there shall be one law for you, both for the stranger, and for the native of the land.

¹⁵ And in the day in which the tabernacle was pitched the cloud covered the tabernacle, the ²place of the testimony; and in the evening there was upon the tabernacle as the appearance of fire till the morning. ¹⁶ So it was continually: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷ And when the cloud went up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel departed; and in whatever place the

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side opposite the candlestick he lighted its lamps, as the Lord appointed Moses. ⁴ And this is the ³ construction of the candlestick: it is solid, golden--its stem, and its lilies--all solid: according to the pattern which the Lord shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.

⁵ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ Take the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, and thou shalt purify them. ⁷ And thus shalt thou perform their purification: thou shalt sprinkle them with water of purification, and a razor shall come upon the whole of their body, and they shall wash their garments, and shall be clean.

⁸ And they shall take one calf of the herd, and its meat-offering, fine flour mingled with oil: and thou shalt take a calf of a year old of the herd for a sin-offering. ⁹ And thou shalt bring tire Levites before the tabernacle of witness; and thou shalt assemble all the congregation of the sons of Israel. ¹⁰ And thou shall bring the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites. ¹¹ And Aaron shall separate the Levites for a gift before the Lord from the children of Israel: and they shall be prepared ⁴ to perform the works of the Lord. ¹² And the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the calves; and thou shalt offer one for a sin-offering, and the other for a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord, to make atonement for them.

¹³ And thou shalt set the Levites before the Lord and before Aaron, and before his sons; and thou shalt give them as a gift before the Lord. ¹⁴ And thou shalt separate the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel; and they shall be mine. ¹⁵ And afterwards the Levites shall go in to perform the works of the tabernacle of witness; and thou shalt purify them, and present them before the Lord. ¹⁶ For these are given to me for a present out of the midst of the children of Israel: I have taken them to myself instead of all the first-born of the sons of Israel that open every womb. ¹⁷ For every first-born among the children of Israel is mine, whether of man or beast: in the day in which I smote every first-born in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them to myself. ¹⁸ And I took the Levites in the place of every first-born among the children of Israel. ¹⁹ And I gave the Levites presented as a gift to Aaron and his sons out of the midst of the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of witness, and to make atonement for the children of Israel: thus there shall be none among the sons of Israel to draw nigh to the holy things.

²⁰ And Moses and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites as the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. ²¹ So the Levites purified themselves and washed their garments; and Aaron presented them as a gift before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to purify them. ²² And afterwards the Levites went in to minister in their service in the tabernacle of witness before Aaron, and before his sons; as the Lord appointed

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their host; and over their host was Naasson, son of Aminadab. ¹⁵ And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Issachar, was Nathanael son of Sogar. ¹⁶ And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Zabulon, was Eliab the son of Chaelon. ¹⁷ And they shall take down the tabernacle, and the sons of Gedson shall set forward, and the sons of Merari, who bear the tabernacle.

¹⁸ And the order of the camp of Ruben sat forward with their host; and over their host was Elisur the son of Sediur. ¹⁹ And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Symeon, was Salamiel son of Surisadai. ²⁰ And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad, was Elisaph the son of Raguel. ²¹ And the sons of Caath shall set forward bearing the holy things, and ⁵the others shall set up the tabernacle until they arrive. ²² And the order of the camp of Ephraim shall set forward with their forces; and over their forces was Elisama the son of Semiud.

²³ And over the forces of the tribe of the sons of Manasse, was Gamaliel the son of Phadassur. ²⁴ And over the forces of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, was Abidan the son of Gadeoni. ²⁵ And the order of the camp of the sons of Dan shall set forward the last of ail the camps, with their forces: and over their forces was Achiezer the son of Amisadai. ²⁶ And over the forces of the tribe of the sons of Aser, was Phageel the son of Echran. ²⁷ And over the forces of the tribe of the sons of Nephthali, was Achire the son of Aenan. ²⁸ These are the armies of the children of Israel; and they set forward with their forces.

²⁹ And Moses said to Obab the son of Raguel the Madianite, the father-in-law of Moses, We are going forward to the place concerning which the Lord said, This will I give to you: Come with us, and we will do thee good, for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel. ³⁰ And he said to him, I will not go, but I will go to my land and to my kindred. ³¹ And he said, Leave us not, because thou hast been with us in the wilderness, and thou shall be an elder among us. ³² And it shall come to pass if thou wilt go with us, it shall even came to pass that in whatsoever things the Lord shall do us good, we will also do thee good.

³³ And they departed from the mount of the Lord a three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them a three days' journey to provide rest for them. ³⁵ And it came to pass when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Arise O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered: let all that hate thee flee. ³⁶ And in the resting he said, Turn again, O Lord, the thousands and tens of thousands in Israel. ³⁴ And the cloud overshadowed them by day, when they departed from the camp.