Study Desk

On the fourth day, Elizur son of Shedeur, the leader of the people of Reuben, brought his offering. His offering was: a silver plate weighing three and a quarter pounds and a silver bowl weighing one and three-quarter pounds (according to the standard Sanctuary weights), each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a Grain-Offering; a gold vessel weighing four ounces, filled with incense; a young bull, a ram, and a yearling lamb for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; a he-goat for an Absolution-Offering; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs to be sacrificed as a Peace-Offering. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.

On the fifth day, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, the leader of the people of Simeon, brought his offering. His offering was: a silver plate weighing three and a quarter pounds and a silver bowl weighing one and three-quarter pounds (according to the standard Sanctuary weights), each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a Grain-Offering; a gold vessel weighing four ounces, filled with incense; a young bull, a ram, and a yearling lamb for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; a he-goat for an Absolution-Offering; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs to be sacrificed as a Peace-Offering. This was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

On the sixth day, Eliasaph son of Deuel, the leader of the people of Gad, brought his offering. His offering was: a silver plate weighing three and a quarter pounds and a silver bowl weighing one and three-quarter pounds (according to the standard Sanctuary weights), each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a Grain-Offering; a gold vessel weighing four ounces, filled with incense; a young bull, a ram, and a yearling lamb for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; a he-goat for an Absolution-Offering; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs to be sacrificed as a Peace-Offering. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel.

On the seventh day, Elishama son of Ammihud, the leader of the people of Ephraim, brought his offering. His offering was: a silver plate weighing three and a quarter pounds and a silver bowl weighing one and three-quarter pounds (according to the standard Sanctuary weights), each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a Grain-Offering; a gold vessel weighing four ounces, filled with incense; a young bull, a ram, and a yearling lamb for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; a he-goat for an Absolution-Offering; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs to be sacrificed as a Peace-Offering. This was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud.

On the eighth day, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, the leader of the people of Manasseh, brought his offering. His offering was: a silver plate weighing three and a quarter pounds and a silver bowl weighing one and three-quarter pounds (according to the standard Sanctuary weights), each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a Grain-Offering; a gold vessel weighing four ounces, filled with incense; a young bull, a ram, and a yearling lamb for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; a he-goat for an Absolution-Offering; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs to be sacrificed as a Peace-Offering. This was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.

On the ninth day, Abidan son of Gideoni, the leader of the people of Benjamin, brought his offering. His offering was: a silver plate weighing three and a quarter pounds and a silver bowl weighing one and three-quarter pounds (according to the standard Sanctuary weights), each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a Grain-Offering; a gold vessel weighing four ounces, filled with incense; a young bull, a ram, and a yearling lamb for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; a he-goat for an Absolution-Offering; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs to be sacrificed as a Peace-Offering. This was the offering of Abidan son of Gideoni.

On the tenth day, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, the leader of the people of Dan, brought his offering. His offering was: a silver plate weighing three and a quarter pounds and a silver bowl weighing one and three-quarter pounds (according to the standard Sanctuary weights), each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a Grain-Offering; a gold vessel weighing four ounces, filled with incense; a young bull, a ram, and a yearling lamb for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; a he-goat for an Absolution-Offering; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs to be sacrificed as a Peace-Offering. This was the offering of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

On the eleventh day, Pagiel son of Ocran, the leader of the people of Asher, brought his offering. His offering was: a silver plate weighing three and a quarter pounds and a silver bowl weighing one and three-quarter pounds (according to the standard Sanctuary weights), each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a Grain-Offering; a gold vessel weighing four ounces, filled with incense; a young bull, a ram, and a yearling lamb for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; a he-goat for an Absolution-Offering; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs to be sacrificed as a Peace-Offering. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Ocran.

On the twelfth day, Ahira son of Enan, the leader of the people of Naphtali, brought his offering. His offering was: a silver plate weighing three and a quarter pounds and a silver bowl weighing one and three-quarter pounds (according to the standard Sanctuary weights), each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a Grain-Offering; a gold vessel weighing four ounces, filled with incense; a young bull, a ram, and a yearling lamb for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; a he-goat for an Absolution-Offering; two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs to be sacrificed as a Peace-Offering. This was the offering of Ahira son of Enan.

"Have the Levites place their hands on the heads of the bulls, selecting one for the Absolution-Offering and another for the Whole-Burnt-Offering to God to make atonement for the Levites. Then have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and present them as a Wave-Offering to God . This is the procedure for setting apart the Levites from the rest of the People of Israel; the Levites are exclusively for my use.

"After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a Wave-Offering to God , they can go to work in the Tent of Meeting. The Levites have been selected out of the People of Israel for my exclusive use; they function in place of every firstborn male born to an Israelite woman. Every firstborn male in Israel, animal or human, is set apart for my use. When I struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, I consecrated them for my holy uses. But now I take the Levites as stand-ins in place of every firstborn son in Israel, selected out of the People of Israel, and I have given the Levites to Aaron and his sons to do all the work involved in the Tent of Meeting on behalf of all the People of Israel and to make atonement for them so that nothing bad will happen to them when they approach the Sanctuary."

Moses, Aaron, and the entire community of the People of Israel carried out these procedures with the Levites, just as God had commanded Moses. The Levites purified themselves and scrubbed their clothes. Then Aaron presented them as a Wave-Offering before God and made atonement for them to purify them. Only then did the Levites go to work at the Tent of Meeting. Aaron and his sons supervised them following the directions God had given.

"But a man who is ritually clean and is not off on a trip and still fails to celebrate the Passover must be cut off from his people because he did not present God 's offering at the set time. That man will pay for his sin.

When the Cloud lifted above the Tent, the People of Israel marched out; and when the Cloud descended the people camped. The People of Israel marched at God 's command and they camped at his command. As long as the Cloud was over The Dwelling, they camped. Even when the Cloud hovered over The Dwelling for many days, they honored God 's command and wouldn't march. They stayed in camp, obedient to God 's command, as long as the Cloud was over The Dwelling, but the moment God issued orders they marched. If the Cloud stayed only from sunset to daybreak and then lifted at daybreak, they marched. Night or day, it made no difference—when the Cloud lifted, they marched. It made no difference whether the Cloud hovered over The Dwelling for two days or a month or a year, as long as the Cloud was there, they were there. And when the Cloud went up, they got up and marched. They camped at God 's command and they marched at God 's command. They lived obediently by God 's orders as delivered by Moses.

Moses said to his brother-in-law Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We're marching to the place about which God promised, ‘I'll give it to you.' Come with us; we'll treat you well. God has promised good things for Israel."

The people fell to grumbling over their hard life. God heard. When he heard his anger flared; then fire blazed up and burned the outer boundaries of the camp. The people cried out for help to Moses; Moses prayed to God and the fire died down. They named the place Taberah (Blaze) because fire from God had blazed up against them.

"Tell the people, Consecrate yourselves. Get ready for tomorrow when you're going to eat meat. You've been whining to God , ‘We want meat; give us meat. We had a better life in Egypt.' God has heard your whining and he's going to give you meat. You're going to eat meat. And it's not just for a day that you'll eat meat, and not two days, or five or ten or twenty, but for a whole month. You're going to eat meat until it's coming out your nostrils. You're going to be so sick of meat that you'll throw up at the mere mention of it. And here's why: Because you have rejected God who is right here among you, whining to his face, ‘Oh, why did we ever have to leave Egypt?'"

Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' right-hand man since his youth, said, "Moses, master! Stop them!"

But Moses said, "Are you jealous for me? Would that all God 's people were prophets. Would that God would put his Spirit on all of them."

Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses behind his back because of his Cushite wife (he had married a Cushite woman). They said, "Is it only through Moses that God speaks? Doesn't he also speak through us?" God overheard their talk.