Study Desk

The men explored that country for 40 days, and then they went back to the camp.

Caleb told the people near Moses to be quiet. Then Caleb said, "We should go up and take that land for ourselves. We can easily take that land."

Did the Lord bring us to this new land to be killed in war? The enemy will kill us and take our wives and children! It would be better for us to go back to Egypt."

You said, ‘The Lord is slow to become angry. He is full of great love. He forgives those who are guilty and break the law. But he always punishes those who are guilty. He punishes them, and he also punishes their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren for those bad things.'

As for you people, you will die in this desert.

"‘Your children will wander around like shepherds here in the desert for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not faithful to me. They must suffer until all of you lie dead in the desert.

For 40 years you will suffer for your sins. (That is one year for each of the 40 days that the men explored the land.) You will know that it is a terrible thing for me to be against you.'

The men were responsible for spreading the trouble among the Israelites. So the Lord caused a sickness to kill all those men.

you must give special gifts to the Lord . Their smell will please the Lord . You will use your cattle, sheep, and goats for burnt offerings, sacrifices, special promises, special gifts, fellowship offerings, or at your special festivals.

Do this for every one of these animals that you give.

The same rules will be for everyone—the Israelites and the foreigners living among you. This law will continue forever. You and the people living among you will be the same before the Lord .

This means that you must follow the same laws and the same rules. These laws and rules are for you Israelites and for the other people who are living among you."

You will gather grain and grind it into flour to make dough for bread. You must give the first bread from that flour as a gift to the Lord. It will be like the grain offering that comes from the threshing floor.

"So the priest will make the whole community of Israel pure, and they will be forgiven for the mistake they made. Since they made the mistake, they must bring a gift and a sin offering to the Lord .

Then the whole community of Israel and any foreigners among them will be forgiven for the mistake.

The priest will make purification before the Lord for the one who sinned, and that person will be forgiven.

This law is for everyone who makes a mistake and sins. The same law is for the people born in the family of Israel and for the foreigners living among you.

They thought the Lord 's word was not important, so they broke his commands. That is why they must be separated from their people—they must bear the responsibility for their guilt."

Each of you must bring a pan, put incense in it, and present it to the Lord . There will be 250 pans for the leaders and one pan for you and one pan for Aaron."

On the stick from Levi, write Aaron's name. There must be one stick for the head of each of the twelve tribes.