Study Desk

"Now the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites.

"And you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the LORD.

"Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and present them as a wave offering;

"And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no affliction among the sons of Israel due to their approaching the sanctuary."

The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them.

But there were some men who were unclean because of contact with a dead person, so that they could not celebrate Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day.

Those men said to him, "Though we are unclean because of a dead person, why are we kept from presenting the offering of the LORD at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?"

"Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a dead person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, celebrate the Passover to the LORD.

'They shall not leave any of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; they shall celebrate it in accordance with the whole statute of the Passover.

'But the person who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from celebrating the Passover, that person shall then be cut off from his people, because he did not present the offering of the LORD at its appointed time. That person will bear the responsibility for his sin.

'And if a stranger resides among you and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and its ordinance, so he shall celebrate it; you shall have the same statute, both for the stranger and for the native of the land.'"

If sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, in accordance with the command of the LORD they remained camped. Then in accordance with the command of the LORD they set out.

Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they did set out.

"The sons of Aaron, moreover, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and this shall be a permanent statute for you throughout your generations.

"Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God."

So they moved on from the mountain of the LORD three days' journey, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD going on in front of them for the three days, to seek out a resting place for them.

"Was it I who conceived all this people? Or did I give birth to them, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your arms, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers'?

but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nose and makes you nauseated; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?"'"

But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am included, are six hundred thousand on foot! Yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.'

So a young man ran and informed Moses, and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."