Study Desk

^[a]Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

"Speak to the sons of Israel, and get from them a rod for each father's household: twelve rods, from all their leaders according to their fathers' households. You shall write each name on his rod,

and write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers' households.

You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of ^(a)the testimony, where I meet with you.

It will come about that the rod of ^(b)the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you."

Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers' households, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.

So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in ^(c)the tent of the testimony.

Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, ^(d)the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.

Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.

But the Lord said to Moses, "Put back the rod of Aaron ^(e)before the testimony ^[b]to be kept as a sign against the ^[c](f)rebels, that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me, so that they will not die."

Thus Moses did; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "^(g)Behold, we perish, we are dying, we are all dying!

^(h)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord , must die. Are we to perish completely?"

So the Lord said to Aaron, "You and your sons and your father's household with you shall ^(a)bear the guilt ^[a]in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt ^[b]in connection with your priesthood.

But bring with you also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be ^(b)joined with you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent, but ^(c)they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and ^(d)the altar, or both they and you will die.

They shall be joined with you and attend to the obligations of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but an ^[c]outsider may not come near you.

So you shall attend to the ^(e)obligations of the sanctuary and the obligations of the altar, ^(f)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel.

Behold, I Myself ^(g)have taken your ^[d]fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are ^(h)a gift to you, ^[e]dedicated to the Lord , to perform the service for the tent of meeting.

But you and your sons with you shall ⁽ⁱ⁾attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as ^(j)a ^[f]bestowed service, but ^(k)the ^[g]outsider who comes near shall be put to death."

Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, "Now behold, I Myself have given you charge of My ^[h](l)offerings, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual allotment.

This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, even ^(m)every grain offering and every ⁽ⁿ⁾sin offering and every guilt offering, which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.

As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

This also is yours, ^(o)the offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have ^(p)given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.

^(q)All the ^[i]best of the fresh oil and all the ^[j]best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to the Lord , I give them to you.

^(r)The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord , shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.

^(s)Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.

^[k](t)Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to the Lord , shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

As to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five ^[l]shekels in silver, according to the ^[m]shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

But ^(u)the firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. ^(v)You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the Lord .

Their ^[n]meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the ^(w)breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh.

^(x)All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord , I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. It is ^(y)an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your ^[o]descendants with you."

Then the Lord said to Aaron, "^(z)You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; ^(aa)I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.

"To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the ^(ab)tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.

^(ac)The sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bear sin and die.

Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall ^(ad)bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel ^(ae)they shall have no inheritance.

For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord , I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘^(af)They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.'"

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

"Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel ^(ag)the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord , a ^(ah)tithe of the tithe.

Your offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat.

So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the Lord's offering to Aaron the priest.

Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Lord , from all the ^[p]best of them, ^[q]the sacred part from them.'

You shall say to them, ‘When you have ^[r]offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat.

You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting.

You will bear no sin by reason of it when you have ^[s]offered the ^[t]best of it. But you shall not ^(ai)profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, or you will die.'"

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

"This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an ^(a)unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and ^(b)on which a yoke has never ^[a]been placed.

You shall give it to ^(c)Eleazar the priest, and it shall ^(d)be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence.

Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and ^(e)sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.

Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; ^(f)its hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned.

The priest shall take ^(g)cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the ^[b]burning heifer.

The priest ^(h)shall then wash his clothes and bathe his ^[c]body in water, and afterward come into the camp, but the priest shall be unclean until evening.

The one who burns it shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his ^[d]body in water, and shall be unclean until evening.

Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and ^[e]the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as ⁽ⁱ⁾water to remove impurity; it is ^[f]purification from sin.

The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer ^(j)shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; and it shall be a perpetual statute to the sons of Israel and to the alien who sojourns among them.

‘^(k)The one who touches the corpse of any ^[g]person shall be unclean for seven days.

That one shall ^(l)purify himself from uncleanness with ^[h]the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.

^(m)Anyone who touches a corpse, the ^[i]body of a man who has died, and does not purify himself, ⁽ⁿ⁾defiles the ^[j]tabernacle of the Lord ; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Because the water for impurity was not ^[k](o)sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

‘This 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 for seven days.

Every open vessel, which has no covering ^[l]tied down on it, shall be unclean.

^(p)Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.

Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ^[m]ashes of the ^[n]burnt ^[o](q)purification from sin and ^[p]flowing water shall be ^[q]added to them in a vessel.

A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one slain or the one dying naturally or the grave.

Then the clean person ^(r)shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him from uncleanness, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and shall be clean by evening.

‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself from uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has ^(s)defiled the sanctuary of the Lord ; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean.

So it shall be a perpetual statute for them. And he ^(t)who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.

^(u)Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.'"