Aaron’s Staff Buds

¹And the LORD said to Moses,

²“Speak to the Israelites and take from them twelve staffs, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his staff,

³and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe.

⁴Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony,where I meet with you.

⁵The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”

⁶So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff—one for each of the leaders of their tribes, twelve staffs in all. And Aaron’s staff was among them.

⁷Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

⁸The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds.

⁹Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff.

¹⁰The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.”

¹¹So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.

¹²Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!

¹³Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to perish?”

Bezalel and Oholiab

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

²“See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

³And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship,

⁴to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze,

⁵to cut gemstones for settings, and to carve wood, so that he may be a master of every craft.

⁶Moreover, I have selected Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, as his assistant.I have also given skill to all the craftsmen, that they may fashion all that I have commanded you:

⁷the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimonyand the mercy seat upon it, and all the other furnishings of the tent—

⁸the table with its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense,

⁹the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand—

¹⁰as well as the woven garments, both the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests,

¹¹in addition to the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.”

The Sign of the Sabbath

¹²And the LORD said to Moses,

¹³“Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

¹⁴Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Anyone who profanes it must surely be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from among his people.

¹⁵For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

¹⁶The Israelites must keep the Sabbath, celebrating it as a permanent covenant for the generations to come.

¹⁷It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”

Moses Receives the Tablets

¹⁸When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

Vengeance on Midian

¹And the LORD said to Moses,

²“Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

³So Moses told the people, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianites and execute the LORD’s vengeance on them.

⁴Send into battle a thousand men from each tribe of Israel.”

⁵So a thousand men were recruited from each tribe of Israel—twelve thousand armed for war.

⁶And Moses sent the thousand from each tribe into battle, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

⁷Then they waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.

⁸Among the slain were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

⁹The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods.

¹⁰Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites had lived, as well as all their encampments,

¹¹and carried away all the plunder and spoils, both people and animals.

¹²They brought the captives, spoils, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

¹³And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.

¹⁴But Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who were returning from the battle.

¹⁵“Have you spared all the women?” he asked them.

¹⁶“Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD.

¹⁷So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,

¹⁸but spare for yourselves every girl who has never had relations with a man.

¹⁹All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both yourselves and your captives.

²⁰And purify every garment and leather good, everything made of goat’s hair, and every article of wood.”

²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses:

²²Only the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—

²³everything that can withstand the fire—must be put through the fire, and it will be clean. But it must still be purified with the water of purification. And everything that cannot withstand the fire must pass through the water.

²⁴On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may enter the camp.”

Division of the Spoils

²⁵The LORD said to Moses,

²⁶“You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the congregation are to take a count of what was captured, both of man and beast.

²⁷Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.

²⁸Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the soldiers who went into battle: one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, or sheep.

²⁹Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD.

³⁰From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”

³¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses,

³²and this plunder remained from the spoils the soldiers had taken:675,000 sheep,

³³72,000 cattle,

³⁴61,000 donkeys,

³⁵and 32,000 women who had not slept with a man.

³⁶This was the half portion for those who had gone to war:337,500 sheep,

³⁷including a tribute to the LORD of 675,

³⁸36,000 cattle, including a tribute to the LORD of 72,

³⁹30,500 donkeys, including a tribute to the LORD of 61,

⁴⁰and 16,000 people, including a tribute to the LORD of 32.

⁴¹Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as an offering for the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁴²From the Israelites’ half, which Moses had set apart from the men who had gone to war,

⁴³this half belonged to the congregation:337,500 sheep,

⁴⁴36,000 cattle,

⁴⁵30,500 donkeys,

⁴⁶and 16,000 people.

⁴⁷From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded him.

The Voluntary Offering

⁴⁸Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and of hundreds—approached Moses

⁴⁹and said, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing.

⁵⁰So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”

⁵¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them all the articles made out of gold.

⁵²All the gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds presented as an offering to the LORD weighed 16,750 shekels.

⁵³Each of the soldiers had taken plunder for himself.

⁵⁴And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.

Why Have You Rejected Us Forever?

¹Why have You rejected us forever, O God?Why does Your anger smolderagainst the sheep of Your pasture?

²Remember Your congregation,which You purchased long agoand redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance—Mount Zion, where You dwell.

³Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins,to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.

⁴Your foes have roared within Your meeting place;they have unfurled their banners as signs,

⁵like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees

⁶and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.

⁷They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.

⁸They said in their hearts,“We will crush them completely.”They burned down every placewhere God met us in the land.

⁹There are no signs for us to see.There is no longer any prophet.And none of us knows how long this will last.

¹⁰How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You?Will the foe revile Your name forever?

¹¹Why do You withdraw Your strong right hand?Stretch it out to destroy them!

¹²Yet God is my King from ancient times,working salvation on the earth.

¹³You divided the sea by Your strength;You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;

¹⁴You crushed the heads of Leviathan;You fed him to the creatures of the desert.

¹⁵You broke open the fountain and the flood;You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.

¹⁶The day is Yours, and also the night;You established the moonand the sun.

¹⁷You set all the boundaries of the earth;You made the summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD,how a foolish people has spurned Your name.

¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts;do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.

²⁰Consider Your covenant,for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.

²¹Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame;may the poor and needy praise Your name.

²²Rise up, O God; defend Your cause!Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.

²³Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries,the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.