Water from the Rock

¹In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

²Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron.

³The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!

⁴Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here?

⁵Why have you led us up out of Egypt to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain, figs, vines, or pomegranates—and there is no water to drink!”

⁶Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

⁷And the LORD said to Moses,

⁸“Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.”

⁹So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he had been commanded.

¹⁰Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”

¹¹Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.

¹²But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

¹³These were the waters of Meribah,where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.

Edom Refuses Passage

¹⁴From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

¹⁵how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,

¹⁶and when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt.Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

¹⁷Please let us pass through your land. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

¹⁸But Edom answered, “You may not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.”

¹⁹“We will stay on the main road,” the Israelites replied, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay for it. There will be no problem; only let us pass through on foot.”

²⁰But Edom insisted, “You may not pass through.” And they came out to confront the Israelites with a large army and a strong hand.

²¹So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

The Death of Aaron

²²After they had set out from Kadesh, the whole congregation of Israel came to Mount Hor.

²³And at Mount Hor, near the border of the land of Edom, the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

²⁴“Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will not enter the land that I have given the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up Mount Hor.

²⁶Remove Aaron’s priestly garments and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will be gathered to his people and will die there.”

²⁷So Moses did as the LORD had commanded, and they climbed Mount Hor in the sight of the whole congregation.

²⁸After Moses had removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

²⁹When the whole congregation saw that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.

Duties of Priests and Levites

¹So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.

²But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony.

³And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die.

⁴They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you.

⁵And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again.

⁶Behold, I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to perform the service for the Tent of Meeting.

⁷But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”

Offerings for Priests and Levites

⁸Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.

⁹A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons.

¹⁰You are to eat it as a most holy offering,and every male may eat it. You shall regard it as holy.

¹¹And this is yours as well: the offering of their gifts, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat it.

¹²I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.

¹³The firstfruits of everything in their land that they bring to the LORD will belong to you. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat them.

¹⁴Every devoted thing in Israel belongs to you.

¹⁵The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals.

¹⁶You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver,according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.

¹⁷But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to splatter their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁸And their meat belongs to you, just as the breast and right thigh of the wave offering belong to you.

¹⁹All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of saltbefore the LORD for you and your offspring.”

²⁰Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

²¹Behold, I have given to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the service of the Tent of Meeting.

²²No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.

²³The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.

²⁴For I have given to the Levites as their inheritance the tithe that the Israelites present to the LORD as a contribution. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.”

²⁵And the LORD instructed Moses,

²⁶“Speak to the Levites and tell them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you as your inheritance, you must present part of it as an offering to the LORD—a tithe of the tithe.

²⁷Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress.

²⁸So you are to present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, and from these you are to give the LORD’s offering to Aaron the priest.

²⁹You must present the offering due the LORD from all the best of every gift, the holiest part of it.’

³⁰Therefore say to the Levites, ‘When you have presented the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the produce of the threshing floor or winepress.

³¹And you and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere; it is the compensation for your work at the Tent of Meeting.

³²Once you have presented the best part of it, you will not incur guilt because of it. But you must not defile the sacred offerings of the Israelites, or else you will die.’”

The Order of the Camps

¹Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron:

²“The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it, each man under his standard, with the banners of his family.

³On the east side, toward the sunrise, the divisions of Judah are to camp under their standard:The leader of the Judahites is Nahshon son of Amminadab,

⁴and his division numbers 74,600.

⁵The tribe of Issachar will camp next to it. The leader of the Issacharites is Nethanel son of Zuar,

⁶and his division numbers 54,400.

⁷Next will be the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the Zebulunites is Eliab son of Helon,

⁸and his division numbers 57,400.

⁹The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Judah is 186,400; they shall set out first.

¹⁰On the south side, the divisions of Reuben are to camp under their standard:The leader of the Reubenites is Elizur son of Shedeur,

¹¹and his division numbers 46,500.

¹²The tribe of Simeon will camp next to it. The leader of the Simeonites is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai,

¹³and his division numbers 59,300.

¹⁴Next will be the tribe of Gad. The leader of the Gadites is Eliasaph son of Deuel,

¹⁵and his division numbers 45,650.

¹⁶The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Reuben is 151,450; they shall set out second.

¹⁷In the middle of the camps, the Tent of Meeting is to travel with the camp of the Levites. They are to set out in the order they encamped, each in his own place under his standard.

¹⁸On the west side, the divisions of Ephraim are to camp under their standard:The leader of the Ephraimites is Elishama son of Ammihud,

¹⁹and his division numbers 40,500.

²⁰The tribe of Manasseh will be next to it. The leader of the Manassites is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur,

²¹and his division numbers 32,200.

²²Next will be the tribe of Benjamin. The leader of the Benjamites is Abidan son of Gideoni,

²³and his division numbers 35,400.

²⁴The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Ephraim is 108,100; they shall set out third.

²⁵On the north side, the divisions of Dan are to camp under their standard:The leader of the Danites is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai,

²⁶and his division numbers 62,700.

²⁷The tribe of Asher will camp next to it. The leader of the Asherites is Pagiel son of Ocran,

²⁸and his division numbers 41,500.

²⁹Next will be the tribe of Naphtali. The leader of the Naphtalites is Ahira son of Enan,

³⁰and his division numbers 53,400.

³¹The total number of men in the camp of Dan is 157,600; they shall set out last, under their standards.”

³²These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. The total of those counted in the camps, by their divisions, was 603,550.

³³But the Levites were not counted among the other Israelites, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³⁴So the Israelites did everything the LORD commanded Moses; they camped under their standards in this way and set out in the same way, each man with his clan and his family.

I Will Open My Mouth in Parables

¹Give ear, O my people, to my instruction;listen to the words of my mouth.

²I will open my mouth in parables;I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

³that we have heard and knownand our fathers have relayed to us.

⁴We will not hide them from their childrenbut will declare to the next generationthe praises of the LORD and His mightand the wonders He has performed.

⁵For He established a testimony in Jacoband appointed a law in Israel,which He commanded our fathersto teach to their children,

⁶that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children

⁷that they should put their confidence in God,not forgetting His works,but keeping His commandments.

⁸Then they will not be like their fathers,a stubborn and rebellious generation,whose heart was not loyal,whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹The archers of Ephraimturned back on the day of battle.

¹⁰They failed to keep God’s covenantand refused to live by His law.

¹¹They forgot what He had done,the wonders He had shown them.

¹²He worked wonders before their fathersin the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

¹³He split the sea and brought them through;He set the waters upright like a wall.

¹⁴He led them with a cloud by dayand with a light of fire all night.

¹⁵He split the rocks in the wildernessand gave them drink as abundant as the seas.

¹⁶He brought streams from the stoneand made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷But they continued to sin against Him,rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

¹⁸They willfully tested Godby demanding the food they craved.

¹⁹They spoke against God, saying,“Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?

²⁰When He struck the rock, water gushed outand torrents raged.But can He also give breador supply His people with meat?”

²¹Therefore the LORD heardand was filled with wrath;so a fire was kindled against Jacob,and His anger flared against Israel,

²²because they did not believe Godor rely on His salvation.

²³Yet He commanded the clouds aboveand opened the doors of the heavens.

²⁴He rained down manna for them to eat;He gave them grain from heaven.

²⁵Man ate the bread of angels;He sent them food in abundance.

²⁶He stirred the east wind from the heavensand drove the south wind by His might.

²⁷He rained meat on them like dust,and winged birds like the sand of the sea.

²⁸He felled them in the midst of their camp,all around their dwellings.

²⁹So they ate and were well filled,for He gave them what they craved.

³⁰Yet before they had filled their desire,with the food still in their mouths,

³¹God’s anger flared against them,and He put to death their strongestand subdued the young men of Israel.

³²In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.

³³So He ended their days in futility,and their years in sudden terror.

³⁴When He slew them, they would seek Him;they repented and searched for God.

³⁵And they remembered that God was their Rock,that God Most Highwas their Redeemer.

³⁶But they deceived Him with their mouths,and lied to Him with their tongues.

³⁷Their hearts were disloyal to Him,and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

³⁸And yet He was compassionate;He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them.He often restrained His angerand did not unleash His full wrath.

³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh,a passing breeze that does not return.

⁴⁰How often they disobeyed Him in the wildernessand grieved Him in the desert!

⁴¹Again and again they tested Godand provoked the Holy One of Israel.

⁴²They did not remember His power—the day He redeemed them from the adversary,

⁴³when He performed His signs in Egyptand His wonders in the fields of Zoan.

⁴⁴He turned their rivers to blood,and from their streams they could not drink.

⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,and frogs that devastated them.

⁴⁶He gave their crops to the grasshopper,the fruit of their labor to the locust.

⁴⁷He killed their vines with hailstonesand their sycamore-figs with sleet.

⁴⁸He abandoned their cattle to the hailand their livestock to bolts of lightning.

⁴⁹He unleashed His fury against them,wrath, indignation, and calamity—a band of destroying angels.

⁵⁰He cleared a path for His anger;He did not spare them from deathbut delivered their lives to the plague.

⁵¹He struck all the firstborn of Egypt,the virility in the tents of Ham.

⁵²He led out His people like sheepand guided them like a flock in the wilderness.

⁵³He led them safely, so they did not fear,but the sea engulfed their enemies.

⁵⁴He brought them to His holy land,to the mountain His right hand had acquired.

⁵⁵He drove out nations before themand apportioned their inheritance;He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

⁵⁶But they tested and disobeyed God Most High,for they did not keep His decrees.

⁵⁷They turned back and were faithless like their fathers,twisted like a faulty bow.

⁵⁸They enraged Him with their high placesand provoked His jealousy with their idols.

⁵⁹On hearing it, God was furiousand rejected Israel completely.

⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,the tent He had pitched among men.

⁶¹He delivered His strength to captivity,and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.

⁶²He surrendered His people to the swordbecause He was enraged by His heritage.

⁶³Fire consumed His young men,and their maidens were left without wedding songs.

⁶⁴His priests fell by the sword,but their widows could not lament.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.

⁶⁶He beat back His foes;He put them to everlasting shame.

⁶⁷He rejected the tent of Josephand refused the tribe of Ephraim.

⁶⁸But He chose the tribe of Judah,Mount Zion, which He loved.

⁶⁹He built His sanctuary like the heights,like the earth He has established forever.

⁷⁰He chose David His servantand took him from the sheepfolds;

⁷¹from tending the ewes He brought himto be shepherd of His people Jacob,of Israel His inheritance.

⁷²So David shepherded them with integrity of heartand guided them with skillful hands.