# verses

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Then God said, "Let the water beneath the sky be gathered into oceans so that the dry land will emerge." And so it was.


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And he said, "Let the earth burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant, and fruit trees with seeds inside the fruit, so that these seeds will produce the kinds of plants and fruits they came from."


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Then God said, "Let bright lights appear in the sky to give light to the earth and to identify the day and the night; they shall bring about the seasons on the earth, and mark the days and years." And so it was.


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For God had made two huge lights, the sun and moon, to shine down upon the earth--the larger one, the sun, to preside over the day and the smaller one, the moon, to preside through the night; he had also made the stars.


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and to preside over the day and night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God was pleased.


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Then God said, "Let the waters teem with fish and other life, and let the skies be filled with birds of every kind."


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And God looked at them with pleasure, and blessed them all. "Multiply and stock the oceans," he told them, and to the birds he said, "Let your numbers increase. Fill the earth!"


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And God said, "Let the earth bring forth every kind of animal--cattle and reptiles and wildlife of every kind." And so it was.


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God made all sorts of wild animals and cattle and reptiles. And God was pleased with what he had done.


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Then God said, "Let us make a man --someone like ourselves, to be the master of all life upon the earth and in the skies and in the seas."


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And God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; you are masters of the fish and birds and all the animals.


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And look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.


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Then God looked over all that he had made, and it was excellent in every way. This ended the sixth day.


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and God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he ceased this work of creation.


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Here is a summary of the events in the creation of the heavens and earth when the Lord God made them.


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There were no plants or grain sprouting up across the earth at first, for the Lord God hadn't sent any rain; nor was there anyone to farm the soil.


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The time came when the Lord God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living person.


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Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, to the east, and placed in the garden the man he had formed.


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The Lord God planted all sorts of beautiful trees there in the garden, trees producing the choicest of fruit. At the center of the garden he placed the Tree of Life, and also the Tree of Conscience, giving knowledge of Good and Bad.


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A river from the land of Eden flowed through the garden to water it; afterwards the river divided into four branches.


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One of these was named the Pishon; it winds across the entire length of the land of Havilah, where nuggets of pure gold are found,


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The third branch is the Tigris, which flows to the east of the city of Asher. And the fourth is the Euphrates.


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except fruit from the Tree of Conscience--for its fruit will open your eyes to make you aware of right and wrong, good and bad. If you eat its fruit, you will be doomed to die."


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And the Lord God said, "It isn't good for man to be alone; I will make a companion for him, a helper suited to his needs."


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So the Lord God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them;


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Then the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and took one of his ribs and closed up the place from which he had removed it,


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"This is it!" Adam exclaimed. "She is part of my own bone and flesh! Her name is 'woman' because she was taken out of a man."


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This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife in such a way that the two become one person.


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The serpent was the craftiest of all the creatures the Lord God had made. So the serpent came to the woman. "Really?" he asked. "None of the fruit in the garden? God says you mustn't eat any of it?"


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"It's only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not to eat. God says we mustn't eat it or even touch it, or we will die."


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God knows very well that the instant you eat it you will become like him, for your eyes will be opened--you will be able to distinguish good from evil!"


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The woman was convinced. How lovely and fresh looking it was! And it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit and gave some to her husband, and he ate it too.


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And as they ate it, suddenly they became aware of their nakedness, and were embarrassed. So they strung fig leaves together to cover themselves around the hips.


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That evening they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden; and they hid themselves among the trees.


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"Who told you you were naked?" the Lord God asked. "Have you eaten fruit from the tree I warned you about?"


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Then the Lord God asked the woman, "How could you do such a thing?" "The serpent tricked me," she replied.


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So the Lord God said to the serpent, "This is your punishment: You are singled out from among all the domestic and wild animals of the whole earth--to be cursed. You shall grovel in the dust as long as you live, crawling along on your belly.


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From now on you and the woman will be enemies, as will your offspring and hers. You will strike his heel, but he will crush your head."


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Then God said to the woman, "You shall bear children in intense pain and suffering; yet even so, you shall welcome your husband's affections, and he shall be your master."


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And to Adam, God said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate the fruit when I told you not to, I have placed a curse upon the soil. All your life you will struggle to extract a living from it.


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All your life you will sweat to master it, until your dying day. Then you will return to the ground from which you came. For you were made from the ground, and to the ground you will return."


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The man named his wife Eve (meaning "The life-giving one"), for he said, "She shall become the mother of all mankind";


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Then the Lord said, "Now that the man has become as we are, knowing good from bad, what if he eats the fruit of the Tree of Life and lives forever?"


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So the Lord God banished him forever from the Garden of Eden, and sent him out to farm the ground from which he had been taken.


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Thus God expelled him, and placed mighty angels at the east of the Garden of Eden, with a flaming sword to guard the entrance to the Tree of Life.


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Then Adam had sexual intercourse with Eve his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son, Cain (meaning "I have created"). For, as she said, "With God's help, I have created a man!"


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and Abel brought the fatty cuts of meat from his best lambs, and presented them to the Lord. And the Lord accepted Abel's offering,


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It can be bright with joy if you will do what you should! But if you refuse to obey, watch out. Sin is waiting to attack you, longing to destroy you. But you can conquer it!"


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One day Cain suggested to his brother, "Let's go out into the fields." And while they were together there, Cain attacked and killed his brother.


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But afterwards the Lord asked Cain, "Where is your brother? Where is Abel?" "How should I know?" Cain retorted. "Am I supposed to keep track of him wherever he goes?"


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No longer will it yield crops for you, even if you toil on it forever! From now on you will be a fugitive and a tramp upon the earth, wandering from place to place."


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For you have banished me from my farm and from you, and made me a fugitive and a tramp; and everyone who sees me will try to kill me."


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The Lord replied, "They won't kill you, for I will give seven times your punishment to anyone who does." Then the Lord put an identifying mark on Cain as a warning not to kill him.


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Then Cain's wife conceived and presented him with a baby son named Enoch; so when Cain founded a city, he named it Enoch, after his son.


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Enoch was the father of Irad; Irad was the father of Mehujael; Mehujael was the father of Methusael; Methusael was the father of Lamech;


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To Adah was born a baby named Jabal. He became the first of the cattlemen and those living in tents.


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To Lamech's other wife, Zillah, was born Tubal-cain. He opened the first foundry forging instruments of bronze and iron.


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One day Lamech said to Adah and Zillah, "Listen to me, my wives. I have killed a youth who attacked and wounded me.


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If anyone who kills Cain will be punished seven times, anyone taking revenge against me for killing that youth should be punished seventy-seven times!"


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Later on Eve gave birth to another son and named him Seth (meaning "Granted"); for, as Eve put it, "God has granted me another son for the one Cain killed."


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When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. It was during his lifetime that men first began to call themselves "the Lord's people."


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Here is a list of some of the descendants of Adam --the man who was like God from the day of his creation.


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Afterwards he lived another 300 years in fellowship with God, and produced sons and daughters; then,


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Lamech named him Noah (meaning "Relief") because he said, "He will bring us relief from the hard work of farming this ground which God has cursed."


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Now a population explosion took place upon the earth. It was at this time that beings from the spirit world looked upon the beautiful earth women and took any they desired to be their wives.


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Then Jehovah said, "My Spirit must not forever be disgraced in man, wholly evil as he is. I will give him 120 years to mend his ways."


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In those days, and even afterwards, when the evil beings from the spirit world were sexually involved with human women, their children became giants, of whom so many legends are told.


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When the Lord God saw the extent of human wickedness, and that the trend and direction of men's lives were only towards evil,


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And he said, "I will blot out from the face of the earth all mankind that I created. Yes, and the animals too, and the reptiles and the birds. For I am sorry I made them."


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He was the only truly righteous man living on the earth at that time. He tried always to conduct his affairs according to God's will.


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Meanwhile, the crime rate was rising rapidly across the earth, and, as seen by God, the world was rotten to the core.


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he said to Noah, "I have decided to destroy all mankind; for the earth is filled with crime because of man. Yes, I will destroy mankind from the earth.


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Make a boat from resinous wood, sealing it with tar; and construct decks and stalls throughout the ship.


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Construct a skylight all the way around the ship, eighteen inches below the roof; and make three decks inside the boat--a bottom, middle, and upper deck--and put a door in the side.


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"Look! I am going to cover the earth with a flood and destroy every living being--everything in which there is the breath of life. All will die.


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Bring a pair of every animal--a male and a female--into the boat with you, to keep them alive through the flood.


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Finally the day came when the Lord said to Noah, "Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I consider you alone to be righteous.


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Bring in the animals, too--a pair of each, except those kinds I have chosen for eating and for sacrifice: take seven pairs of each of them,


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and seven pairs of every kind of bird. Thus there will be every kind of life reproducing again after the flood has ended.


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One week from today I will begin forty days and nights of rain; and all the animals and birds and reptiles I have made will die."


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With him were all the various kinds of animals--those for eating and sacrifice, and those that were not, and the birds and reptiles.


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One week later, when Noah was 600 years, two months, and seventeen days old, the rain came down in mighty torrents from the sky,


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But Noah had gone into the boat that very day with his wife and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives.


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With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal--domestic and wild--and reptiles and birds of every sort.


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Two by two they came, male and female, just as God had commanded. Then the Lord God closed the door and shut them in.


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For forty days the roaring floods prevailed, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth.


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And all living things upon the earth perished--birds, domestic and wild animals, and reptiles and all mankind--


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All existence on the earth was blotted out--man and animals alike, and reptiles and birds. God destroyed them all, leaving only Noah alive, and those with him in the boat.


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God didn't forget about Noah and all the animals in the boat! He sent a wind to blow across the waters, and the floods began to disappear,


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So the flood gradually receded until, 150 days after it began, the boat came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat.


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but the dove found no place to light, and returned to Noah, for the water was still too high. So Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back into the boat.


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and this time, toward evening, the bird returned to him with an olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the water was almost gone.


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Release all the animals, birds, and reptiles, so that they will breed abundantly and reproduce in great numbers."


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So the boat was soon empty. Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives all disembarked, along with all the animals, reptiles, and birds--all left the ark in pairs and groups.


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Then Noah built an altar and sacrificed on it some of the animals and birds God had designated for that purpose.


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And Jehovah was pleased with the sacrifice and said to himself, "I will never do it again--I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though man's bent is always toward evil from his earliest youth, and even though he does such wicked things.


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As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night."


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"All wild animals and birds and fish will be afraid of you," God told him; "for I have placed them in your power, and they are yours to use for food, in addition to grain and vegetables.


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And murder is forbidden. Man-killing animals must die, and any man who murders shall be killed; for to kill a man is to kill one made like God.


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I have placed my rainbow in the clouds as a sign of my promise until the end of time, to you and to all the earth.


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and I will remember my promise to you and to every being, that never again will the floods come and destroy all life.


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For I will see the rainbow in the cloud and remember my eternal promise to every living being on the earth."


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The names of Noah's three sons were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the ancestor of the Canaanites.)


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Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard, and he made wine. One day as he was drunk and lay naked in his tent,


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Then Shem and Japheth took a robe and held it over their shoulders and, walking backwards into the tent, let it fall across their father to cover his nakedness as they looked the other way.


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When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor, and learned what had happened and what Ham, his younger son, had done,


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he cursed Ham's descendants: "A curse upon the Canaanites," he swore. "May they be the lowest of slaves To the descendants of Shem and Japheth."


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These are the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who were the three sons of Noah; for sons were born to them after the flood.


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The sons of Cush were: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were: Sheba, Dedan.


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He was a mighty hunter, blessed of God, and his name became proverbial. People would speak of someone as being "like Nimrod--a mighty hunter, blessed of God."


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From there he extended his reign to Assyria. He built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen (which is located between Nineveh and Calah), the main city of the empire.


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Canaan's oldest son was Sidon, and he was also the father of Heth; from Canaan descended these nations:


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Eventually the descendants of Canaan spread from Sidon all the way to Gerar, in the Gaza strip; and to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, near Lasha.


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These, then, were the descendants of Ham, spread abroad in many lands and nations, with many languages.


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Two sons were born to Eber:  Peleg (meaning "Division," for during his lifetime the people of the world were separated and dispersed), and Joktan (Peleg's brother).


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Ophir, Havi-lah, Jobab. These descendants of Joktan lived all the way from Mesha to the eastern hills of Sephar.


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These, then, were the descendants of Shem, classified according to their political groupings, languages, and geographical locations.


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All of the men listed above descended from Noah, through many generations, living in the various nations that developed after the flood.


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As the population grew and spread eastward, a plain was discovered in the land of Babylon and was soon thickly populated.


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The people who lived there began to talk about building a great city, with a temple-tower reaching to the skies--a proud, eternal monument to themselves.


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"This will weld us together," they said, "and keep us from scattering all over the world." So they made great piles of hardburned brick, and collected bitumen to use as mortar.


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he said, "Look! If they are able to accomplish all this when they have just begun to exploit their linguistic and political unity, just think of what they will do later! Nothing will be unattainable for them!


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Come, let us go down and give them different languages, so that they won't understand each other's words!"


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That is why the city was called Babel (meaning "confusion"), because it was there that Jehovah confused them by giving them many languages, thus widely scattering them across the face of the earth.


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Shem's line of descendants included Arpachshad, born two years after the flood when Shem was 100 years old; after that he lived another 500 years and had many sons and daughters.


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But Haran died young, in the land where he was born (in Ur of the Chaldeans), and was survived by his father.


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Meanwhile, Abram married his half-sister Sarai, while his brother Nahor married their orphaned niece, Milcah, who was the daughter of their brother Haran; and she had a sister named Iscah.


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Then Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (his son Haran's child), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, and left Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; but they stopped instead at the city of Haran and settled there.


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God had told Abram, "Leave your own country behind you, and your own people, and go to the land I will guide you to.


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If you do, I will cause you to become the father of a great nation; I will bless you and make your name famous, and you will be a blessing to many others.


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I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and the entire world will be blessed because of you."


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So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed him, and Lot went too; Abram was seventy-five years old at that time.


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He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth--the cattle and slaves he had gotten in Haran--and finally arrived in Canaan.


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Traveling through Canaan, they came to a place near Shechem, and set up camp beside the oak at Moreh. (This area was inhabited by Canaanites at that time.)


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Then Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, "I am going to give this land to your descendants." And Abram built an altar there to commemorate Jehovah's visit.


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Afterwards Abram left that place and traveled southward to the hilly country between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he made camp, and made an altar to the Lord and prayed to him.


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But as he was approaching the borders of Egypt, he asked Sarai his wife to tell everyone that she was his sister! "You are very beautiful," he told her,


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"and when the Egyptians see you they will say, 'This is his wife. Let's kill him and then we can have her!'


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But if you say you are my sister, then the Egyptians will treat me well because of you, and spare my life!"


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When the palace aides saw her, they praised her to their king, the Pharaoh, and she was taken into his harem.


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Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her--sheep, oxen, donkeys, men and women slaves, and camels.


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Then Pharaoh called Abram before him and accused him sharply. "What is this you have done to me?" he demanded. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife?


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And Pharaoh sent them out of the country under armed escort--Abram, his wife, and all his household and possessions.


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So they left Egypt and traveled north into the Negeb--Abram with his wife, and Lot, and all that they owned, for Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.


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Then they continued northward toward Bethel where he had camped before, between Bethel and Ai--to the place


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But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds. There were too many animals for the available pasture.


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So fights broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot, despite the danger they all faced from the tribes of Canaanites and Perizzites present in the land.


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Then Abram talked it over with Lot. "This fighting between our men has got to stop," he said. "We can't afford to let a rift develop between our clans. Close relatives such as we are must present a united front!


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I'll tell you what we'll do. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want that part over there to the east, then I'll stay here in the western section. Or, if you want the west, then I'll go over there to the east."


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Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan River, well watered everywhere (this was before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah); the whole section was like the Garden of Eden, or like the beautiful countryside around Zoar in Egypt.


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So that is what Lot chose--the Jordan valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants, and thus he and Abram parted company.


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For Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain, settling at a place near the city of Sodom.


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Now war filled the land-- Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Ched-or-laomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim


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Fought against: Bera, king of Sodom, Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and The king of Bela (later called Zoar).


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These kings (of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela) mobilized their armies in Siddim Valley (that is, the valley of the Dead Sea).


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For twelve years they had all been subject to King Ched-or-laomer, but now in the thirteenth year, they rebelled.


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One year later, Ched-or-laomer and his allies arrived and the slaughter began. For they were victorious over the following tribes at the places indicated:  The Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim;  The Zuzim in Ham;  The Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim;


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Then they swung around to Enmishpat (later called Kadesh) and destroyed the Amalekites, and also the Amorites living in Hazazan-tamar.


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But now the other army, that of the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar), unsuccessfully


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attacked Ched-or-laomer and his allies as they were in the Dead Sea Valley (four kings against five).


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As it happened, the valley was full of asphalt pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some slipped into the pits, and the remainder fled to the mountains.


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Then the victors plundered Sodom and Gomorrah and carried off all their wealth and food, and went on their homeward way,


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One of the men who escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was camping among the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite (brother of Eshcol and Aner, Abram's allies).


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When Abram learned that Lot had been captured, he called together the men born into his household, 318 of them in all, and chased after the retiring army as far as Dan.


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He divided his men and attacked during the night from several directions, and pursued the fleeing army to Hobah, north of Damascus,


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and recovered everything--the loot that had been taken, his relative Lot, and all of Lot's possessions, including the women and other captives.


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As Abram returned from his strike against Ched-or-laomer and the other kings at the Valley of Shaveh (later called King's Valley), the king of Sodom came out to meet him,


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and Melchizedek, the king of Salem (Jerusalem), who was a priest of the God of Highest Heaven, brought him bread and wine.


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Then Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: "The blessing of the supreme God, Creator of heaven and earth, be upon you, Abram;


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and blessed be God, who has delivered your enemies over to you." Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot.


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The king of Sodom told him, "Just give me back my people who were captured; keep for yourself the booty stolen from my city."


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that I will not take so much as a single thread from you, lest you say, 'Abram is rich because of what I gave him!'


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All I'll accept is what these young men of mine have eaten; but give a share of the loot to Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, my allies."


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Afterwards Jehovah spoke to Abram in a vision, and this is what he told him: "Don't be fearful, Abram, for I will defend you. And I will give you great blessings."


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Then Jehovah told him, "No, no one else will be your heir, for you will have a son to inherit everything you own."


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Then God brought Abram outside beneath the nighttime sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that--too many to count!"


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And he told him, "I am Jehovah who brought you out of the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land."


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Then Jehovah told him to take a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon,


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and to slay them and to cut them apart down the middle, and to separate the halves, but not to divide the birds.


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That evening as the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a vision of terrible foreboding, darkness, and horror.


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Then Jehovah told Abram, "Your descendants will be oppressed as slaves in a foreign land for 400 years.


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But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and at the end they will come away with great wealth.


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After four generations they will return here to this land; for the wickedness of the Amorite nations living here now will not be ready for punishment until then."


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As the sun went down and it was dark, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch that passed between the halves of the carcasses.


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So that day Jehovah made this covenant with Abram: "I have given this land to your descendants from the Wadi-el-Arish to the Euphrates River.


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and gave her to Abram to be his second wife. "Since the Lord has given me no children," Sarai said, "you may sleep with my servant girl, and her children shall be mine." And Abram agreed.


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So he slept with Hagar, and she conceived; and when she realized she was pregnant, she became very proud and arrogant toward her mistress Sarai.


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Then Sarai said to Abram, "It's all your fault. For now this servant girl of mine despises me, though I myself gave her the privilege of being your wife. May the Lord judge you for doing this to me!"


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"You have my permission to punish the girl as you see fit," Abram replied. So Sarai beat her and she ran away.


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The Angel: "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?" Hagar: "I am running away from my mistress."


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Yes, you are pregnant and your baby will be a son, and you are to name him Ishmael ('God hears'), because God has heard your woes.


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This son of yours will be a wild one--free and untamed as a wild ass! He will be against everyone, and everyone will feel the same toward him. But he will live near the rest of his kin."


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Thereafter Hagar spoke of Jehovah--for it was he who appeared to her--as "the God who looked upon me," for she thought, "I saw God and lived to tell it."


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Later that well was named "The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me." It lies between Kadesh and Bered.


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When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to him and told him, "I am the Almighty; obey me and live as you should.


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In fact you shall be the father of not only one nation, but a multitude of nations!" Abram fell face downward in the dust as God talked with him.


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"What's more," God told him, "I am changing your name. It is no longer 'Abram' ('Exalted Father'), but 'Abraham' ('Father of Nations')--for that is what you will be. I have declared it.


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I will give you millions of descendants who will form many nations! Kings shall be among your descendants!


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And I will continue this agreement between us generation after generation, forever, for it shall be between me and your children as well.


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It is a contract that I shall be your God and the God of your posterity. And I will give all this land of Canaan to you and them, forever. And I will be your God.


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You personally and all your posterity have this continual responsibility: that every male among you shall be circumcised;


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the foreskin of his penis shall be cut off. This will be the proof that you and they accept this covenant.


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Every male shall be circumcised on the eighth day after birth. This applies to every foreign-born slave as well as to everyone born in your household. This is a permanent part of this contract, and it applies to all your posterity.


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All must be circumcised. Your bodies will thus be marked as participants in my everlasting covenant.


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And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and make her the mother of nations! Many kings shall be among your posterity."


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Then Abraham threw himself down in worship before the Lord, but inside he was laughing in disbelief! "Me, be a father?" he said in amusement. "Me--100 years old? And Sarah, to have a baby at 90?"


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"No," God replied, "that isn't what I said. Sarah shall bear you a son; and you are to name him Isaac ('Laughter'), and I will sign my covenant with him forever, and with his descendants.


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As for Ishmael, all right, I will bless him also, just as you have asked me to. I will cause him to multiply and become a great nation. Twelve princes shall be among his posterity.


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Then, that very day, Abraham took Ishmael his son and every other male--born in his household or bought from outside--and cut off their foreskins, just as God had told him to.


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The Lord appeared again to Abraham while he was living in the oak grove at Mamre. This is the way it happened: One hot summer afternoon as he was sitting in the opening of his tent,


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he suddenly noticed three men coming toward him. He sprang up and ran to meet them and welcomed them.


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"Sirs," he said, "please don't go any farther. Stop awhile and rest here in the shade of this tree while I get water to refresh your feet,


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and a bite to eat to strengthen you. Do stay awhile before continuing your journey." "All right," they said, "do as you have said."


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Then Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick! Mix up some pancakes! Use your best flour, and make enough for the three of them!"


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Soon, taking them cheese and milk and the roast veal, he set it before the men and stood beneath the trees beside them as they ate.


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Then the Lord said, "Next year I will give you and Sarah a son!" (Sarah was listening from the tent door behind him.)


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Now Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long since past the time when she could have a baby.


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So Sarah laughed silently. "A woman my age have a baby?" she scoffed to herself. "And with a husband as old as mine?"


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Then God said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say 'Can an old woman like me have a baby?'


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Is anything too hard for God? Next year, just as I told you, I will certainly see to it that Sarah has a son."


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Then the men stood up from their meal and started on toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them part of the way.


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"For Abraham shall become a mighty nation, and he will be a source of blessing for all the nations of the earth.


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And I have picked him out to have godly descendants and a godly household--men who are just and good--so that I can do for him all I have promised."


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So the Lord told Abraham, "I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are utterly evil, and that everything they do is wicked.


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So the other two went on toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham a while. Then Abraham approached him and said, "Will you kill good and bad alike?


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Suppose you find fifty godly people there within the city--will you destroy it, and not spare it for their sakes?


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That wouldn't be right! Surely you wouldn't do such a thing, to kill the godly with the wicked! Why, you would be treating godly and wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn't do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth be fair?"


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Then Abraham spoke again. "Since I have begun, let me go on and speak further to the Lord, though I am but dust and ashes.


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Suppose there are only forty-five? Will you destroy the city for lack of five?" And God said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five."


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Then Abraham went further with his request. "Suppose there are only forty?" And God replied, "I won't destroy it if there are forty."


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"Please don't be angry," Abraham pleaded. "Let me speak: suppose only thirty are found there?" And God replied, "I won't do it if there are thirty there."


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Then Abraham said, "Since I have dared to speak to God, let me continue--suppose there are only twenty?" And God said, "Then I won't destroy it for the sake of the twenty."


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Finally, Abraham said, "Oh, let not the Lord be angry; I will speak but this once more! Suppose only ten are found?" And God said, "Then, for the sake of the ten, I won't destroy it."


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And the Lord went on his way when he had finished his conversation with Abraham. And Abraham returned to his tent.


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That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom, and Lot was sitting there as they arrived. When he saw them he stood up to meet them, and welcomed them.


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"Sirs," he said, "come to my home as my guests for the night; you can get up as early as you like and be on your way again." "Oh, no thanks," they said, "we'll just stretch out here along the street."


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But he was very urgent, until at last they went home with him, and he set a great feast before them, complete with freshly baked unleavened bread. After the meal,


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as they were preparing to retire for the night, the men of the city--yes, Sodomites, young and old from all over the city--surrounded the house


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Look--I have two virgin daughters, and I'll surrender them to you to do with as you wish. But leave these men alone, for they are under my protection."


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"Stand back," they yelled. "Who do you think you are? We let this fellow settle among us and now he tries to tell us what to do! We'll deal with you far worse than with those other men." And they lunged at Lot and began breaking down the door.


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"What relatives do you have here in the city?" the men asked. "Get them out of this place--sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else.


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For we will destroy the city completely. The stench of the place has reached to heaven and God has sent us to destroy it."


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So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters' fiances, "Quick, get out of the city, for the Lord is going to destroy it." But the young men looked at him as though he had lost his senses.


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At dawn the next morning the angels became urgent. "Hurry," they said to Lot, "take your wife and your two daughters who are here and get out while you can, or you will be caught in the destruction of the city."


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When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety, outside the city, for the Lord was merciful.


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"Flee for your lives," the angels told him. "And don't look back. Escape to the mountains. Don't stay down here on the plain or you will die."


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"since you've been so kind to me and saved my life, and you've granted me such mercy, let me flee to that little village over there instead of into the mountains, for I fear disaster in the mountain.


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See, the village is close by and it is just a small one. Please, please, let me go there instead. Don't you see how small it is? And my life will be saved."


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But hurry! For I can do nothing until you are there." (From that time on that village was named Zoar, meaning "Little City.")


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and utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, eliminating all life--people, plants, and animals alike.


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He looked out across the plain to Sodom and Gomorrah and saw columns of smoke and fumes, as from a furnace, rising from the cities there.


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So God heeded Abraham's plea and kept Lot safe, removing him from the maelstrom of death that engulfed the cities.


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Afterwards Lot left Zoar, fearful of the people there, and went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters.


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One day the older girl said to her sister, "There isn't a man anywhere in this entire area that our father would let us marry. And our father will soon be too old for having children.


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Come, let's fill him with wine and then we will sleep with him, so that our clan will not come to an end."


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So they got him drunk that night, and the older girl went in and had sexual intercourse with her father; but he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.


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The next morning she said to her younger sister, "I slept with my father last night. Let's fill him with wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him, so that our family line will continue."


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So they got him drunk again that night, and the younger girl went in and lay with him, and, as before, he didn't know that anyone was there.


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The name of the younger girl's baby was Benammi; he became the ancestor of the nation of the Ammonites.


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Now Abraham moved south to the Negeb and settled between Kadesh and Shur. One day, when visiting the city of Gerar,


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he declared that Sarah was his sister! Then King Abimelech sent for her, and had her brought to him at his palace.


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But that night God came to him in a dream and told him, "You are a dead man, for that woman you took is married."


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He told me, 'She is my sister,' and she herself said, 'Yes, he is my brother.' I hadn't the slightest intention of doing anything wrong."


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"Yes, I know," the Lord replied. "That is why I held you back from sinning against me; that is why I didn't let you touch her.


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Now restore her to her husband, and he will pray for you (for he is a prophet) and you shall live. But if you don't return her to him, you are doomed to death along with all your household."


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The king was up early the next morning, and hastily called a meeting of all the palace personnel and told them what had happened. And great fear swept through the crowd.


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Then the king called for Abraham. "What is this you've done to us?" he demanded. "What have I done that deserves treatment like this, to make me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin? Who would suspect that you would do a thing like this to me?


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"Well," Abraham said, "I figured this to be a godless place. 'They will want my wife and will kill me to get her,' I thought.


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And besides, she is my sister--or at least a half-sister (we both have the same father)--and I married her.


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And when God sent me traveling far from my childhood home, I told her, 'Have the kindness to mention, wherever we come, that you are my sister.' "


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Then King Abimelech took sheep and oxen and servants--both men and women--and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him.


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Then he turned to Sarah. "Look," he said, "I am giving your 'brother' a thousand silver pieces as damages for what I did, to compensate for any embarrassment and to settle any claim against me regarding this matter. Now justice has been done."


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Then Abraham prayed, asking God to cure the king and queen and the other women of the household, so that they could have children;


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Then God did as he had promised, and Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a baby son in his old age, at the time God had said;


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Eight days after he was born, Abraham circumcised him, as God required. (Abraham was 100 years old at that time.)


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For who would have dreamed that I would ever have a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a child in his old age!"


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Time went by and the child grew and was weaned; and Abraham gave a party to celebrate the happy occasion.


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she turned upon Abraham and demanded, "Get rid of that slave girl and her son. He is not going to share your property with my son. I won't have it."


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But God told Abraham, "Don't be upset over the boy or your slave-girl wife; do as Sarah says, for Isaac is the son through whom my promise will be fulfilled.


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And I will make a nation of the descendants of the slave-girl's son, too, because he also is yours."


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So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food for the journey, and strapped a canteen of water to Hagar's shoulders and sent her away with their son. She walked out into the wilderness of Beersheba, wandering aimlessly.


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and went off and sat down a hundred yards or so away. "I don't want to watch him die," she said, and burst into tears, sobbing wildly.


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Then God heard the boy crying, and the Angel of God called to Hagar from the sky, "Hagar, what's wrong? Don't be afraid! For God has heard the lad's cries as he is lying there.


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About this time King Abimelech and Phicol, commander of his troops, came to Abraham and said to him, "It is evident that God helps you in everything you do;


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swear to me by God's name that you won't defraud me or my son or my grandson, but that you will be on friendly terms with my country, as I have been toward you."


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Then Abraham complained to the king about a well the king's servants had taken violently away from Abraham's servants.


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"This is the first I've heard of it," the king exclaimed, "and I have no idea who is responsible. Why didn't you tell me before?"


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But when he took seven ewe lambs and set them off by themselves, the king inquired, "Why are you doing that?"


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So from that time on the well was called Beer-sheba ("Well of the Oath"), because that was the place where they made their covenant.


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And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree beside the well and prayed there to the Lord, calling upon the Eternal God.


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Later on, God tested Abraham's  faith and obedience. "Abraham!" God called. "Yes, Lord?" he replied.


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"Take with you your only son--yes, Isaac whom you love so much--and go to the land of Moriah and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I'll point out to you!"


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The next morning Abraham got up early, chopped wood for a fire upon the altar, saddled his donkey, and took with him his son Isaac and two young men who were his servants, and started off to the place where God had told him to go.


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"Stay here with the donkey," Abraham told the young men, "and the lad and I will travel yonder and worship, and then come right back."


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Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering upon Isaac's shoulders, while he himself carried the knife and the flint for striking a fire. So the two of them went on together.


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"Father," Isaac asked, "we have the wood and the flint to make the fire, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?"


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When they arrived at the place where God had told Abraham to go, he built an altar and placed the wood in order, ready for the fire, and then tied Isaac and laid him on the altar over the wood.


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At that moment the Angel of God shouted to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Yes, Lord!" he answered.


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"Lay down the knife; don't hurt the lad in any way," the Angel said, "for I know that God is first in your life--you have not withheld even your beloved son from me."


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Then Abraham noticed a ram caught by its horns in a bush. So he took the ram and sacrificed it, instead of his son, as a burnt offering on the altar.


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"I, the Lord, have sworn by myself that because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your beloved son from me,


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I will bless you with incredible blessings and multiply your descendants into countless thousands and millions, like the stars above you in the sky, and like the sands along the seashore. They will conquer their enemies,


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and your offspring will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth--all because you have obeyed me."


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After this, a message arrived that Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, had borne him eight sons. Their names were:


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When Sarah was 127 years old, she died in Hebron in the land of Canaan; there Abraham mourned and wept for her.


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"Here I am, a visitor in a foreign land, with no place to bury my wife. Please sell me a piece of ground for this purpose."


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"Certainly," the men replied, "for you are an honored prince of God among us; it will be a privilege to have you choose the finest of our sepulchers, so that you can bury her there."


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to sell me the cave of Mach-pelah, down at the end of his field. I will of course pay the full price for it, whatever is publicly agreed upon, and it will become a permanent cemetery for my family."


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Ephron was sitting there among the others, and now he spoke up, answering Abraham as the others listened, speaking publicly before all the citizens of the town:


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"Sir," he said to Abraham, "please listen to me. I will give you the cave and the field without any charge. Here in the presence of my people, I give it to you free. Go and bury your dead."


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and replied to Ephron, as all listened: "No, let me buy it from you. Let me pay the full price of the field, and then I will bury my dead."


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"Well, the land is worth 400 pieces of silver," Ephron said, "but what is that between friends? Go ahead and bury your dead."


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This is the land he bought: Ephron's field at Mach-pelah, near Mamre, and the cave at the end of the field, and all the trees in the field.


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They became his permanent possession, by agreement in the presence of the men of Heth at the city gate.


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So Abraham buried Sarah there, in the field and cave deeded to him by the men of Heth as a burial plot.


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"Swear by Jehovah, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not let my son marry one of these local girls, these Canaanites.


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"But suppose I can't find a girl who will come so far from home?" the servant asked. "Then shall I take Isaac there, to live among your relatives?"


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For the Lord God of heaven told me to leave that land and my people, and promised to give me and my children this land. He will send his angel on ahead of you, and he will see to it that you find a girl from there to be my son's wife.


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But if you don't succeed, then you are free from this oath; but under no circumstances are you to take my son there."


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He took with him ten of Abraham's camels loaded with samples of the best of everything his master owned and journeyed to Iraq, to Nahor's village.


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There he made the camels kneel down outside the town, beside a spring. It was evening, and the women of the village were coming to draw water.


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"O Jehovah, the God of my master," he prayed, "show kindness to my master Abraham and help me to accomplish the purpose of my journey.


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See, here I am, standing beside this spring, and the girls of the village are coming out to draw water.


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This is my request: When I ask one of them for a drink and she says, 'Yes, certainly, and I will water your camels too!'--let her be the one you have appointed as Isaac's wife. That is how I will know."


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arrived with a water jug on her shoulder and filled it at the spring. (Her father was Bethuel the son of Nahor and his wife Milcah.)


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So she emptied the jug into the watering trough and ran down to the spring again and kept carrying water to the camels until they had enough.


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The servant said no more, but watched her carefully to see if she would finish the job, so that he would know whether she was the one.


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Then at last, when the camels had finished drinking, he produced a quarter-ounce gold earring and two five-ounce gold bracelets for her wrists.


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"Whose daughter are you, miss?" he asked. "Would your father have any room to put us up for the night?"


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"Thank you, Lord God of my master Abraham," he prayed; "thank you for being so kind and true to him, and for leading me straight to the family of my master's relatives."


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and when her brother Laban saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and heard her story,


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"Come and stay with us, friend; why stand here outside the city when we have a room all ready for you, and a place prepared for the camels!"


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So the man went home with Laban, and Laban gave him straw to bed down the camels, and feed for them, and water for the camel drivers to wash their feet.


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Then supper was served. But the old man said, "I don't want to eat until I have told you why I am here." "All right," Laban said, "tell us your errand."


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"And Jehovah has overwhelmed my master with blessings so that he is a great man among the people of his land. God has given him flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, and a fortune in silver and gold, and many slaves and camels and donkeys.


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"Now when Sarah, my master's wife, was very old, she gave birth to my master's son, and my master has given him everything he owns.


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but to come to his relatives here in this far-off land, to his brother's family, and to bring back a girl from here to marry his son.


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'She will,' he told me--'for my Lord, in whose presence I have walked, will send his angel with you and make your mission successful. Yes, find a girl from among my relatives, from my brother's family.


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"Well, this afternoon when I came to the spring I prayed this prayer: 'O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, if you are planning to make my mission a success, please guide me in this way:


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Here I am, standing beside this spring. I will say to some girl who comes out to draw water, "Please give me a drink of water!"


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And she will reply, "Certainly! And I'll water your camels too!" Let that girl be the one you have selected to be the wife of my master's son.'


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"Well, while I was still speaking these words, Rebekah was coming along with her water jug upon her shoulder; and she went down to the spring and drew water and filled the jug. I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.'


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She quickly lifted the jug down from her shoulder so that I could drink, and told me, 'Certainly, sir, and I will water your camels too!' So she did!


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Then I asked her, 'Whose family are you from?' And she told me, 'Nahor's. My father is Bethuel, the son of Nahor and his wife Milcah.' So I gave her the ring and the bracelets.


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Then I bowed my head and worshiped and blessed Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, because he had led me along just the right path to find a girl from the family of my master's brother.


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So tell me, yes or no. Will you or won't you be kind to my master and do what is right? When you tell me, then I'll know what my next step should be, whether to move this way or that."


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Then he brought out jewels set in solid gold and silver for Rebekah, and lovely clothing; and he gave many valuable presents to her mother and brother.


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Then they had supper, and the servant and the men with him stayed there overnight. But early the next morning he said, "Send me back to my master!"


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"But we want Rebekah here at least another ten days or so!" her mother and brother exclaimed. "Then she can go."


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But he pleaded, "Don't hinder my return; the Lord has made my mission successful, and I want to report back to my master."


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So they called Rebekah. "Are you willing to go with this man?" they asked her. And she replied, "Yes, I will go."


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and blessed her with this blessing as they parted: "Our sister, May you become The mother of many millions! May your descendants Overcome all your enemies."


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One evening as he was taking a walk out in the fields, meditating, he looked up and saw the camels coming.


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"Who is that man walking through the fields to meet us?" she asked the servant. And he replied, "It is my master's son!" So she covered her face with her veil.


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And Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother's tent, and she became his wife. He loved her very much, and she was a special comfort to him after the loss of his mother.


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however, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off into the east, away from Isaac.


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in the field Abraham had purchased from Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite, where Sarah, Abraham's wife, was buried.


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After Abraham's death, God poured out rich blessings upon Isaac. (Isaac had now moved south to Beer-lahai-roi in the Negeb.)


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Here is a list, in the order of their births, of the descendants of Ishmael, who was the son of Abraham and Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's slave girl:


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These descendants of Ishmael were scattered across the country from Havilah to Shur (which is a little way to the northeast of the Egyptian border in the direction of Assyria). And they were constantly at war with one another.


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Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddam-aram. Rebekah was the sister of Laban.


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Isaac pleaded with Jehovah to give Rebekah a child, for even after many years of marriage she had no children. Then at last she became pregnant.


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And it seemed as though children were fighting each other inside her! "I can't endure this," she exclaimed. So she asked the Lord about it.


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And he told her, "The sons in your womb shall become two rival nations. One will be stronger than the other; and the older shall be a servant of the younger!"


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The first was born so covered with reddish hair that one would think he was wearing a fur coat! So they called him "Esau."


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Then the other twin was born with his hand on Esau's heel! So they called him Jacob (meaning "Grabber"). Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.


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As the boys grew, Esau became a skillful hunter, while Jacob was a quiet sort who liked to stay at home.


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Isaac's favorite was Esau, because of the venison he brought home, and Rebekah's favorite was Jacob.


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Esau: "Boy, am I starved! Give me a bite of that red stuff there!" (From this came his nickname "Edom," which means "Red Stuff.")


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Jacob: "Well then, vow to God that it is mine!" And Esau vowed, thereby selling all his eldest-son rights to his younger brother.


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Then Jacob gave Esau bread, peas, and stew; so he ate and drank and went on about his business, indifferent to the loss of the rights he had thrown away.


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Now a severe famine overshadowed the land, as had happened before, in Abraham's time, and so Isaac moved to the city of Gerar where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.


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Do as I say and stay here in this land. If you do, I will be with you and bless you, and I will give all this land to you and to your descendants, just as I promised Abraham your father.


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And I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars! And I will give them all of these lands; and they shall be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.


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And when the men there asked him about Rebekah, he said, "She is my sister!" For he feared for his life if he told them she was his wife; he was afraid they would kill him to get her, for she was very attractive.


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But sometime later, King Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out of a window and saw Isaac and Rebekah making love.


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Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, "She is your wife! Why did you say she is your sister?" "Because I was afraid I would be murdered," Isaac replied. "I thought someone would kill me to get her from me."


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"How could you treat us this way?" Abimelech exclaimed. "Someone might carelessly have raped her, and we would be doomed."


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He had large flocks of sheep and goats, great herds of cattle, and many servants. And the Philistines became jealous of him.


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And King Abimelech asked Isaac to leave the country. "Go somewhere else," he said, "for you have become too rich and powerful for us."


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And Isaac redug the wells of his father Abraham, the ones the Philistines had filled after his father's death, and gave them the same names they had had before, when his father had named them.


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Then the local shepherds came and claimed it. "This is our land and our well," they said, and argued over it with Isaac's herdsmen. So he named the well, "The Well of Argument!"


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Isaac's men then dug another well, but again there was a fight over it. So he called it, "The Well of Anger."


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Abandoning that one, he dug again, and the local residents finally left him alone. So he called it, "The Well of Room Enough for Us at Last!" "For now at last," he said, "the Lord has made room for us and we shall thrive."


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Jehovah appeared to him on the night of his arrival. "I am the God of Abraham your father," he said. "Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you, and will give you so many descendants that they will become a great nation--because of my promise to Abraham, who obeyed me."


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One day Isaac had visitors from Gerar. King Abimelech arrived with his advisor, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander.


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"Why have you come?" Isaac asked them. "This is obviously no friendly visit, since you kicked me out in a most uncivil way."


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"Well," they said, "we can plainly see that Jehovah is blessing you. We've decided to ask for a treaty between us.


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Promise that you will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you, and in fact, have done only good to you and have sent you away in peace; we bless you in the name of the Lord."


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So Isaac prepared a great feast for them, and they ate and drank in preparation for the treaty ceremonies.


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In the morning, as soon as they were up, they each took solemn oaths to seal a nonaggression pact. Then Isaac sent them happily home again.


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That very same day Isaac's servants came to tell him, "We have found water"--in the well they had been digging.


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So he named the well, "The Well of the Oath," and the city that grew up there was named "Oath," and is called that to this day.


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Esau, at the age of forty, married a girl named Judith, daughter of Be-eri the Hethite; and he also married Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hethite.


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One day, in Isaac's old age when he was almost blind, he called for Esau his oldest son. Isaac: "My son?" Esau: "Yes, father?"


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and prepare it just the way I like it--savory and good--and bring it here for me to eat, and I will give you the blessings that belong to you, my first-born son, before I die."


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Go out to the flocks and bring me two young goats, and I'll prepare your father's favorite dish from them.


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Then take it to your father, and after he has enjoyed it he will bless you before his death, instead of Esau!"


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Jacob: "But mother! He won't be fooled that easily. Think how hairy Esau is, and how smooth my skin is!


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What if my father feels me? He'll think I'm making a fool of him and curse me instead of blessing me!"


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So Jacob followed his mother's instructions, bringing the dressed kids, which she prepared in his father's favorite way.


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Then she took Esau's best clothes--they were there in the house--and instructed Jacob to put them on.


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And she made him a pair of gloves from the hairy skin of the young goats, and fastened a strip of the hide around his neck;


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Jacob carried the platter of food into the room where his father was lying. Jacob: "Father?" Isaac: "Yes? Who is it, my son--Esau or Jacob?"


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Jacob: "It's Esau, your oldest son. I've done as you told me to. Here is the delicious venison you wanted. Sit up and eat it, so that you will bless me with all your heart!"


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Isaac: "How were you able to find it so quickly, my son?" Jacob: "Because Jehovah your God put it in my path!"


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(Jacob goes over to his father. He feels him!) Isaac: (to himself) "The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's!"


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Isaac: "Then bring me the venison, and I will eat it and bless you with all my heart." (Jacob takes it over to him and Isaac eats; he also drinks the wine Jacob brings him.)


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Isaac: "Come here and kiss me, my son!" (Jacob goes over and kisses him on the cheek. Isaac sniffs his clothes, and finally seems convinced.)


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May many nations be your slaves. Be the master of your brothers. May all your relatives bow low before you. Cursed are all who curse you, and blessed are all who bless you."


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(As soon as Isaac has blessed Jacob, and almost before Jacob leaves the room, Esau arrives, coming in from his hunting.


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He also has prepared his father's favorite dish and brings it to him.) Esau: "Here I am, father, with the venison. Sit up and eat it so that you can give me your finest blessings!"


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(Isaac begins to tremble noticeably.) Isaac: "Then who is it who was just here with venison, and I have already eaten it and blessed him with irrevocable blessing?"


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Esau: (bitterly) "No wonder they call him 'The Cheater.' For he took my birthright, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven't you saved even one blessing for me?"


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Isaac: "I have made him your master, and have given him yourself and all of his relatives as his servants. I have guaranteed him abundance of grain and wine--what is there left to give?"


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Esau: "Not one blessing left for me? O my father, bless me too." (Isaac says nothing as Esau weeps.)


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but you shall hew your way with your sword. For a time you will serve your brother, but you will finally shake loose from him and be free."


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So Esau hated Jacob because of what he had done to him. He said to himself, "My father will soon be gone, and then I will kill Jacob."


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But someone got wind of what he was planning and reported it to Rebekah. She sent for Jacob and told him that his life was being threatened by Esau.


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and he forgets what you have done. Then I will send for you. For why should I be bereaved of both of you in one day?"


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Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I'm sick and tired of these local girls. I'd rather die than see Jacob marry one of them."


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So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and said to him, "Don't marry one of these Canaanite girls.


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Instead, go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of your cousins--your Uncle Laban's daughters.


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May God pass on to you and to your descendants the mighty blessings promised to Abraham. May you own this land where we now are foreigners, for God has given it to Abraham."


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So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to visit his Uncle Laban, his mother's brother--the son of Bethuel the Aramean.


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and that his father and mother had sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, with his father's blessing, to get a wife from there, and that they had strictly warned him against marrying a Canaanite girl,


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So Esau went to his Uncle Ishmael's family and married another wife from there, besides the wives he already had. Her name was Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth, and daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son.


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That night, when he stopped to camp at sundown, he found a rock for a headrest and lay down to sleep,


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and dreamed that a staircase reached from earth to heaven, and he saw the angels of God going up and down upon it.


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At the top of the stairs stood the Lord. "I am Jehovah," he said, "the God of Abraham, and of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on is yours! I will give it to you and to your descendants.


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For you will have descendants as many as dust! They will cover the land from east to west and from north to south; and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.


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What's more, I am with you, and will protect you wherever you go, and will bring you back safely to this land; I will be with you constantly until I have finished giving you all I am promising."


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Then Jacob woke up. "God lives here!" he exclaimed in terror. "I've stumbled into his home! This is the awesome entrance to heaven!"


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The next morning he got up very early and set his stone headrest upright as a memorial pillar, and poured olive oil over it.


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He named the place Bethel ("House of God"), though the previous name of the nearest village was Luz.


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And Jacob vowed this vow to God: "If God will help and protect me on this journey and give me food and clothes,


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And this memorial pillar shall become a place for worship; and I will give you back a tenth of everything you give me!"


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He saw in the distance three flocks of sheep lying beside a well in an open field, waiting to be watered. But a heavy stone covered the mouth of the well.


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(The custom was that the stone was not removed until all the flocks were there. After watering them, the stone was rolled back over the mouth of the well again.)


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"Why don't you water the flocks so they can get back to grazing?" Jacob asked. "They'll be hungry if you stop so early in the day!"


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"We don't roll away the stone and begin the watering until all the flocks and shepherds are here," they replied.


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As this conversation was going on, Rachel arrived with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.


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And because she was his cousin--the daughter of his mother's brother--and because the sheep were his uncle's, Jacob went over to the well and rolled away the stone and watered his uncle's flock.


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He explained about being her cousin on her father's side, and that he was her Aunt Rebekah's son. She quickly ran and told her father, Laban,


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and as soon as he heard of Jacob's arrival, he rushed out to meet him and greeted him warmly and brought him home. Then Jacob told him his story.


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"Just think, my very own flesh and blood," Laban exclaimed. After Jacob had been there about a month,


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Laban said to him one day, "Just because we are relatives is no reason for you to work for me without pay. How much do you want?"


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Well, Jacob was in love with Rachel. So he told her father, "I'll work for you seven years if you'll give me Rachel as my wife."


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So Jacob spent the next seven years working to pay for Rachel. But they seemed to him but a few days, he was so much in love.


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Finally the time came for him to marry her. "I have fulfilled my contract," Jacob said to Laban. "Now give me my wife, so that I can sleep with her."


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But in the morning--it was Leah! "What sort of trick is this?" Jacob raged at Laban. "I worked for seven years for Rachel. What do you mean by this trickery?"


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"Wait until the bridal week is over and you can have Rachel too--if you promise to work for me another seven years!"


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So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her more than Leah, and stayed and worked the additional seven years.


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So Leah became pregnant and had a son, Reuben (meaning "God has noticed my trouble"), for she said, "Jehovah has noticed my trouble--now my husband will love me."


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She soon became pregnant again and had another son and named him Simeon (meaning "Jehovah heard"), for she said, "Jehovah heard that I was unloved, and so he has given me another son."


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Again she became pregnant and had a son, and named him Levi (meaning "Attachment") for she said, "Surely now my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!"


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Once again she was pregnant and had a son and named him Judah (meaning "Praise"), for she said, "Now I will praise Jehovah!" And then she stopped having children.


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Rachel, realizing she was barren, became envious of her sister. "Give me children or I'll die," she exclaimed to Jacob.


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Jacob flew into a rage. "Am I God?" he flared. "He is the one who is responsible for your barrenness."


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Rachel named him Dan (meaning "Justice"), for she said, "God has given me justice, and heard my plea and given me a son."


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Rachel named him Naphtali (meaning "Wrestling"), for she said, "I am in a fierce contest with my sister and I am winning!"


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Meanwhile, when Leah realized that she wasn't getting pregnant anymore, she gave her servant-girl Zilpah to Jacob, to be his wife,


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and Leah named him Asher (meaning "Happy"), for she said, "What joy is mine! The other women will think me blessed indeed!"


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One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel begged Leah to give some of them to her.


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But Leah angrily replied, "Wasn't it enough to steal my husband? And now will you steal my son's mandrakes too?" Rachel said sadly, "He will sleep with you tonight because of the mandrakes."


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That evening as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. "You must sleep with me tonight!" she said; "for I am hiring you with some mandrakes my son has found!" So he did.


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She named him Issachar (meaning "Wages"), for she said, "God has repaid me for giving my slave-girl to my husband."


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She named him Zebulun (meaning "Gifts"), for she said, "God has given me good gifts for my husband. Now he will honor me, for I have given him six sons."


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For she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. "God has removed the dark slur against my name," she said.


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And she named him Joseph (meaning "May I also have another!"), for she said, "May Jehovah give me another son."


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Let me take my wives and children--for I earned them from you--and be gone, for you know how fully I have paid for them with my service to you."


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"Please don't leave me," Laban replied, "for a fortune-teller that I consulted told me that the many blessings I've been enjoying are all because of your being here.


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Jacob replied, "You know how faithfully I've served you through these many years, and how your flocks and herds have grown.


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For it was little indeed you had before I came, and your wealth has increased enormously; Jehovah has blessed you from everything I do! But now, what about me? When should I provide for my own family?"


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"What wages do you want?" Laban asked again. Jacob replied, "If you will do one thing, I'll go back to work for you.


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Let me go out among your flocks today and remove all the goats that are speckled or spotted, and all the black sheep. Give them to me as my wages.


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Then if you ever find any white goats or sheep in my flock, you will know that I have stolen them from you!"


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So that very day Laban went out and formed a flock for Jacob of all the male goats that were ringed and spotted, and the females that were speckled and spotted with any white patches, and all of the black sheep.


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He gave them to Jacob's sons to take them three days' distance, and Jacob stayed and cared for Laban's flock.


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Then Jacob took fresh shoots from poplar, almond, and sycamore trees, and peeled white streaks in them,


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and placed these rods beside the watering troughs so that Laban's flocks would see them when they came to drink; for that is when they mated.


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So the flocks mated before the white-streaked rods, and their offspring were streaked and spotted, and Jacob added them to his flock.


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Then he divided out the ewes from Laban's flock and segregated them from the rams, and let them mate only with Jacob's black rams. Thus he built his flocks from Laban's.


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but didn't with the feebler ones. So the less healthy lambs were Laban's and the stronger ones were Jacob's!


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As a result, Jacob's flocks increased rapidly and he became very wealthy, with many servants, camels, and donkeys.


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But Jacob learned that Laban's sons were grumbling, "He owes everything he owns to our father. All his wealth is at our father's expense."


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Jehovah now spoke to Jacob and told him, "Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives there; and I will be with you."


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to talk things over with them. "Your father has turned against me," he told them, "and now the God of my fathers has come and spoken to me.


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but he has been completely unscrupulous and has broken his wage contract with me again and again and again. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm!


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For if he said the speckled animals would be mine, then all the flock produced speckled; and when he changed and said I could have the streaked ones, then all the lambs were streaked!


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"And at the mating season, I had a dream, and saw that the he-goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and mottled.


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and told me that I should mate the white female goats with streaked, speckled, and mottled male goats. 'For I have seen all that Laban has done to you,' the Angel said.


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'I am the God you met at Bethel,' he continued, 'the place where you anointed the pillar and made a vow to serve me. Now leave this country and return to the land of your birth.' "


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Rachel and Leah replied, "That's fine with us! There's nothing for us here--none of our father's wealth will come to us anyway!


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He has reduced our rights to those of foreign women; he sold us, and what he received for us has disappeared.


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The riches God has given you from our father were legally ours and our children's to begin with! So go ahead and do whatever God has told you to."


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He drove the flocks before him--Jacob's flocks he had gotten there at Paddan-aram--and took everything he owned and started out to return to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.


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So he fled with all of his possessions (and Rachel stole her father's household gods and took them with her) and crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the territory of Gilead.


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Then, taking several men with him, he set out in hot pursuit and caught up with them seven days later, at Mount Gilead.


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That night God appeared to Laban in a dream. "Watch out what you say to Jacob," he was told. "Don't give him your blessing and don't curse him."


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Laban finally caught up with Jacob as he was camped at the top of a ridge; Laban, meanwhile, camped below him in the mountains.


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"What do you mean by sneaking off like this?" Laban demanded. "Are my daughters prisoners, captured in a battle, that you have rushed them away like this?


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I could crush you, but the God of your father appeared to me last night and told me, 'Be careful not to be too hard on Jacob!'


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But see here--though you feel you must go, and long so intensely for your childhood home--why have you stolen my idols?"


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"I sneaked away because I was afraid," Jacob answered. "I said to myself, 'He'll take his daughters from me by force.'


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But as for your household idols, a curse upon anyone who took them. Let him die! If you find a single thing we've stolen from you, I swear before all these men, I'll give it back without question." For Jacob didn't know that Rachel had taken them.


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Laban went first into Jacob's tent to search there, then into Leah's, and then searched the two tents of the concubines, but didn't find them. Finally he went into Rachel's tent.


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Rachel, remember, was the one who had stolen the idols; she had stuffed them into her camel saddle and now was sitting on them! So although Laban searched the tents thoroughly, he didn't find them.


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"Forgive my not getting up, father," Rachel explained, "but I'm having my monthly period." So Laban didn't find them.


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Now Jacob got mad. "What did you find?" he demanded of Laban. "What is my crime? You have come rushing after me as though you were chasing a criminal


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and have searched through everything. Now put everything I stole out here in front of us, before your men and mine, for all to see and to decide whose it is!


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Twenty years I've been with you, and all that time I cared for your ewes and goats so that they produced healthy offspring, and I never touched one ram of yours for food.


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If any were attacked and killed by wild animals, did I show them to you and ask you to reduce the count of your flock? No, I took the loss. You made me pay for every animal stolen from the flocks, whether I could help it or not.


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Yes, twenty years--fourteen of them earning your two daughters, and six years to get the flock! And you have reduced my wages ten times!


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In fact, except for the grace of God--the God of my grandfather Abraham, even the glorious God of Isaac, my father--you would have sent me off without a penny to my name. But God has seen your cruelty and my hard work, and that is why he appeared to you last night."


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Laban replied, "These women are my daughters, and these children are mine, and these flocks and all that you have--all are mine. So how could I harm my own daughters and grandchildren?


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and told his men to gather stones and make a heap, and Jacob and Laban ate together beside the pile of rocks.


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"This pile of stones will stand as a witness against us  if either of us trespasses across this line," Laban said.


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So it was also called "The Watchtower" (Mizpah). For Laban said, "May the Lord see to it that we keep this bargain when we are out of each other's sight.


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This heap," Laban continued, "stands between us as a witness of our vows that I will not cross this line to attack you and you will not cross it to attack me.


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I call upon the God of Abraham and Nahor, and of their father, to destroy either one of us who does." So Jacob took oath before the mighty God of his father, Isaac, to respect the boundary line.


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Then Jacob presented a sacrifice to God there at the top of the mountain, and invited his companions to a feast, and afterwards spent the night with them on the mountain.


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Laban was up early the next morning and kissed his daughters and grandchildren, and blessed them, and returned home.


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and now I own oxen, donkeys, sheep, goats, and many servants, both men and women. I have sent these messengers to inform you of my coming, hoping that you will be friendly to us."


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The messengers returned with the news that Esau was on the way to meet Jacob--with an army of 400 men!


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Jacob was frantic with fear. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups;


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Then Jacob prayed, "O God of Abraham my grandfather, and of my father Isaac--O Jehovah who told me to return to the land of my relatives, and said that you would do me good--


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I am not worthy of the least of all your loving-kindnesses shown me again and again just as you promised me. For when I left home I owned nothing except a walking stick! And now I am two armies!


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O Lord, please deliver me from destruction at the hand of my brother Esau, for I am frightened--terribly afraid that he is coming to kill me and these mothers and my children.


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But you promised to do me good, and to multiply my descendants until they become as the sands along the shores--too many to count."


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He instructed his servants to drive them on ahead, each group of animals by itself, separated by a distance between.


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He told the men driving the first group that when they met Esau and he asked, "Where are you going? Whose servants are you? Whose animals are these?"--


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they should reply: "These belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present for his master Esau! He is coming right behind us!"


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Jacob's strategy was to appease Esau with the presents before meeting him face to face! "Perhaps," Jacob hoped, "he will be friendly to us."


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But during the night he got up and wakened his two wives and his two concubines and eleven sons, and sent them across the Jordan River at the Jabbok ford


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And when the Man saw that he couldn't win the match, he struck Jacob's hip and knocked it out of joint at the socket.


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Then the Man said, "Let me go, for it is dawn." But Jacob panted, "I will not let you go until you bless me."


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"It isn't anymore!" the Man told him. "It is Israel--one who has power with God. Because you have been strong with God, you shall prevail with men."


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"What is your name?" Jacob asked him. "No, you mustn't ask," the Man told him. And he blessed him there.


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Jacob named the place "Peniel" ("The Face of God"), for he said, "I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is spared."


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(That is why even today the people of Israel don't eat meat from near the hip, in memory of what happened that night.)


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Jacob now arranged his family into a column, with his two concubines and their children at the head, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.


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And then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him affectionately and kissed him; and both of them were in tears!


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Then Esau looked at the women and children and asked, "Who are these people with you?" "My children," Jacob replied.


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Next came Leah with her children, and bowed, and finally Rachel and Joseph came and made their bows.


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"And what were all the flocks and herds I met as I came?" Esau asked. And Jacob replied, "They are my gifts, to curry your favor!"


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"No, but please accept them," Jacob said, "for what a relief it is to see your friendly smile! I was as frightened of you as though approaching God!


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Please take my gifts. For God has been very generous to me and I have enough." So Jacob insisted, and finally Esau accepted them.


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But Jacob replied, "As you can see, some of the children are small, and the flocks and herds have their young, and if they are driven too hard, they will die.


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"Well," Esau said, "at least let me leave you some of my men to assist you and be your guides." "No," Jacob insisted, "we'll get along just fine. Please do as I suggest."


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Meanwhile Jacob and his household went as far as Succoth. There he built himself a camp, with pens for his flocks and herds. (That is why the place is called Succoth, meaning "huts.")


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(He bought the land he camped on from the family of Hamor, Shechem's father, for 100 pieces of silver.


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Word soon reached Jacob of what had happened, but his sons were out in the fields herding cattle, so he did nothing until their return.


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arriving just as Jacob's sons came in from the fields, too shocked and angry to overlook the insult, for it was an outrage against all of them.


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Hamor told Jacob, "My son Shechem is truly in love with your daughter, and longs for her to be his wife. Please let him marry her.


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Moreover, we invite you folks to live here among us and to let your daughters marry our sons, and we will give our daughters as wives for your young men.


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Then Shechem addressed Dinah's father and brothers. "Please be kind to me and let me have her as my wife," he begged. "I will give whatever you require.


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Her brothers then lied to Shechem and Hamor, acting dishonorably because of what Shechem had done to their sister.


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They said, "We couldn't possibly. For you are not circumcised. It would be a disgrace for her to marry such a man.


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and lost no time in acting upon this request, for Shechem was very much in love with Dinah, and could, he felt sure, sell the idea to the other men of the city--for he was highly respected and very popular.


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"Those men are our friends," they said. "Let's invite them to live here among us and ply their trade. For the land is large enough to hold them, and we can intermarry with them.


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But they will only consider staying here on one condition--that every one of us men be circumcised, the same as they are.


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But if we do this, then all they have will become ours and the land will be enriched. Come on, let's agree to this so that they will settle here among us."


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But three days later, when their wounds were sore and sensitive to every move they made, two of Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, took their swords, entered the city without opposition, and slaughtered every man there,


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including Hamor and Shechem. They rescued Dinah from Shechem's house and returned to their camp again.


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Then all of Jacob's sons went over and plundered the city because their sister had been dishonored there.


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They confiscated all the flocks and herds and donkeys--everything they could lay their hands on, both inside the city and outside in the fields,


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Then Jacob said to Levi and Simeon, "You have made me stink among all the people of this land--all the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that they will come and crush us, and we will all be killed."


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"Move on to Bethel now, and settle there," God said to Jacob, "and build an altar to worship me--the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."


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So Jacob instructed all those in his household to destroy the idols they had brought with them, and to wash themselves and to put on fresh clothing.


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"For we are going to Bethel," he told them, "and I will build an altar there to the God who answered my prayers in the day of my distress, and was with me on my journey."


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So they gave Jacob all their idols and their earrings, and he buried them beneath the oak tree near Shechem.


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Then they started on again. And the terror of God was upon all the cities they journeyed through, so that they were not attacked.


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And Jacob erected an altar there and named it "The altar to the God who met me here at Bethel" because it was there at Bethel that God appeared to him when he was fleeing from Esau.


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Soon after this Rebekah's old nurse, Deborah, died and was buried beneath the oak tree in the valley below Bethel. And ever after it was called "The Oak of Weeping."


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Upon Jacob's arrival at Bethel, en route from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him once again and blessed him.


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And God said to him, "You shall no longer be called Jacob ('Grabber'), but Israel ('One who prevails with God').


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I am God Almighty," the Lord said to him, "and I will cause you to be fertile and to multiply and to become a great nation, yes, many nations; many kings shall be among your descendants.


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And I will pass on to you the land I gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and to your descendants."


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Afterwards Jacob built a stone pillar at the place where God had appeared to him; and he poured wine over it as an offering to God and then anointed the pillar with olive oil.


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Leaving Bethel, he and his household traveled on toward Ephrath (Bethlehem). But Rachel's pains of childbirth began while they were still a long way away.


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And with Rachel's last breath (for she died) she named him "Ben-oni" ("Son of my sorrow"); but his father called him "Benjamin" ("Son of my right hand").


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It was while he was there that Reuben slept with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and someone told Israel about it. Here are the names of the twelve sons of Jacob:


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So Jacob came at last to Isaac his father at Mamre in Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron), where Abraham too had lived.


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Esau married three local girls from Canaan: Adah (daughter of Elon the Hethite), Oholibamah (daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite),


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Esau and Oholibamah had sons named Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. All these sons were born to Esau in the land of Canaan.


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Then Esau took his wives, children, household servants, cattle and flocks--all the wealth he had gained in the land of Canaan--


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Esau also had grandchildren from his wife Basemath. Born to her son Reuel were: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, Mizzah.


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Esau's grandchildren became the heads of clans, as listed here: The clan of Teman, The clan of Omar, The clan of Zepho, The clan of Kenaz,


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The clan of Korah, The clan of Gatam, The clan of Amalek. The above clans were the descendants of Eliphaz, the oldest son of Esau and Adah.


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The following clans were the descendants of Reuel, born to Esau and his wife Basemath while they lived in Canaan: The clan of Nahath, The clan of Zerah, The clan of Shammah, The clan of Mizzah.


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And these are the clans named after the sons of Esau and his wife Oholibamah (daughter of Anah): The clan of Jeush, The clan of Jalam, The clan of Korah.


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These are the names of the tribes that descended from Seir, the Horite--one of the native families of the land of Seir: The tribe of Lotan, The tribe of Shobal, The tribe of Zibeon, The tribe of Anah,


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The children of Zibeon: Aiah, Anah. (This is the boy who discovered a hot springs in the wasteland while he was grazing his father's donkeys.)


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Succeeded by: King Hadad (son of Bedad), the leader of the forces that defeated the army of Midian when it invaded Moab. His city was Avith.


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Succeeded by: King Hadad, from the city of Pau. King Hadad's wife was Mehetabel, daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Mezahab.


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Here are the names of the sub-tribes of Esau, living in the localities named after themselves: The clan of Timna, The clan of Alvah, The clan of Jetheth,


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The clan of Magdiel, The clan of Iram. These, then, are the names of the subtribes of Edom, each giving its name to the area it occupied. (All were Edomites, descendants of Esau.)


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Jacob's son Joseph was now seventeen years old. His job, along with his half-brothers, the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah, was to shepherd his father's flocks. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things they were doing.


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Now as it happened, Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other children, because Joseph was born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob gave him a special gift--a brightly colored coat.


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His brothers of course noticed their father's partiality, and consequently hated Joseph; they couldn't say a kind word to him.


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One night Joseph had a dream and promptly reported the details to his brothers, causing even deeper hatred.


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"We were out in the field binding sheaves, and my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves all gathered around it and bowed low before it!"


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"So you want to be our king, do you?" his brothers derided. And they hated him both for the dream and for his cocky attitude.


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Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. "Listen to my latest dream," he boasted. "The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!"


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This time he told his father as well as his brothers; but his father rebuked him. "What is this?" he asked. "Shall I indeed, and your mother and brothers come and bow before you?"


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His brothers were fit to be tied concerning this affair, but his father gave it quite a bit of thought and wondered what it all meant.


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A few days later Israel called for Joseph, and told him, "Your brothers are over in Shechem grazing the flocks. Go and see how they are getting along, and how it is with the flocks, and bring me word." "Very good," Joseph replied.


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"Yes," the man told him, "they are no longer here. I heard your brothers say they were going to Dothan." So Joseph followed them to Dothan and found them there.


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"Come on, let's kill him and toss him into a well and tell Father that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we'll see what will become of all his dreams!"


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"we'll shed no blood--let's throw him alive into this well here; that way he'll die without our touching him!" (Reuben was planning to get him out later and return him to his father.)


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Then they sat down for supper. Suddenly they noticed a string of camels coming towards them in the distance, probably Ishmaelite traders who were taking gum, spices, and herbs from Gilead to Egypt.


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"Look there," Judah said to the others. "Here come some Ishmaelites. Let's sell Joseph to them! Why kill him and have a guilty conscience?


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Let's not be responsible for his death, for, after all, he is our brother!" And his brothers agreed.


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So when the traders came by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver, and they took him along to Egypt.


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Some time later, Reuben (who was away when the traders came by) returned to get Joseph out of the well. When Joseph wasn't there, he ripped at his clothes in anguish and frustration.


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and took the coat to their father and asked him to identify it. "We found this in the field," they told him. "Is it Joseph's coat or not?"


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Their father recognized it at once. "Yes," he sobbed, "it is my son's coat. A wild animal has eaten him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces."


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Then Israel tore his garments and put on sackcloth and mourned for his son in deepest mourning for many weeks.


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His family all tried to comfort him, but it was no use. "I will die in mourning for my son," he would say, and then break down and cry.


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Meanwhile, in Egypt, the traders sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh--the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard, the chief executioner.


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They lived at Chezib and had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. These names were given to them by their mother, except for Er, who was named by his father.


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Then Judah said to Er's brother, Onan, "You must marry Tamar, as our law requires of a dead man's brother; so that her sons from you will be your brother's heirs."


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But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be counted as his own, and so, although he married her, whenever he went in to sleep with her, he spilled the sperm on the bed to prevent her from having a baby which would be his brother's.


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So far as the Lord was concerned, it was very wrong of him  to deny a child to his deceased brother, so he killed him, too.


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Then Judah told Tamar, his daughter-in-law, not to marry again at that time, but to return to her childhood home and to her parents, and to remain a widow there until his youngest son, Shelah, was old enough to marry her. (But he didn't really intend for Shelah to do this, for fear God would kill him, too, just as he had his two brothers.) So Tamar went home to her parents.


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In the process of time Judah's wife died. After the time of mourning was over, Judah and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite, went to Timnah to supervise the shearing of his sheep.


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and realizing by now that she was not going to be permitted to marry Shelah, though he was fully grown, she laid aside her widow's clothing and covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and sat beside the road at the entrance to the village of Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah.


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So he stopped and propositioned her to sleep with him, not realizing of course that she was his own daughter-in-law. "How much will you pay me?" she asked.


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"I'll send you a young goat from my flock," he promised. "What pledge will you give me, so that I can be sure you will send it?" she asked.


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"Well, what do you want?" he inquired. "Your identification seal and your walking stick," she replied. So he gave them to her and she let him come and sleep with her; and she became pregnant as a result.


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Judah asked his friend Hirah the Adullamite to take the young goat back to her, and to pick up the pledges he had given her, but Hirah couldn't find her!


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So he asked around of the men of the city, "Where does the prostitute live who was soliciting out beside the road at the entrance of the village?" "But we've never had a public prostitute here," they replied.


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So he returned to Judah and told him he couldn't find her anywhere, and what the men of the place had told him.


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"Then let her keep them!" Judah exclaimed. "We tried our best. We'd be the laughingstock of the town to go back again."


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About three months later word reached Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, was pregnant, obviously as a result of prostitution. "Bring her out and burn her," Judah shouted.


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But as they were taking her out to kill her she sent this message to her father-in-law: "The man who owns this identification seal and walking stick is the father of my child. Do you recognize them?"


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Judah admitted that they were his and said, "She is more in the right than I am, because I refused to keep my promise to give her to my son Shelah." But he did not marry her.


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As they were being born, the midwife tied a scarlet thread around the wrist of the child who appeared first,


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but he drew back his hand and the other baby was actually the first to be born. "Where did you come from!" she exclaimed. And ever after he was called Perez (meaning "Bursting Out").


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Then, soon afterwards, the baby with the scarlet thread on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah.


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When Joseph arrived in Egypt as a captive of the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased from them by Potiphar, a member of the personal staff of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Now this man Potiphar was the captain of the king's bodyguard and his chief executioner.


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The Lord greatly blessed Joseph there in the home of his master, so that everything he did succeeded.


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So Joseph naturally became quite a favorite with him. Soon he was put in charge of the administration of Potiphar's household, and all of his business affairs.


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At once the Lord began blessing Potiphar for Joseph's sake. All his household affairs began to run smoothly, his crops flourished and his flocks multiplied.


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So Potiphar gave Joseph the complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. He hadn't a worry in the world with Joseph there, except to decide what he wanted to eat! Joseph, by the way, was a very handsome young man.


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One day at about this time Potiphar's wife began making eyes at Joseph, and suggested that he come and sleep with her.


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he himself has no more authority here than I have! He has held back nothing from me except you yourself because you are his wife. How can I do such a wicked thing as this? It would be a great sin against God."


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But she kept on with her suggestions day after day, even though he refused to listen, and kept out of her way as much as possible.


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Then one day as he was in the house going about his work--as it happened, no one else was around at the time--


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she came and grabbed him by the sleeve demanding, "Sleep with me." He tore himself away, but as he did, his jacket slipped off and she was left holding it as he fled from the house.


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she began screaming; and when the other men around the place came running in to see what had happened, she was crying hysterically. "My husband had to bring in this Hebrew slave to insult us!" she sobbed.


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But the Lord was with Joseph there, too, and was kind to him by granting him favor with the chief jailer.


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In fact, the jailer soon handed over the entire prison administration to Joseph, so that all the other prisoners were responsible to him.


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The chief jailer had no more worries after that, for Joseph took care of everything, and the Lord was with him so that everything ran smoothly and well.


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Some time later it so happened that the king of Egypt became angry with both his chief baker and his chief butler,


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so he jailed them both in the prison where Joseph was, in the castle of Potiphar, the captain of the guard, who was the chief executioner.


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And they replied, "We both had dreams last night, but there is no one here to tell us what they mean." "Interpreting dreams is God's business," Joseph replied. "Tell me what you saw."


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The butler told his dream first. "In my dream," he said, "I saw a vine with three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon there were clusters of ripe grapes.


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I was holding Pharaoh's wine cup in my hand, so I took the grapes and squeezed the juice into it, and gave it to him to drink."


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Within three days Pharaoh is going to take you out of prison and give you back your job again as his chief butler.


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And please have some pity on me when you are back in his favor, and mention me to Pharaoh, and ask him to let me out of here.


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For I was kidnapped from my homeland among the Hebrews, and now this--here I am in jail when I did nothing to deserve it."


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When the chief baker saw that the first dream had such a good meaning, he told his dream to Joseph, too. "In my dream," he said, "there were three baskets of pastries on my head.


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"Three days from now Pharaoh will take off your head and impale your body on a pole, and the birds will come and pick off your flesh!"


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Pharaoh's birthday came three days later, and he held a party for all of his officials and household staff. He sent for his chief butler and chief baker, and they were brought to him from the prison.


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Then seven other cows came up from the river, but they were very skinny and all their ribs stood out. They went over and stood beside the fat cows.


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Soon he fell asleep again and had a second dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain on one stalk, with every kernel well formed and plump.


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Then, suddenly, seven more heads appeared on the stalk, but these were shriveled and withered by the east wind.


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And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads! Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was all a dream.


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Next morning, as he thought about it, he became very concerned as to what the dreams might mean; he called for all the magicians and sages of Egypt and told them about it, but not one of them could suggest what his dreams meant.


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"Some time ago when you were angry with a couple of us and put me and the chief baker in jail in the castle of the captain of the guard,


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We told the dreams to a young Hebrew fellow there who was a slave of the captain of the guard, and he told us what our dreams meant.


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And everything happened just as he said: I was restored to my position of wine taster, and the chief baker was executed, and impaled on a pole."


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Pharaoh sent at once for Joseph. He was brought hastily from the dungeon, and after a quick shave and change of clothes, came in before Pharaoh.


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"I had a dream last night," Pharaoh told him, "and none of these men can tell me what it means. But I have heard that you can interpret dreams, and that is why I have called for you."


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"when suddenly, seven fat, healthy-looking cows came up out of the river and began grazing along the river bank.


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But then seven other cows came up from the river, very skinny and bony--in fact, I've never seen such poor-looking specimens in all the land of Egypt.


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"A little later I had another dream. This time there were seven heads of grain on one stalk, and all seven heads were plump and full.


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And the thin heads swallowed up the fat ones! I told all this to my magicians, but not one of them could tell me the meaning."


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"Both dreams mean the same thing," Joseph told Pharaoh. "God was telling you what he is going to do here in the land of Egypt.


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The seven fat cows (and also the seven fat, well-formed heads of grain) mean that there are seven years of prosperity ahead.


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The seven skinny cows (and also the seven thin and withered heads of grain) indicate that there will be seven years of famine following the seven years of prosperity.


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but afterwards there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten and wiped out; famine will consume the land.


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The double dream gives double impact, showing that what I have told you is certainly going to happen, for God has decreed it, and it is going to happen soon.


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My suggestion is that you find the wisest man in Egypt and put him in charge of administering a nationwide farm program.


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and let the officials of these districts gather into the royal storehouses all the excess crops of the next seven years,


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so that there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come. Otherwise, disaster will surely strike."


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As they discussed who should be appointed for the job, Pharaoh said, "Who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the Spirit of God."


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Turning to Joseph, Pharaoh said to him, "Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in the country!


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I am hereby appointing you to be in charge of this entire project. What you say goes, throughout all the land of Egypt. I alone will outrank you."


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Then Pharaoh placed his own signet ring on Joseph's finger as a token of his authority, and dressed him in beautiful clothing and placed the royal gold chain about his neck and declared,


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Pharaoh also gave Joseph the chariot of his second-in-command, and wherever he went the shout arose, "Kneel down!"


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And Pharaoh declared to Joseph, "I, the king of Egypt, swear that you shall have complete charge over all the land of Egypt."


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Pharaoh gave him a name meaning "He has the godlike power of life and death!" And he gave him a wife, a girl named Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis. So Joseph became famous throughout the land of Egypt.


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He was thirty years old as he entered the service of the king. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and began traveling all across the land.


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During those years, Joseph requisitioned for the government a portion of all the crops grown throughout Egypt, storing them in nearby cities.


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After seven years of this, the granaries were full to overflowing, and there was so much that no one kept track of the amount.


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During this time before the arrival of the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of the sun god Re of Heliopolis.


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Joseph named his oldest son Manasseh (meaning "Made to Forget"--what he meant was that God had made up to him for all the anguish of his youth, and for the loss of his father's home).


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The second boy was named Ephraim (meaning "Fruitful"--"For God has made me fruitful in this land of my slavery," he said).


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Then the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. There were crop failures in all the surrounding countries, too, but in Egypt there was plenty of grain in the storehouses.


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The people began to starve. They pleaded with Pharaoh for food, and he sent them to Joseph. "Do whatever he tells you to," he instructed them.


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So now, with severe famine all over the world, Joseph opened up the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians


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When Jacob heard that there was grain available in Egypt he said to his sons, "Why are you standing around looking at one another?


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I have heard that there is grain available in Egypt. Go down and buy some for us before we all starve to death."


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However, Jacob wouldn't let Joseph's younger brother Benjamin go with them, for fear some harm might happen to him  as it had to his brother Joseph.


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So it was that Israel's sons arrived in Egypt along with many others from many lands to buy food, for the famine was as severe in Canaan as it was everywhere else.


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Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt, and in charge of the sale of the grain, it was to him that his brothers came, and bowed low before him, with their faces to the earth.


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Joseph recognized them instantly, but pretended he didn't. "Where are you from?" he demanded roughly. "From the land of Canaan," they replied. "We have come to buy grain."


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Then Joseph remembered the dreams of long ago! But he said to them, "You are spies. You have come to see how destitute the famine has made our land."


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"Sir," they said, "there are twelve of us brothers, and our father is in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is there with our father, and one of our brothers is dead."


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This is the way I will test your story: I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you are not going to leave Egypt until this youngest brother comes here.


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One of you go and get your brother! I'll keep the rest of you here, bound in prison. Then we'll find out whether your story is true or not. If it turns out that you don't have a younger brother, then I'll know you are spies."


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The third day Joseph said to them, "I am a God-fearing man and I'm going to give you an opportunity to prove yourselves.


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I'm going to take a chance that you are honorable; only one of you shall remain in chains in jail, and the rest of you may go on home with grain for your families;


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but bring your youngest brother back to me. In this way I will know whether you are telling me the truth; and if you are, I will spare you." To this they agreed.


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Speaking among themselves, they said, "This has all happened because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his terror and anguish and heard his pleadings, but we wouldn't listen."


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"Didn't I tell you not to do it?" Reuben asked. "But you wouldn't listen. And now we are going to die because we murdered him."


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Of course they didn't know that Joseph understood them as he was standing there, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter.


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Now he left the room and found a place where he could weep. Returning, he selected Simeon from among them and had him bound before their eyes.


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Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men's sacks with grain, but also gave secret instructions to put each brother's payment at the top of his sack! He also gave them provisions for their journey.


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But when they stopped for the night and one of them opened his sack to get some grain to feed the donkeys, there was his money in the mouth of the sack!


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"Look," he exclaimed to his brothers, "my money is here in my sack." They were filled with terror. Trembling, they exclaimed to each other. "What is this that God has done to us?"


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We are twelve brothers, sons of one father; one is dead, and the youngest is with our father in the land of Canaan.'


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Then the man told us, 'This is the way I will find out if you are what you claim to be. Leave one of your brothers here with me and take grain for your families and go on home,


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but bring your youngest brother back to me. Then I shall know whether you are spies or honest men; if you prove to be what you say, then I will give you back your brother and you can come as often as you like to purchase grain.' "


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As they emptied out the sacks, there at the top of each was the money paid for the grain! Terror gripped them, as it did their father.


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Then Jacob exclaimed, "You have bereaved me of my children--Joseph didn't come back, Simeon is gone, and now you want to take Benjamin too! Everything has been against me."


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Then Reuben said to his father, "Kill my two sons if I don't bring Benjamin back to you. I'll be responsible for him."


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But Jacob replied, "My son shall not go down with you, for his brother Joseph is dead and he alone is left of his mother's children. If anything should happen to him, I would die."


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When the grain they had brought from Egypt was almost gone, their father said to them, "Go again and buy us a little food."


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But Judah told him, "The man wasn't fooling one bit when he said, 'Don't ever come back again unless your brother is with you.' We cannot go unless you let Benjamin go with us."


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"Why did you ever tell him you had another brother?" Israel moaned. "Why did you have to treat me like that?"


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"But the man specifically asked us about our family," they told him. "He wanted to know whether our father was still living and he asked us if we had another brother, so we told him. How could we know that he was going to say, 'Bring me your brother'?"


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Judah said to his father, "Send the lad with me and we will be on our way; otherwise we will all die of starvation--and not only we, but you and all our little ones.


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So their father Israel finally said to them, "If it can't be avoided, then at least do this. Load your donkeys with the best products of the land. Take them to the man as gifts--balm, honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.


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Take double money so that you can pay back what was in the mouths of your sacks, as it was probably someone's mistake,


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May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, so that he will release Simeon and return Benjamin. And if I must bear the anguish of their deaths, then so be it."


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When Joseph saw that Benjamin was with them, he said to the manager of his household, "These men will eat with me this noon. Take them home and prepare a big feast."


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They were badly frightened when they saw where they were being taken. "It's because of the money returned to us in our sacks," they said. "He wants to pretend we stole it and seize us as slaves, with our donkeys."


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as we were returning home, we stopped for the night and opened our sacks, and the money was there that we had paid for the grain. Here it is; we have brought it back again,


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"Don't worry about it," the household manager told them; "your God, even the God of your fathers, must have put it there, for we collected your money all right." Then he released Simeon and brought him out to them.


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They were then conducted into the palace and given water to refresh their feet; and their donkeys were fed.


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Then they got their presents ready for Joseph's arrival at noon, for they were told that they would be eating there.


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He asked how they had been getting along. "And how is your father--the old man you spoke about? Is he still alive?"


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Looking at his brother Benjamin, he asked, "Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about? How are you, my son? God be gracious to you."


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Then Joseph made a hasty exit, for he was overcome with love for his brother and had to go out and cry. Going into his bedroom, he wept there.


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Joseph ate by himself, his brothers were served at a separate table, and the Egyptians at still another; for Egyptians despise Hebrews and never eat with them.


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He told each of them where to sit, and seated them in the order of their ages, from the oldest to the youngest, much to their amazement!


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Their food was served to them from his own table. He gave the largest serving to Benjamin--five times as much as to any of the others! They had a wonderful time bantering back and forth, and the wine flowed freely!


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When his brothers were ready to leave, Joseph ordered his household manager to fill each of their sacks with as much grain as they could carry--and to put into the mouth of each man's sack the money he had paid!


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He was also told to put Joseph's own silver cup at the top of Benjamin's sack, along with the grain money. So the household manager did as he was told.


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But when they were barely out of the city, Joseph said to his household manager, "Chase after them and stop them and ask them why they are acting like this when their benefactor has been so kind to them?


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Ask them, 'What do you mean by stealing my lord's personal silver drinking cup, which he uses for fortune telling? What a wicked thing you have done!' "


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"What in the world are you talking about?" they demanded. "What kind of people do you think we are, that you accuse us of such a terrible thing as that?


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Didn't we bring back the money we found in the mouth of our sacks? Why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house?


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If you find his cup with any one of us, let that one die. And all the rest of us will be slaves forever to your master."


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"Fair enough," the man replied, "except that only the one who stole it will be a slave, and the rest of you can go free."


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He began searching the oldest brother's sack, going on down the line to the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's!


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"What were you trying to do?" Joseph demanded. "Didn't you know such a man as I would know who stole it?"


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And Judah said, "Oh, what shall we say to my lord? How can we plead? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. Sir, we have all returned to be your slaves, both we and he in whose sack the cup was found."


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"No," Joseph said. "Only the man who stole the cup, he shall be my slave. The rest of you can go on home to your father."


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Then Judah stepped forward and said, "O sir, let me say just this one word to you. Be patient with me for a moment, for I know you can doom me in an instant, as though you were Pharaoh himself.


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and we said, 'Yes, we have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one. And his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him very much.'


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and that one of them went away and never returned--doubtless torn to pieces by some wild animal; I have never seen him since.


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And now, sir, if I go back to my father and the lad is not with us--seeing that our father's life is bound up in the lad's life--


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when he sees that the boy is not with us, our father will die; and we will be responsible for bringing down his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.


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Sir, I pledged my father that I would take care of the lad. I told him, 'If I don't bring him back to you, I shall bear the blame forever.'


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Please sir, let me stay here as a slave instead of the lad, and let the lad return with his brothers.


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For how shall I return to my father if the lad is not with me? I cannot bear to see what this would do to him."


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Joseph could stand it no longer. "Out, all of you," he cried out to his attendants, and he was left alone with his brothers.


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Then he wept aloud. His sobs could be heard throughout the palace, and the news was quickly carried to Pharaoh's palace.


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"I am Joseph!" he said to his brothers. "Is my father still alive?" But his brothers couldn't say a word, they were so stunned with surprise.


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"Come over here," he said. So they came closer. And he said again, "I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt!


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But don't be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it! He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.


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These two years of famine will grow to seven, during which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.


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Yes, it was God who sent me here, not you! And he has made me a counselor to Pharaoh, and manager of this entire nation, ruler of all the land of Egypt.


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"Hurry, return to my father and tell him, 'Your son Joseph says, "God has made me chief of all the land of Egypt. Come down to me right away!


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You shall live in the land of Goshen so that you can be near me with all your children, your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that you have.


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I will take care of you there' " (you men are witnesses of my promise, and my brother Benjamin has heard me say it) 'for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you will come to utter poverty along with all your household.' "


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Tell our father about all my power here in Egypt, and how everyone obeys me. And bring him to me quickly."


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The news soon reached Pharaoh--"Joseph's brothers have come"; and Pharaoh was very happy to hear it, as were his officials.


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Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers to load their pack animals and return quickly to their homes in Canaan,


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and to bring your father and all of your families and come here to Egypt to live. Tell them, 'Pharaoh will assign to you the very best territory in the land of Egypt. You shall live off the fat of the land!'


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And tell your brothers to take wagons from Egypt to carry their wives and little ones, and to bring your father here.


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and he gave each of them new clothes--but to Benjamin he gave five changes of clothes and three hundred pieces of silver!


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He sent his father ten donkey-loads of the good things of Egypt, and ten donkeys loaded with grain and all kinds of other food, to eat on his journey.


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"Joseph is alive," they shouted to him. "And he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!" But Jacob's heart was like a stone; he couldn't take it in.


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But when they had given him Joseph's messages, and when he saw the wagons filled with food that Joseph had sent him, his spirit revived.


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So Israel set out with all his possessions, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices there to the God of his father, Isaac.


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"I am God," the voice replied, "the God of your father. Don't be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will see to it that you become a great nation there.


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And I will go down with you into Egypt and I will bring your descendants back again; but you shall die in Egypt with Joseph at your side."


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So Jacob left Beer-sheba, and his sons brought him to Egypt, along with their little ones and their wives, in the wagons Pharaoh had provided for them.


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They brought their livestock, too, and all their belongings accumulated in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt--Jacob and all his children,


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Here are the names of his sons and grandchildren who went with him into Egypt: Reuben, his oldest son;


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Simeon and his sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul (Shaul's mother was a girl from Canaan).


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Judah and his sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, Zerah (however, Er and Onan died while still in Canaan, before Israel went to Egypt). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.


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So these descendants of Jacob and Leah, not including their daughter Dinah, born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, were thirty-three in all.


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Asher and his sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and a sister, Serah. Beriah's sons were Heber and Malchiel.


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These sixteen persons were the sons of Jacob and Zilpah, the slave-girl given to Leah by her father, Laban.


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Also in the total of Jacob's household were these fourteen sons and descendants of Jacob and Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin;


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Joseph's sons, born in the land of Egypt, were Manasseh and Ephraim (their mother was Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis);


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Also in the group were these seven sons and descendants of Jacob and Bilhah, the slave-girl given to Rachel by her father, Laban: Dan and his son: Hushim.


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So the total number of those going to Egypt, of his own descendants, not counting the wives of Jacob's sons, was sixty-six.


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With Joseph and his two sons included, this total of Jacob's household there in Egypt totaled seventy.


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Jacob sent Judah on ahead to tell Joseph that they were on the way, and would soon arrive in Goshen--which they did.


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Joseph jumped into his chariot and journeyed to Goshen to meet his father and they fell into each other's arms and wept a long while.


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And Joseph said to his brothers and to all their households, "I'll go and tell Pharaoh that you are here, and that you have come from the land of Canaan to join me.


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And I will tell him, 'These men are shepherds. They have brought with them their flocks and herds and everything they own.'


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tell him, 'We have been shepherds from our youth, as our fathers have been for many generations.' When you tell him this, he will let you live here in the land of Goshen." For shepherds were despised and hated in other parts of Egypt.


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Upon their arrival, Joseph went in to see Pharaoh. "My father and my brothers are here from Canaan," he reported, "with all their flocks and herds and possessions. They wish to settle in the land of Goshen."


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Pharaoh asked them, "What is your occupation?" And they replied, "We are shepherds like our ancestors.


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We have come to live here in Egypt, for there is no pasture for our flocks in Canaan--the famine is very bitter there. We request permission to live in the land of Goshen."


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And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Choose anywhere you like for them to live. Give them the best land of Egypt. The land of Goshen will be fine. And if any of them are capable, put them in charge of my flocks, too."


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Jacob replied, "I have lived 130 long, hard years, and I am not nearly as old as many of my ancestors."


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So Joseph assigned the best land of Egypt--the land of Rameses--to his father and brothers, just as Pharaoh had commanded.


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Joseph collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan in exchange for grain, and he brought the money to Pharaoh's treasure-houses.


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When the people were out of money, they came to Joseph crying again for food. "Our money is gone," they said, "but give us bread; for why should we die?"


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So they brought their cattle to Joseph in exchange for food. Soon all the horses, flocks, herds, and donkeys of Egypt were in Pharaoh's possession.


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The next year they came again and said, "Our money is gone, and our cattle are yours, and there is nothing left but our bodies and land.


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Why should we die? Buy us and our land and we will be serfs to Pharaoh. We will trade ourselves for food, then we will live, and the land won't be abandoned."


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So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; all the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe. And the land became Pharaoh's.


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The only land he didn't buy was that belonging to the priests, for they were assigned food from Pharaoh and didn't need to sell.


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Then Joseph said to the people, "See, I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is grain. Go and sow the land.


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And when you harvest it, a fifth of everything you get belongs to Pharaoh. Keep four parts for yourselves to be used for next year's seed, and as food for yourselves and for your households and little ones."


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So Joseph made it a law throughout the land of Egypt--and it is still the law--that Pharaoh should have as his tax 20 percent of all the crops except those produced on the land owned by the temples.


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So Israel lived in the land of Goshen in Egypt, and soon the people of Israel began to prosper, and there was a veritable population explosion among them.


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Jacob lived seventeen years after his arrival, so that he was 147 years old at the time of his death.


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As the time drew near for him to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, "Swear to me most solemnly that you will honor this, my last request: do not bury me in Egypt.


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One day not long after this, word came to Joseph that his father was failing rapidly. So, taking with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, he went to visit him.


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When Jacob heard that Joseph had arrived, he gathered his strength and sat up in the bed to greet him,


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and said to me, 'I will make you a great nation and I will give this land of Canaan to you and to your children's children, for an everlasting possession.'


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And now, as to these two sons of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived, I am adopting them as my own, and they will inherit from me just as Reuben and Simeon will.


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But any other children born to you shall be your own, and shall inherit Ephraim's and Manasseh's portion from you.


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For your mother, Rachel, died after only two children when I came from Paddan-aram, as we were just a short distance from Ephrath, and I buried her beside the road to Bethlehem."


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"Yes," Joseph told him, "these are my sons whom God has given me here in Egypt." And Israel said, "Bring them over to me and I will bless them."


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Israel was half blind with age, so that he could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him and he kissed and embraced them.


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And Israel said to Joseph, "I never thought that I would see you again, but now God has let me see your children too."


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Joseph took the boys by the hand, bowed deeply to him, and led the boys to their grandfather's knees--Ephraim at Israel's left hand and Manasseh at his right.


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But Israel crossed his arms as he stretched them out to lay his hands upon the boys' heads, so that his right hand was upon the head of Ephraim, the younger boy, and his left hand was upon the head of Manasseh, the older. He did this purposely.


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Then he blessed Joseph with this blessing: "May God, the God of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, the God who has shepherded me all my life, wonderfully bless these boys.


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He is the Angel who has kept me from all harm. May these boys be an honor to my name and to the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they become a mighty nation."


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But Joseph was upset and displeased when he saw that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim's head; so he lifted it to place it on Manasseh's head instead.


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"No, Father," he said. "You've got your right hand on the wrong head! This one over here is the older. Put your right hand on him!"


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But his father refused. "I know what I'm doing, my son," he said. "Manasseh too shall become a great nation, but his younger brother shall become even greater."


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So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: "May the people of Israel bless each other by saying, 'God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.' " (Note that he put Ephraim before Manasseh.)


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Then Israel said to Joseph, "I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to Canaan, the land of your fathers.


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And I have given the choice land of Shekem to you instead of to your brothers, as your portion of that land which I took from the Amorites with my sword and with my bow."


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Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, "Gather around me and I will tell you what is going to happen to you in the days to come.


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"Reuben, you are my oldest son, the child of my vigorous youth. You are the head of the list in rank and in honor.


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But you are unruly as the wild waves of the sea, and you shall be first no longer. I am demoting you, for you slept with one of my wives and thus dishonored me.


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O my soul, stay away from them. May I never be a party to their wicked plans. For in their anger they murdered a man, and maimed oxen just for fun.


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Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce and cruel. Therefore, I will scatter their descendants throughout Israel.


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"Judah, your brothers shall praise you. You shall destroy your enemies. Your father's sons shall bow before you.


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Judah is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. He has settled down as a lion--who will dare to rouse him?


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"Zebulun shall dwell on the shores of the sea and shall be a harbor for ships, with his borders extending to Sidon.


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When he saw how good the countryside was, how pleasant the land, he willingly bent his shoulder to the task and served his masters with vigor.


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May the God of your fathers, the Almighty, bless you with blessings of heaven above and of the earth beneath--blessings of the breasts and of the womb,


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blessings of the grain and flowers, blessings reaching to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills. These shall be the blessings upon the head of Joseph who was exiled from his brothers.


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"Benjamin is a wolf that prowls. He devours his enemies in the morning, and in the evening divides the loot."


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in the cave in the field of Mach-pelah, facing Mamre--the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hethite for a burial ground.


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There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife; and there I buried Leah.


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Then, when Jacob had finished his prophecies to his sons, he lay back in the bed, breathed his last, and died.


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Then, when at last the mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh's staff and requested them to speak to Pharaoh on his behalf.


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"Tell His Majesty," he requested them, "that Joseph's father made Joseph swear to take his body back to the land of Canaan, to bury him there. Ask His Majesty to permit me to go and bury my father; assure him that I will return promptly."


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So Joseph went, and a great number of Pharaoh's counselors and assistants--all the senior officers of the land,


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as well as all of Joseph's people--his brothers and their families. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.


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When they arrived at Atad (meaning "Threshing Place of Brambles"), beyond the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn funeral service, with a seven-day period of lamentation for Joseph's father.


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The local residents, the Canaanites, renamed the place Abel-mizraim (meaning "Egyptian Mourners") for they said, "It is a place of very deep mourning by these Egyptians."


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and carried his body into the land of Canaan and buried it there in the cave of Mach-pelah--the cave Abraham had bought in the field of Ephron the Hethite, close to Mamre.


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Then Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to the funeral of his father.


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But now that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers were frightened. "Now Joseph will pay us back for all the evil we did to him," they said.


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to forgive us for the great evil we did to you. We servants of the God of your father beg you to forgive us." When Joseph read the message, he broke down and cried.


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As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil, for he brought me to this high position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people.


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No, don't be afraid. Indeed, I myself will take care of you and your families." And he spoke very kindly to them, reassuring them.


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So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph was 110 years old when he died.


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He lived to see the birth of his son Ephraim's children, and the children of Machir, Manasseh's son, who played at his feet.


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"Soon I will die," Joseph told his brothers, "but God will surely come and get you, and bring you out of this land of Egypt and take you back to the land he promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."


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Then Joseph made his brothers promise with an oath that they would take his body back with them when they returned to Canaan.


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So Joseph died at the age of 110, and they embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt.


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Meanwhile, their descendants were very fertile, increasing rapidly in numbers; there was a veritable population explosion so that they soon became a large nation, and they filled the land of Goshen.


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Then, eventually, a new king came to the throne of Egypt who felt no obligation to the descendants of Joseph.


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Let's figure out a way to put an end to this. If we don't, and war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us and escape out of the country."


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So the Egyptians made slaves of them and put brutal taskmasters over them to wear them down under heavy burdens while building the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king.


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But the more the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed them, the more the Israelis seemed to multiply! The Egyptians became alarmed


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and made the Hebrew slavery more bitter still, forcing them to toil long and hard in the fields and to carry heavy loads of mortar and brick.


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Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, instructed the Hebrew midwives (their names were Shiphrah and Puah) to kill all Hebrew boys as soon as they were born, but to let the girls live.


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The king summoned them before him and demanded, "Why have you disobeyed my command and let the baby boys live?"


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"Sir," they told him, "the Hebrew women have their babies so quickly that we can't get there in time! They are not slow like the Egyptian women!"


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And God blessed the midwives  because they were God-fearing women. So the people of Israel continued to multiply and to become a mighty nation.


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Then Pharaoh commanded all of his people to throw the newborn Hebrew boys into the Nile River. But the girls, he said, could live.


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and a baby son was born to them. When the baby's mother saw that he was an unusually beautiful baby, she hid him at home for three months.


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Then, when she could no longer hide him, she made a little boat from papyrus reeds, waterproofed it with tar, put the baby in it, and laid it among the reeds along the river's edge.


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Well, this is what happened: A princess, one of Pharaoh's daughters, came down to bathe in the river, and as she and her maids were walking along the riverbank, she spied the little boat among the reeds and sent one of the maids to bring it to her.


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When she opened it, there was a baby! And he was crying. This touched her heart. "He must be one of the Hebrew children!" she said.


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Then the baby's sister approached the princess and asked her, "Shall I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?"


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"Take this child home and nurse him for me," the princess instructed the baby's mother, "and I will pay you well!" So she took him home and nursed him.


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Later, when he was older, she brought him back to the princess and he became her son. She named him Moses (meaning "to draw out") because she had drawn him out of the water.


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One day, many years later when Moses had grown up and become a man, he went out to visit his fellow Hebrews and saw the terrible conditions they were under. During his visit he saw an Egyptian knock a Hebrew to the ground--one of his own Hebrew brothers!


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Moses looked this way and that to be sure no one was watching, then killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.


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The next day as he was out visiting among the Hebrews again, he saw two of them fighting. "What are you doing, hitting your own Hebrew brother like that?" he said to the one in the wrong.


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"And who are you?" the man demanded. "I suppose you think you are our prince and judge! And do you plan to kill me as you did that Egyptian yesterday?" When Moses realized that his deed was known, he was frightened.


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And sure enough, when Pharaoh heard about it he ordered Moses arrested and executed. But Moses ran away into the land of Midian. As he was sitting there beside a well,


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seven girls who were daughters of the priest of Midian came to draw water and fill the water troughs for their father's flocks.


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But the shepherds chased the girls away. Moses then came to their aid and rescued them from the shepherds and watered their flocks.


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When they returned to their father, Reuel, he asked, "How did you get the flocks watered so quickly today?"


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"An Egyptian defended us against the shepherds," they told him; "he drew water for us and watered the flocks."


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"Well, where is he?" their father demanded. "Did you just leave him there? Invite him home for supper."


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Moses eventually decided to accept Reuel's invitation to live with them, and Reuel gave him one of the girls, Zipporah, as his wife.


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They had a baby named Gershom (meaning "foreigner"), for he said, "I am a stranger in a foreign land."


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Several years later the king of Egypt died. The Israelis were groaning beneath their burdens, in deep trouble because of their slavery, and weeping bitterly before the Lord. He heard their cries from heaven,


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and remembered his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob  to bring their descendants back into the land of Canaan.


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One day as Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, out at the edge of the desert near Horeb, the mountain of God,


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suddenly the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him as a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw that the bush was on fire and that it didn't burn up,


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I am the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." (Moses covered his face with his hands, for he was afraid to look at God.)


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Then the Lord told him, "I have seen the deep sorrows of my people in Egypt and have heard their pleas for freedom from their harsh taskmasters.


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I have come to deliver them from the Egyptians and to take them out of Egypt into a good land, a large land, a land 'flowing with milk and honey'--the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live.


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Yes, the wail of the people of Israel has risen to me in heaven, and I have seen the heavy tasks the Egyptians have oppressed them with.


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Then God told him, "I will certainly be with you, and this is the proof that I am the one who is sending you: When you have led the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God here upon this mountain!"


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But Moses asked, "If I go to the people of Israel and tell them that their fathers' God has sent me, they will ask, 'Which God are you talking about?' What shall I tell them?"


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Yes, tell them, 'Jehovah, the God of your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has sent me to you.' (This is my eternal name, to be used throughout all generations.)


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"Call together all the elders of Israel," God instructed him, "and tell them about Jehovah appearing to you here in this burning bush and that he said to you, 'I have visited my people and have seen what is happening to them there in Egypt.


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I promise to rescue them from the drudgery and humiliation they are undergoing, and to take them to the land now occupied by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, a land "flowing with milk and honey.' "


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The elders of the people of Israel will accept your message. They must go with you to the king of Egypt and tell him, 'Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us and instructed us to go three days' journey into the desert to sacrifice to him. Give us your permission.'


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So I will give him all the pressure he needs! I will destroy Egypt with my miracles, and then at last he will let you go.


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And I will see to it that the Egyptians load you down with gifts when you leave, so that you will by no means go out empty-handed!


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Every woman will ask for jewels, silver, gold, and the finest of clothes from her Egyptian master's wife and neighbors. You will clothe your sons and daughters with the best of Egypt!"


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But Moses said, "They won't believe me! They won't do what I tell them to. They'll say, 'Jehovah never appeared to you!' "


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"Throw it down on the ground," the Lord told him. So he threw it down--and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it!


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"Do that and they will believe you!" the Lord told him. "Then they will realize that Jehovah, the God of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has really appeared to you.


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Now reach your hand inside your robe, next to your chest." And when he did, and took it out again, it was white with leprosy!


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"Now put it in again," Jehovah said. And when he did, and took it out again, it was normal, just as before!


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"and if they don't accept you after these two signs, then take water from the Nile River and pour it upon the dry land, and it will turn to blood."


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But Moses pleaded, "O Lord, I'm just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I'm not now, even after you have spoken to me, for I have a speech impediment."


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"Who makes mouths?" Jehovah asked him. "Isn't it I, the Lord? Who makes a man so that he can speak or not speak, see or not see, hear or not hear?


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Now go ahead and do as I tell you, for I will help you to speak well, and I will tell you what to say."


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Then the Lord became angry. "All right," he said, "your brother, Aaron, is a good speaker. And he is coming here to look for you and will be very happy when he finds you.


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So I will tell you what to tell him, and I will help both of you to speak well, and I will tell you what to do.


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Moses returned home and talked it over with Jethro, his father-in-law. "With your permission," Moses said, "I will go back to Egypt and visit my relatives. I don't even know whether they are still alive." "Go with my blessing," Jethro replied.


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Before Moses left Midian, Jehovah said to him, "Don't be afraid to return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead."


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So Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt, holding tightly to the "rod of God"!


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Jehovah told him, "When you arrive back in Egypt you are to go to Pharaoh and do the miracles I have shown you, but I will make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go.


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and I have commanded you to let him go away and worship me, but you have refused: and now see, I will slay your eldest son.' "


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As Moses and his family were traveling along and had stopped for the night, Jehovah appeared to Moses and threatened to kill him.


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Then Zipporah his wife took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her young son's penis, and threw it against Moses' feet, remarking disgustedly, "What a blood-smeared husband you've turned out to be!"


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Now Jehovah said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So Aaron traveled to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, and met Moses there, and they greeted each other warmly.


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Moses told Aaron what God had said they must do, and what they were to say, and told him about the miracles they must do before Pharaoh.


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So Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and summoned the elders of the people of Israel to a council meeting.


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Then the elders believed that God had sent them, and when they heard that Jehovah had visited them and had seen their sorrows, and had decided to rescue them, they all rejoiced and bowed their heads and worshiped.


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After this presentation to the elders, Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They told him, "We bring you a message from Jehovah, the God of Israel. He says, 'Let my people go, for they must make a holy pilgrimage out into the wilderness, for a religious feast, to worship me there.' "


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"Is that so?" retorted Pharaoh. "And who is Jehovah, that I should listen to him, and let Israel go? I don't know Jehovah and I will not let Israel go."


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But Aaron and Moses persisted. "The God of the Hebrews has met with us," they declared. "We must take a three days' trip into the wilderness and sacrifice there to Jehovah our God; if we don't obey him, we face death by plague or sword."


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"Who do you think you are," Pharaoh shouted, "distracting the people from their work? Get back to your jobs!"


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That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the taskmasters and officers he had set over the people of Israel:


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However, don't reduce their production quotas by a single brick, for they obviously don't have enough to do or else they wouldn't be talking about going out into the wilderness and sacrificing to their God.


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Load them with work and make them sweat; that will teach them to listen to Moses' and Aaron's lies!"


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So the taskmasters and officers informed the people: "Pharaoh has given orders to furnish you with no more straw.


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Then they whipped the Israeli work-crew bosses. "Why haven't you fulfilled your quotas either yesterday or today?" they roared.


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"We are given no straw and told to make as many bricks as before, and we are beaten for something that isn't our fault--it is the fault of your taskmasters for making such unreasonable demands."


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But Pharaoh replied, "You don't have enough work, or else you wouldn't be saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah.'


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When they met Moses and Aaron waiting for them outside the palace, as they came out from their meeting with Pharaoh,


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they swore at them. "May God judge you for making us stink before Pharaoh and his people," they said, "and for giving them an excuse to kill us."


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Then Moses went back to the Lord. "Lord," he protested, "how can you mistreat your own people like this? Why did you ever send me if you were going to do this to them?


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Ever since I gave Pharaoh your message, he has only been more and more brutal to them, and you have not delivered them at all!"


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"Now you will see what I shall do to Pharaoh," the Lord told Moses. "For he must be forced to let my people go; he will not only let them go, but will drive them out of his land!


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I am Jehovah, the Almighty God who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--though I did not reveal my name, Jehovah, to them.


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And I entered into a solemn covenant with them; under its terms I promised to give them and their descendants the land of Canaan where they were living.


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And now I have heard the groanings of the people of Israel, in slavery now to the Egyptians, and I remember my promise.


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"Therefore tell the descendants of Israel that I will use my mighty power and perform great miracles to deliver them from slavery and make them free.


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And I will accept them as my people and be their God. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God who has rescued them from the Egyptians.


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I will bring them into the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It shall belong to my people."


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So Moses told the people what God had said, but they wouldn't listen any more because they were too dispirited after the tragic consequence of what he had said before.


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"But look," Moses objected, "my own people won't even listen to me any more; how can I expect Pharaoh to? I'm no orator!"


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Then the Lord ordered Moses and Aaron to return to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, demanding that the people be permitted to leave.


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These are the names of the heads of the clans of the various tribes of Israel: The sons of Reuben, Israel's oldest son: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi.


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The heads of the clans of the tribe of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, Shaul (whose mother was a Canaanite).


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These are the names of the heads of the clans of the tribe of Levi, in the order of their ages: Gershon, Kohath, Merari. (Levi lived 137 years.)


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The sons of Merari: Mahli, Mushi. The above are the families of the Levites, listed according to their ages.


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And Amram married Jochebed, his father's sister; and Aaron and Moses were their sons. Amram lived to the age of 137.


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Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon. Their children were: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar.


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Aaron's son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Puti-el, and Phinehas was one of his children. These are all the names of the heads of the clans of the Levites and the families within the clans.


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Aaron and Moses, included in that list, are the same Aaron and Moses to whom Jehovah said, "Lead all the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,"


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This is that Moses who argued with the Lord, "I can't do it; I'm no speaker--why should Pharaoh listen to me?"


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have appointed you as my ambassador to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, shall be your spokesman.


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Tell Aaron everything I say to you, and he will announce it to Pharaoh, demanding that the people of Israel be allowed to leave Egypt.


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But I will cause Pharaoh to stubbornly refuse, and I will multiply my miracles in the land of Egypt.


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Yet even then Pharaoh won't listen to you; so I will crush Egypt with a final major disaster and then lead my people out.


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The Egyptians will find out that I am indeed God when I show them my power and force them to let my people go."


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"Pharaoh will demand that you show him a miracle to prove that God has sent you; when he does, Aaron is to throw down his rod, and it will become a serpent."


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So Moses and Aaron went in to see Pharaoh, and performed the miracle, as Jehovah had instructed them--Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh and his court, and it became a serpent.


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Then Pharaoh called in his sorcerers--the magicians of Egypt--and they were able to do the same thing with their magical arts!


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Pharaoh's heart was still hard and stubborn, and he wouldn't listen, just as the Lord had predicted.


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The Lord pointed this out to Moses, that Pharaoh's heart had been unmoved, and that he would continue to refuse to let the people go.


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"Nevertheless," the Lord said, "go back to Pharaoh in the morning, to be there as he goes down to the river. Stand beside the riverbank and meet him there, holding in your hand the rod that turned into a serpent.


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Say to him, 'Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me back to demand that you let his people go to worship him in the wilderness. You wouldn't listen before,


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and now the Lord says this: "You are going to find out that I am God. For I have instructed Moses to hit the water of the Nile with his rod, and the river will turn to blood!


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Then the Lord instructed Moses: "Tell Aaron to point his rod toward the waters of Egypt: all its rivers, canals, marshes, and reservoirs, and even the water stored in bowls and pots in the homes will turn to blood."


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So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron hit the surface of the Nile with the rod, and the river turned to blood.


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The fish died and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn't drink it; and there was blood throughout the land of Egypt.


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But then the magicians of Egypt used their secret arts and they, too, turned water into blood; so Pharaoh's heart remained hard and stubborn, and he wouldn't listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted,


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Then the Egyptians dug wells along the riverbank to get drinking water, for they couldn't drink from the river.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go in again to Pharaoh and tell him, 'Jehovah says, "Let my people go and worship me.


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The Nile River will swarm with them, and they will come out into your houses, even into your bedrooms and right into your beds! Every home in Egypt will be filled with them. They will fill your ovens and your kneading bowls;


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "Instruct Aaron to point the rod toward all the rivers, streams, and pools of Egypt, so that there will be frogs in every corner of the land."


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But the magicians did the same with their secret arts, and they, too, caused frogs to come up upon the land.


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Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, "Plead with God to take the frogs away, and I will let the people go and sacrifice to him."


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"Be so kind as to tell me when you want them to go," Moses said, "and I will pray that the frogs will die at the time you specify, everywhere except in the river."


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"Do it tomorrow," Pharaoh said. "All right," Moses replied, "it shall be as you have said; then you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God.


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So Moses and Aaron went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and Moses pleaded with the Lord concerning the frogs he had sent.


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And the Lord did as Moses promised--dead frogs covered the countryside and filled the nation's homes.


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But when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were gone, he hardened his heart and refused to let the people go, just as the Lord had predicted.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to strike the dust with his rod, and it will become lice, throughout all the land of Egypt."


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So Moses and Aaron did as God commanded, and suddenly lice infested the entire nation, covering the Egyptians and their animals.


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"This is the finger of God," they exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh's heart was hard and stubborn, and he wouldn't listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.


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Next the Lord told Moses, "Get up early in the morning and meet Pharaoh as he comes out to the river to bathe, and say to him, 'Jehovah says, "Let my people go and worship me.


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If you refuse I will send swarms of flies throughout Egypt. Your homes will be filled with them and the ground will be covered with them.


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But it will be very different in the land of Goshen where the Israelis live. No flies will be there; thus you will know that I am the Lord God of all the earth,


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And Jehovah did as he had said, so that there were terrible swarms of flies in Pharaoh's palace and in every home in Egypt.


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Pharaoh hastily summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "All right, go ahead and sacrifice to your God, but do it here in the land. Don't go out into the wilderness."


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But Moses replied, "That won't do! Our sacrifices to God are hated by the Egyptians, and if we do this right here before their eyes, they will kill us.


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We must take a three-day trip into the wilderness and sacrifice there to Jehovah our God, as he commanded us."


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"All right, go ahead," Pharaoh replied, "but don't go too far away. Now, hurry and plead with God for me."


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"Yes," Moses said, "I will ask him to cause the swarms of flies to disappear. But I am warning you that you must never again lie to us by promising to let the people go and then changing your mind."


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"Go back to Pharaoh," the Lord commanded Moses, "and tell him, 'Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, demands that you let his people go to sacrifice to him.


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the power of God will send a deadly plague to destroy your cattle, horses, donkeys, camels, flocks, and herds.


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But the plague will affect only the cattle of Egypt; none of the Israeli herds and flocks will even be touched!' "


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and it did. The next morning all the cattle of the Egyptians began dying, but not one of the Israeli herds was even sick.


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Pharaoh sent to see whether it was true that none of the Israeli cattle were dead, yet when he found out that it was so, even then his mind remained unchanged and he refused to let the people go.


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Then Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, "Take ashes from the kiln and have Moses toss them into the sky as Pharaoh watches.


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They will spread like fine dust over all the land of Egypt and cause boils to break out upon people and animals alike, throughout the land."


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So they took ashes from the kiln and went to Pharaoh; as he watched, Moses tossed them toward the sky, and they became boils that broke out on men and animals alike throughout all Egypt.


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And the magicians couldn't stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils appeared upon them too.


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But Jehovah hardened Pharaoh in his stubbornness, so that he refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted to Moses.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and tell him, 'Jehovah the God of the Hebrews says, "Let my people go to worship me.


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This time I am going to send a plague that will really speak to you and to your servants and to all the Egyptian people, and prove to you there is no other God in all the earth.


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Well, tomorrow about this time I will send a hailstorm across the nation such as there has never been since Egypt was founded!


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Quick! Bring in your cattle from the fields, for every man and animal left out in the fields will die beneath the hail!' "


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Some of the Egyptians, terrified by this threat, brought their cattle and slaves in from the fields;


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Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Point your hand toward heaven and cause the hail to fall throughout all Egypt, upon the people, animals, and trees."


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It was terrible beyond description. Never in all the history of Egypt had there been a storm like that.


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All Egypt lay in ruins. Everything left in the fields, men and animals alike, was killed, and the trees were shattered and the crops were destroyed.


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The only spot in all Egypt without hail that day was the land of Goshen where the people of Israel lived.


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Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. "I finally see my fault," he confessed. "Jehovah is right, and I and my people have been wrong all along.


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"All right," Moses replied, "as soon as I have left the city I will spread out my hands to the Lord, and the thunder and hail will stop. This will prove to you that the earth is controlled by Jehovah.


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All the flax and barley were knocked down and destroyed (for the barley was ripe, and the flax was in bloom),


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So Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city and lifted his hands to heaven to the Lord, and the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain ceased pouring down.


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When Pharaoh saw this, he and his officials sinned yet more by their stubborn refusal to do what they had promised;


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go back again and make your demand upon Pharaoh; but I have hardened him and his officials, so that I can do more miracles demonstrating my power.


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What stories you can tell your children and grandchildren about the incredible things I am doing in Egypt! Tell them what fools I made of the Egyptians, and how I proved to you that I am Jehovah."


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So Moses and Aaron requested another audience with Pharaoh and told him: "Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, asks, 'How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go so they can worship me.


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so that you won't even be able to see the ground, and they will finish destroying everything that escaped the hail.


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They will fill your palace, and the homes of your officials, and all the houses of Egypt. Never in the history of Egypt has there been a plague like this will be!' " Then Moses stalked out.


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The court officials now came to Pharaoh and asked him, "Are you going to destroy us completely? Don't you know even yet that all Egypt lies in ruins? Let the men go and serve Jehovah their God!"


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So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "All right, go and serve Jehovah your God!" he said. "But just who is it you want to go?"


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"We will go with our sons and daughters, flocks and herds," Moses replied. "We will take everything with us; for we must all join in the holy pilgrimage."


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"In the name of God I will not let you take your little ones!" Pharaoh retorted. "I can see your plot!


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Never! You that are men, go and serve Jehovah, for that is what you asked for." And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "Hold out your hand over the land of Egypt to bring locusts--they will cover the land and eat everything the hail has left."


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So Moses lifted his rod and Jehovah caused an east wind to blow all that day and night; and when it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts.


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And the locusts covered the land of Egypt from border to border; it was the worst locust plague in all Egyptian history; and there will never again be another like it.


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For the locusts covered the face of the earth and blotted out the sun so that the land was darkened; and they ate every bit of vegetation the hail had left; there remained not one green thing--not a tree, not a plant throughout all the land of Egypt.


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Then Pharaoh sent an urgent call for Moses and Aaron and said to them, "I confess my sin against Jehovah your God and against you.


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Forgive my sin only this once, and beg Jehovah your God to take away this deadly plague. I solemnly promise that I will let you go as soon as the locusts are gone."


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and he sent a very strong west wind that blew the locusts out into the Red Sea, so that there remained not one locust in all the land of Egypt!


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Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Lift your hands to heaven, and darkness without a ray of light will descend upon the land of Egypt."


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Then Pharaoh called for Moses and said, "Go and worship Jehovah--but let your flocks and herds stay here; you can even take your children with you."


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"No," Moses said, "we must take our flocks and herds for sacrifices and burnt offerings to Jehovah our God.


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Not a hoof shall be left behind; for we must have sacrifices for the Lord our God, and we do not know what he will choose until we get there."


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"Get out of here and don't let me ever see you again," Pharaoh shouted at Moses. "The day you do, you shall die."


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will send just one more disaster on Pharaoh and his land, and after that he will let you go; in fact, he will be so anxious to get rid of you that he will practically throw you out of the country.


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(For God caused the Egyptians to be very favorable to the people of Israel, and Moses was a very great man in the land of Egypt and was revered by Pharaoh's officials and the Egyptian people alike.)


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And all the oldest sons shall die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest child of Pharaoh, heir to his throne, to the oldest child of his lowliest slave; and even the firstborn of the animals.


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The wail of death will resound throughout the entire land of Egypt; never before has there been such anguish, and it will never be again.


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'But not a dog shall move his tongue against any of the people of Israel, nor shall any of their animals die. Then you will know that Jehovah makes a distinction between Egyptians and Israelis.'


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All these officials of yours will come running to me, bowing low and begging, 'Please leave at once, and take all your people with you.' Only then will I go!" Then, red-faced with anger, Moses stomped from the palace.


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The Lord had told Moses, "Pharaoh won't listen, and this will give me the opportunity of doing mighty miracles to demonstrate my power."


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So, although Moses and Aaron did these miracles right before Pharaoh's eyes, the Lord hardened his heart so that he wouldn't let the people leave the land.


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Annually, on the tenth day of this month (announce this to all the people of Israel) each family shall get a lamb


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(or, if a family is small, let it share the lamb with another small family in the neighborhood; whether to share in this way depends on the size of the families).


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and their blood shall be placed on the two side-frames of the door of every home and on the panel above the door. Use the blood of the lamb eaten in that home.


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"Eat it with your traveling clothes on, prepared for a long journey, wearing your walking shoes and carrying your walking sticks in your hands; eat it hurriedly. This observance shall be called the Lord's Passover.


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For I will pass through the land of Egypt tonight and kill all the oldest sons and firstborn male animals in all the land of Egypt, and execute judgment upon all the gods of Egypt--for I am Jehovah.


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The blood you have placed on the doorposts will be proof that you obey me, and when I see the blood I will pass over you and I will not destroy your firstborn children when I smite the land of Egypt.


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"You shall celebrate this event each year (this is a permanent law) to remind you of this fatal night.


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The celebration shall last seven days. For that entire period you are to eat only bread made without yeast. Anyone who disobeys this rule at any time during the seven days of the celebration shall be excommunicated from Israel.


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On the first day of the celebration, and again on the seventh day, there will be special religious services for the entire congregation, and no work of any kind may be done on those days except the preparation of food.


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"This annual 'Celebration with Unleavened Bread' will cause you always to remember today as the day when I brought you out of the land of Egypt; so it is a law that you must celebrate this day annually, generation after generation.


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Only bread without yeast may be eaten from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day of the month.


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For these seven days there must be no trace of yeast in your homes; during that time anyone who eats anything that has yeast in it shall be excommunicated from the congregation of Israel. These same rules apply to foreigners who are living among you just as much as to those born in the land.


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Again I repeat, during those days you must not eat anything made with yeast; serve only yeastless bread."


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Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go and get lambs from your flocks, a lamb for one or more families depending upon the number of persons in the families, and kill the lamb so that God will pass over you and not destroy you.


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Drain the lamb's blood into a basin, and then take a cluster of hyssop branches and dip them into the lamb's blood, and strike the hyssop against the lintel above the door and against the two side panels, so that there will be blood upon them, and none of you shall go outside all night.


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"For Jehovah will pass through the land and kill the Egyptians; but when he sees the blood upon the panel at the top of the door and on the two side pieces, he will pass over that home and not permit the Destroyer to enter and kill your firstborn.


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And when you come into the land that the Lord will give you, just as he promised, and when you are celebrating the Passover,


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you will reply, 'It is the celebration of Jehovah's passing over us, for he passed over the homes of the people of Israel, though he killed the Egyptians; he passed over our houses and did not come in to destroy us.' " And all the people bowed their heads and worshiped.


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And that night, at midnight, Jehovah killed all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from Pharaoh's oldest son to the oldest son of the captive in the dungeon; also all the firstborn of the cattle.


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Then Pharaoh and his officials and all the people of Egypt got up in the night; and there was bitter crying throughout all the land of Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.


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And Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, "Leave us; please go away, all of you; go and serve Jehovah as you said.


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And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people of Israel, to get them out of the land as quickly as possible. For they said, "We are as good as dead."


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The Israelis took with them their bread dough without yeast, and bound their kneading troughs into their spare clothes, and carried them on their shoulders.


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And the people of Israel did as Moses said and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.


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And the Lord gave the Israelis favor with the Egyptians, so that they gave them whatever they wanted. And the Egyptians were practically stripped of everything they owned!


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That night the people of Israel left Rameses and started for Succoth; there were six hundred thousand of them, besides all the women and children, going on foot.


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When they stopped to eat, they baked bread from the yeastless dough they had brought along. It was yeastless because the people were pushed out of Egypt and didn't have time to wait for bread to rise to take with them on the trip.


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The sons of Jacob and their descendants had lived in Egypt 430 years, and it was on the last day of the 430th year that all of Jehovah's people left the land.


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This night was selected by the Lord to bring his people out from the land of Egypt; so the same night was selected as the date of the annual celebration of God's deliverance.


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Then Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the rules concerning the observance of the Passover. No foreigners shall eat the lamb,


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You shall, all of you who eat each lamb, eat it together in one house, and not carry it outside; and you shall not break any of its bones.


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"As to foreigners, if they are living with you and want to observe the Passover with you, let all the males be circumcised, and then they may come and celebrate with you--then they shall be just as though they had been born among you; but no uncircumcised person shall ever eat the lamb.


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That very day the Lord brought out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt, wave after wave of them crossing the border.


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"Dedicate to me all of the firstborn sons of Israel, and every firstborn male animal; they are mine!"


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Then Moses said to the people, "This is a day to remember forever--the day of leaving Egypt and your slavery; for the Lord has brought you out with mighty miracles. Now remember, during the annual celebration of this event you are to use no yeast; don't even have any in your homes.


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when Jehovah brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites--the land he promised your fathers, a land 'flowing with milk and honey.'


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and there must be no yeast in your homes or anywhere within the borders of your land! Then, on the seventh day, a great feast to the Lord shall be held.


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"During those celebration days each year you must explain to your children why you are celebrating--it is a celebration of what the Lord did for you when you left Egypt.


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This annual memorial week will brand you as his own unique people, just as though he had branded his mark of ownership upon your hands or your forehead.


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And remember, when the Lord brings you into the land he promised to your ancestors long ago, where the Canaanites are now living,


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A firstborn donkey may be purchased back from the Lord in exchange for a lamb or baby goat; but if you decide not to trade, the donkey shall be killed. However, you must buy back your firstborn sons.


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"And in the future, when your children ask you, 'What is this all about?' you shall tell them, 'With mighty miracles Jehovah brought us out of Egypt from our slavery.


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Pharaoh wouldn't let us go, so Jehovah killed all the firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt, both of men and animals; that is why we now give all the firstborn males to the Lord--except that all the eldest sons are always bought back.'


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Again I say, this celebration shall identify you as God's people, just as much as if his brand of ownership were placed upon your foreheads. It is a reminder that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with great power."


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So at last Pharaoh let the people go. God did not lead them through the land of the Philistines, although that was the most direct route from Egypt to the Promised Land. The reason was that God felt the people might become discouraged by having to fight their way through, even though they had left Egypt armed; he thought they might return to Egypt.


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Moses took the bones of Joseph with them, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel vow before God that they would take his bones with them when God led them out of Egypt--as he was sure God would.


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The Lord guided them by a pillar of cloud during the daytime and by a pillar of fire at night. So they could travel either by day or night.


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"Tell the people to turn toward Piha-hiroth between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon, and to camp there along the shore.


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And once again I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he will chase after you. I have planned this to gain great honor and glory over Pharaoh and all his armies, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord." So they camped where they were told.


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When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelis were not planning to return to Egypt after three days, but to keep on going, Pharaoh and his staff became bold again. "What is this we have done, letting all these slaves get away?" they asked.


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followed by the pick of Egypt's chariot corps--600 chariots in all--and other chariots driven by Egyptian officers.


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Pharaoh's entire cavalry--horses, chariots, and charioteers--was used in the chase; and the Egyptian army overtook the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Piha-hiroth, across from Baal-zephon.


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As the Egyptian army approached, the people of Israel saw them far in the distance, speeding after them, and they were terribly frightened and cried out to the Lord to help them.


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And they turned against Moses, whining, "Have you brought us out here to die in the desert because there were not enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave Egypt?


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Isn't this what we told you, while we were slaves, to leave us alone? We said it would be better to be slaves to the Egyptians than dead in the wilderness."


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But Moses told the people, "Don't be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch, and you will see the wonderful way the Lord will rescue you today. The Egyptians you are looking at--you will never see them again.


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Use your rod--hold it out over the water, and the sea will open up a path before you, and all the people of Israel shall walk through on dry ground!


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I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in after you and you will see the honor I will get in defeating Pharaoh and all his armies, chariots, and horsemen.


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and it stood between the people of Israel and the Egyptians. And that night, as it changed to a pillar of fire, it gave darkness to the Egyptians but light to the people of Israel! So the Egyptians couldn't find the Israelis!


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Meanwhile, Moses stretched his rod over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the sea, with walls of water on each side; and a strong east wind blew all that night, drying the sea bottom.


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Then the Egyptians followed them between the walls of water along the bottom of the sea--all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and horsemen.


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But in the early morning Jehovah looked down from the cloud of fire upon the array of the Egyptians, and began to harass them.


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Their chariot wheels began coming off, so that their chariots scraped along the dry ground. "Let's get out of here," the Egyptians yelled. "Jehovah is fighting for them and against us."


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When all the Israelites were on the other side, the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand again over the sea, so that the waters will come back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen."


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Moses did, and the sea returned to normal beneath the morning light. The Egyptians tried to flee, but the Lord drowned them in the sea.


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The water covered the path and the chariots and horsemen. And of all the army of Pharaoh that chased after Israel through the sea, not one remained alive.


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The people of Israel had walked through on dry land, and the waters had been walled up on either side of them.


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Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and the people of Israel saw the Egyptians dead, washed up on the seashore.


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When the people of Israel saw the mighty miracle the Lord had done for them against the Egyptians, they were afraid and revered the Lord, and believed in him and in his servant Moses.


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Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord: I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; He has thrown both horse and rider into the sea.


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The Lord is my strength, my song, and my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him. He is my father's God--I will exalt him.


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He has overthrown Pharaoh's chariots and armies, Drowning them in the sea. The famous Egyptian captains are dead beneath the waves.


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In the greatness of your majesty You overthrew all those who rose against you. You sent forth your anger, and it consumed them as fire consumes straw.


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The enemy said, "I will chase after them, Catch up with them, destroy them. I will cut them apart with my sword And divide the captured booty."


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Who else is like the Lord among the gods? Who is glorious in holiness like him? Who is so awesome in splendor, A wonder-working God?


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You have led the people you redeemed. But in your loving-kindness You have guided them wonderfully To your holy land.


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The leaders of Edom are appalled, The mighty men of Moab tremble; All the people of Canaan melt with fear.


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Terror and dread have overcome them. O Lord, because of your great power they won't attack us! Your people whom you purchased Will pass by them in safety.


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You will bring them in and plant them on your mountain, Your own homeland, Lord-- The sanctuary you made for them to live in.


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The horses of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his chariots Tried to follow through the sea; But the Lord let down the walls of water on them While the people of Israel walked through on dry land.


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And Miriam sang this song: Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and rider have been drowned in the sea.


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Then Moses led the people of Israel on from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the wilderness of Shur and were there three days without water.


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Arriving at Marah, they couldn't drink the water because it was bitter (that is why the place was called Marah, meaning "bitter").


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Moses pleaded with the Lord to help them, and the Lord showed him a tree to throw into the water, and the water became sweet. It was there at Marah that the Lord laid before them the following conditions, to test their commitment to him:


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"If you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and obey it, and do what is right, then I will not make you suffer the diseases I sent on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you."


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And they came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; and they camped there beside the springs.


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Now they left Elim and journeyed on into the Sihn Wilderness, between Elim and Mt. Sinai, arriving there on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving Egypt.


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"Oh, that we were back in Egypt," they moaned, "and that the Lord had killed us there! For there we had plenty to eat. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to kill us with starvation."


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "Look, I'm going to rain down food from heaven for them. Everyone can go out each day and gather as much food as he needs. And I will test them in this, to see whether they will follow my instructions or not.


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Then Moses and Aaron called a meeting of all the people of Israel and told them, "This evening you will realize that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt.


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In the morning you will see more of his glory; for he has heard your complaints against him (for you aren't really complaining against us--who are we?).


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So Aaron called them together and suddenly, out toward the wilderness, from within the guiding cloud, there appeared the awesome glory of Jehovah.


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"I have heard their complaints. Tell them, 'In the evening you will have meat and in the morning you will be stuffed with bread, and you shall know that I am Jehovah your God.' "


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That evening vast numbers of quail arrived and covered the camp, and in the morning the desert all around the camp was wet with dew;


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and when the dew disappeared later in the morning it left thin white flakes that covered the ground like frost.


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When the people of Israel saw it they asked each other, "What is it?" And Moses told them, "It is the food Jehovah has given you.


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Jehovah has said for everyone to gather as much as is needed for his household--about two quarts for each person."


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So the people of Israel went out and gathered it--some getting more and some less before it melted on the ground,


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and there was just enough for everyone. Those who gathered more had nothing left over and those who gathered little had no lack! Each home had just enough.


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But of course some of them wouldn't listen, and left it until morning; and when they looked, it was full of maggots and had a terrible odor; and Moses was very angry with them.


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So they gathered the food morning by morning, each home according to its need; and when the sun became hot upon the ground, the food melted and disappeared.


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On the sixth day there was twice as much as usual on the ground--four quarts instead of two; the leaders of the people came and asked Moses why this had happened.


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And he told them, "Because the Lord has appointed tomorrow as a day of seriousness and rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord when we must refrain from doing our daily tasks. So cook as much as you want to today, and keep what is left for tomorrow."


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Moses said, "This is your food for today, for today is the Sabbath to Jehovah and there will be no food on the ground today.


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Gather the food for six days, but the seventh is a Sabbath, and there will be none there for you on that day."


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But some of the people went out anyway to gather food, even though it was the Sabbath, but there wasn't any.


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"Don't they realize that I am giving them twice as much on the sixth day, so that there will be enough for two days? For the Lord has given you the seventh day as a day of Sabbath rest; stay in your tents and don't go out to pick up food from the ground that day."


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And the food became known as "manna" (meaning "What is it?"); it was white, like coriander seed, and flat, and tasted like honey bread.


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Then Moses gave them this further instruction from the Lord: they were to take two quarts of it to be kept as a museum specimen forever, so that later generations could see the bread the Lord had fed them with in the wilderness, when he brought them from Egypt.


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Moses told Aaron to get a container and put two quarts of manna in it and to keep it in a sacred place from generation to generation.


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Aaron did this, just as the Lord had instructed Moses, and eventually it was kept in the Ark in the Tabernacle.


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So the people of Israel ate the manna forty years until they arrived in the land of Canaan, where there were crops to eat.


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The omer--the container used to measure the manna--held about two quarts; it is approximately a tenth of a bushel.


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Now, at God's command, the people of Israel left the Sihn desert, going by easy stages to Rephidim. But upon arrival, there was no water!


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So once more the people growled and complained to Moses. "Give us water!" they wailed. "Quiet!" Moses commanded. "Are you trying to test God's patience with you?"


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But, tormented by thirst, they cried out, "Why did you ever take us out of Egypt? Why did you bring us here to die, with our children and cattle too?"


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Then Jehovah said to Moses, "Take the elders of Israel with you and lead the people out to Mt. Horeb.


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I will meet you there at the rock. Strike it with your rod --the same one you struck the Nile with--and water will come pouring out, enough for everyone!" Moses did as he was told, and the water gushed out!


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Moses named the place Massah (meaning "tempting Jehovah to slay us"), and sometimes they referred to it as Meribah (meaning "argument" and "strife!")--for it was there that the people of Israel argued against God and tempted him to slay them by saying, "Is Jehovah going to take care of us or not?"


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Moses instructed Joshua to issue a call to arms to the Israelites, to fight the army of Amalek. "Tomorrow," Moses told him, "I will stand at the top of the hill, with the rod of God in my hand!"


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So Joshua and his men went out to fight the army of Amalek. Meanwhile Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill.


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And as long as Moses held up the rod in his hands, Israel was winning; but whenever he rested his arms at his sides, the soldiers of Amalek were winning.


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Moses' arms finally became too tired to hold up the rod any longer; so Aaron and Hur rolled a stone for him to sit on, and they stood on each side, holding up his hands until sunset.


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Then the Lord instructed Moses, "Write this into a permanent record, to be remembered forever, and announce to Joshua that I will utterly blot out every trace of Amalek."


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"Raise the banner of the Lord!" Moses said. "For the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation."


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Word soon reached Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, the priest of Midian, about all the wonderful things God had done for his people and for Moses, and how the Lord had brought them out of Egypt.


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along with Moses' two sons, Gershom (meaning "foreigner," for Moses said when he was born, "I have been wandering in a foreign land")


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and Eliezer (meaning "God is my help," for Moses said at his birth, "The God of my fathers was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh").


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"Jethro, your father-in-law, has come to visit you," Moses was told, "and he has brought your wife and your two sons."


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Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and greeted him warmly; they asked about each other's health and then went into Moses' tent to talk further.


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Moses related to his father-in-law all that had been happening and what the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians in order to deliver Israel, and all the problems there had been along the way, and how the Lord had delivered his people from all of them.


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Jethro was very happy about everything the Lord had done for Israel, and about his bringing them out of Egypt.


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"Bless the Lord," Jethro said, "for he has saved you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh, and has rescued Israel.


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I know now that the Lord is greater than any other god because he delivered his people from the proud and cruel Egyptians."


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Jethro offered sacrifices to God, and afterwards Aaron and the leaders of Israel came to meet Jethro, and they all ate the sacrificial meal together before the Lord.


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The next day Moses sat as usual to hear the people's complaints against each other, from morning to evening.


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When Moses' father-in-law saw how much time this was taking, he said, "Why are you trying to do all this alone, with people standing here all day long to get your help?"


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"Well, because the people come to me with their disputes, to ask for God's decisions," Moses told him.


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"I am their judge, deciding who is right and who is wrong, and instructing them in God's ways. I apply the laws of God to their particular disputes."


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"You're going to wear yourself out--and if you do, what will happen to the people? Moses, this job is too heavy a burden for you to try to handle all by yourself.


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Now listen, and let me give you a word of advice, and God will bless you: Be these people's lawyer--their representative before God--bringing him their questions to decide;


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you will tell them his decisions, teaching them God's laws, and showing them the principles of godly living.


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"Find some capable, godly, honest men who hate bribes, and appoint them as judges, one judge for each 1,000 people; he in turn will have ten judges under him, each in charge of a hundred; and under each of them will be two judges, each responsible for the affairs of fifty people; and each of these will have five judges beneath him, each counseling ten persons.


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Let these men be responsible to serve the people with justice at all times. Anything that is too important or complicated can be brought to you. But the smaller matters they can take care of themselves. That way it will be easier for you because you will share the burden with them.


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If you follow this advice, and if the Lord agrees, you will be able to endure the pressures, and there will be peace and harmony in the camp."


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He chose able men from all over Israel and made them judges over the people--thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.


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They were constantly available to administer justice. They brought the hard cases to Moses but judged the smaller matters themselves.


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The Israelis arrived in the Sinai peninsula three months after the night of their departure from Egypt.


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Moses climbed the rugged mountain to meet with God, and from somewhere in the mountain God called to him and said, "Give these instructions to the people of Israel. Tell them,


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'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I brought you to myself as though on eagle's wings.


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Now if you will obey me and keep your part of my contract with you, you shall be my own little flock from among all the nations of the earth; for all the earth is mine.


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Moses returned from the mountain and called together the leaders of the people and told them what the Lord had said.


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They all responded in unison, "We will certainly do everything he asks of us." Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.


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Then he said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in the form of a dark cloud, so that the people themselves can hear me when I talk with you, and then they will always believe you.


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Go down now and see that the people are ready for my visit. Sanctify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes.


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Set boundary lines the people may not pass, and tell them, 'Beware! Do not go up into the mountain or even touch its boundaries; whoever does shall die--


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no hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot to death with arrows, whether man or animal.' Stay away from the mountain entirely until you hear a ram's horn sounding one long blast; then gather at the foot of the mountain!"


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He told them, "Get ready for God's appearance two days from now, and do not have sexual intercourse with your wives."


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On the morning of the third day there was a terrific thunder and lightning storm, and a huge cloud came down upon the mountain, and there was a long, loud blast as from a ram's horn; and all the people trembled.


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All Mt. Sinai was covered with smoke because Jehovah descended upon it in the form of fire; the smoke billowed into the sky as from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook with a violent earthquake.


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So the Lord came down upon the top of Mt. Sinai and called Moses up to the top of the mountain, and Moses ascended to God.


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But the Lord told Moses, "Go back down and warn the people not to cross the boundaries. They must not come up here to try to see God, for if they do, many of them will die.


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"But the people won't come up into the mountain!" Moses protested. "You told them not to! You told me to set boundaries around the mountain and to declare it off limits because it is reserved for God."


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But Jehovah said, "Go down and bring Aaron back with you, and don't let the priests and the people break across the boundaries to try to come up here, or I will punish them."


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You must never bow or worship it in any way; for I, the Lord your God, am very possessive. I will not share your affection with any other god! "And when I punish people for their sins, the punishment continues upon the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of those who hate me;


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"You shall not use the name of Jehovah your God irreverently, nor use it to swear to a falsehood. You will not escape punishment if you do.


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but the seventh day is a day of Sabbath rest before the Lord your God. On that day you are to do no work of any kind, nor shall your son, daughter, or slaves--whether men or women--or your cattle or your house guests.


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For in six days the Lord made the heaven, earth, and sea, and everything in them, and rested the seventh day; so he blessed the Sabbath day and set it aside for rest.


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"Honor your father and mother, that you may have a long, good life in the land the Lord your God will give you.


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"You must not be envious of your neighbor's house, or want to sleep with his wife, or want to own his slaves, oxen, donkeys, or anything else he has."


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All the people saw the lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, and heard the thunder and the long, frightening trumpet blast; and they stood at a distance, shaking with fear.


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They said to Moses, "You tell us what God says and we will obey, but don't let God speak directly to us, or it will kill us."


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"Don't be afraid," Moses told them, "for God has come in this way to show you his awesome power, so that from now on you will be afraid to sin against him!"


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And the Lord told Moses to be his spokesman to the people of Israel. "You are witnesses to the fact that I have made known my will to you from heaven.


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"The altars you make for me must be simple altars of earth. Offer upon them your sacrifices to me--your burnt offerings and peace offerings of sheep and oxen. Build altars only where I tell you to, and I will come and bless you there.


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You may also build altars from stone, but if you do, then use only uncut stones and boulders. Don't chip or shape the stones with a tool, for that would make them unfit for my altar.


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And don't make steps for the altar, or someone might look up beneath the skirts of your clothing and see your nakedness.


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"If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve only six years and be freed in the seventh year, and need pay nothing to regain his freedom.


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"If he sold himself as a slave before he married, then if he married afterwards, only he shall be freed; but if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife shall be freed with him at the same time.


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But if his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they have sons or daughters, the wife and children shall still belong to the master, and he shall go out by himself free.


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"But if the man shall plainly declare, 'I prefer my master, my wife, and my children, and I would rather not go free,'


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then his master shall bring him before the judges and shall publicly bore his ear with an awl, and after that he will be a slave forever.


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"If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not be freed at the end of six years as the men are.


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If she does not please the man who bought her, then he shall let her be bought back again; but he has no power to sell her to foreigners, since he has wronged her by no longer wanting her after marrying her.


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And if he arranges an engagement between a Hebrew slave-girl and his son, then he may no longer treat her as a slave-girl, but must treat her as a daughter.


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If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing, or fail to sleep with her as his wife.


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But if it is accidental--an act of God--and not intentional, then I will appoint a place where he can run and get protection.


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However, if a man deliberately attacks another, intending to kill him, drag him even from my altar, and kill him.


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"A kidnapper must be killed, whether he is caught in possession of his victim or has already sold him as a slave.


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"If two men are fighting, and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist and injures him so that he must be confined to bed, but doesn't die,


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if later he is able to walk again, even with a limp, the man who hit him will be innocent except that he must pay for the loss of his time until he is thoroughly healed, and pay any medical expenses.


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"If a man beats his slave to death--whether the slave is male or female--that man shall surely be punished.


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However, if the slave does not die for a couple of days, then the man shall not be punished--for the slave is his property.


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"If two men are fighting, and in the process hurt a pregnant woman so that she has a miscarriage, but she lives, then the man who injured her shall be fined whatever amount the woman's husband shall demand, and as the judges approve.


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"If her eye is injured, injure his; if her tooth is knocked out, knock out his; and so on--hand for hand, foot for foot,


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"If a man hits his slave in the eye, whether man or woman, and the eye is blinded, then the slave shall go free because of his eye.


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"If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox shall be stoned and its flesh not eaten, but the owner shall not be held--


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unless the ox was known to gore people in the past, and the owner had been notified and still the ox was not kept under control; in that case, if it kills someone, the ox shall be stoned and the owner also shall be killed.


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But the dead man's relatives may accept a fine instead, if they wish. The judges will determine the amount.


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But if the ox gores a slave, whether male or female, the slave's master shall be given thirty pieces of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.


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the owner of the well shall pay full damages to the owner of the animal, and the dead animal shall belong to him.


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"If a man's ox injures another, and it dies, then the two owners shall sell the live ox and divide the price between them--and each shall also own half of the dead ox.


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But if the ox was known from past experience to gore, and its owner has not kept it under control, then there will not be a division of the income; but the owner of the living ox shall pay in full for the dead ox, and the dead one shall be his.


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"If a man steals an ox or sheep and then kills or sells it, he shall pay a fine of five to one--five oxen shall be returned for each stolen ox. For sheep, the fine shall be four to one--four sheep returned for each sheep stolen.


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"If a thief is caught in the act of breaking into a house and is killed, the one who killed him is not guilty.


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But if it happens in the daylight, it must be presumed to be murder and the man who kills him is guilty. "If a thief is captured, he must make full restitution; if he can't, then he must be sold as a slave for his debt.


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"If he is caught in the act of stealing a live ox or donkey or sheep or whatever it is, he shall pay double value as his fine.


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"If someone deliberately lets his animal loose and it gets into another man's vineyard; or if he turns it into another man's field to graze, he must pay for all damages by giving the owner of the field or vineyard an equal amount of the best of his own crop.


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"If the field is being burned off and the fire gets out of control and goes into another field so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, are destroyed, the one who started the fire shall make full restitution.


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"If someone gives money or goods to anyone to keep for him, and it is stolen, the thief shall pay double if he is found.


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But if no thief is found, then the man to whom the valuables were entrusted shall be brought before God to determine whether or not he himself has stolen his neighbor's property.


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"In every case in which an ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or anything else is lost, and the owner believes he has found it in the possession of someone else who denies it, both parties to the dispute shall come before God for a decision, and the one whom God declares guilty shall pay double to the other.


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"If a man asks his neighbor to keep a donkey, ox, sheep, or any other animal for him, and it dies, or is hurt, or gets away, and there is no eyewitness to report just what happened to it,


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then the neighbor must take an oath that he has not stolen it, and the owner must accept his word, and no restitution shall be made for it.


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If it was attacked by some wild animal, he shall bring the torn carcass to confirm the fact, and shall not be required to make restitution.


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"If a man borrows an animal (or anything else) from a neighbor, and it is injured or killed, and the owner is not there at the time, then the man who borrowed it must pay for it.


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But if the owner is there, he need not pay; and if it was rented, then he need not pay, because this possibility was included in the original rental fee.


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"If a man seduces a girl who is not engaged to anyone and sleeps with her, he must pay the usual dowry and accept her as his wife.


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"You must not oppress a stranger in any way; remember, you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.


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And my anger shall flame out against you, and I will kill you with enemy armies, so that your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.


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"If you lend money to a needy fellow-Hebrew, you are not to handle the transaction in an ordinary way, with interest.


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For it is probably his only warmth; how can he sleep without it? If you don't return it, and he cries to me for help, I will hear and be very gracious to him  at your expense, for I am very compassionate.


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"You must be prompt in giving me the tithe of your crops and your wine, and the redemption payment for your oldest son.


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"As to the firstborn of the oxen and the sheep, give it to me on the eighth day, after leaving it with its mother for seven days.


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"And since you yourselves are holy--my special people--do not eat any animal that has been attacked and killed by a wild animal. Leave its carcass for the dogs to eat.


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"Do not pass along untrue reports. Do not cooperate with an evil man by affirming on the witness stand something you know is false.


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"Don't join mobs intent on evil. When on the witness stand, don't be swayed in your testimony by the mood of the majority present,


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"If you come upon an enemy's ox or donkey that has strayed away, you must take it back to its owner.


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If you see your enemy trying to get his donkey onto its feet beneath a heavy load, you must not go on by but must help him.


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"Keep far away from falsely charging anyone with evil; never let an innocent person be put to death. I will not stand for this.


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"Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you unaware of what you clearly see! A bribe hurts the cause of the person who is right.


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"Do not oppress foreigners; you know what it's like to be a foreigner; remember your own experience in the land of Egypt.


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but let the land rest and lie fallow during the seventh year, and let the poor among the people harvest any volunteer crop that may come up; leave the rest for the animals to enjoy. The same rule applies to your vineyards and your olive groves.


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"Work six days only, and rest the seventh; this is to give your oxen and donkeys a rest, as well as the people of your household--your slaves and visitors.


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"The first is the Pilgrimage of Unleavened Bread, when for seven days you are not to eat bread with yeast, just as I commanded you before. This celebration is to be an annual event at the regular time in March, the month you left Egypt; everyone must bring me a sacrifice at that time.


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Then there is the Harvest Pilgrimage, when you must bring to me the first of your crops. And, finally, the Pilgrimage of Ingathering at the end of the harvest season.


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"No sacrificial blood shall be offered with leavened bread; no sacrificial fat shall be left unoffered until the next morning.


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"As you reap each of your crops, bring me the choicest sample of the first day's harvest; it shall be offered to the Lord your God. "Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.


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Reverence him and obey all of his instructions; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; he is my representative--he bears my name.


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But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies.


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For my Angel shall go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, to live there. And I will destroy those people before you.


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"You must not worship the gods of these other nations, nor sacrifice to them in any way, and you must not follow the evil example of these heathen people; you must utterly conquer them and break down their shameful idols.


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"You shall serve the Lord your God only; then I will bless you with food and with water, and I will take away sickness from among you.


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There will be no miscarriages nor barrenness throughout your land, and you will live out the full quota of the days of your life.


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"The terror of the Lord shall fall upon all the people whose land you invade, and they will flee before you;


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I will not do it all in one year, for the land would become a wilderness, and the wild animals would become too many to control.


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But I will drive them out a little at a time, until your population has increased enough to fill the land.


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And I will set your enlarged boundaries from the Red Sea to the Philistine coast, and from the southern deserts as far as the Euphrates River; and I will cause you to defeat the people now living in the land, and you will drive them out ahead of you.


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Don't let them live among you! For I know that they will infect you with their sin of worshiping false gods, and that would be an utter disaster to you."


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The Lord now instructed Moses, "Come up here with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. All of you except Moses are to worship at a distance.


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Moses alone shall come near to the Lord; and remember, none of the ordinary people are permitted to come up into the mountain at all."


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Then Moses announced to the people all the laws and regulations God had given him; and the people answered in unison, "We will obey them all."


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Moses wrote down the laws; and early the next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve pillars around the altar because there were twelve tribes of Israel.


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Then he sent some of the young men to sacrifice the burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord.


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Moses took half of the blood of these animals and drew it off into basins. The other half he splashed against the altar.


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And he read to the people the Book he had written--the Book of the Covenant--containing God's directions and laws. And the people said again, "We solemnly promise to obey every one of these rules."


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Then Moses threw the blood from the basins toward the people and said, "This blood confirms and seals the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these laws."


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And they saw the God of Israel; under his feet there seemed to be a pavement of brilliant sapphire stones, as clear as the heavens.


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Yet, even though the elders saw God, he did not destroy them; and they had a meal together before the Lord.


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And the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to me into the mountain, and remain until I give you the laws and commandments I have written on tablets of stone, so that you can teach the people from them."


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He told the elders, "Stay here and wait for us until we come back; if there are any problems while I am gone, consult with Aaron and Hur."


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And the glory of the Lord rested upon Mt. Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; the seventh day he called to Moses from the cloud.


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Those at the bottom of the mountain saw the awesome sight: the glory of the Lord on the mountaintop looked like a raging fire.


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And Moses disappeared into the cloud-covered mountaintop, and was there for forty days and forty nights.


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"This home of mine shall be a tent pavilion--a Tabernacle. I will give you a drawing of the construction plan and the details of each furnishing.


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Make poles from acacia wood overlaid with gold, and fit the poles into the rings at the sides of the Ark to carry it.


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When the Ark is finished, place inside it the tablets of stone I will give you, with the Ten Commandments engraved on them.


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"And make a lid of pure gold, 3 3/4 feet long and 2 1/4 feet wide. This is the place of mercy for your sins.


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Then make two statues of Guardian Angels using beaten gold, and place them at the two ends of the lid of the Ark.


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The Guardian Angels shall be facing each other, looking down upon the place of mercy, and shall have wings spread out above the gold lid.


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And I will meet with you there and talk with you from above the place of mercy between the Guardian Angels; and the Ark will contain the laws of my covenant. There I will tell you my commandments for the people of Israel.


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Put a molding four inches wide around the edge of the top, and a gold ridge along the molding, all around.


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"Make a lampstand of pure, beaten gold. The entire lampstand and its decorations shall be one piece--the base, shaft, lamps, and blossoms.


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It will have three branches going out from each side of the center shaft, each branch decorated with three almond flowers.


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one placed between each set of branches; also, there will be one flower above the top set of branches and one below the bottom set.


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"Make the tabernacle-tent from ten colored sheets of fine linen, 42 feet long and 6 feet wide, dyed blue, purple, and scarlet, with figures of Guardian Angels embroidered on them.


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Use loops at the edges to join these two long pieces together side by side. There are to be fifty loops on each side, opposite each other.


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Then make fifty gold clasps to fasten the loops together, so that the Tabernacle, the dwelling place of God, becomes a single unit.


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"The roof of the Tabernacle is made of goats' hair tarpaulins. There are to be eleven of these tarpaulins, each 45 feet across and 6 feet wide.


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Connect five of these tarpaulins into one wide section; and use the other six for another wide section. (The sixth tarpaulin will hang down to form a curtain across the front of the sacred tent.)


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Use fifty loops along the edges of each of these two wide pieces, to join them together with fifty bronze clasps. Thus the two widths become one.


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On top of these blankets is placed a layer of rams' skins, dyed red, and over them a top layer of goatskins. This completes the roof-covering.


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"The framework of the sacred tent shall be made from acacia wood, each frame-piece being 15 feet high and 2 1/4 feet wide, standing upright,


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Twenty of these frames will form the south side of the sacred tent, with forty silver bases for the frames to fit into--two bases under each piece of the frame.


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So, in all, there will be eight frames on that end of the building with sixteen silver bases for the frames--two bases under each frame.


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"Make bars of acacia wood to run across the frames, five bars on each side of the Tabernacle. Also five bars for the rear of the building, facing westward.


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Overlay the frames with gold, and make gold rings to hold the bars; and also overlay the bars with gold.


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" Inside the Tabernacle, make a curtain from fine linen, with blue, purple, and scarlet Guardian Angels embroidered into the cloth.


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Hang this curtain on gold hooks set into four pillars made from acacia wood overlaid with gold. The pillars are to be set in silver bases.


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Behind this curtain place the Ark containing the stone tablets engraved with God's laws. The curtain will separate the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.


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Place the table and lampstand across the room from each other on the outer side of the veil, the lampstand on the south and the table on the north.


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"As a screen for the door of the sacred tent, make another curtain from fine linen, skillfully embroidered in blue, purple, and scarlet.


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Hang this curtain on gold hooks set into posts made from acacia wood overlaid with gold. The posts are to rest on bronze bases.


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Make horns for the four corners of the altar, attach them firmly, and overlay everything with bronze.


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"Then make a courtyard for the Tabernacle, enclosed with curtains made from fine-twined linen. On the south side the curtains will stretch for 150 feet,


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and be held up by twenty posts, fitting into twenty bronze post holders. The curtains will be held up with silver hooks attached to silver rods, attached to the posts.


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It will be the same on the north side of the court--150 feet of curtains held up by twenty posts fitted into bronze sockets, with silver hooks and rods.


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On each side of the entrance there will be 22 1/2 feet of curtain, held up by three posts imbedded in three sockets.


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"The entrance to the court will be a 30-foot-wide curtain, made of beautifully embroidered blue, purple, and scarlet fine-twined linen, and attached to four posts imbedded in their four sockets.


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All the posts around the court are to be connected by silver rods, using silver hooks, the posts being imbedded in solid bronze bases.


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So the entire court will be 150 feet long and 75 feet wide, with curtain walls 7 1/2 feet high, made from fine-twined linen.


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"All utensils used in the work of the Tabernacle, including all the pins and pegs for hanging the utensils on the walls, will be made of bronze.


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"Instruct the people of Israel to bring you pure olive oil to use in the lamps of the Tabernacle, to burn there continually.


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Aaron and his sons shall place this eternal flame in the outer holy room, tending it day and night before the Lord, so that it never goes out. This is a permanent rule for the people of Israel.


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"Consecrate Aaron your brother, and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to be priests, to minister to me.


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Make special clothes for Aaron, to indicate his separation to God--beautiful garments that will lend dignity to his work.


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Instruct those to whom I have given special skill as tailors to make the garments that will set him apart from others, so that he may minister to me in the priest's office.


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This is the wardrobe they shall make: a chestpiece, an ephod, a robe, an embroidered shirt, a turban, and a sash. They shall also make special garments for Aaron's sons.


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"The ephod shall be made by the most skilled of the workmen, using gold, blue, purple, and scarlet threads of fine linen.


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And the sash shall be made of the same material--threads of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet fine-twined linen.


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When engraving these names, use the same technique as in making a seal; and mount the stones in gold settings.


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Fasten the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod, as memorial stones for the people of Israel: Aaron will carry their names before the Lord as a constant reminder.


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Two chains of pure, twisted gold shall be made and attached to gold clasps on the shoulder of the ephod.


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"Then, using the most careful workmanship, make a chestpiece to be used as God's oracle; use the same gold, blue, purple, and scarlet threads of fine-twined linen as you did in the ephod.


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Each stone will represent one of the tribes of Israel and the name of that tribe will be engraved upon it like a seal.


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The other ends of the two cords are attached to the front edges of the two settings of the onyx stones on the shoulder of the ephod.


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Now attach the bottom of the chestpiece to the bottom rings of the ephod by means of blue ribbons; this will prevent the chestpiece from coming loose from the ephod.


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In this way Aaron shall carry the names of the tribes of Israel on the chestpiece over his heart (it is God's oracle) when he goes into the Holy Place; thus Jehovah will be reminded of them continually.


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Insert into the pocket of the chestpiece the Urim and Thummim, to be carried over Aaron's heart when he goes in before Jehovah. Thus Aaron shall always be carrying the oracle over his heart when he goes in before the Lord.


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with an opening for Aaron's head. It shall have a woven band around this opening, just as on the neck of a coat of mail, so that it will not fray.


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The bottom edge of the ephod shall be embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet pomegranates, alternated with gold bells.


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Aaron shall wear the ephod whenever he goes in to minister to the Lord; the bells will tinkle as he goes in and out of the presence of the Lord in the Holy Place, so that he will not die.


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"Next, make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, just as you would upon a seal, 'Consecrated to Jehovah.'


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In this way Aaron will be wearing it upon his forehead, and thus bear the guilt connected with any errors regarding the offerings of the people of Israel. It shall always be worn when he goes into the presence of the Lord, so that the people will be accepted and forgiven.


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"Weave Aaron's embroidered shirt from fine-twined linen, using a checkerboard pattern; make the turban, too, of this linen; and make him an embroidered sash.


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Clothe Aaron and his sons with these garments, and then dedicate these men to their ministry by anointing their heads with olive oil, thus sanctifying them as the priests, my ministers.


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Also make linen undershorts for them, to be worn beneath their robes next to their bodies, reaching from hips to knees.


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These are to be worn whenever Aaron and his sons go into the Tabernacle or to the altar in the Holy Place, lest they be guilty and die. This is a permanent ordinance for Aaron and his sons.


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"This is the ceremony for the dedication of Aaron and his sons as priests: get a young bull and two rams with no defects,


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and bread made without yeast, and thin sheets of sweetened bread mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers with oil poured over them. (The various kinds of bread shall be made with finely ground wheat flour.)


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Place the bread in a basket and bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle, along with the young bull and the two rams.


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with their woven sashes, and place caps on their heads. They will then be priests forever; thus you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.


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"Then bring the young bull to the Tabernacle, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon its head;


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Place its blood upon the horns of the altar, smearing it on with your finger, and pour the rest at the base of the altar.


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Then take all the fat that covers the inner parts, also the gall bladder and two kidneys, and the fat on them, and burn them upon the altar.


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Then take the body, including the skin and the dung, outside the camp and burn it as a sin offering.


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"Next, Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of one of the rams as it is killed. Its blood shall also be collected and sprinkled upon the altar.


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Cut up the ram and wash off the entrails and the legs; place them with the head and the other pieces of the body,


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"Now take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon its head as it is killed.


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Collect the blood and place some of it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron and his sons, and upon their right thumbs and the big toes of their right feet; sprinkle the rest of the blood over the altar.


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Then scrape off some of the blood from the altar and mix it with some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it upon Aaron and his sons and upon their clothes; and they and their clothing shall be sanctified to the Lord.


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"Then take the fat of the ram, including the fat tail and the fat that covers the insides, also the gall bladder and the two kidneys and the fat surrounding them, and the right thigh--for this is the ram for ordination of Aaron and his sons--


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and one loaf of bread, one cake of shortening bread, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that was placed before the Lord:


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Afterwards, take them from their hands and burn them on the altar as a fragrant burnt offering to him.


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Then take the breast of Aaron's ordination ram and wave it before the Lord in a gesture of offering; afterwards, keep it for yourself.


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to Aaron and his sons. The people of Israel must always contribute this portion of their sacrifices--whether peace offerings or thanksgiving offerings--as their contribution to the Lord.


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"These sacred garments of Aaron shall be preserved for the consecration of his son who succeeds him, from generation to generation, for his anointing ceremony.


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Whoever is the next High Priest after Aaron shall wear these clothes for seven days before beginning to minister in the Tabernacle and the Holy Place.


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"Take the ram of consecration--the ram used in the ordination ceremony--and boil its meat in a sacred area.


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They alone shall eat those items used in their atonement (that is, in their consecration ceremony). The ordinary people shall not eat them, for these things are set apart and holy.


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If any of the meat or bread remains until the morning, burn it; it shall not be eaten, for it is holy.


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"This, then, is the way you shall ordain Aaron and his sons to their offices. This ordination shall go on for seven days.


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Every day you shall sacrifice a young bull as a sin offering for atonement; afterwards, purge the altar by making atonement for it; pour olive oil upon it to sanctify it.


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Make atonement for the altar and consecrate it to God every day for seven days. After this the altar shall be exceedingly holy, so that whatever touches it shall be set apart for God.


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With one of them offer 3 quarts of finely ground flour mixed with 2 1/2 pints of oil, pressed from olives; also 2 1/2 pints of wine, as an offering.


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Offer the other lamb in the evening, along with the flour and the wine as in the morning, for a fragrant offering to the Lord, an offering made to the Lord by fire.


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"This shall be a perpetual daily offering at the door of the Tabernacle before the Lord, where I will meet with you and speak with you.


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And I will meet with the people of Israel there, and the Tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.


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Yes, I will sanctify the Tabernacle and the altar and Aaron and his sons who are my ministers, the priests.


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and they shall know that I am the Lord their God. I brought them out of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am Jehovah their God.


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It is to be eighteen inches square and three feet high, with horns carved from the wood of the altar--they are not to be merely separate parts that are attached.


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Overlay the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure gold, and run a gold molding around the entire altar.


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Place the altar just outside the veil, near the place of mercy that is above the Ark containing the Ten Commandments. I will meet with you there.


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and each evening when he lights the lamps he shall burn the incense before the Lord, and this shall go on from generation to generation.


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"Once a year Aaron must sanctify the altar, placing upon its horns the blood of the sin offering for atonement. This shall be a regular, annual event from generation to generation, for this is the Lord's supremely holy altar."


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"Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is numbered shall give a ransom to the Lord for his soul, so that there will be no plague among the people when you number them.


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The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less, for it is an offering to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves.


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Use this money for the care of the Tabernacle; it is to bring you, the people of Israel, to the Lord's attention, and to make atonement for you."


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And the Lord said to Moses, "Make a bronze basin with a bronze pedestal. Put it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water.


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when they go into the Tabernacle to appear before the Lord, or when they approach the altar to burn offerings to the Lord. They must always wash before doing so, or they will die.


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Then the Lord told Moses to collect the choicest of spices--eighteen pounds of pure myrrh; half as much of cinnamon and of sweet cane;


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"Use this," he said, "to anoint the Tabernacle, the Ark, the table and all its instruments, the lampstand and all its utensils, the incense altar,


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It must never be poured upon an ordinary person, and you shall never make any of it yourselves, for it is holy, and it shall be treated by you as holy.


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Anyone who compounds any incense like it or puts any of it upon someone who is not a priest shall be excommunicated.' "


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These were the Lord's directions to Moses concerning the incense: "Use sweet spices--stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense, weighing out the same amounts of each,


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using the usual techniques of the incensemaker, and seasoning it with salt; it shall be a pure and holy incense.


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Beat some of it very fine and put some of it in front of the Ark where I meet with you in the Tabernacle; this incense is most holy.


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The Lord also said to Moses, "See, I have appointed Bezalel (son of Uri, and grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah),


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and have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and skill in constructing the Tabernacle and everything it contains.


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"And I have appointed Oholiab (son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan) to be his assistant; moreover, I have given special skill to all who are known as experts, so that they can make all the things I have instructed you to make:


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the beautifully made, holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons, so that they can minister as priests;


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the anointing oil; and the sweet-spice incense for the Holy Place. They are to follow exactly the directions I gave you."


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"Tell the people of Israel to rest on my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a reminder of the covenant between me and you forever; it helps you to remember that I am Jehovah who makes you holy.


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Yes, rest on the Sabbath, for it is holy. Anyone who does not obey this command must die; anyone who does any work on that day shall be killed.


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Work six days only, for the seventh day is a special day to remind you of my covenant--a weekly reminder forever of my promises to the people of Israel.


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Then, as God finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written with the finger of God.


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When Moses didn't come back down the mountain right away, the people went to Aaron. "Look," they said, "make us a god to lead us, for this fellow Moses who brought us here from Egypt has disappeared; something must have happened to him."


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Aaron melted the gold, then molded and tooled it into the form of a calf. The people exclaimed, "O Israel, this is the god that brought you out of Egypt!"


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When Aaron saw how happy the people were about it, he built an altar before the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a feast to Jehovah!"


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So they were up early the next morning and began offering burnt offerings and peace offerings to the calf-idol; afterwards they sat down to feast and drink at a wild party, followed by sexual immorality.


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Then the Lord told Moses, "Quick! Go on down, for your people that you brought from Egypt have defiled themselves,


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and have quickly abandoned all my laws. They have molded themselves a calf, and worshiped it, and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of Egypt.' "


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Now let me alone and my anger shall blaze out against them and destroy them all; and I will make you, Moses, into a great nation instead of them."


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But Moses begged God not to do it. "Lord," he pleaded, "why is your anger so hot against your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and mighty miracles?


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Do you want the Egyptians to say, 'God tricked them into coming to the mountains so that he could slay them, destroying them from off the face of the earth'? Turn back from your fierce wrath. Turn away from this terrible evil you are planning against your people!


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Remember your promise to your servants--to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. For you swore by your own self, 'I will multiply your posterity as the stars of heaven, and I will give them all of this land I have promised to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.' "


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Then Moses went down the mountain, holding in his hands the Ten Commandments written on both sides of two stone tablets.


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When Joshua heard the noise below them, of all the people shouting, he exclaimed to Moses, "It sounds as if they are preparing for war!"


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When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and in terrible anger he threw the tablets to the ground, and they lay broken at the foot of the mountain.


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He took the calf and melted it in the fire, and when the metal cooled, he ground it into powder and spread it upon the water and made the people drink it.


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Then he turned to Aaron. "What in the world did the people do to you," he demanded, "to make you bring such a terrible sin upon them?"


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They said to me, 'Make us a god to lead us, for something has happened to this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt.'


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Well, I told them, 'Bring me your gold earrings.' So they brought them to me and I threw them into the fire, and. . . well. . . this calf came out!"


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When Moses saw that the people had been committing adultery--at Aaron's encouragement, and much to the amusement of their enemies--


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he stood at the camp entrance and shouted, "All of you who are on the Lord's side, come over here and join me." And all the Levites came.


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He told them, "Jehovah the God of Israel says, 'Get your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other and kill even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.' "


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Then Moses told the Levites, "Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers; now he will give you a great blessing."


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The next day Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin, but I will return to the Lord on the mountain--perhaps I will be able to obtain his forgiveness for you."


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So Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Oh, these people have sinned a great sin and have made themselves gods of gold.


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Yet now if you will only forgive their sin--and if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."


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And now go, lead the people to the place I told you about, and I assure you that my Angel shall travel on ahead of you; however, when I come to visit these people, I will punish them for their sins."


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The Lord said to Moses, "Lead these people you brought from Egypt to the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I said, 'I will give this land to your descendants.'


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I will send an Angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.


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It is a land 'flowing with milk and honey'; but I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn, unruly people, and I would be tempted to destroy you along the way."


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When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stripped themselves of their jewelry and ornaments.


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For the Lord had told Moses to tell them, "You are an unruly, stubborn people. If I were there among you for even a moment, I would exterminate you. Remove your jewelry and ornaments until I decide what to do with you."


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Moses always erected the sacred tent (the "Tent for Meeting with God," he called it) far outside the camp, and everyone who wanted to consult with Jehovah went out there.


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Whenever Moses went to the Tabernacle, all the people, when they saw it, stood and would rise and stand in their tent doors.


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As he entered, the pillar of cloud would come down and stand at the door while the Lord spoke with Moses.


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Inside the tent the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Afterwards Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua (son of Nun), stayed behind in the Tabernacle.


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Moses talked there with the Lord and said to him, "You have been telling me, 'Take these people to the Promised Land,' but you haven't told me whom you will send with me. You say you are my friend, and that I have found favor before you;


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please, if this is really so, guide me clearly along the way you want me to travel so that I will understand you and walk acceptably before you. For don't forget that this nation is your people."


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If you don't go with us, who will ever know that I and my people have found favor with you, and that we are different from any other people upon the face of the earth?"


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And the Lord had replied to Moses, "Yes, I will do what you have asked, for you have certainly found favor with me, and you are my friend."


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The Lord replied, "I will make my goodness pass before you, and I will announce to you the meaning of my name Jehovah, the Lord. I show kindness and mercy to anyone I want to.


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And when my glory goes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed.


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The Lord told Moses, "Prepare two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write upon them the same commands that were on the tablets you broke.


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Be ready in the morning to come up into Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the top of the mountain.


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No one shall come with you and no one must be anywhere on the mountain. Do not let the flocks or herds feed close to the mountain."


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So Moses took two tablets of stone like the first ones, and was up early and climbed Mount Sinai, as the Lord had told him to, taking the two stone tablets in his hands.


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Then the Lord descended in the form of a pillar of cloud and stood there with him, and passed in front of him and announced the meaning of his name.


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"I am Jehovah, the merciful and gracious God," he said, "slow to anger and rich in steadfast love and truth.


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I, Jehovah, show this steadfast love to many thousands by forgiving their sins; or else I refuse to clear the guilty, and require that a father's sins be punished in the sons and grandsons, and even later generations."


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And he said, "If it is true that I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, then please go with us to the Promised Land; yes, it is an unruly, stubborn people, but pardon our iniquity and our sins, and accept us as your own."


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The Lord replied, "All right, this is the contract I am going to make with you. I will do miracles such as have never been done before anywhere in all the earth, and all the people of Israel shall see the power of the Lord--the terrible power I will display through you.


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Your part of the agreement is to obey all of my commandments; then I will drive out from before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.


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"Be very, very careful never to compromise with the people there in the land where you are going, for if you do, you will soon be following their evil ways.


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Instead, you must break down their heathen altars, smash the obelisks they worship, and cut down their shameful idols.


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For you must worship no other gods, but only Jehovah, for he is a God who claims absolute loyalty and exclusive devotion.


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"No, do not make a peace treaty of any kind with the people living in the land, for they are spiritual prostitutes, committing adultery against me by sacrificing to their gods. If you become friendly with them and one of them invites you to go with him and worship his idol, you are apt to do it.


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And you would accept their daughters, who worship other gods, as wives for your sons--and then your sons would commit adultery against me by worshiping their wives' gods.


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"Be sure to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days, just as I instructed you, at the dates appointed each year in March; that was the month you left Egypt.


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The firstborn colt of a donkey may be redeemed by giving a lamb in its place. If you decide not to redeem it, then its neck must be broken. But your sons must all be redeemed. And no one shall appear before me without a gift.


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"And you must remember to celebrate these three annual religious festivals: the Festival of Weeks, the Festival of the First Wheat, and the Harvest Festival.


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No one will attack and conquer your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God those three times each year. For I will drive out the nations from before you and enlarge your boundaries.


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"You must not use leavened bread with your sacrifices to me, and none of the meat of the Passover lamb may be kept over until the following morning.


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And you must bring the best of the first of each year's crop to the Tabernacle of the Lord your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk."


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And the Lord said to Moses, "Write down these laws that I have given you, for they represent the terms of my covenant with you and with Israel."


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Moses was up on the mountain with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, and in all that time he neither ate nor drank. At that time God wrote out the Covenant--the Ten Commandments--on the stone tablets.


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Moses didn't realize as he came back down the mountain with the tablets that his face glowed from being in the presence of God.


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Because of this radiance upon his face, Aaron and the people of Israel were afraid to come near him.


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But Moses called them over to him, and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation came and talked with him.


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Afterwards, all the people came to him, and he gave them the commandments the Lord had given him upon the mountain.


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but whenever he went into the Tabernacle to speak with the Lord, he removed the veil until he came out again; then he would pass on to the people whatever instructions God had given him,


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and the people would see his face aglow. Afterwards he would put the veil on again until he returned to speak with God.


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Now Moses called a meeting of all the people and told them, "These are the laws of Jehovah you must obey.


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"Work six days only; the seventh day is a day of solemn rest, a holy day to be used to worship Jehovah; anyone working on that day must die.


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All of you who wish to, all those with generous hearts, may bring these offerings to Jehovah: Gold, silver, and bronze;


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"Come, all of you who are skilled craftsmen having special talents, and construct what God has commanded us:


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The incense altar and its carrying poles; The anointing oil and sweet incense; The curtain for the door of the Tabernacle;


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The altar for the burnt offerings; The bronze grating of the altar, and its carrying poles and utensils; The basin with its pedestal;


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The drapes for the walls of the court; The pillars and their bases; Drapes for the entrance to the court;


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The beautiful clothing for the priests, to be used when ministering in the Holy Place; The holy garments for Aaron the priest, and for his sons."


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Those whose hearts were stirred by God's Spirit returned with their offerings of materials for the Tabernacle, its equipment, and for the holy garments.


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Both men and women came, all who were willing-hearted. They brought to the Lord their offerings of gold, jewelry--earrings, rings from their fingers, necklaces--and gold objects of every kind.


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Others brought blue, purple, and scarlet cloth made from the fine-twined linen or goats' hair; and rams' skins dyed red, and specially treated goatskins.


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Others brought silver and bronze as their offering to the Lord; and some brought the acacia wood needed in the construction.


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The women skilled in sewing and spinning prepared blue, purple, and scarlet thread and cloth, and fine-twined linen, and brought them in.


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So the people of Israel--every man and woman who wanted to assist in the work given to them by the Lord's command to Moses--brought their freewill offerings to him.


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And Moses told them, "Jehovah has specifically appointed Bezalel (the son of Uri and grandson of Hur of the tribe of Judah) as general superintendent of the project.


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he can cut and set stones like a jeweler and can do beautiful carving; in fact, he has every needed skill.


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And God has made him and Oholiab gifted teachers of their skills to others. (Oholiab is the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.)


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God has filled them both with unusual skills as jewelers, carpenters, embroidery designers in blue, purple, and scarlet on linen backgrounds, and as weavers--they excel in all the crafts we will be needing in the work.


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"All the other craftsmen with God-given abilities are to assist Bezalel and Oholiab in constructing and furnishing the Tabernacle."


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Moses gave them the materials donated by the people and additional gifts were received each morning.


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to meet with Moses and told him, "We have more than enough materials on hand now to complete the job!"


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The skilled weavers first made ten sheets from fine linen, then embroidered into them blue, purple, and scarlet Guardian Angels. Each sheet was 42 feet long and 6 feet wide.


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Five of these sheets were attached end to end, then five others similarly attached, forming two long roofsheets.


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Fifty blue ribbons were looped along the edges of these two long sheets, each loop being opposite its mate on the other long sheet.


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Then fifty clasps of gold were made to connect the loops, thus tying the two long sheets together to form the ceiling of the Tabernacle.


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Above the ceiling was a second layer formed by eleven draperies made of goats' hair (uniformly 45 feet long and 6 feet wide).


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Bezalel coupled five of these draperies together to make one long piece, and six others to make another long piece.


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and fifty small bronze clasps to couple the loops so that the draperies were firmly attached to each other.


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with the bottoms fitting into forty silver bases. Each frame was connected to its base by two clasps.


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There were also twenty frames on the north side of the Tabernacle, with forty silver bases, two for each frame.


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These frames, including those at the corners, were linked to each other at both top and bottom by rings.


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So, on the west side, there were a total of eight frames with sixteen silver bases beneath them, two for each frame.


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Then he made five sets of bars from acacia wood to tie the frames together along the sides, five for each side of the Tabernacle.


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The middle bar of the five was halfway up the frames, along each side, running from one end to the other.


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The blue, purple, and scarlet inner curtain was made from woven linen, with Guardian Angels skillfully embroidered into it.


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The curtain was then attached to four gold hooks set into four posts of acacia wood, overlaid with gold and set into four silver bases.


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Then he made a drapery for the entrance to the Tabernacle; it was woven from finespun linen, embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet.


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This drapery was connected by five hooks to five posts. The posts and their capitals and rods were overlaid with gold; their five bases were molded from bronze.


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Next Bezalel made the Ark. This was constructed of acacia wood and was 3 3/4 feet long, 2 1/4 feet wide, and 2 1/4 feet high.


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It was plated with pure gold inside and out, and had a molding of gold all the way around the sides.


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Then, from pure gold, he made a lid called "the place of mercy"; it was 3 3/4 feet long and 2 1/4 feet wide.


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He made two statues of Guardian Angels of beaten gold and placed them at the two ends of the gold lid.


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The Guardian Angels faced each other, with outstretched wings that overshadowed the place of mercy, looking down upon it.


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A rim 4 inches high was constructed around the edges of the table, with a gold molding along the rim.


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Then he made the lampstand, again using pure, beaten gold. Its base, shaft, lamp-holders, and decorations of almond flowers were all of one piece.


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a flower on the stem beneath each pair of branches; also a flower below the bottom pair and above the top pair, four in all.


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Then he made the seven lamps at the ends of the branches, the snuffers, and the ashtrays, all of pure gold. The entire lampstand weighed 107 pounds, all pure gold.


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The incense altar was made of acacia wood. It was 18 inches square and 3 feet high, with its corner-horns made as part of the altar so that it was all one piece.


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Then, from sweet spices, he made the sacred oil for anointing the priests, and the pure incense, using the techniques of the most skilled perfumers.


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The burnt-offering altar was also constructed of acacia wood; it was 7 1/2 feet square at the top, and 4 1/2 feet high.


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There were four horns at the four corners, all of one piece with the rest. This altar was overlaid with bronze.


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Then he made bronze utensils to be used with the altar--the pots, shovels, basins, meat hooks, and fire pans.


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The carrying poles were inserted into the rings at the side of the altar. The altar was hollow, with plank siding.


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The bronze washbasin and its bronze pedestal were cast from the solid bronze mirrors donated by the women who assembled at the entrance to the Tabernacle.


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Then he constructed the courtyard. The south wall was 150 feet long; it consisted of drapes woven from fine-twined linen thread.


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The north wall was also 150 feet long, with twenty bronze posts and bases and with silver hooks and rods.


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The west side was 75 feet wide; the walls were made from drapes supported by ten posts and bases, and with silver hooks and rods.


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The drapes at either side of the entrance were 22 1/2 feet wide, each with three posts and three bases.


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Each post had a bronze base, and all the hooks and rods were silver; the tops of the posts were overlaid with silver, and the rods to hold up the drapes were solid silver.


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The drapery covering the entrance to the court was made of fine-twined linen, beautifully embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet thread. It was 30 feet long and 7 1/2 feet wide, just the same as the drapes composing the walls of the court.


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It was supported by four posts, with four bronze bases and with silver hooks and rods; the tops of the posts were also silver.


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This summarizes the various steps in building the Tabernacle to house the Ark, so that the Levites could carry on their ministry. All was done in the order designated by Moses and was supervised by Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.


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assisted by Oholiab (son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan); he too was a skilled craftsman and also an expert at engraving, weaving, and at embroidering blue, purple, and scarlet threads into fine linen cloth.


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The amount of silver used was 9,575 pounds, which came from the fifty-cent head tax collected from all those registered in the census


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The bases for the frames of the sanctuary walls and for the posts supporting the veil required 9,500 pounds of silver, 95 pounds for each socket.


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which was used for casting the bases for the posts at the entrance to the Tabernacle, and for the bronze altar, the bronze grating, the altar utensils,


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the bases for the posts supporting the drapes enclosing the court, and for all the nails used in the construction of the Tabernacle and the court.


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Then, for the priests, the people made beautiful garments of blue, purple, and scarlet cloth--garments to be used while ministering in the Holy Place. This same cloth was used for Aaron's sacred garments, in accordance with the Lord's instructions to Moses.


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Bezalel beat gold into thin plates and cut it into wire threads, to work into the blue, purple, and scarlet linen; it was a skillful and beautiful piece of workmanship when finished.


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and was tied down by an elaborate one-piece woven sash made of the same gold, blue, purple, and scarlet cloth cut from fine-twined linen thread, just as God had directed Moses.


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The  two onyx stones, attached to the  two shoulder straps of the ephod, were set in gold, and the stones were engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel, just as initials are engraved upon a ring.


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These stones were reminders to Jehovah concerning the people of Israel; all this was done in accordance with the Lord's instructions to Moses.


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The chestpiece was a beautiful piece of work, just like the ephod, made from the finest gold, blue, purple, and scarlet linen.


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there were four rows of stones across it. In the first row were a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle;


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 To attach the chestpiece to the ephod, a gold ring was placed at the top of each shoulder strap of the ephod,


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and from these gold rings, two strands of twined gold attached to gold clasps on the top corners of the chestpiece.


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Two gold rings were also set at the lower edge of the chestpiece, on the under side, next to the ephod.


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Two other gold rings were placed low on the shoulder straps of the ephod, close to where the ephod joined its beautifully woven sash.


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The chestpiece was held securely above the beautifully woven sash of the ephod by tying the rings of the chestpiece to the rings of the ephod with a blue ribbon. All this was commanded to Moses by the Lord.


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and there was a hole at the center, just as in a coat of mail, for the head to go through, reinforced around the edge so that it would not tear.


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Pomegranates were attached to the bottom edge of the robe; these were made of linen cloth, embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet.


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with bells and pomegranates alternating all around the edge. This robe was worn when Aaron ministered to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.


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The chestpiece, the beautiful turbans, and the caps and the underclothes were all made of this linen,


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and the linen belt was beautifully embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet threads, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.


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Finally, they made the holy plate of pure gold to wear on the front of the turban, engraved with the words, "Consecrated to Jehovah."


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Then they brought the entire Tabernacle to Moses: Furniture; clasps; frames; bars; Posts; bases; layers of covering for the roof and sides--


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The drapes for the walls of the court and the posts holding them up; The bases and the drapes at the gate of the court; The cords and nails; All the utensils used there in the work of the Tabernacle.


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They also brought for his inspection the beautifully tailored garments to be worn while ministering in the Holy Place and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and those for his sons, to be worn when on duty.


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And Moses inspected all their work and blessed them because it was all as the Lord had instructed him.


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In it place the Ark containing the Ten Commandments; and install the veil to enclose the Ark within the Holy of Holies.


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Then bring in the table and place the utensils on it, and bring in the lampstand and light the lamps.


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"Place the gold altar for the incense in front of the Ark. Set up the drapes at the entrance of the Tabernacle,


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Then make the courtyard around the outside of the tent, and hang the curtain-door at the entrance to the courtyard.


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"Take the anointing oil and sprinkle it here and there upon the Tabernacle and everything in it, upon all of its utensils and parts, and all the furniture, to hallow it; and it shall become holy.


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Sprinkle the anointing oil upon the altar of burnt offering and its utensils, sanctifying it; for the altar shall then become most holy.


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and clothe Aaron with the holy garments and anoint him, sanctifying him to minister to me as a priest.


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and anoint them as you did their father, that they may minister to me as priests; their anointing shall be permanent from generation to generation: all their children and children's children shall forever be my priests."


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Then he spread the coverings over the framework and put on the top layers, just as the Lord had commanded him.


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Inside the Ark he placed the stones with the Ten Commandments engraved on them, and attached the carrying poles to the Ark and installed the gold lid, the place of mercy.


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Then he brought the Ark into the Tabernacle and set up the curtain to screen it, just as the Lord had commanded.


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and placed the outside altar for the burnt offerings near the entrance, and offered upon it a burnt offering and a meal offering, just as the Lord had commanded him.


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Next he placed the washbasin between the tent and the altar and filled it with water so that the priests could use it for washing.


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Whenever they walked past the altar to enter the Tabernacle, they stopped and washed, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.


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Then he erected the enclosure surrounding the tent and the altar, and set up the curtain-door at the entrance of the enclosure. So at last Moses finished the work.


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Moses was not able to enter because the cloud was standing there, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.


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The cloud rested upon the Tabernacle during the daytime, and at night there was fire in the cloud so that all the people of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.


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and commanded him to give the following instructions to the people of Israel: "When you sacrifice to the Lord, use animals from your herds and flocks.


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"If your sacrifice is to be an ox given as a burnt offering, use only a bull with no physical defects. Bring the animal to the entrance of the Tabernacle where the priests will accept your gift for the Lord.


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The person bringing it is to lay his hand upon its head, and it then becomes his substitute: the death of the animal will be accepted by God instead of the death of the man who brings it, as the penalty for his sins.


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The man shall then kill the animal there before the Lord, and Aaron's sons, the priests, will present the blood before the Lord, sprinkling it upon all sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle.


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The internal organs and the legs are to be washed, then the priests will burn them upon the altar, and they will be an acceptable burnt offering with which the Lord is pleased.


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"If the animal used as a burnt offering is a sheep or a goat, it too must be a male, and without any blemishes.


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The man who brings it will kill it before the Lord on the north side of the altar, and Aaron's sons, the priests, will sprinkle its blood back and forth upon the altar.


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Then the man will quarter it, and the priests will lay the pieces, with the head and the fat, on top of the wood on the altar.


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But the internal organs and the legs shall first be washed with water. Then the priests shall burn it all upon the altar as an offering to the Lord; for burnt offerings give much pleasure to the Lord.


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"If anyone wishes to use a bird as his burnt offering, he may choose either turtledoves or young pigeons.


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A priest will take the bird to the altar and wring off its head, and the blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar.


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Then the priest will remove the crop and the feathers and throw them on the east side of the altar with the ashes.


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Then, grasping it by the wings, he shall tear it apart, but not completely. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar, and the Lord will have pleasure in this sacrifice.


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"Anyone who wishes to sacrifice a grain offering to the Lord is to bring fine flour and is to pour olive oil and incense upon it.


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Then he is to take a handful, representing the entire amount, to one of the priests to burn, and the Lord will be fully pleased.


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The remainder of the flour is to be given to Aaron and his sons as their food; but all of it is counted as a holy burnt offering to the Lord.


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"If bread baked in the oven is brought as an offering to the Lord, it must be made from finely ground flour, baked with olive oil but without yeast. Wafers made without yeast and spread with olive oil may also be used as an offering.


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If the offering is something from the griddle, it shall be made of finely ground flour without yeast, and mingled with olive oil.


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"However it is prepared--whether baked, fried, or grilled--you are to bring this grain offering to the priest and he shall take it to the altar to present it to the Lord.


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"The priests are to burn only a representative portion of the offering, but all of it will be fully appreciated by the Lord.


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The remainder belongs to the priests for their own use, but it is all counted as a holy burnt offering to the Lord.


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"Use no yeast with your offerings of flour; for no yeast or honey is permitted in burnt offerings to the Lord.


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You may offer yeast bread and honey as thanksgiving offerings at harvest time, but not as burnt offerings.


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"If you are offering from the first of your harvest, remove the kernels from a fresh ear, crush and roast them, then offer them to the Lord.


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Then the priests shall burn part of the bruised grain mixed with oil and all of the incense as a representative portion before the Lord.


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"When anyone wants to give an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord, he may use either a bull or a cow, but the animal must be entirely without defect if it is to be offered to the Lord!


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The man who brings the animal shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the door of the Tabernacle. Then Aaron's sons shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar


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and shall burn before the Lord the fat that covers the inward parts, the two kidneys and the loin-fat on them, and the gall bladder. And it will give the Lord much pleasure.


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"If a goat or sheep is used as a thank-offering to the Lord, it must have no defect and may be either a male or female.


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shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the entrance of the Tabernacle; the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar,


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and shall offer upon the altar the fat, the tail removed close to the backbone, the fat covering the internal organs,


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he shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the entrance of the Tabernacle. The priest shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar,


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the two kidneys and the loin-fat on them, and the gall bladder. This burnt offering is very pleasing to the Lord. All the fat is Jehovah's.


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"Tell the people of Israel that these are the laws concerning anyone who unintentionally breaks any of my commandments.


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If a priest sins unintentionally and so brings guilt upon the people, he must offer a young bull without defect as a sin offering to the Lord.


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He shall bring it to the door of the Tabernacle, and shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it there before Jehovah.


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and shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil that bars the way to the Holy of Holies.


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Then the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the incense altar before the Lord in the Tabernacle; the remainder of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, at the entrance to the Tabernacle.


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and shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering, just as in the case of a bull or cow sacrificed as a thank-offering.


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shall be carried to a ceremonially clean place outside the camp--a place where the ashes are brought from the altar--and burned there on a wood fire.


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"If the entire nation of Israel sins without realizing it and does something that Jehovah has said not to do, all the people are guilty.


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When they realize it, they shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, bringing it to the Tabernacle


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where the leaders of the nation shall lay their hands upon the animal's head and kill it before the Lord.


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and shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil.


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Then he shall put blood upon the horns of the altar there in the Tabernacle before the Lord, and all the remainder of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the burnt offering altar, at the entrance to the Tabernacle.


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He shall follow the same procedure as for a sin offering; in this way the priest shall make atonement for the nation, and everyone will be forgiven.


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The priest shall then cart the young bull outside the camp and burn it there, just as though it were a sin offering for an individual, only this time it is a sin offering for the entire nation.


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as soon as it is called to his attention he must bring as his sacrifice a male goat without any physical defect.


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He shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the place where the burnt offerings are killed, and present it to the Lord. This is his sin offering.


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Then the priest shall take some of the blood of this sin offering and place it with his finger upon the horns of the altar of burnt offerings, and the rest of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the altar.


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All the fat shall be burned upon the altar, just as if it were the fat of the sacrifice of a thank-offering; thus the priest shall make atonement for the leader concerning his sin, and he shall be forgiven.


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But as soon as he does realize it, he is to bring as his sacrifice a female goat without defect to atone for his sin.


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He shall bring it to the place where the animals for burnt offerings are killed, and there lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering and kill it.


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And the priest shall take some of the blood with his finger and smear it upon the horns of the burnt offering altar. Then the priest shall pour out the remainder of the blood at the base of the altar.


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All the fat shall be taken off, just as in the procedure for the thank-offering sacrifice, and the priest shall burn it upon the altar; and the Lord will appreciate it. Thus the priest shall make atonement for that man, and he shall be forgiven.


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"However, if he chooses to bring a lamb as his sin offering, it must be a female without physical defect.


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He shall bring it to the place where the burnt offerings are killed, and lay his hand upon its head and kill it there as a sin offering.


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The priest shall take some of the blood with his finger and smear it upon the horns of the burnt offering altar, and all the rest of the blood shall be poured out at the base of the altar.


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The fat shall be used just as in the case of a thank-offering lamb--the priest shall burn the fat on the altar as in any other sacrifice made to Jehovah by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for the man, and his sin shall be forgiven.


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"Anyone touching anything ceremonially unclean--such as the dead body of an animal forbidden for food, wild or domesticated, or the dead body of some forbidden insect--is guilty, even though he wasn't aware of touching it.


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Or if he touches human discharge of any kind, he becomes guilty as soon as he realizes that he has touched it.


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"If anyone makes a rash vow, whether the vow is good or bad, when he realizes what a foolish vow he has taken, he is guilty.


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and bring his guilt offering to the Lord, a female lamb or goat, and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be freed from his sin, and need not fulfill the vow.


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"If he is too poor to bring a lamb to the Lord, then he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons as his guilt offering; one of the birds shall be his sin offering and the other his burnt offering.


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The priest shall offer as the sin sacrifice whichever bird is handed to him first, breaking its neck, but not severing its head from its body.


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Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood at the side of the altar and the rest shall be drained out at the base of the altar; this is the sin offering.


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He shall offer the second bird as a burnt offering, following the customary procedures that have been set forth; so the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he shall be forgiven.


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"If he is too poor to bring turtledoves or young pigeons as his sin offering, then he shall bring a tenth of a bushel of fine flour. He must not mix it with olive oil or put any incense on it because it is a sin offering.


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He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take out a handful as a representative portion and burn it on the altar just as any other offering to Jehovah made by fire; this shall be his sin offering.


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In this way the priest shall make atonement for him for any sin of this kind, and he shall be forgiven. The rest of the flour shall belong to the priest, just as was the case with the grain offering."


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"If anyone sins by unintentionally defiling what is holy, then he shall bring a ram without defect, worth whatever fine you charge against him, as his guilt offering to the Lord.


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And he shall make restitution for the holy thing he has defiled, or the tithe omitted, by paying for the loss, plus a 20 percent penalty; he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.


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and must bring his sacrifice of a value determined by Moses. This sacrifice shall be a ram without blemish taken to the priest as a guilt offering; with it the priest shall make atonement for him, so that he will be forgiven for whatever it is he has done without realizing it.


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"If anyone sins against me by refusing to return a deposit on something borrowed or rented, or by refusing to return something entrusted to him, or by robbery, or by oppressing his neighbor,


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adding a 20 percent fine, and give it to the one he has harmed; and on the same day he shall bring his guilt offering to the Tabernacle.


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His guilt offering shall be a ram without defect, and must be worth whatever value you demand. He shall bring it to the priest,


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"Give Aaron and his sons these regulations concerning the burnt offering: "The burnt offering shall be left upon the hearth of the altar all night, with the altar fire kept burning.


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(The next morning) the priest shall put on his linen undergarments and his linen outer garments, and clean out the ashes of the burnt offering, and put them beside the altar.


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Then he shall change his clothes and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean.


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Meanwhile, the fire on the altar must be kept burning--it must not go out. The priest shall put on fresh wood each morning, and lay the daily burnt offering on it, and burn the fat of the daily peace offering.


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"These are the regulations concerning the grain offering: "Aaron's sons shall stand in front of the altar to offer it before the Lord.


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The priest shall then take out a handful of the finely ground flour, with the olive oil and the incense mixed into it, and burn it upon the altar as a representative portion for the Lord; and it will be received with pleasure by the Lord.


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After taking out this handful, the remainder of the flour will belong to Aaron and his sons for their food; it shall be eaten without yeast in the courtyard of the Tabernacle.


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(Stress this instruction, that if it is baked, it must be without yeast.) I have given to the priests this part of the burnt offerings made to me. However, all of it is most holy, just as is the entire sin offering and the entire guilt offering.


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It may be eaten by any male descendant of Aaron, any priest, generation after generation. But only the priests may eat these offerings made by fire to the Lord."


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"On the day Aaron and his sons are anointed and inducted into the priesthood, they shall bring to the Lord a regular grain offering--a tenth of a bushel of fine flour, half to be offered in the morning and half in the evening.


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It shall be cooked on a griddle, using olive oil, and should be well cooked, then brought to the Lord as an offering that pleases him very much.


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As the sons of the priests replace their fathers, they shall be inducted into office by offering this same sacrifice on the day of their anointing. This is a perpetual law.


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"Tell Aaron and his sons that these are the instructions concerning the sin offering: "This sacrifice is most holy, and shall be killed before the Lord at the place where the burnt offerings are killed.


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Only those who are sanctified--the priests--may touch this meat; if any blood sprinkles onto their clothing, it must be washed in a holy place.


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Then the clay pot in which the clothing is boiled shall be broken; or if a bronze kettle is used, it must be scoured and rinsed out thoroughly.


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No sin offering may be eaten by the priests if any of its blood is taken into the Tabernacle to make atonement in the Holy Place. That carcass must be entirely burned with fire before the Lord.


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"The sacrificial animal shall be killed at the place where the burnt offering sacrifices are slain, and its blood shall be sprinkled back and forth upon the altar.


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The priest will offer upon the altar all its fat, including the tail, the fat that covers the insides,


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Only males among the priests may then eat the carcass, and it must be eaten in a holy place, for this is a most holy sacrifice.


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"The same instructions apply to both the sin offering and the guilt offering--the carcass shall be given to the priest who is in charge of the atonement ceremony, for his food.


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(When the offering is a burnt sacrifice, the priest who is in charge shall also be given the animal's hide.)


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The priests who present the people's grain offerings to the Lord shall be given whatever remains of the sacrifice after the ceremony is completed. This rule applies whether the sacrifice is baked, fried, or grilled.


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All other grain offerings, whether mixed with olive oil or dry, are the common property of all sons of Aaron.


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"If it is an offering of thanksgiving, unleavened short bread shall be included with the sacrifice, along with unleavened wafers spread with olive oil and loaves from a batter of flour mixed with olive oil.


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Part of this sacrifice shall be presented to the Lord by a gesture of waving it before the altar, then it shall be given to the assisting priest, the one who sprinkles the blood of the animal presented for the sacrifice.


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After the animal has been sacrificed and presented to the Lord as a peace offering to show special appreciation and thanksgiving to him, its meat is to be eaten that same day, and none left to be eaten the next day.


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"However, if someone brings a sacrifice that is not for thanksgiving, but is because of a vow or is simply a voluntary offering to the Lord, any portion of the sacrifice that is not eaten the day it is sacrificed may be eaten the next day.


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For if any of it is eaten on the third day, the Lord will not accept it; it will have no value as a sacrifice, and there will be no credit to the one who brought it to be offered; and the priest who eats it shall be guilty, for it is detestable to the Lord, and the person who eats it must answer for his sin.


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"Any meat that comes into contact with anything that is ceremonially unclean shall not be eaten, but burned; and as for the meat that may be eaten, it may be eaten only by a person who is ceremonially clean.


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Any priest who is ceremonially unclean but eats the thanksgiving offering anyway, shall be cut off from his people, for he has defiled what is sacred.


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Anyone who touches anything that is ceremonially unclean, whether it is uncleanness from man or beast, and then eats the peace offering, shall be cut off from his people, for he has defiled what is holy."


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The fat of an animal that dies of disease, or is attacked and killed by wild animals, may be used for other purposes, but never eaten.


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Anyone who eats fat from an offering sacrificed by fire to the Lord shall be outlawed from his people.


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"Never eat blood, whether of birds or animals. Anyone who does shall be excommunicated from his people."


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"Tell the people of Israel that anyone bringing a thanksgiving offering to the Lord must bring it personally with his own hands.


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He shall bring the offering of the fat and breast, which is to be presented to the Lord by waving it before the altar.


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Then the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar, but the breast shall belong to Aaron and his sons,


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For I have designated the breast and thigh as donations from the people of Israel to the sons of Aaron. Aaron and his sons must always be given this portion of the sacrifice.


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This is their pay! It is to be set apart from the burnt offerings, and given to all who have been appointed to minister to the Lord as priests--to Aaron and to his sons.


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For on the day the Lord anointed them, he commanded that the people of Israel give these portions to them; it is their right forever throughout all their generations."


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These were the instructions concerning the burnt offering, grain offering, sin offering, and guilt offering, and concerning the consecration offering and the peace offering;


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these instructions were given to Moses by the Lord on Mount Sinai, to be passed on to the people of Israel so that they would know how to offer their sacrifices to God in the Sinai desert.


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"Now bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tabernacle, together with their garments, the anointing oil, the young bull for the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of bread made without yeast;


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and he clothed Aaron with the special coat, sash, robe, and the ephod-jacket with its beautifully woven belt.


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and placed on Aaron's head the turban with the sacred gold plate at its front--the holy crown--as the Lord had commanded Moses.


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Then Moses took the anointing oil and sprinkled it upon the Tabernacle itself and on each item in it, sanctifying them.


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When he came to the altar he sprinkled it seven times, and also sprinkled the utensils of the altar and the washbasin and its pedestal, to sanctify them.


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Next Moses placed the robes on Aaron's sons, with the belts and caps, as the Lord had commanded him.


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Then he took the young bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon its head


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as Moses killed it. He smeared some of the blood with his finger upon the four horns of the altar and upon the altar itself, to sanctify it, and poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar; thus he sanctified the altar, making atonement for it.


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He took all the fat covering the entrails, the fatty mass above the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and burned them all on the altar.


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The carcass of the young bull, with its hide and dung, was burned outside the camp, as the Lord had commanded Moses.


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Then he presented to the Lord the ram for the burnt offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon its head,


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He then washed the insides and the legs with water, and burned them upon the altar, so that the entire ram was consumed before the Lord; it was a burnt offering that pleased the Lord very much, for Jehovah's directions to Moses were followed in every detail.


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Then Moses presented the other ram, the ram of consecration; Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon its head.


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Moses killed it and took some of its blood and smeared it upon the lobe of Aaron's right ear and the thumb of his right hand and upon the big toe of his right foot.


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Next he smeared some of the blood upon Aaron's sons--upon the lobes of their right ears, upon their right thumbs, and upon the big toes of their right feet. The rest of the blood he sprinkled back and forth upon the altar.


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Then he took the fat, the tail, the fat upon the inner organs, the gall bladder, the two kidneys with their fat, and the right shoulder,


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and placed on top of these one unleavened wafer, one wafer spread with olive oil, and a slice of bread, all taken from the basket that had been placed there before the Lord.


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All this was placed in the hands of Aaron and his sons to present to the Lord by a gesture of waving them before the altar.


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Moses then took it all back from them and burned it upon the altar, along with the burnt offering to the Lord; and Jehovah was pleased by the offering.


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Now Moses took the breast and presented it to the Lord by waving it before the altar; this was Moses' portion of the ram of consecration, just as the Lord had instructed him.


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Next he took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that had been sprinkled upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron and upon his clothes and upon his sons and upon their clothes, thus consecrating to the Lord's use Aaron and his sons and their clothes.


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Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, "Boil the meat at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and eat it along with the bread that is in the basket of consecration, just as I instructed you to do.


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Next he told them not to leave the Tabernacle entrance for seven days, after which time their consecration would be completed--for it takes seven days.


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Then Moses stated again that all he had done that day had been commanded by the Lord in order to make atonement for them.


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And again he warned Aaron and his sons to stay at the entrance of the Tabernacle day and night for seven days. "If you leave," he told them, "you will die--this is what the Lord has said."


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On the eighth day (of the consecration ceremonies), Moses summoned Aaron and Aaron's sons and the elders of Israel,


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and told Aaron to take a bull calf from the herd for a sin offering, and a ram without bodily defect for a burnt offering, and to offer them before the Lord.


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"And tell the people of Israel," Moses instructed, "to select a male goat for their sin offering, also a yearling calf and a yearling lamb, all without bodily defect, for their burnt offering.


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In addition, the people are to bring to the Lord a peace offering sacrifice--an ox and a ram, and a grain offering--flour mingled with olive oil. For today," Moses said, "Jehovah will appear to them."


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So they brought all these things to the entrance of the Tabernacle, as Moses had commanded, and the people came and stood there before the Lord.


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Moses then told Aaron to proceed to the altar and to offer the sin offering and the burnt offering, making atonement for himself first, and then for the people, as the Lord had commanded.


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his sons caught the blood for him, and he dipped his finger in it and smeared it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the rest at the base of the altar.


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Then he burned upon the altar the fat, kidneys, and gall bladder from this sin offering, as the Lord had commanded Moses,


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Next he killed the burnt offering animal, and his sons caught the blood, and he sprinkled it back and forth upon the altar;


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they brought the animal to him piece by piece, including the head, and he burned each part upon the altar.


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Next he sacrificed the people's offering; he killed the goat and offered it in just the same way as he had the sin offering for himself.


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Thus he sacrificed their burnt offering to the Lord, in accordance with the instructions God had given.


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Then he presented the grain offering, taking a handful and burning it upon the altar in addition to the regular morning offering.


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Next he killed the ox and ram--the people's peace offering sacrifice; and Aaron's sons brought the blood to him, and he sprinkled it back and forth upon the altar.


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Then he collected the fat of the ox and the ram--the fat from their tails and the fat covering the inner organs--and the kidneys and gall bladders.


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but he waved the breasts and right shoulders slowly before the Lord as a gesture of offering it to him, just as Moses had commanded.


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Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came out again they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole assembly.


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Then fire came from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and fat on the altar; and when the people saw it, they all shouted and fell flat upon the ground before the Lord.


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But Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, placed unholy fire in their censers, laid incense on the fire, and offered the incense before the Lord --contrary to what the Lord had just commanded them!


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Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord meant when he said, 'I will show myself holy among those who approach me, and I will be glorified before all the people.' " And Aaron was speechless.


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Then Moses called for Mishael and Elzaphon, Aaron's cousins, the sons of Uzziel, and told them, "Go and get the charred bodies from before the Tabernacle, and carry them outside the camp."


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Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not mourn--do not let your hair hang loose as a sign of your mourning, and do not tear your clothes. If you do, God will strike you dead too, and his wrath will come upon all the people of Israel. But the rest of the people of Israel may lament the death of Nadab and Abihu, and mourn because of the terrible fire the Lord has sent.


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But you are not to leave the Tabernacle under penalty of death, for the anointing oil of Jehovah is upon you." And they did as Moses commanded.


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"Never drink wine or strong drink when you go into the Tabernacle, lest you die; and this rule applies to your sons and to all your descendants from generation to generation.


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Your duties will be to arbitrate for the people, to teach them the difference between what is holy and what is ordinary, what is pure and what is impure;


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Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons who were left, Eleazar and Ithamar, "Take the grain offering--the food that remains after the handful has been offered to the Lord by burning it on the altar--make sure there is no leaven in it, and eat it beside the altar. The offering is most holy;


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therefore, you must eat it in the sanctuary, in a holy place. It belongs to you and to your sons, from the offerings to Jehovah made by fire; for so I am commanded.


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But the breast and the thigh, which have been offered to the Lord by the gesture of waving it before him, may be eaten in any holy place. It belongs to you and to your sons and daughters for your food. It is your portion of the peace offering sacrifices of the people of Israel.


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The people are to bring the thigh that was set aside, along with the breast that was offered when the fat was burned, and they shall be presented before the Lord by the gesture of waving them. And afterwards they shall belong to you and your family, for the Lord has commanded this."


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Then Moses searched everywhere for the goat of the sin offering and discovered that it had been burned! He was very angry about this with Eleazar and Ithamar, the remaining sons of Aaron.


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"Why haven't you eaten the sin offering in the sanctuary, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to take away the iniquity and guilt of the people, to make atonement for them before the Lord?" he demanded.


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"Since its blood was not taken inside the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten it there, as I ordered you."


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But Aaron interceded with Moses. "They offered their sin offering and burnt offering before the Lord," he said, "but if I had eaten the sin offering on such a day as this, would it have pleased the Lord?"


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"Tell the people of Israel that the animals which may be used for food include any animal with cloven hooves which chews its cud.


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This means that the following may not be eaten: The camel (it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves);


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with the exception of those that jump; locusts of all varieties--ordinary locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers--may be eaten.


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and must wash his clothes immediately. He must also quarantine himself until nightfall, as being ceremonially defiled.


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"You are also defiled by touching any animal with only semiparted hoofs, or any animal that does not chew the cud.


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Any animal that walks on paws is forbidden to you as food. Anyone touching the dead body of such an animal shall be defiled until evening.


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Anyone carrying away the carcass shall wash his clothes and be ceremonially defiled until evening; for it is forbidden to you.


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"These are the forbidden small animals which scurry about your feet or crawl upon the ground: The mole, the rat, The great lizard,


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and anything upon which the carcass falls shall be defiled--any article of wood, or of clothing, a rug, or a sack; anything it touches must be put into water and is defiled until evening. After that it may be used again.


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If the water used to cleanse the defiled article touches any food, all of it is defiled. Any drink which is in the defiled bowl is also contaminated.


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If the body falls into a spring or cistern where there is water, that water is not defiled; yet anyone who pulls out the carcass is defiled.


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"If an animal which you are permitted to eat dies of disease, anyone touching the carcass shall be defiled until evening.


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Also, anyone eating its meat or carrying away its carcass shall wash his clothes and be defiled until evening.


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This includes all reptiles that slither along upon their bellies as well as those that have legs. No crawling thing with many feet may be eaten, for it is defiled.


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"I am the Lord your God. Keep yourselves pure concerning these things, and be holy, for I am holy; therefore do not defile yourselves by touching any of these things that crawl upon the earth.


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For I am the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You must therefore be holy, for I am holy."


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These are the laws concerning animals, birds, and whatever swims in the water or crawls upon the ground.


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These are the distinctions between what is ceremonially clean and may be eaten, and what is ceremonially defiled and may not be eaten, among all animal life upon the earth.


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"When a baby boy is born, the mother shall be ceremonially defiled for seven days, and under the same restrictions as during her monthly menstrual periods.


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Then, for the next thirty-three days, while she is recovering from her ceremonial impurity, she must not touch anything sacred nor enter the Tabernacle.


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"When a baby girl is born, the mother's ceremonial impurity shall last two weeks, during which time she will be under the same restrictions as during menstruation. Then for a further sixty-six days she shall continue her recovery.


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"When these days of purification are ended (the following instructions are applicable whether her baby is a boy or girl), she must bring a yearling lamb as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. She must take them to the door of the Tabernacle to the priest;


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and the priest will offer them before the Lord and make atonement for her; then she will be ceremonially clean again after her bleeding at childbirth. "These then, are the procedures after childbirth.


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But if she is too poor to bring a lamb, then she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. One will be for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. The priest will make atonement for her with these, so that she will be ceremonially pure again."


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"If anyone notices a swelling in his skin, or a scab or boil or pimple with transparent skin, leprosy is to be suspected. He must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons


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for the spot to be examined. If the hair in this spot turns white, and if the spot looks to be more than skin-deep, it is leprosy, and the priest must declare him a leper.


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"But if the white spot in the skin does not seem to be deeper than the skin and the hair in the spot has not turned white, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days.


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At the end of that time, on the seventh day, the priest will examine him again, and if the spot has not changed and has not spread in the skin, then the priest must quarantine him seven days more.


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Again on the seventh day the priest will examine him, and if the marks of the disease have become fainter and have not spread, then the priest shall pronounce him cured; it was only a scab, and the man need only wash his clothes and everything will be normal again.


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But if the spot spreads in the skin after he has come to the priest to be examined, he must come back to the priest again,


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and the priest shall look again, and if the spot has spread, then the priest must pronounce him a leper.


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the priest is to look to see if there is a white swelling in the skin with white hairs in the spot, and an ulcer developing.


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If he finds these symptoms, it is an established case of leprosy, and the priest must pronounce him defiled. The man is not to be quarantined for further observation, for he is definitely diseased.


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But if the priest sees that the leprosy has erupted and spread all over his body from head to foot wherever he looks,


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But if there is raw flesh anywhere, the man shall be declared a leper. It is proved by the raw flesh.


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to be examined again. If the spot has indeed turned completely white, then the priest will pronounce him cured.


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but which leaves a white swelling or a bright spot, sort of reddish white, the man must go to the priest for examination.


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If the priest sees that the trouble seems to be down under the skin, and if the hair at the spot has turned white, then the priest shall declare him defiled, for leprosy has broken out from the boil.


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But if the priest sees that there are no white hairs in this spot, and the spot does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and if the color is gray, then the priest shall quarantine him for seven days.


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But if the bright spot grows no larger and does not spread, it is merely the scar from the boil, and the priest shall declare that all is well.


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then the priest must examine the spot. If the hair in the bright spot turns white and the problem seems to be more than skin-deep, it is leprosy that has broken out from the burn, and the priest must pronounce him a leper.


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But if the priest sees that there are no white hairs in the bright spot and the brightness appears to be no deeper than the skin and is fading, the priest shall quarantine him for seven days


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and examine him again the seventh day. If the spot spreads in the skin, the priest must pronounce him a leper.


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But if the bright spot does not move or spread in the skin, and is fading, it is simply a scar from the burn, and the priest shall declare that he does not have leprosy.


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the priest must examine him; if the infection seems to be below the skin and yellow hair is found in the sore, the priest must pronounce him a leper.


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But if the priest's examination reveals that the spot seems to be only in the skin but there is healthy hair in it, then he shall be quarantined for seven days,


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and examined again on the seventh day. If the spot has not spread and no yellow hair has appeared, and if the infection does not seem to be deeper than the skin,


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he shall shave off all the hair around the spot (but not on the spot itself) and the priest shall quarantine him for another seven days.


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He shall be examined again on the seventh day, and if the spot has not spread, and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce him well, and after washing his clothes, he is free.


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then the priest must examine him again and, without waiting to see if any yellow hair develops, declare him a leper.


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But if it appears that the spreading has stopped and black hairs are found in the spot, then he is healed and is not a leper, and the priest shall declare him healed.


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but these spots are growing dimmer, this is not leprosy, but an ordinary infection that has broken out in the skin.


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If the hair is gone from the front part of his head, he simply has a bald forehead, but this is not leprosy.


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In that case the priest shall examine him, and if there is a reddish white lump that looks like leprosy,


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"Anyone who is discovered to have leprosy must tear his clothes and let his hair grow in wild disarray, and cover his upper lip and call out as he goes, "I am a leper, I am a leper."


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"If leprosy is suspected in a woolen or linen garment or fabric, or in a piece of leather or leather-work,


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and there is a greenish or a reddish spot in it, it is probably leprosy, and must be taken to the priest to be examined.


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and he must burn the clothing, fabric, linen or woolen covering, or leather article, for it is contagious and must be destroyed by fire.


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If after that time the spot has not changed its color, even though it has not spread, it is leprosy and shall be burned, for the article is infected through and through.


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But if the priest sees that the spot has faded after the washing, then he shall cut it out from the garment or leather goods or whatever it is in.


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But if after washing it there is no further trouble, it can be put back into service after another washing."


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These are the regulations concerning leprosy in a garment or anything made of skin or leather, indicating whether to pronounce it leprous or not.


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he shall require two living birds of a kind permitted for food, and shall take some cedar wood, a scarlet string, and some hyssop branches, to be used for the purification ceremony of the one who is healed.


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The other bird, still living, shall be dipped in the blood, along with the cedar wood, the scarlet thread, and the hyssop branch.


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Then the priest shall sprinkle the blood seven times upon the man cured of his leprosy, and the priest shall pronounce him cured, and shall let the living bird fly into the open field.


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"Then the man who is cured shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe himself, and return to live inside the camp; however, he must stay outside his tent for seven days.


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The seventh day he shall again shave all the hair from his head, beard, and eyebrows, and wash his clothes and bathe, and shall then be declared fully cured of his leprosy.


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"The next day, the eighth day, he shall take two male lambs without physical defect, one yearling ewe-lamb without physical defect, ten quarts of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil, and a pint of olive oil;


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then the priest who examines him shall place the man and his offerings before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.


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The priest shall take one of the lambs and the pint of olive oil and offer them to the Lord as a guilt offering by the gesture of waving them before the altar.


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Then he shall kill the lamb at the place where sin offerings and burnt offerings are killed, there at the Tabernacle; this guilt offering shall then be given to the priest for food, as in the case of a sin offering. It is a most holy offering.


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The priest shall take the blood from this guilt offering and smear some of it upon the tip of the right ear of the man being cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big toe of his right foot.


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Some of the oil remaining in his left hand shall then be placed by the priest upon the tip of the man's right ear and the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot--just as he did with the blood of the guilt offering.


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The remainder of the oil in his hand shall be used to anoint the man's head. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord.


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"Then the priest must offer the sin offering and again perform the rite of atonement for the person being cleansed from his leprosy; and afterwards the priest shall kill the burnt offering,


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and offer it along with the grain offering upon the altar, making atonement for the man, who shall then be pronounced finally cleansed.


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"If he is so poor that he cannot afford two lambs, then he shall bring only one, a male lamb for the guilt offering, to be presented to the Lord in the rite of atonement by waving it before the altar; and only three quarts of fine white flour, mixed with olive oil, for a grain offering, and a pint of olive oil.


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"He shall also bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons--whichever he is able to afford--and use one of the pair for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.


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He shall bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle on the eighth day, for his ceremony of cleansing before the Lord.


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The priest shall take the lamb for the guilt offering, and the pint of oil, and wave them before the altar as a gesture of offering to the Lord.


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Then he shall kill the lamb for the guilt offering and smear some of its blood upon the tip of the man's right ear--the man on whose behalf the ceremony is being performed--and upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the big toe of his right foot.


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Then he must put some of the olive oil from his hand upon the tip of the man's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big toe of his right foot, just as he did with the blood of the guilt offering.


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The remaining oil in his hand shall be placed upon the head of the man being cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord.


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One of the pair is for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, to be sacrificed along with the grain offering; and the priest shall make atonement for the man before the Lord."


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These, then, are the laws concerning those who are cleansed of leprosy but are not able to bring the sacrifices normally required for the ceremony of cleansing.


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"When you arrive in the land of Canaan which I have given you, and I place leprosy in some house there,


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then the owner of the house shall come and report to the priest, 'It seems to me that there may be leprosy in my house!'


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"The priest shall order the house to be emptied before he examines it, so that everything in the house will not be declared contaminated if he decides that there is leprosy there.


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If he finds greenish or reddish streaks in the walls of the house which seem to be beneath the surface of the wall,


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then the priest shall order the removal of the spotted section of wall, and the material must be thrown into a defiled place outside the city.


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Then he shall order the inside walls of the house scraped thoroughly and the scrapings dumped in a defiled place outside the city.


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Other stones shall be brought to replace those that have been removed, new mortar used, and the house replastered.


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the priest shall come again and look, and if he sees that the spots have spread, it is leprosy, and the house is defiled.


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Then he shall order the destruction of the house--all its stones, timbers, and mortar shall be carried out of the city to a defiled place.


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"But if, when the priest comes again to look, the spots have not reappeared after the fresh plastering, then he will pronounce the house cleansed and declare the leprosy gone.


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He shall also perform the ceremony of cleansing, using two birds, cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop branches.


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and dip the cedar wood, hyssop branch, and scarlet thread, as well as the living bird, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water, and shall sprinkle the house seven times.


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Then he shall let the live bird fly away into an open field outside the city. This is the method for making atonement for the house and cleansing it."


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to give the people of Israel these further instructions: "Any man who has a genital discharge is ceremonially defiled.


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so anyone touching the man's bed is ceremonially defiled until evening, and must wash his clothes and bathe himself.


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Anyone sitting on a seat the man has sat upon while defiled is himself ceremonially impure until evening, and must wash his clothes and bathe himself.


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Anyone he spits on is ceremonially impure until evening, and must wash his clothes and bathe himself.


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Anyone touching or carrying anything else that was beneath him shall be defiled until evening, and must wash his clothes and bathe himself.


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If the defiled man touches anyone without first rinsing his hands, that person must wash his clothes and bathe himself and be defiled until evening.


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Any earthen pot touched by the defiled man must be broken, and every wooden utensil must be rinsed in water.


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"When the discharge stops, he shall begin a seven-day cleansing ceremony by washing his clothes and bathing in running water.


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On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and give them to the priest.


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The priest shall sacrifice them there, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; thus the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the man because of his discharge.


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"Whenever a man's semen goes out from him, he shall take a complete bath and be ceremonially impure until the evening.


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Any clothing or bedding the semen spills on must be washed and remain ceremonially defiled until evening.


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After sexual intercourse, the woman as well as the man must bathe, and they are ceremonially defiled until the next evening.


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"Whenever a woman menstruates, she shall be in a state of ceremonial defilement for seven days afterwards, and during that time anyone touching her shall be defiled until evening.


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Anyone touching her bed or anything she sits upon shall wash his clothes and bathe himself and be ceremonially defiled until evening.


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A man having sexual intercourse with her during this time is ceremonially defiled for seven days, and every bed he lies upon shall be defiled.


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"If the menstrual flow continues after the normal time, or at some irregular time during the month, the same rules apply as indicated above,


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so that anything she lies upon during that time is defiled, just as it would be during her normal menstrual period, and everything she sits on is in a similar state of defilement.


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Anyone touching her bed or anything she sits on shall be defiled, and shall wash his clothes and bathe and be defiled until evening.


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"On the eighth day, she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle,


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and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for her before the Lord for her menstrual defilement.


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In this way you shall cleanse the people of Israel from their defilement, lest they die because of defiling my Tabernacle that is among them."


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and for a woman's menstrual period; and for anyone who has sexual intercourse with her while she is in her period of defilement afterwards.


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"Warn your brother Aaron not to enter into the Holy Place behind the veil, where the Ark and the place of mercy are, just whenever he chooses. The penalty for intrusion is death. For I myself am present in the cloud above the place of mercy.


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"Here are the conditions for his entering there: He must bring a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.


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The people of Israel shall then bring him two male goats for their sin offering, and a ram for their burnt offering.


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First he shall present to the Lord the young bull as a sin offering for himself, making atonement for himself and his family.


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The other goat shall be kept alive and placed before the Lord. The rite of atonement shall be performed over it, and it shall then be sent out into the desert as a scapegoat.


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he shall take a censer full of live coals from the altar of the Lord, and fill his hands with sweet incense beaten into fine powder, and bring it inside the veil.


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There before the Lord he shall put the incense upon the coals, so that a cloud of incense will cover the mercy place above the Ark (containing the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments); thus he will not die.


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And he shall bring some of the blood of the young bull and sprinkle it with his finger upon the east side of the mercy place, and then seven times in front of it.


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"Then he must go out and sacrifice the people's sin offering goat, and bring its blood within the veil, and sprinkle it upon the place of mercy and in front of it, just as he did with the blood of the young bull.


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Thus he shall make atonement for the holy place because it is defiled by the sins of the people of Israel, and for the Tabernacle, located right among them and surrounded by their defilement.


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Not another soul shall be inside the Tabernacle when Aaron enters to make atonement in the Holy Place--not until after he comes out again and has made atonement for himself and his household and for all the people of Israel.


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Then he shall go out to the altar before the Lord and make atonement for it. He must smear the blood of the young bull and the goat on the horns of the altar,


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and sprinkle blood upon the altar seven times with his finger, thus cleansing it from the sinfulness of Israel and making it holy.


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"When he has completed the rite of atonement for the Holy Place, the entire Tabernacle, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat and,


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laying both hands upon its head, confess over it all the sins of the people of Israel. He shall lay all their sins upon the head of the goat and send it into the desert, led by a man appointed for the task.


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So the goat shall carry all the sins of the people into a land where no one lives, and the man shall let it loose in the wilderness.


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"Then Aaron shall go into the Tabernacle again and take off the linen garments he wore when he went behind the veil, and leave them there in the Tabernacle.


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Then he shall bathe in a sacred place, put on his clothes again, and go out and sacrifice his own burnt offering for the people, making atonement for himself and for them.


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"(The man who took the goat out into the desert shall afterwards wash his clothes and bathe himself and then come back into the camp.)


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And the young bull and the goat used for the sin offering (their blood was taken into the Holy Place by Aaron, to make atonement) shall be carried outside the camp and burned, including the hides and internal organs.


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Afterwards, the person doing the burning shall wash his clothes and bathe himself and then return to camp.


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"This is a permanent law: You must do no work on the twenty-fifth day of September, but must spend the day in self-examination and humility. This applies whether you are born in the land or are a foreigner living among the people of Israel;


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for this is the day commemorating the atonement, cleansing you in the Lord's eyes from all of your sins.


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It is a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall spend the day in quiet humility; this is a permanent law.


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This ceremony, in later generations, shall be performed by the anointed High Priest, consecrated in place of his ancestor Aaron; he shall be the one to put on the holy linen garments,


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This shall be an everlasting law for you, to make atonement for the people of Israel once each year, because of their sins." And Aaron followed all these instructions that the Lord gave to Moses.


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The Lord gave to Moses these additional instructions for Aaron and the priests and for all the people of Israel:


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The purpose of this law is to stop the people of Israel from sacrificing in the open fields, and to cause them to bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and to burn the fat as a savor the Lord will appreciate and enjoy--


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for in this way the priest will be able to sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and to burn the fat as a savor the Lord will appreciate and enjoy--


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instead of the people's sacrificing to evil spirits out in the fields. This shall be a permanent law for you, from generation to generation.


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I repeat: Anyone, whether an Israelite or a foreigner living among you who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice


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anywhere other than at the entrance of the Tabernacle, where it will be sacrificed to the Lord, shall be excommunicated.


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"And I will turn my face against anyone, whether an Israelite or a foreigner living among you, who eats blood in any form. I will excommunicate him from his people.


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For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given you the blood to sprinkle upon the altar as an atonement for your souls; it is the blood that makes atonement because it is the life.


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That is the reasoning behind my decree to the people of Israel, that neither they, nor any foreigner living among them, may eat blood.


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Anyone, whether an Israelite or a foreigner living among you, who goes hunting and kills an animal or bird of a kind permitted for food, must pour out the blood and cover it with dust,


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for the blood is the life. That is why I told the people of Israel never to eat it, for the life of every bird and animal is its blood. Therefore, anyone who eats blood must be excommunicated.


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"And anyone--native born or foreigner--who eats the dead body of an animal that dies a natural death, or is killed by wild animals, must wash his clothes and bathe himself and be defiled until evening; after that he shall be declared cleansed.


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so don't act like heathen--like the people of Egypt where you lived so long, or the people of Canaan where I am going to take you.


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Do not have intercourse with your sister or half-sister, whether the daughter of your father or your mother, whether brought up in the same household or elsewhere.


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"You shall not have intercourse with your granddaughter--the daughter of either your son or your daughter--for she is a close relative.


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You may not marry both a woman and her daughter or granddaughter, for they are near relatives, and to do so is horrible wickedness.


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You shall not marry two sisters, for they will be rivals. However, if your wife dies, then it is all right to marry her sister.


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"You shall not give any of your children to Molech, burning them upon his altar; never profane the name of your God, for I am Jehovah.


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A man shall have no sexual intercourse with any female animal, thus defiling himself; and a woman must never give herself to a male animal, to mate with it; this is a terrible perversion.


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"Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for these are the things the heathen do; and because they do them, I am going to cast them out from the land into which you are going.


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That entire country is defiled with this kind of activity; that is why I am punishing the people living there, and will throw them out of the land.


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You must strictly obey all of my laws and ordinances, and you must not do any of these abominable things; these laws apply both to you who are born in the nation of Israel and to foreigners living among you.


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"Yes, all these abominations have been done continually by the people of the land where I am taking you, and the land is defiled.


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Do not do these things or I will throw you out of the land, just as I will throw out the nations that live there now.


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So be very sure to obey my laws, and do not practice any of these horrible customs. Do not defile yourselves with the evil deeds of those living in the land where you are going. For I am Jehovah your God."


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to tell the people of Israel, "You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. You must respect your mothers and fathers, and obey my Sabbath law, for I am the Lord your God.


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Eat it the same day you offer it, or the next day at the latest; any remaining until the third day must be burned.


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If you eat it on the third, day you are guilty, for you profane the holiness of Jehovah, and you shall be excommunicated from Jehovah's people.


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"When you harvest your crops, don't reap the corners of your fields, and don't pick up stray grains of wheat from the ground.


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It is the same with your grape crop--don't strip every last piece of fruit from the vines, and don't pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and for those traveling through, for I am Jehovah your God.


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You must not swear to a falsehood, thus bringing reproach upon the name of your God, for I am Jehovah.


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"You shall not rob nor oppress anyone, and you shall pay your hired workers promptly. If something is due them, don't even keep it overnight.


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"Judges must always be just in their sentences, not noticing whether a person is poor or rich; they must always be perfectly fair.


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"Don't hate your brother. Rebuke anyone who sins; don't let him get away with it, or you will be equally guilty.


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"Obey my laws: Do not mate your cattle with a different kind; don't sow your field with two kinds of seed; don't wear clothes made of half wool and half linen.


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"If a man seduces a slave girl who is engaged to be married, they shall be tried in a court but not put to death, because she is not free.


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The man involved shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle; the offering shall be a ram.


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The priest shall make atonement with the ram for the sin the man has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.


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"When you enter the land and have planted all kinds of fruit trees, do not eat the first three crops, for they are considered ceremonially defiled.


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And the fourth year the entire crop shall be devoted to the Lord, and shall be given to the Lord in praise to him.


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"I am Jehovah your God! You must not eat meat with undrained blood nor use fortune telling or witchcraft.


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"You must not trim off your hair on your temples or clip the edges of your beard, as the heathen do.


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You shall not cut yourselves nor put tattoo marks upon yourselves in connection with funeral rites; I am the Lord.


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"Do not violate your daughter's sanctity by making her a prostitute, lest the land become full of enormous wickedness.


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They must be treated like any other citizen; love them as yourself, for remember that you too were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.


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"You must be impartial in judgment. Use accurate measurements--lengths, weights, and volumes--and give full measure, for I am Jehovah your God who brought you from the land of Egypt.


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"Anyone--whether an Israelite or a foreigner living among you--who sacrifices his child as a burnt offering to Molech shall without fail be stoned by his peers.


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And I myself will turn against that man and cut him off from all his people, because he has given his child to Molech, thus making my Tabernacle unfit for me to live in, and insulting my holy name.


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And if the people of the land pretend they do not know what the man has done and refuse to put him to death,


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then I myself will set my face against that man and his family and cut him off, along with all others who turn to other gods than me.


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"I will set my face against anyone who consults mediums and wizards instead of me and I will cut that person off from his people.


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"Anyone who curses his father or mother shall surely be put to death--for he has cursed his own flesh and blood.


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If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has defiled what is his father's; both the man and the woman must die, for it is their own fault.


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And if a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both shall be executed: they have brought it upon themselves by defiling each other.


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If a man has sexual intercourse with a woman and with her mother, it is a great evil. All three shall be burned alive to wipe out wickedness from among you.


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If a woman has sexual intercourse with an animal, kill the woman and the animal, for they deserve their punishment.


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"If a man has sexual intercourse with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, it is a shameful thing, and they shall publicly be cut off from the people of Israel. He shall bear his guilt.


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If a man has sexual intercourse with a woman during her period of menstruation, both shall be excommunicated, for he has uncovered the source of her flow, and she has permitted it.


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"Sexual intercourse is outlawed between a man and his maiden aunt--whether the sister of his mother or of his father--for they are near of kin; they shall bear their guilt.


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If a man has intercourse with his uncle's wife, he has taken what belongs to his uncle; their punishment is that they shall bear their sin and die childless.


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If a man marries his brother's wife, this is impurity; for he has taken what belongs to his brother, and they shall be childless.


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You must not follow the customs of the nations I cast out before you, for they do all these things I have warned you against; that is the reason I abhor them.


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I have promised you their land; I will give it to you to possess it. It is a land 'flowing with milk and honey.' I am the Lord your God who has made a distinction between you and the people of other nations.


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"You shall therefore make a distinction between the birds and animals I have given you permission to eat and those you may not eat. You shall not contaminate yourselves and make yourselves hateful to me by eating any animal or bird which I have forbidden, though the land teem with them.


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You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy, and I have set you apart from all other peoples to be mine.


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"A medium or a wizard--whether man or woman--shall surely be stoned to death. They have caused their own doom."


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For the priest is a leader among his people, and he may not ceremonially defile himself as an ordinary person can.


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They shall be holy unto their God and shall not dishonor and profane his name; otherwise they will be unfit to make food offerings by fire to the Lord their God.


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A priest shall not marry a prostitute, nor a woman of another tribe, and he shall not marry a divorced woman, for he is a holy man of God.


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The priest is set apart to offer the sacrifices of your God; he is holy, for I, the Lord who sanctifies you, am holy.


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The daughter of any priest who becomes a prostitute, thus violating her father's holiness as well as her own, shall be burned alive.


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"The High Priest--anointed with the special anointing oil and wearing the special garments--must not let his hair hang loose in mourning, nor tear his clothing,


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He shall not leave the sanctuary  when on duty, nor treat my Tabernacle like an ordinary house, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him; I am Jehovah.


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He may not marry a widow, nor a woman who is divorced, nor a prostitute. She must be a virgin from his own tribe,


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And the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron that any of his descendants from generation to generation who have any bodily defect may not offer the sacrifices to God.


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or has a humped back, or is a dwarf, or has a defect in his eye, or has pimples or scabby skin, or has imperfect testicles--


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although he is a descendant of Aaron--he is not permitted to offer the fire sacrifices to the Lord because of his physical defect.


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However, he shall be fed with the food of the priests from the offerings sacrificed to God, both from the holy and most holy offerings.


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But he shall not go in behind the veil, nor come near the altar, because of the physical defect; this would defile my sanctuary, for it is Jehovah who sanctifies it."


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The Lord told Moses, "Instruct Aaron and his sons to be very careful not to defile my holy name by desecrating the people's sacred gifts; for I am Jehovah.


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From now on and forever, if a priest who is ceremonially defiled sacrifices the animals brought by the people or handles the gifts dedicated to Jehovah, he shall be discharged from the priesthood. For I am Jehovah!


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"No priest who is a leper or who has a running sore may eat the holy sacrifices until healed. And any priest who touches a dead person, or who is defiled by a seminal emission,


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or who touches any reptile or other forbidden thing, or who touches anyone who is ceremonially defiled for any reason--


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that priest shall be defiled until evening and shall not eat of the holy sacrifices until after he has bathed that evening.


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When the sun is down, then he shall be purified again and may eat the holy food, for it is his source of life.


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He may not eat any animal that dies of itself or is torn by wild animals, for this will defile him. I am Jehovah.


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Warn the priests to follow these instructions carefully, lest they be declared guilty and die for violating these rules. I am the Lord who sanctifies them.


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"No one may eat of the holy sacrifices unless he is a priest; no one visiting the priest, for instance, nor a hired servant, may eat this food.


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However, there is one exception--if the priest buys a slave with his own money, that slave may eat it, and any slave children born in his household may eat it.


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But if she is a widow or divorced and has no son to support her, and has returned home to her father's household, she may eat of her father's food again. But otherwise, no one who is not in the priestly families may eat this food.


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"If someone should eat of the holy sacrifices without realizing it, he shall return to the priest the amount he has used, with 20 percent added;


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for the holy sacrifices brought by the people of Israel must not be defiled by being eaten by unauthorized persons, for these sacrifices have been offered to the Lord.


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Anyone who violates this law is guilty and is in great danger because he has eaten the sacred offerings; for I am Jehovah who sanctifies the offerings."


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"Tell Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel that if an Israelite or other person living among you offers a burnt offering sacrifice to the Lord--whether it is to fulfill a promise or is a spontaneous free will offering--


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it will only be acceptable to the Lord if it is a male animal without defect; it must be a young bull or a sheep or a goat.


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"Anyone sacrificing a peace offering to the Lord from the herd or flock, whether to fulfill a vow or as a voluntary offering, must sacrifice an animal that has no defect, or it will not be accepted:


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An animal that is blind or disabled or mutilated, or which has sores or itch or any other skin disease, must not be offered to the Lord; it is not a fit burnt offering for the altar of the Lord.


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If the young bull or lamb presented to the Lord has anything superfluous or lacking in its body parts, it may be offered as a free will offering, but not for a vow.


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An animal that has injured genitals--crushed or castrated--shall not be offered to the Lord at any time.


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This restriction applies to the sacrifices made by foreigners among you as well as those made by yourselves, for no defective animal is acceptable for this sacrifice."


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"When a bullock, sheep, or goat is born, it shall be left with its mother for seven days, but from the eighth day onward it is acceptable as a sacrifice by fire to the Lord.


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You shall not slaughter a mother animal and her offspring the same day, whether she is a cow or ewe.


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eating the sacrificial animal the same day it is slain. Leave none of it for the following day. I am the Lord.


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You must not treat me as common and ordinary. Revere me and hallow me, for I, the Lord, made you holy to myself


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The Lord said to Moses, "Announce to the people of Israel that they are to celebrate several annual festivals of the Lord--times when all Israel will assemble and worship me.


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(These are in addition to your Sabbaths --the seventh day of every week--which are always days of rest in every home, times for assembling to worship, and for resting from the normal business of the week.)


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"The Passover of the Lord: This is to be celebrated on the first day of April, beginning at sundown.


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"The Festival of Unleavened Bread: This is to be celebrated beginning the day following the Passover, and for seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast.


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On the first day of this festival, you shall gather the people for worship, and all ordinary work shall cease.


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You shall do the same on the seventh day of the festival. On each of the intervening days you shall make an offering by fire to the Lord.


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"The Festival of First Fruits: When you arrive in the land I will give you and you reap your first harvest, bring the first sheaf of the harvest to the priest


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on the day after the Sabbath. He shall wave it before the Lord in a gesture of offering, and it will be accepted by the Lord as your gift.


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That same day you shall sacrifice to the Lord a male yearling lamb without defect as a burnt offering.


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A grain offering shall accompany it, consisting of a fifth of a bushel of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil, to be offered by fire to the Lord; this will be very pleasant to him. Also offer a drink offering consisting of three pints of wine.


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Until this is done you must not eat any of the harvest for yourselves--neither fresh kernels nor bread nor parched grain. This is a permanent law throughout your nation.


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"The Harvest Festival (Festival of Pentecost): Fifty days later you shall bring to the Lord an offering of a sample of the new grain of your later crops.


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This shall consist of two loaves of bread from your homes to be waved before the Lord in a gesture of offering. Bake this bread from a fifth of a bushel of fine flour containing yeast. It is an offering to the Lord of the first sampling of your later crops.


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Along with the bread and the wine, you shall sacrifice as burnt offerings to the Lord seven yearling lambs without defects, one young bull, and two rams. All are fire offerings, very acceptable to Jehovah.


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And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male yearling lambs for a peace offering.


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"The priests shall wave these offerings before the Lord along with the loaves representing the first sampling of your later crops. They are holy to the Lord and will be given to the priests as food.


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That day shall be announced as a time of sacred convocation of all the people; don't do any work that day. This is a law to be honored from generation to generation.


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(When you reap your harvests, you must not thoroughly reap all the corners of the fields, nor pick up the fallen grain; leave it for the poor and for foreigners living among you who have no land of their own; I am Jehovah your God!)


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"The Festival of Trumpets: Mid-September is a time for all the people to meet together for worship; it is a time of remembrance, and is to be announced by loud blowing of trumpets.


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"The Day of Atonement follows nine days later: All the people are to come together before the Lord, saddened by their sin; and they shall offer sacrifices by fire to the Lord.


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Anyone who does not spend the day in repentance and sorrow for sin shall be excommunicated from his people.


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And I will put to death anyone who does any kind of work that day. This is a law of Israel from generation to generation.


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For this is a Sabbath of rest, and in it you shall go without food and be filled with sorrow; this time for atonement begins in the evening and continues through the next day.


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"The Festival of Shelters: Five days later, on the last day of September, is the Festival of Shelters to be celebrated before the Lord for seven days.


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On the first day there will be a sacred assembly of all the people; don't do any hard work that day.


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On each of the seven days of the festival you are to sacrifice an offering by fire to the Lord. The eighth day requires another sacred convocation of all the people, at which time there will again be an offering by fire to the Lord. It is the closing assembly, and no regular work is permitted.


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"(These, then, are the regular annual festivals--sacred convocations of all people--when offerings to the Lord are to be made by fire.


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These annual festivals are in addition to your regular Sabbaths--the weekly days of holy rest. The sacrifices made during the festivals are to be in addition to your regular giving and normal fulfillment of your vows.)


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"This last day of September, at the end of your harvesting, is the time to begin to celebrate this seven-day festival before the Lord. Remember that the first and last days of the festival are special days of rest.


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On the first day, take boughs of fruit trees laden with fruit, and palm fronds, and the boughs of leafy trees--such as willows that grow by the brooks--and  build shelters with them, rejoicing before the Lord your God for seven days.


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The purpose of this is to remind the people of Israel, generation after generation, that I rescued you from Egypt, and caused you to live in shelters. I am Jehovah your God."


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in the lampstand of pure gold which stands outside the veil that secludes the Holy of Holies. Each morning and evening Aaron shall supply it with fresh oil and trim the wicks.


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"Every Sabbath day the High Priest shall place twelve loaves of bread in two rows upon the gold table that stands before the Lord.


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This will be a memorial offering made by fire to the Lord, in memory of his everlasting covenant with the people of Israel.


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The bread shall be eaten by Aaron and his sons, in a place set apart for the purpose. For these are offerings made by fire to the Lord under a permanent law of God and are most holy."


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Out in the camp one day, a young man whose mother was an Israelite and whose father was an Egyptian, got into a fight with one of the men of Israel.


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During the fight the Egyptian man's son cursed God, and was brought to Moses for judgment. (His mother's name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan.)


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And the Lord said to Moses, "Take him outside the camp and tell all who heard him to lay their hands upon his head; then all the people are to execute him by stoning.


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he must die. All the congregation shall stone him; this law applies to the foreigner as well as to the Israelite who blasphemes the name of Jehovah. He must die.


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fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Whatever anyone does to another shall be done to him.


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You shall have the same law for the foreigner as for the home-born citizen, for I am Jehovah your God."


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So they took the youth out of the camp and stoned him until he died, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.


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"When you come into the land I am going to give you, you must let the land rest before the Lord every seventh year.


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but during the seventh year the land is to lie fallow before the Lord, uncultivated. Don't sow your crops and don't prune your vineyards during that entire year.


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Don't even reap for yourself the volunteer crops that come up, and don't gather the grapes for yourself; for it is a year of rest for the land.


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Any crops that do grow that year shall be free to all--for you, your servants, your slaves, and any foreigners living among you.


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For the fiftieth year shall be holy, a time to proclaim liberty throughout the land to all enslaved debtors, and a time for the canceling of all public and private debts. It shall be a year when all the family estates sold to others shall be returned to the original owners or their heirs.


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for it is a holy Year of Jubilee for you. That year your food shall be the volunteer crops that grow wild in the fields.


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Yes, during the Year of Jubilee everyone shall return home to his original family possession; if he has sold it, it shall be his again!


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Because of this, if the land is sold or bought during the preceding forty-nine years, a fair price shall be arrived at by counting the number of years until the Jubilee.


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for what you are really doing is selling the number of crops the new owner will get from the land before it is returned to you.


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"You must fear your God and not overcharge! For I am Jehovah. Obey my laws if you want to live safely in the land.


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But you will ask, 'What shall we eat the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year?'


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The answer is, 'I will bless you with bumper crops the sixth year that will last you until the crops of the eighth year are harvested!'


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And remember, the land is mine, so you may not sell it permanently. You are merely my tenants and sharecroppers!


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"In every contract of sale there must be a stipulation that the land can be redeemed at any time by the seller.


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then he may always buy it back at a price proportionate to the number of harvests until the Jubilee, and the owner must accept the money and return the land to him.


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But if the original owner is not able to redeem it, then it shall belong to the new owner until the Year of Jubilee; but at the Jubilee year it must be returned again.


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"If a man sells a house in the city, he has up to one year to redeem it, with full right of redemption during that time.


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But if it is not redeemed within the year, then it will belong permanently to the new owner--it does not return to the original owner in the Year of Jubilee.


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But village houses--a village is a settlement without fortifying walls around it--are like farmland, redeemable at any time, and are always returned to the original owner in the Year of Jubilee.


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"There is one exception: The homes of the Levites, even though in walled cities, may be redeemed at any time,


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and must be returned to the original owners in the Year of Jubilee; for the Levites will not be given farmland like the other tribes, but will receive only houses in their cities, and the surrounding fields.


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The Levites are not permitted to sell the fields of common land surrounding their cities, for these are their permanent possession, and they must belong to no one else.


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"If your brother becomes poor, you are responsible to help him; invite him to live with you as a guest in your home.


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Fear your God and let your brother live with you; and don't charge him interest on the money you lend him.


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For I, the Lord your God, brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.


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"If a fellow Israelite becomes poor and sells himself to you, you must not treat him as an ordinary slave,


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For I brought you from the land of Egypt, and you are my servants; so you may not be sold as ordinary slaves


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and you may purchase the children of the foreigners living among you, even though they have been born in your land.


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They will be permanent slaves for you to pass on to your children after you; but your brothers, the people of Israel, shall not be treated so.


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"If a foreigner living among you becomes rich, and an Israelite becomes poor and sells himself to the foreigner or to the foreigner's family,


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his uncle, nephew, or anyone else who is a near relative. He may also redeem himself if he can find the money.


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The price of his freedom shall be in proportion to the number of years left before the Year of Jubilee--whatever it would cost to hire a servant for that number of years.


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If there are still many years until the Jubilee, he shall pay almost the amount he received when he sold himself;


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if the years have passed and only a few remain until the Jubilee, then he will repay only a small part of the amount he received when he sold himself.


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If he sells himself to a foreigner, the foreigner must treat him as a hired servant rather than as a slave or as property.


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If he has not been redeemed by the time the Year of Jubilee arrives, then he and his children shall be freed at that time.


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For the people of Israel are my servants; I brought them from the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.


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"You must have no idols; you must never worship carved images, obelisks, or shaped stones, for I am the Lord your God.


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I will give you regular rains, and the land will yield bumper crops, and the trees will be loaded with fruit long after the normal time!


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And grapes will still be ripening when sowing time comes again. You shall eat your fill, and live safely in the land,


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for I will give you peace, and you will go to sleep without fear. I will chase away the dangerous animals.


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Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you, ten thousand! You will defeat all of your enemies.


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You will have such a surplus of crops that you won't know what to do with them when the new harvest is ready!


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For I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would be slaves no longer; I have broken your chains so that you can walk with dignity.


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this is what I will do to you: I will punish you with sudden terrors and panic, and with tuberculosis and burning fever; your eyes shall be consumed and your life shall ebb away; you will sow your crops in vain, for your enemies will eat them.


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I will set my face against you and you will flee before your attackers; those who hate you will rule you; you will even run when no one is chasing you!


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Your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its crops, nor your trees their fruit.


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"And if even then you will not obey me and listen to me, I will send you seven times more plagues because of your sins.


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I will send wild animals to kill your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your numbers so that your roads will be deserted.


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then I will walk against your wishes, and I, even I, will personally smite you seven times for your sin.


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I will revenge the breaking of my covenant by bringing war against you. You will flee to your cities, and I will send a plague among you there; and you will be conquered by your enemies.


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I will destroy your food supply so that one oven will be large enough to bake all the bread available for ten entire families; and you will still be hungry after your pittance has been doled out to you.


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and I will destroy the altars on the hills where you worship your idols, and I will cut down your incense altars, leaving your dead bodies to rot among your idols; and I will abhor you.


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I will make your cities desolate, and destroy your places of worship, and will not respond to your incense offerings.


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Yes, I will desolate your land; your enemies shall live in it, utterly amazed at what I have done to you.


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"I will scatter you out among the nations, destroying you with war as you go. Your land shall be desolate and your cities destroyed.


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Then at last the land will rest and make up for the many years you refused to let it lie idle; for it will lie desolate all the years that you are captives in enemy lands.


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Yes, then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths! It will make up for the rest you didn't give it every seventh year when you lived upon it.


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"And for those who are left alive, I will cause them to be dragged away to distant lands as prisoners of war and slaves. There they will live in constant fear. The sound of a leaf driven in the wind will send them fleeing as though chased by a man with a sword; they shall fall when no one is pursuing them.


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Yes, though none pursue they shall stumble over each other in flight, as though fleeing in battle, with no power to stand before their enemies.


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Those left shall pine away in enemy lands because of their sins, the same sins as those of their fathers.


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(Because they were against me, I was against them, and brought them into the land of their enemies.) When at last their evil hearts are humbled and they accept the punishment I send them for their sins,


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then I will remember again my promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will remember the land (and its desolation).


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For the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as it lies desolate. But then at last they shall accept their punishment for rejecting my laws and for despising my rule.


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But despite all they have done, I will not utterly destroy them and my covenant with them, for I am Jehovah their God.


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For their sakes I will remember my promises to their ancestors to be their God. For I brought their forefathers out of Egypt as all the nations watched in wonder. I am Jehovah."


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These were the laws, ordinances, and instructions that Jehovah gave to the people of Israel, through Moses, on Mount Sinai.


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The Lord said to Moses, "Tell the people of Israel that when a person makes a special vow to give himself to the Lord, he shall give these payments instead:


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A boy one month to five years old shall have paid for him two and a half dollars; a girl, one and a half dollars.


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But if the person is too poor to pay this amount, he shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall talk it over with him, and he shall pay as the priest shall decide.


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The vow may not be changed; the donor may neither change his mind about giving it to the Lord, nor substitute good for bad or bad for good; if he does, both the first and the second shall belong to the Lord!


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But if the animal given to the Lord is not a kind that is permitted as a sacrifice, the owner shall bring it to the priest to value it, and he shall be told how much to pay instead.


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If the animal is a kind that may be offered as a sacrifice, but the man wants to redeem it, then he shall pay 20 percent more than the value set by the priest.


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"If someone donates his home to the Lord and then wishes to redeem it, the priest will decide its value,


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"If a man dedicates any part of his field to the Lord, value it in proportion to its size, as indicated by the amount of seed required to sow it. A section of land that requires ten bushels of barley seed for sowing is valued at twenty-five dollars.


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but if it is after the Year of Jubilee, then the value shall be in proportion to the number of years remaining until the next Year of Jubilee.


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If the man decides to redeem the field, he shall pay 20 percent in addition to the priest's valuation, and the field will be his again.


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But if he decides not to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to someone else  and has given to the Lord his rights to it at the Year of Jubilee, it shall not be returned to him again.


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When it is freed in the Year of Jubilee, it shall belong to the Lord as a field devoted to him, and it shall be given to the priests.


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"If a man dedicates to the Lord a field he has bought, but which is not part of his family possession,


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the priest shall estimate the value until the Year of Jubilee, and he shall immediately give that estimated value to the Lord,


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But if it is the firstborn of an animal that cannot be sacrificed because it is not on the list of those acceptable to the Lord, then the owner shall pay the priest's estimate of its worth, plus 20 percent; or if the owner does not redeem it, the priest may sell it to someone else.


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However, anything utterly devoted to the Lord--people, animals, or inherited fields--shall not be sold or redeemed, for they are most holy to the Lord.


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And the Lord owns every tenth animal of your herds and flocks and other domestic animals, as they pass by for counting.


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The tenth given to the Lord shall not be selected on the basis of whether it is good or bad, and there shall be no substitutions; for if there is any change made, then both the original and the substitution shall belong to the Lord, and may not be bought back!"


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It was on the fifteenth day of April of the second year after the Israelis left Egypt that the Lord issued the following instructions to Moses. (He was in the Tabernacle at the camp of Israel on the Sinai peninsula at the time.)


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"Take a census of all the men twenty years old and older who are able to go to war, indicating their tribe and family.


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Ephraim (son of Joseph), Elishama (son of Ammihud);  Manasseh (son of Joseph), Gamaliel (son of Pedahzur);


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summoned all the men of Israel who were twenty years old or older to come and register, each man indicating his tribe and family,


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This total does not include the Levites, for the Lord had said to Moses, "Exempt the entire tribe of Levi from the draft, and do not include their number in the census.


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For the Levites are assigned for the work connected with the Tabernacle and its transportation. They are to live near the Tabernacle,


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and whenever the Tabernacle is moved, the Levites are to take it down and set it up again; anyone else touching it shall be executed.


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The Levites' tents shall be clustered around the Tabernacle as a wall between the people of Israel and God's wrath--to protect them from his fierce anger against their sins."


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"Each tribe will have its own tent area, with its flagpole and tribal banner; and at the center of these tribal compounds will be the Tabernacle."


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So the total of all those on Judah's side of the camp was 186,400. These three tribes led the way whenever the Israelites traveled to a new campsite.


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So the total of the Reuben side of the camp was 151,450. These three tribes were next in line whenever the Israelis traveled.


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Next in the line of march was the Tabernacle, with the Levites. When traveling, each tribe stayed together under its own flag, just as each was separate from the others in camp.


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So the total on Dan's side of the camp was 157,600. They brought up the rear whenever Israel traveled.


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In summary, the armies of Israel totaled 603,550 (not including the Levites, who were exempted by Jehovah's commandment to Moses).


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So the people of Israel set up their camps, each tribe under its own banner, in the locations indicated by the Lord to Moses.


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But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai when they used unholy fire. And since they had no children, this left only Eleazar and Ithamar to assist their father, Aaron.


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They will follow his instructions and perform the sacred duties at the Tabernacle on behalf of all the people of Israel. For they are assigned to him as representatives of all the people of Israel.


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However, only Aaron and his sons may carry out the duties of the priesthood; anyone else who presumes to assume this office shall be executed."


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And the Lord said to Moses, "I have accepted the Levites in substitution for all the oldest sons of the people of Israel. The Levites are mine


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in exchange for all the oldest sons. From the day I killed all the oldest sons of the Egyptians, I took for myself all the firstborn in Israel of both men and animals! They are mine; I am Jehovah."


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"Take a census of the tribe of Levi, indicating each person's clan; count every male down to one month old."


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Responsibilities: The responsibility of these two clans of Levites was the care of the Tabernacle: its coverings, its entry drapes,


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the drapes covering the fence surrounding the courtyard, the screen at the entrance of the courtyard surrounding the Tabernacle, the altar, and all the ropes used in tying the Tabernacle together.


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Responsibilities: The responsibility of these four clans of Levites was the care of the Ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the various utensils used in the Tabernacle, the veil, and any repairs needed on any of these items.


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(Note: Eleazar, Aaron's son, shall be the chief administrator over the leaders of the Levites, with special responsibility for the oversight of the sanctuary.)


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Responsibilities: The responsibility of these two clans was the care of the frames of the Tabernacle building; the posts; the bases for the posts, and all of the equipment needed for their use;


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The area east of the Tabernacle was reserved for the tents of Moses and of Aaron and his sons, who had the final responsibility for the Tabernacle on behalf of the people of Israel. (Anyone who was not a priest or Levite, but came into the Tabernacle, was to be executed.)


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So all the Levites, as numbered by Moses and Aaron at the command of the Lord, were 22,000 males one month old and older.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now take a census of all the eldest sons in Israel who are one month old and older, and register each name.


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The Levites shall be mine (I am Jehovah) as substitutes for the eldest sons of Israel; and the Levites' cattle are mine as substitutes for the firstborn cattle of the whole nation."


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"Give me the Levites instead of the eldest sons of the people of Israel; and give me the cattle of the Levites instead of the firstborn cattle of the people of Israel; yes, the Levites shall be mine; I am Jehovah.


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So Moses received redemption money for the 273 eldest sons of Israel who were in excess of the number of Levites. (All the others were redeemed because the Levites had been given to the Lord in their place.)


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"When the camp moves, Aaron and his sons will enter the Tabernacle first and take down the veil and cover the Ark with it.


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Then they will cover the veil with goatskin leather, cover the goatskins with a blue cloth, and place the carrying poles of the Ark in their rings.


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"Next they must spread a blue cloth over the table where the Bread of the Presence is displayed, and place the dishes, spoons, bowls, cups, and the Bread upon the cloth.


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They will spread a scarlet cloth over that, and finally a covering of goatskin leather on top of the scarlet cloth. Then they shall insert the carrying poles into the table.


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"Next they must cover with a blue cloth the lampstand, the lamps, snuffers, trays, and the reservoir of olive oil.


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This entire group of objects shall then be covered with goatskin leather, and the bundle shall be placed upon a carrying frame.


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"They must then spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with a covering of goatskin leather, and insert the carrying poles into the altar.


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All of the remaining utensils of the Tabernacle are to be wrapped in a blue cloth, covered with goatskin leather, and placed on the carrying frame.


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All of the altar utensils are to be placed upon the cloth--the firepans, hooks, shovels, basins, and other containers--and a cover of goatskin leather will be spread over them. Finally, the carrying poles are to be put in place.


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When Aaron and his sons have finished packing the sanctuary and all the utensils, the clan of Kohath shall come and carry the units to wherever the camp is traveling; but they must not touch the holy items, lest they die. This, then, is the sacred work of the sons of Kohath.


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"Aaron's son Eleazar shall be responsible for the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil--in fact, the supervision of the entire Tabernacle and everything in it will be his responsibility."


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This is what you must do so that they will not die when they carry the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in with them and point out what each is to carry.


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Otherwise they must never enter the sanctuary for even a moment, lest they look at the sacred objects there and die."


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all of the men between the ages of thirty and fifty who are eligible for the sacred work of the Tabernacle.


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"They will carry the curtains of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle itself with its coverings, the goatskin leather roof, and the curtain for the Tabernacle entrance.


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They are also to carry the drapes covering the courtyard fence, and the curtain across the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the altar and the Tabernacle. They will also carry the altar, the ropes, and all of the accessories. They are fully responsible for the transportation of these items.


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"Now take a census of the Merari division of the Levite tribe, all of the men from thirty to fifty who are eligible for the Tabernacle service.


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the frames for the courtyard fence with their bases, pegs, cords, and everything else connected with their use and repair. "Assign duties to each man by name.


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who were thirty to fifty years old and who were eligible for the Tabernacle service and transportation


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"Inform the people of Israel that they must expel all lepers from the camp, and all who have open sores, or who have been defiled by touching a dead person.


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This applies to men and women alike. Remove them so that they will not defile the camp where I live among you."


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell the people of Israel that when anyone, man or woman, betrays the Lord by betraying a trust, it is sin.


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He must confess his sin and make full repayment for what he has stolen, adding 20 percent and returning it to the person he took it from.


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But if the person he wronged is dead, and there is no near relative to whom the payment can be made, it must be given to the priest, along with a lamb for atonement.


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the man shall bring his wife to the priest with an offering for her of a tenth of a bushel of barley meal without oil or frankincense mingled with it--for it is a suspicion offering--to bring out the truth as to whether or not she is guilty.


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He shall unbind her hair and place the suspicion offering in her hands to determine whether or not her husband's suspicions are justified. The priest shall stand before her holding the jar of bitter water that brings a curse.


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He shall require her to swear that she is innocent, and then he shall say to her, 'If no man has slept with you except your husband, be free from the effects of this bitter water that causes the curse.


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then Jehovah shall make you a curse among your people, for he will make your thigh rot away and your body swell.' And the woman shall be required to say, 'Yes, let it be so.'


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"Then the priest shall take the suspicion offering from the woman's hand and wave it before Jehovah, and carry it to the altar.


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He shall take a handful, representing all of it, and burn the handful upon the altar, and then require the woman to drink the water.


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If she has been defiled, having committed adultery against her husband, the water will become bitter within her, and her body will swell and her thigh will rot, and she shall be a curse among her people.


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But if she is pure and has not committed adultery, she shall be unharmed and will soon become pregnant.


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to determine whether or not she has been unfaithful to him. He shall bring her before the Lord and the priest shall handle the situation as outlined above.


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Her husband shall not be brought to trial for causing her horrible disease, for she is responsible."


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"When either a man or a woman takes the special vow of a Nazirite, consecrating himself to the Lord in a special way,


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he must not thereafter, during the entire period of his special consecration to the Lord, taste strong drink or wine or even fresh wine, grape juice, grapes, or raisins!


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"Throughout that time he must never cut his hair, for he is holy and consecrated to the Lord; that is why he must let his hair grow.


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even if it is the body of his father, mother, brother, or sister; for his vow of consecration remains in effect,


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If he is defiled by having someone fall dead beside him, then seven days later he shall shave his defiled head; he will then be cleansed from the contamination of being in the presence of death.


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The next day, the eighth day, he must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle.


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The priest shall offer one of the birds for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for his defilement. And he must renew his vows that day and let his hair begin to grow again.


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The days of his vow that were fulfilled before his defilement no longer count. He must begin all over again with a new vow, and must bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering.


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"At the conclusion of the period of his vow of separation to the Lord, he must go to the entrance of the Tabernacle


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and offer a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, a year-old lamb without defect. He must also offer a sin offering, a yearling ewe lamb without defect; a peace offering, a ram without defect;


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a basket of bread made without yeast; pancakes made of fine flour mixed with olive oil; unleavened wafers spread with oil; and the accompanying grain offering and drink offerings.


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The priest shall present these offerings before the Lord: first the sin offering and the burnt offering;


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then the ram for a peace offering, along with the basket of bread made without yeast; and finally the grain offering along with the drink offering.


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"Then the Nazirite shall shave his long hair--the sign of his vow of separation. This shall be done at the entrance of the Tabernacle, after which the hair shall be put in the fire under the peace offering sacrifice.


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After the man's head has been shaved, the priest shall take the roasted shoulder of the lamb, one of the pancakes (made without yeast), and one of the wafers (also made without yeast), and put them all into the man's hands.


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The priest shall then wave it all back and forth before the Lord in a gesture of offering; all of it is a holy portion for the priest, as are the rib piece and shoulder that were waved before the Lord. After that the Nazirite may again drink wine, for he is freed from his vow.


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"These are the regulations concerning a Nazirite and his sacrifices at the conclusion of his period of special dedication. In addition to these sacrifices he must bring any further offering he promised at the time he took his vow to become a Nazirite."


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Now the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron and his sons that they are to give this special blessing to the people of Israel:


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'May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord's face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.'


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This is how Aaron and his sons shall call down my blessings upon the people of Israel; and I myself will personally bless them."


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Moses anointed and sanctified each part of the Tabernacle, including the altar and its utensils, on the day he finished setting it up.


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Then the leaders of Israel--the chiefs of the tribes, the men who had organized the census--brought their offerings.


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They brought six covered wagons, each drawn by two oxen--a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each one; and they presented them to the Lord in front of the Tabernacle.


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"Accept their gifts," the Lord told Moses, "and use these wagons for the work of the Tabernacle. Give them to the Levites for whatever needs they may have."


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and four wagons and eight oxen were given to the Merari division, which was under the leadership of Ithamar, Aaron's son.


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None of the wagons or teams was given to the Kohath division, for they were required to carry their portion of the Tabernacle upon their shoulders.


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The leaders also presented dedication gifts on the day the altar was anointed, placing them before the altar.


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The Lord said to Moses, "Let each of them bring his gift on a different day for the dedication of the altar."


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It consisted of a silver platter weighing three pounds and a silver bowl of about two pounds, both filled with grain offerings of fine flour mixed with oil.


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The next day Nethanel, the son of Zuar, chief of the tribe of Issachar, brought his gifts and offerings. They were exactly the same as Nahshon had presented on the previous day.


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On the third day Eliab, the son of Helon, chief of the tribe of Zebulun, came with his offerings--the same as those presented on the previous days.


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On the fourth day the gifts were presented by Elizur, son of Shedeur, chief of the tribe of Reuben; his gifts and offerings were the same as those given on the previous days.


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On the fifth day came Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, chief of the tribe of Simeon, with the same gifts.


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The next day it was Eliasaph's turn, son of Deuel, chief of the tribe of Gad. He, too, offered the same gifts and sacrifices.


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On the seventh day, Elishama, the son of Ammihud, chief of the tribe of Ephraim, brought his gifts, the same as those presented on the previous days.


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Gamaliel, son of Pedahzur, prince of the tribe of Manasseh, came the eighth day with the same offerings.


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On the ninth day it was Abidan the son of Gideoni, chief of the tribe of Benjamin, with his gifts, the same as those offered by the others.


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Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, brought his gifts on the tenth day. He was the chief of the tribe of Dan and his offerings were the same as those on the previous days.


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Pagiel, son of Ochran, chief of the tribe of Asher, brought his gifts on the eleventh day--the same gifts and offerings as the others.


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On the twelfth day came Ahira, son of Enan, chief of the tribe of Naphtali, with his offerings; they were identical to those brought by the others.


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So, beginning the day the altar was anointed, it was dedicated by these gifts from the chiefs of the tribes of Israel. Their combined offerings were as follows:  12 silver platters (each weighing about three pounds); 12 silver bowls (each weighing about two pounds); (so the total weight of the silver was about sixty pounds); 12 gold trays (the trays weighing about four ounces apiece); (so the total weight of gold was about three pounds).


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For the burnt offerings they brought:  12 bulls, 12 rams, 12 yearling male goats (with the grain offerings that accompanied them). For sin offerings they brought: 12 male goats.


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When Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with God, he heard the Voice speaking to him from above the place of mercy over the Ark, between the statues of the two Guardian Angels.


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"Tell Aaron that when he lights the seven lamps in the lampstand, he is to set them so that they will throw their light forward."


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The lampstand, including the floral decorations on the base and branches, was made entirely of beaten gold. It was constructed according to the exact design the Lord had shown Moses.


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Do this by sprinkling water of purification upon them, then having them shave their entire bodies and wash their clothing and themselves.


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Have them bring a young bull and a grain offering of fine flour mingled with oil, along with another young bull for a sin offering.


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and Aaron, with a gesture of offering, shall present them to the Lord as a gift from the entire nation of Israel. The Levites will represent all the people in serving the Lord.


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"Next, the Levite leaders shall lay their hands upon the heads of the young bulls and offer them before the Lord; one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites.


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Then the Levites are to be presented to Aaron and his sons, just as any other gift to the Lord is given to the priests!


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In this way you will dedicate the Levites from among the rest of the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.


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After you have sanctified them and presented them in this way, they shall go in and out of the Tabernacle to do their work.


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"They are mine from among all the people of Israel, and I have accepted them in place of all the firstborn children of the Israelites: I have taken the Levites as their substitutes.


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For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both men and animals; I claimed them for myself the night I killed all the firstborn Egyptians.


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And I will give the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons. The Levites will carry out the sacred duties required of the people of Israel in the Tabernacle, and will offer the people's sacrifices, making atonement for them. There will be no plague among the Israelites--as there would be if the ordinary people entered the Tabernacle."


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So Moses and Aaron and all the people of Israel dedicated the Levites, carefully following Jehovah's instructions to Moses.


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The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them to the Lord in a gesture of offering. He then performed the rite of atonement over them to purify them.


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After that they went into the Tabernacle as assistants to Aaron and his sons; everything was done just as the Lord had commanded Moses.


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The Lord also instructed Moses, "The Levites are to begin serving in the Tabernacle at the age of twenty-five, and are to retire at the age of fifty.


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After retirement they can assist with various light duties in the Tabernacle, but will have no regular responsibilities."


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Jehovah gave these instructions to Moses while he and the rest of the Israelis were on the Sinai peninsula, during the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt:


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"The people of Israel must celebrate the Passover annually on April first, beginning in the evening.


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So Moses announced that the Passover celebration would begin on the evening of April first, there in the Sinai peninsula, just as the Lord had commanded.


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But as it happened, some of the men had just attended a funeral and were ceremonially defiled by having touched the dead, so they couldn't eat the Passover lamb that night. They came to Moses and Aaron


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and explained their problem and protested at being forbidden from offering their sacrifice to the Lord at the time he had appointed.


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"If any of the people of Israel, now or in the generations to come, are defiled at Passover time because of touching a dead body, or if they are on a journey and cannot be present, they may still celebrate the Passover, but one month later,


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on May first, beginning in the evening. They are to eat the lamb at that time, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.


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They must not leave any of it until the next morning, and must not break a bone of it, and must follow all the regular instructions concerning the Passover.


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"But anyone who is not defiled, and anyone who is not away on a trip, and yet refuses to celebrate the Passover at the regular time, shall be excommunicated from the people of Israel for refusing to sacrifice to Jehovah at the proper time; he must bear his guilt.


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And if a foreigner is living among you and wants to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, he shall follow all these same instructions. There is one law for all."


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On the day the Tabernacle was raised the Cloud covered it; and that evening the Cloud changed to the appearance of fire, and stayed that way throughout the night.


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In this way they journeyed at the command of the Lord and stopped where he told them to, then remained there as long as the Cloud stayed.


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If it stayed a long time, then they stayed a long time. But if it stayed only a few days, then they remained only a few days; for so the Lord had instructed them.


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Sometimes the fire-cloud stayed only during the night and moved on the next morning. But day or night, when it moved, the people broke camp and followed.


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If the Cloud stayed above the Tabernacle two days, a month, or a year, that is how long the people of Israel stayed; but as soon as it moved, they moved.


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So it was that they camped or traveled at the commandment of the Lord; and whatever the Lord told Moses they should do, they did.


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Now the Lord said to Moses, "Make two trumpets of beaten silver to be used for summoning the people to assemble and for signaling the breaking of camp.


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When both trumpets are blown, the people will know that they are to gather at the entrance of the Tabernacle.


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"Different trumpet blasts will be necessary to distinguish between the summons to assemble and the signal to break camp and move onward.


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When the travel signal is blown, the tribes camped on the east side of the Tabernacle shall leave first;


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Only the priests are permitted to blow the trumpets. This is a permanent instruction to be followed from generation to generation.


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"When you arrive in the Promised Land and go to war against your enemies, God will hear you and save you from your enemies when you sound the alarm with these trumpets.


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Use the trumpets in times of gladness, too, blowing them at your annual festivals and at the beginning of each month to rejoice over your burnt offerings and peace offerings. And God will be reminded of his covenant with you. For I am Jehovah, your God."


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The Cloud lifted from the Tabernacle on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year of Israel's leaving Egypt;


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so the Israelites left the Sinai wilderness, and followed the Cloud until it stopped in the wilderness of Paran.


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At the head of the march was the tribe of Judah grouped behind its flag and led by Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.


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The Tabernacle was taken down and the men of the Gershon and Merari divisions of the tribe of Levi were next in the line of march, carrying the Tabernacle upon their shoulders.


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Next came the Kohathites carrying the items from the inner sanctuary. (The Tabernacle was already erected in its new location by the time they arrived.)


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Last of all were the tribes headed by the flag of the tribe of Dan under the leadership of Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai;


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One day Moses said to his brother-in-law, Hobab (son of Reuel, the Midianite), "At last we are on our way to the Promised Land. Come with us and we will do you good; for the Lord has given wonderful promises to Israel!"


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"Stay with us," Moses pleaded, "for you know the ways of the wilderness and will be a great help to us.


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They traveled for three days after leaving Mount Sinai, with the Ark at the front of the column to choose a place for them to stop.


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As the Ark was carried forward, Moses cried out, "Arise, O Lord, and scatter your enemies; let them flee before you."


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The people were soon complaining about all their misfortunes, and the Lord heard them. His anger flared out against them because of their complaints, so the fire of the Lord began destroying those at the far end of the camp.


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Ever after, the area was known as "The Place of Burning," because the fire from the Lord burned among them there.


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Then the Egyptians who had come with them began to long for the good things of Egypt. This added to the discontent of the people of Israel and they wept, "Oh, for a few bites of meat!


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Oh, that we had some of the delicious fish we enjoyed so much in Egypt, and the wonderful cucumbers and melons, leeks, onions, and garlic!


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The people gathered it from the ground and pounded it into flour, then boiled it, and then made pancakes from it--they tasted like pancakes fried in vegetable oil.


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Moses heard all the families standing around their tent doors weeping, and the anger of the Lord grew hot; Moses too was highly displeased.


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Are they my children? Am I their father? Is that why you have given me the job of nursing them along like babies until we get to the land you promised their ancestors?


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If you are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now; it will be a kindness! Let me out of this impossible situation!"


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "Summon before me seventy of the leaders of Israel; bring them to the Tabernacle, to stand there with you.


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I will come down and talk with you there, and I will take of the Spirit which is on you and will put it upon them also; they shall bear the burden of the people along with you, so that you will not have the task alone.


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"And tell the people to purify themselves, for tomorrow they shall have meat to eat. Tell them, 'The Lord has heard your tearful complaints about all you left behind in Egypt, and he is going to give you meat. You shall eat it,


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For one whole month you will have meat until you vomit it from your noses; for you have rejected the Lord who is here among you, and you have wept for Egypt.' "


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But Moses said, "There are 600,000 men alone  besides all the women and children, and yet you promise them meat for a whole month!


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If we butcher all our flocks and herds it won't be enough! We would have to catch every fish in the ocean to fulfill your promise!"


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "When did I become weak? Now you shall see whether my word comes true or not!"


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So Moses left the Tabernacle and reported Jehovah's words to the people; and he gathered the seventy elders and placed them around the Tabernacle.


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And the Lord came down in the Cloud and talked with Moses, and the Lord took of the Spirit that was upon Moses and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied for some time.


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But two of the seventy--Eldad and Medad--were still in the camp, and when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied there.


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and Joshua (the son of Nun), one of Moses' personally chosen assistants, protested, "Sir, make them stop!"


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But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I only wish that all of the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them all!"


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The Lord sent a wind that brought quail from the sea and let them fall into the camp and all around it! As far as one could walk in a day in any direction, there were quail flying three or four feet above the ground.


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So the people caught and killed quail all that day and through the night and all the next day too! The least anyone gathered was 100 bushels! Quail were spread out all around the camp.


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But as everyone began eating the meat, the anger of the Lord rose against the people and he killed large numbers of them with a plague.


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So the name of that place was called, "The Place of the Graves Caused by Lust," because they buried the people there who had lusted for meat and for Egypt.


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and they said, "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he spoken through us, too?" But the Lord heard them.


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Immediately he summoned Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to the Tabernacle: "Come here, you three," he commanded. So they stood before the Lord. (Now Moses was the humblest man on earth.)


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Then the Lord descended in the Cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. "Aaron and Miriam, step forward," he commanded; and they did.


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With him I speak face to face! And he shall see the very form of God! Why then were you not afraid to criticize him?"


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As the Cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, Miriam suddenly became white with leprosy. When Aaron saw what had happened,


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And the Lord said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face she would be defiled seven days. Let her be banished from the camp for seven days, and after that she can come back again."


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So Miriam was excluded from the camp for seven days, and the people waited until she was brought back in before they traveled again.


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"Send spies into the land of Canaan--the land I am giving to Israel; send one leader from each tribe."


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(The Israelis were camped in the wilderness of Paran at the time.) Moses did as the Lord had commanded and sent these twelve tribal leaders:


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and see what the land is like; see also what the people are like who live there, whether they are strong or weak, many or few;


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and whether the land is fertile or not; and what cities there are, and whether they are villages or are fortified;


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whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are many trees. Don't be afraid, and bring back some samples of the crops you see." (The first of the grapes were being harvested at that time.)


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Going northward, they passed first through the Negeb and arrived at Hebron. There they saw the Ahimanites, Sheshites, and Talmites, all families descended from Anak. (By the way, Hebron was very ancient, having been founded seven years before Tanis in Egypt.)


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Then they came to what is now known as the Valley of Eshcol where they cut down a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also took some samples of the pomegranates and figs.


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The Israelis named the valley "Eshcol" at that time (meaning "Cluster") because of the cluster of grapes they found!


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They made their report to Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and they showed the fruit they had brought with them.


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This was their report: "We arrived in the land you sent us to see, and it is indeed a magnificent country--a land 'flowing with milk and honey.' Here is some fruit we have brought as proof.


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But the people living there are powerful, and their cities are fortified and very large; and what's more, we saw Anakim giants there!


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The Amalekites live in the south, while in the hill country there are the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites; down along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and in the Jordan River valley are the Canaanites."


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But Caleb reassured the people as they stood before Moses. "Let us go up at once and possess it," he said, "for we are well able to conquer it!"


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So the majority report of the spies was negative: "The land is full of warriors, the people are powerfully built,


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and we saw some of the Anakim there, descendants of the ancient race of giants. We felt like grasshoppers before them, they were so tall!"


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Their voices rose in a great chorus of complaint against Moses and Aaron. "We wish we had died in Egypt," they wailed, "or even here in the wilderness,


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rather than be taken into this country ahead of us. Jehovah will kill us there, and our wives and little ones will become slaves. Let's get out of here and return to Egypt!"


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and the Lord loves us. He will bring us safely into the land and give it to us. It is very fertile, a land 'flowing with milk and honey'!


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Oh, do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land. For they are but bread for us to eat! The Lord is with us and he has removed his protection from them! Don't be afraid of them!"


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But the only response of the people was to talk of stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared,


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and the Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people despise me? Will they never believe me, even after all the miracles I have done among them?


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I will disinherit them and destroy them with a plague, and I will make you into a nation far greater and mightier than they are!"


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"But what will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?" Moses pleaded with the Lord. "They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people.


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They have told this to the inhabitants of this land, who are well aware that you are with Israel and that you talk with her face to face. They see the pillar of cloud and fire standing above us, and they know that you lead and protect us day and night.


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'The Lord had to kill them because he wasn't able to take care of them in the wilderness. He wasn't strong enough to bring them into the land he swore he would give them.'


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"Oh, please, show the great power  of your patience by forgiving our sins and showing us your steadfast love.


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Forgive us, even though you have said that you don't let sin go unpunished, and that you punish the father's fault in the children to the third and fourth generation.


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Oh, I plead with you, pardon the sins of this people because of your magnificent, steadfast love, just as you have forgiven them all the time from when we left Egypt until now."


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But I vow by my own name that just as it is true that all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord,


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so it is true that not one of the men who has seen my glory and the miracles I did both in Egypt and in the wilderness--and ten times refused to trust me and obey me--


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But my servant Caleb is a different kind of man--he has obeyed me fully. I will bring him into the land he entered as a spy, and his descendants shall have their full share in it.


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But now, since the people of Israel are so afraid of the Amalekites and the Canaanites living in the valleys, tomorrow you must turn back into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea."


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Then the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, "How long will this wicked nation complain about me? For I have heard all that they have been saying.


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You will all die here in this wilderness! Not a single one of you twenty years old and older, who has complained against me,


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shall enter the Promised Land. Only Caleb (son of Jephunneh) and Joshua (son of Nun) are permitted to enter it.


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'You said your children would become slaves of the people of the land. Well, instead I will bring them safely into the land and they shall inherit what you have despised.


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You must wander in the desert like nomads for forty years. In this way you will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the desert.


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'Since the spies were in the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years--a year for each day, bearing the burden of your sins. I will teach you what it means to reject me.


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I, Jehovah, have spoken. Every one of you who has conspired against me shall die here in this wilderness.' "


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Then the ten spies who had incited the rebellion against Jehovah by striking fear into the hearts of the people


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They were up early the next morning and started toward the Promised Land. "Here we are!" they said. "We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to go on into the land the Lord has promised us."


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But Moses said, "It's too late. Now you are disobeying the Lord's orders to return to the wilderness.


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Don't you remember? The Amalekites and the Canaanites are there! You have deserted the Lord, and now he will desert you."


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But they went ahead into the hill country, despite the fact that neither the Ark nor Moses left the camp.


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Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in the hills came down and attacked them and chased them to Hormah.


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The Lord told Moses to give these instructions to the people of Israel: "When your children finally live in the land I am going to give them,


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and they want to please the Lord with a burnt offering or any other offering by fire, their sacrifice must be an animal from their flocks of sheep and goats, or from their herds of cattle.


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Each sacrifice--whether an ordinary one, or a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or a free-will offering, or a special sacrifice at any of the annual festivals--must be accompanied by a grain offering. If a lamb is being sacrificed, use three quarts of fine flour mixed with three pints of oil,


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and four pints of wine for a drink offering. This will be a sacrifice that is a pleasing fragrance to the Lord.


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"If the sacrifice is a young bull, then the grain offering accompanying it must consist of nine quarts of fine flour mixed with three quarts of oil,


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plus three quarts of wine for the drink offering. This shall be offered by fire as a pleasing fragrance to the Lord.


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"These are the instructions for what is to accompany each sacrificial bull, ram, lamb, or young goat.


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These instructions apply both to native-born Israelis and to foreigners living among you who want to please the Lord with sacrifices offered by fire;


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for there is the same law for all, native-born or foreigner, and this shall be true forever from generation to generation; all are the same before the Lord.


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The Lord also said to Moses at this time, "Instruct the people of Israel that when they arrive in the land that I am going to give them,


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by making a loaf, using coarse flour from the first grain that is cut each year. This loaf must be waved back and forth before the altar in a gesture of offering to the Lord.


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It is an annual offering from your threshing floor and must be observed from generation to generation.


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"If by mistake you or future generations fail to carry out all of these regulations that the Lord has given you over the years through Moses,


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It will be a pleasant odor before the Lord, and must be offered along with the usual grain offering and drink offering, and one male goat for a sin offering.


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And the priest shall make atonement for all of the people of Israel and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have corrected it with their sacrifice made by fire before the Lord, and by their sin offering.


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All the people shall be forgiven, including the foreigners living among them, for the entire population is involved in such error and forgiveness.


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"If the error is made by a single individual, then he shall sacrifice a one-year-old female goat for a sin offering,


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"But anyone who deliberately makes the 'mistake,' whether he is a native Israeli or a foreigner, is blaspheming Jehovah, and shall be cut off from among his people.


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For he has despised the commandment of the Lord and deliberately failed to obey his law; he must be executed and die in his sin."


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One day while the people of Israel were in the wilderness, one of them was caught gathering wood on the Sabbath day.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man must die--all the people shall stone him to death outside the camp."


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"Tell the people of Israel to make tassels for the hems of their clothes (this is a permanent regulation from generation to generation) and to attach the tassels to their clothes with a blue cord.


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The purpose of this regulation is to remind you, whenever you notice the tassels, of the commandments of the Lord, and that you are to obey his laws instead of following your own desires and going your own ways, as you used to do in serving other gods.


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One day Korah (son of Izhar, grandson of Kohath, and a descendant of Levi) conspired with Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab) and On (the son of Peleth), all three from the tribe of Reuben,


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to incite a rebellion against Moses. Two hundred and fifty popular leaders, all members of the Assembly, were involved.


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They went to Moses and Aaron and said, "We have had enough of your presumption; you are no better than anyone else; everyone in Israel has been chosen of the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to put yourselves forward, claiming that we must obey you, and acting as though you were greater than anyone else among all these people of the Lord?"


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Then he said to Korah and to those who were with him, "In the morning the Lord will show you who are his, and who is holy, and whom he has chosen as his priest.


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tomorrow and light them, and put incense upon them before the Lord, and we will find out whom the Lord has chosen. You are the presumptuous ones, you sons of Levi."


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"Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near to himself as you work in the Tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the people to minister to them?


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Is it nothing to you that he has given this task to only you Levites? And now are you demanding the priesthood also?


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That is what you are really after! That is why you are revolting against Jehovah. And what has Aaron done, that you are dissatisfied with him?"


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"Is it a small thing," they mimicked, "that you brought us out of lovely Egypt to kill us here in this terrible wilderness, and that now you want to make yourself our king?


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What's more, you haven't brought us into the wonderful country you promised, nor given us fields and vineyards. Whom are you trying to fool? We refuse to come."


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Then Moses was very angry and said to the Lord, "Do not accept their sacrifices! I have never stolen so much as a donkey from them and have not hurt one of them."


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And Moses said to Korah, "Come here tomorrow before the Lord with all your friends; Aaron will be here too.


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Be sure to bring your censers with incense on them; a censer for each man, 250 in all; and Aaron will also be here with his."


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So they did. They came with their censers and lit them and placed the incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.


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Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire nation against Moses and Aaron, and they all assembled to watch. Then the glory of Jehovah appeared to all the people,


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But Moses and Aaron fell face downward to the ground before the Lord. "O God, the God of all mankind," they pleaded, "must you be angry with all the people when one man sins?"


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And the Lord said to Moses, "Then tell the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."


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So Moses rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed closely by the 250 Israeli leaders.


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"Quick!" he told the people, "get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don't touch anything that belongs to them, lest you be included in their sins  and be destroyed with them."


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So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents with their wives and sons and little ones.


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And Moses said, "By this you shall know that Jehovah has sent me to do all these things that I have done--for I have not done them on my own.


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If these men die a natural death or from some ordinary accident or disease, then Jehovah has not sent me.


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But if the Lord does a miracle and the ground opens up and swallows them and everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord."


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and a great fissure swallowed them up, along with their tents and families and the friends who were standing with them, and everything they owned.


