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The Passover

¹ Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in ^(C1)the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,² "Now the sons of Israel are to ^(F1)celebrate the Passover at ^(C1)its appointed time.³ "On the fourteenth day of this month, ^(F1)at twilight, you shall celebrate it at its appointed time; you shall celebrate it in accordance with all its statutes and all its ordinances."⁴ So Moses ^(F1)told the sons of Israel to celebrate the Passover.⁵ And ^(C1)they celebrated the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; ^(C2)in accordance with everything that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did.⁶ But there were some men who were ^(C1)unclean because of contact with a ^(F1)dead person, so that they could not celebrate Passover on that day; and ^(C2)they came before Moses and Aaron on that day.⁷ Those men said to him, "Though we are unclean because of a ^(F1)dead person, why are we kept from presenting the offering of the LORD at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?"⁸ Moses then said to them, "^(F1)(C1)Wait, and I will listen to what the LORD will command concerning you."

⁹ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,¹⁰ "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a dead ^(F1)person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, celebrate the Passover to the LORD.¹¹ 'In the second month on the ^(C1)fourteenth day at twilight, they shall celebrate it; they ^(C2)shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.¹² 'They ^(C1)shall not leave any of it until morning, ^(C2)nor break a bone of it; they shall celebrate it in accordance with the whole statute of the Passover.¹³ '^(C1)But the person who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from celebrating the Passover, that ^(F1)person shall then be cut off from his people, because he did not present the offering of the LORD at its appointed time. That person ^(C2)will bear the responsibility for his sin.¹⁴ 'And ^(C1)if a stranger resides among you and ^(F1)celebrates the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and its ordinance, so he shall celebrate it; you shall have ^(F2)the ^(C2)same statute, both for the stranger and for the native of the land.'"

The Cloud on the Tabernacle

¹⁵ Now on ^(C1)the day that the tabernacle was erected, ^(C2)the cloud covered the tabernacle, the ^(C3)tent of the testimony, and ^(C4)in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle until morning.¹⁶ That is how it was continuously; ^(C1)the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.^17 (C1)Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp.¹⁸ At the ^(F1)command of the LORD the sons of Israel would set out, and at the ^(F1)command of the LORD they would camp; ^(C1)as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped.¹⁹ Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, ^(F1)the sons of Israel would comply with the LORD'S ordinance and not set out.²⁰ If ^(F1)sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, ^(C1)in accordance with the ^(F2)command of the LORD they remained camped. Then in accordance with the ^(F2)command of the LORD they set out.²¹ If ^(F1)sometimes the cloud ^(F2)remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning they would set out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out.²² Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but ^(C1)when it was lifted, they did set out.^23 (C1)At the ^(F1)command of the LORD they camped, and at the ^(F1)command of the LORD they set out; they did what the LORD required, in accordance with the ^(F1)command of the LORD through Moses.