Study Desk

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

"Speak to Aaron and say to him, 'When you ^(F1)mount the lamps, the seven lamps will ^(C1)provide light in the front of the lampstand.'"

Therefore Aaron did so; he ^(F1)mounted its lamps at the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

^(C1)Now this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flower ornamentation it was hammered work; ^(C2)according to the ^(F1)pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.

Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

"Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and ^(C1)cleanse them.

"This is what you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle ^(F1)purifying ^(C1)water on them, and have them ^(F2)(C2)use a razor over their whole ^(F3)body, and they shall ^(C3)wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.

"Then have them take a ^(F1)bull with ^(C1)its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and you shall take a second ^(F1)bull as a sin offering.

"So ^(C1)you shall present the Levites in front of the tent of meeting. ^(C2)You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel,

and present the Levites before the LORD; and the sons of Israel ^(C1)shall lay their hands on the Levites.

"Aaron then shall ^(F1)present the Levites before the LORD as a ^(C1)wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may ^(F2)qualify to perform the service of the LORD.

"Now ^(C1)the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites.

"And you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the LORD.

"So you shall single out the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and ^(C1)the Levites shall be Mine.

"Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and ^(C1)present them as a wave offering;

for they are ^(C1)exclusively given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself ^(C2)instead of the firstborn of every womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel.

"For ^(C1)every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the people and among the animals; on the day that I fatally struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself.

"But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel.

"And ^(C1)I have given the Levites as ^(F1)a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no ^(C2)affliction among the sons of Israel due to ^(F2)their approaching the sanctuary."

So this is what Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel did to the Levites; according to everything that the LORD had commanded Moses regarding the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them.

^(C1)The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them.

Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; just as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

"This is what applies to the Levites: from ^(C1)twenty-five years old and upward ^(F1)they shall enter to perform service in the work of the tent of meeting.

"But at the age of fifty years they shall ^(F1)retire from service in the work and not work anymore.

"They may, however, ^(F1)assist their brothers in the tent of meeting, ^(C1)to fulfill an obligation, but they themselves shall do no work. In this way you shall deal with the Levites in their obligations."

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,

"Now the sons of Israel are to ^(F1)celebrate the Passover at ^(C1)its appointed time.

"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."

So Moses ^(F1)told the sons of Israel to celebrate the Passover.

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.

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.

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?"

Moses then said to them, "^(F1)(C1)Wait, and I will listen to what the LORD will command concerning you."

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

"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.

'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.

'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.

'^(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.

'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.'"

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.

That is how it was continuously; ^(C1)the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

^(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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

^(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.

The LORD spoke further to Moses, saying,

"Make yourself two trumpets of silver, you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for ^(C1)summoning the congregation and breaking camp.

"Now ^(C1)when both are blown, all the congregation shall meet you at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

"But if only one is blown, then the ^(C1)leaders, the heads of the ^(F1)divisions of Israel, shall meet you.

"And when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched ^(C1)on the east side shall set out.

"Then when you sound an alarm the second time, the camps that are pitched on ^(C1)the south side shall set out; an alarm is to be sounded for them to break camp.

"When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow the trumpets without ^(C1)sounding an alarm.

"^(C1)The sons of Aaron, moreover, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and this shall be a permanent statute for you throughout your generations.

"And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who ^(C1)attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you will be ^(C2)thought of by the LORD your God, and be saved from your enemies.

"Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed ^(F1)feasts, and on the first days of your months, ^(C1)you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God."

Now in ^(C1)the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from above the ^(F1)tabernacle of the testimony;

and the sons of Israel set out on ^(C1)their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled in the ^(C2)wilderness of Paran.

^(C1)So they moved on for the first time in accordance with the ^(F1)command of the LORD through Moses.

The ^(F1)flag of the camp of the sons of Judah, by their armies, ^(C1)set out first, with Nahshon the son of Amminadab, over its army,

and Nethanel the son of Zuar, over the tribal army of the sons of Issachar;

and Eliab the son of Helon over the tribal army of the sons of Zebulun.

^(C1)Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, set out.

Next ^(C1)the flag of the camp of Reuben, by their armies, set out with Elizur the son of Shedeur, over its army,

and Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai over the tribal army of the sons of Simeon,

and Eliasaph the son of Deuel was over the tribal army of the sons of Gad.

^(C1)Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy objects; and ^(C2)the tabernacle was set up before their arrival.

^(C1)Next the flag of the camp of the sons of Ephraim, by their armies, set out, with Elishama the son of Ammihud over its army,

and Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur over the tribal army of the sons of Manasseh;

and Abidan the son of Gideoni over the tribal army of the sons of Benjamin.

^(C1)Then the flag of the camp of the sons of Dan, by their armies, which formed the ^(C2)rear guard for all the camps, set out, with Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai over its army,

and Pagiel the son of Ochran over the tribal army of the sons of Asher;

and Ahira the son of Enan over the tribal army of the sons of Naphtali.

^(F1)This was the order of marching for the sons of Israel by their armies as they set out.

Then Moses said to ^(C1)Hobab the son of ^(C2)Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out to the place of which the LORD said, '^(C3)I will give it to you.' ^(C4)Come with us and we will do you good, for the LORD ^(C5)has ^(F1)promised good concerning Israel."

But he said to him, "^(C1)I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives."

Then he said, "Please do not leave us, since you know ^(F1)where we should camp in the wilderness, and you ^(C1)will be as eyes for us.

"So it will be, if you go with us, that ^(F1)(C1)whatever good the LORD ^(F2)does for us, ^(C2)we will ^(F3)do for you."

^(C1)So they moved on from the mountain of the LORD three days' journey, with ^(C2)the ark of the covenant of the LORD going on in front of them for the ^(F1)three days, to seek out ^(C3)a resting place for them.

^(C1)And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, "^(C1)Rise up, LORD! And may Your enemies be scattered, And those ^(C2)who hate You flee from Your presence."

And when it came to rest, he said, "^(C1)Return, LORD, To the myriad ^(C2)thousands of Israel."