GENESIS 1

Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50

1 In the/a beginning Elohim [1] created/transformed the heavens and the earth. [Enlarged Bet] 2 The earth had become a desolate wasteland and abandoned, and darkness covered the surface of the primeval ocean when Elohim’s spirit [feminine], fluttered over the surface of the water.

3 “Elohim said, “There should be light,” and there was light. 4 Elohim saw the light, and saw that it was good. Elohim divided the light from the darkness. 5 Elohim called the light “day”, and the darkness He called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 “Elohim said, “There should be an expanse of atmosphere supporting water above it [2], and it should separate the water above from the water on the surface. 7 Elohim made the expanse, and divided the water that was under the expanse from the water that was above the expanse, and it was so. 8 Elohim called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

9 “Elohim said, “The water under the sky should be gathered together into one place, and dry land should appear,” and it was so. 10 Elohim called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the water he called “seas”. Elohim saw that it was good. 11 Elohim said, “The earth should put forth vegetation, and plants that yield seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit within their species, with seeds in them on the earth,” and it was so. 12 The earth produced vegetation, plants with seeds within their species, and trees bearing fruit, all of them containing seeds, within their species, and Elohim saw that it was good. 13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14 “Then Elohim said, “There should be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, they should be for signs, and 'Appointed Festivals', days and years, 15 to serve as lights in the expanse of sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 Elohim made the two great lights —the greater light to dominate the day, and the lesser light to dominate the night. He also made the stars. 17 Elohim set them in the expanse of sky to provide light for the earth, 18 to regulate the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. Elohim (God) saw that it was good. 19 There was evening, then morning, a fourth day.

20 “Elohim said, “The water should swarm with swarms of living creatures, and birds should fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky. 21 Elohim created the huge dragons * and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water 'self replicating' the same kind, and every winged bird after its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good. 22 Elohim blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the water in the seas, and birds will multiply on the earth. 23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

24 “Elohim said, “The earth should bring forth living creatures 'self replicating' the same kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth 'self replicating' the same kind,” and it was so. 25 Elohim made the animals of the earth 'self replicating' the same kind, and the livestock 'self replicating' the same kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. Elohim saw that it was good. 26 Then Elohim said, “We should make mankind to resemble Us, similar to Us, and give them dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds in the sky, and the domestic animals all over the earth, and over every creature that walks and moves the earth. 27 So Elohim created mankind in His own image. In the image of Elohim He created them. He created them male and female. 28 Elohim blessed them. And Elohim told them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. 29 Elohim said, “I’ve given you every herb yielding seeds on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that bears fruit yielding seeds. That will be your food. 30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, every living thing, I’ve given them all green herbs for food,” and it was so. 31 Elohim looked at everything He had made and saw that it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

[1] The Hebrew word usually rendered “God” is “Elohim.” After every use of Elohim (over 7000 times), the Hebrew has the two letters “Aleph Tav” (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, sort of like Alpha and Omega) as a grammatical marker. The word “God” came from paganism, as even this “so what” link explains, as did many other theological terms, such as theology, amen, church, glory, holy, sacred, saint, sanctuary, and even sacrifice. There is also an Enlarged Bet in verse 1.

[2] There seems to have been a protective shield of water surrounding the planet, thought to be pre flood.

GENESIS 2

1 Heaven and earth and everything associated with them were finished. 2 By the seventh day Elohim had completed the work He had been doing, by the seventh day He had ceased [not rested from] preparing His workmanship. 3 Elohim blessed the seventh day, and made it kadosh, because that is when He finished all of His work that He had created and made.

4 “This is the historical account of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, at the time when Yehovah Elohim made the earth and the heaven. [Small Hey] 5 Now no shrub or herb had yet appeared on the earth, no plants had yet sprung up, because Yehovah Elohim hadn’t caused it to rain on the earth. There wasn’t a man to tend the land, 6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Yehovah Elohim formed man from the fine dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being [life]. 8 Yehovah Elohim planted a garden toward the east, in Eden, and there He put the man He had formed. 9 Out of the ground Yehovah Elohim made every tree to grow that is pleasant to see, and good for food, the tree of life was also in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 “A river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it separated, and became four branches. 11 The name of the first is Pishon, this is the one that flows thru the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold, 12 and the gold of that land is good. There is aromatic resin and onyx stones. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon, the same river that flows thru the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel, this is the one that flows east toward Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 “Yehovah Elohim took the man, and put him into the Garden in Eden [1] to guard it and to tend it. 16 Yehovah Elohim commanded the man, saying, “Of every trees of the garden you can freely eat, 17 but you must not eat fruit from of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because in the day that you eat from it you’ll surely die.

18 “Yehovah Elohim said, “It isn’t good for the man to be alone, so I’ll make him a companion suitable for him. 19 Out of the ground Yehovah Elohim formed every ‘wild’ animal, and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds from the air, and to every 'wild' animal [2], but for man there wasn’t found a helper suitable for him. 21 Yehovah Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept, and He took part of [3] his side, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 He made the part of his side, that Yehovah Elohim had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh [not just a bone]. She’ll be called ‘woman’, because she was taken out of man. 24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother, and unites with his wife and they become one flesh. 25 They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

[1] Where was the Garden in Eden? Is there a place on earth that will return to an Edenic paradise? Yes: Ezekiel 36:35. And wasn’t the Tree of Life in Eden? Where will the Paradise be located where the unchanging Elohim will choose to return the Tree of Life to? See: Revelation 2:7 & 22:14 (Thanks B)

[2] “Of all the species of beasts and flying creatures that had already been created and had spread over the face of the earth and the firmament of the heavens, [Yehovah] now formed particular specimens for the purpose of presenting them all before man in the midst of the Garden.”—Cassuto

[3] This is the only place of 41 usages where translators chose to insert rib.

GENESIS 3

1 Now the shining one was more subtle than any 'wild' animal that Yehovah Elohim had made. He told the woman, “Has Elohim really said, “You must not eat from any tree of the garden?’ 2 The woman told the shining one, “Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we can eat, 3 but of the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, Elohim has said, “You must or eat it, or even touch it, or you’ll die. 4 The shining one told the woman, “You certainly won’t die, 5 because Elohim knows that on the day when you eat its fruit, your eyes will be opened, and you’ll be like the Elohim, having knowledge of good and evil. 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was visually delightful, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took one of its fruit, and ate it, and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 The eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8 “They heard the voice of Yehovah Elohim [the pre incarnate Yeshua] walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yehovah Elohim among the trees of the garden. 9 Yehovah Elohim called to the man, and asked him, “Where are you?” 10 The man said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself. 11 Elohim said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman who You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate. 13 Yehovah Elohim told the woman, “What is this you’ve done?” The woman said, “The shining one deceived me, and I ate.

14 “Yehovah Elohim told the shining one, “Because you’ve done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every 'wild' animal. You’ll move about on your belly, and you’ll eat dust all the days of your life. 15 I’ll put hostility between you and the woman, and between your 'offspring' and her 'offspring'. He will 'crush' your head, and you will only 'crush' his heel. 16 To the woman He said, “The one who ambushed you [Satan] has multiplied your sorrow and in that same sorrow you will raise children. So if you turn to your husband [instead of Yehovah] he will rule over you!” 17 To Adam he said, “Because you’ve listened to your wife’s voice, and eaten from the tree that I commanded you, saying, “You must not eat it’, cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you’ll eat it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you’ll eat the herbs in the fields. 19 By the sweat of your face you’ll eat bread until you return to the ground, because out of it you were taken. You are dust, and to dust you’ll return.

20 “The man called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 Yehovah Elohim made coats of skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. 22 Yehovah Elohim said, “The man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. Now he might reach out his hand, and take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it, and continue to live forever”! 23 So Yehovah Elohim sent him out of the garden of Eden, to tend the soil that he was taken from. 24 So he drove out the man, and He placed Cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword that turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

GENESIS 4

1 The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I’ve gotten a man with Yehovah’s help. 2 She gave birth again, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a shepherd, but Cain tended the land. 3 As time passed, Cain brought an offering to Yehovah from the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and some fat. Yehovah respected Abel and his offering, 5 but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. 6 Yehovah told Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will it not be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it. 8 Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field. Then, when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

9 “Yehovah asked Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 Yehovah said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to Me from the ground. 11 Now you are cursed because the ground that has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 From now on, when you tend the ground, it won’t yield its bounty for you. You’ll be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. 13 Cain said to Yehovah, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 You’ve forced me off the land today. I’ll be hidden from Your face, and I’ll be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Then whoever finds me will kill me. 15 Yehovah told him, “If anyone kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him seven fold. Yehovah made a sign for Cain to prevent anyone who finding him from striking him dead. 16 Cain left Yehovah’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

17 “Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and named the city, after his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael. Methushael was the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives, the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle harps and pipes. 22 Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice. You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say, because I’ve slain a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me. 24 If Cain will be avenged seven times, truly Lamech seventy-seven times.

25 “Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, because Elohim has appointed me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him. 26 A son was born to Seth also and he named him Enosh. At that time people began [or began to profane] calling on Yehovah’s name.

GENESIS 5

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that Elohim created man, He made him in Elohim’s likeness. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them, and called them “Man”, [Adam] in the day when they were created. 3 Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and was the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he was the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he was the father of sons and daughters. 5 All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died. 6 Seth lived one hundred five years, and was the father of Enosh. 7 Seth lived after he was the father of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and was the father of sons and daughters. 8 All the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years, then he died. 9 Enosh lived ninety years, and was the father of Kenan. 10 Enosh lived after he was the father of Kenan, eight hundred fifteen years, and was the father of sons and daughters. 11 All the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years, then he died. 12 Kenan lived seventy years, and was the father of Mahalalel. 13 Kenan lived after he was the father of Mahalalel eight hundred forty years, and was the father of sons and daughters 14 and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, then he died. 15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and was the father of Jared. 16 Mahalalel lived after he was the father of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and was the father of sons and daughters. 17 All the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, then he died. 18 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and was the father of Enoch. 19 Jared lived after he was the father of Enoch eight hundred years, and was the father of sons and daughters. 20 All the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, then he died. 21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and was the father of Methuselah. 22 Enoch 'lived' with Elohim after he was the father of Methuselah three hundred years, and was the father of sons and daughters. 23 All the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Enoch 'lived' with Elohim, then he disappeared, because the Word* took him. 25 Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and was the father of Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he was the father of Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and was the father of sons and daughters. 27 All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years, then he died. 28 Lamech lived one hundred eighty-two years, and was the father of a son, 29 and he named him Noah, saying, “This same will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, because of the ground that Yehovah has cursed. 30 Lamech lived after he was the father of Noah five hundred and ninety-five years, and was the father of sons and daughters. 31 All the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, then he died. 32 After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

GENESIS 6

1 Then when men began to multiply on the surface of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 and Elohim’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, they took for themselves wives of all that they chose. 3 Yehovah said, “My Spirit won’t strive with mankind forever, because they are flesh, yet their days will be one hundred and twenty years [1]. 4 The Nephilim were on earth in those days, and also after that, when Elohim’s sons came in to men’s daughters. They bore children to them. They were the warriors of old, men of renown.

5 “Yehovah saw that the wickedness of humanity was great on earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his mind was continuously evil. 6 Yehovah was sorry that he had made mankind on the earth, and it grieved His thoughts. 7 Yehovah said, “I’ll destroy humanity that I’ve created from the serface of the earth, people, animals, creeping things and birds from the air, because I’m sorry that I made them. 8 But Noah found favor in Yehovah’s sight.

9 “This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah 'lived' with Elohim. 10 Noah was the father of three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. 11 The earth was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 Elohim saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, because all 'humanity' had corrupted their ways on the earth.

13 “Elohim said to Noah, “The end of all 'humanity' has come before Me, because the earth is filled with violence thru them. I’ll destroy them with the earth! 14 Make an ark of gopher wood. You must make rooms in the ark, and seal it inside and outside with pitch. 15 This is how you’ll make it. The length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You must put a roof on the ark, and you’ll finish it to a cubit upward. You’ll set the door of the ark on the side. You’ll make first, second and third decks. 17 I, even I, will bring a flood on this earth to destroy all 'humanity' with the breath of life from under the sky. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I’ll establish My covenant with you. You’ll come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 Of every living thing of all flesh, you’ll bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you. They’ll be male and female. 20 Of the birds 'self replicating' the same kind, of the livestock 'self replicating' the same kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort will come to you, to keep them alive. 21 Take with you of all food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself, and it will be food for you and for them. 22 So Noah did this. He did everything that Elohim commanded him to do.

[1] Very few individuals live to be 120 years of age, and the context does not really indicate a life span conversation, but 120 Jubilee years would cover exactly 6,000 years—as I see it ending in Jubilee 2028 when His “spirit will no longer strive with men”.

GENESIS 7

The Great Flood

1 Then Yehovah told Noah, “ Enter the ark, you and your whole family, because I’ve seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation. 2 You are to take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, a male and his female, and of the animals that aren’t clean, two each, a male and his female, 3 and also seven pairs of 'every kind' of bird of the sky, male and female, to keep the offspring alive on the surface of the earth. 4 Seven days from now I’m going to make it rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I’ll wipe from the surface of the earth every living creature I’ve made.” 5 So Noah did everything that Yehovah had commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwater 'began to cover' the earth. 7 So Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the floodwater. 8 Every clean and unclean animal, bird, and every creature that crawls on the ground 9 came to Noah and entered the ark by pairs, as Elohim commanded Noah.

10 Seven days later, the flooding of the earth began. 11 During the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, that was the day when all the springs of the great depths [subterranean waters] burst open, and the floodgates of the skies were opened.[1] 12 It continued to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. 13 On that commemorative day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, along with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark, 14 they, and every kind of animal, all kinds of livestock, every kind of terrestrial crawling creature, every kind of bird and anything else with wings. 15 They entered the ark with Noah by pairs—every kind of living 'creature' with the breath of life. 16 The males and females of each living 'creature' entered the ark as Elohim commanded them, and Yehovah shut them in. 17 The flood continued for forty days on the earth; as the water rose it lifted the ark so that it floated high above the land surface. 18 The flood water 'surged' and deluged the earth, while the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 The flood water surged even higher over the earth until all the high mountains everywhere under the whole sky were covered. 20 The mountains were covered as the water surged fifteen cubits above them.

21 “Every 'living thing' on earth died including birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all the people! 22 Every 'breathing creature'—everything that had lived on dry land died. 23 Every living thing on the surface of the land was destroyed, from people to animals, crawling creatures to birds in the sky were wiped off the land. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. 24 The flood water surged over the earth for one hundred and fifty days.

[1] How many years did it take Noah to build the ark?(Hints: Genesis 5:32; 6:13-21; 7:6) Could that be the number of years prior to the end that the die is cast and the end of the age is inevitable, and no amount of prayer can stop it? Luke 17:26-27

GENESIS 8

1 Elohim remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ark, and Elohim caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. 2 The deep’s fountains and the sky’s windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained. 3 The water continued to recede from the earth. After the end of one hundred fifty days the water decreased. 4 The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat’s mountains. 5 The water continued to recede until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains could be seen. 6 Then at the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, 7 and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 He sent out a dove from him, to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground, 9 but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, because the water was on the surface of the whole earth. He reached out his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ark. 10 He stayed yet another seven days, and again he sent out the dove out of the ark. 11 The dove came back to him that evening, and in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off! So Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He stayed yet another seven days, and sent out the dove, and she didn’t return to him any more. 13 Then in the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dried. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

15 “Elohim said to Noah: 16 “Go out of the ark, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they can breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth. 18 Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ark.

20 “Noah built an altar to Yehovah, and took some of every clean animal, and every clean bird, and offered zebakim [sacrifices] on the altar. 21 Then Yehovah smelled the pleasing aroma. Yehovah told Himself, “I’ll never again curse the ground because of man, because the intent of man’s mind is evil from his youth, and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I’ve done. 22 As long as the earth exists, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.

GENESIS 9

1 Elohim blessed Noah and his sons, and told them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that the ground teems with, and all the fish of the sea are delivered into your hands. 3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. 4 But flesh with its life, its blood, you must not eat. 5 I’ll surely require the blood of your lives. At the hand of every animal I’ll require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I’ll require the life of man. 6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, because Elohim made man in His own image. 7 Be fruitful and multiply. Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.

8 “Elohim spoke to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “As for me, I establish My covenant with you, and with your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that leave the ark, every animal of the earth. 11 I will establish My covenant with you, “Never again will all life be destroyed by floodwaters. Never again will there be a flood that destroys the earth.

12 “Elohim said, “This is the token of the covenant that I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations, 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It will happen, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, 15 and I’ll remember My covenant, that is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the water will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 Rainbows will be in the clouds. I’ll look at it, so that I can remember the everlasting covenant between Elohim and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. 17 Elohim said to Noah, “This is the token of the covenant that I’ve established between Me and all the flesh on earth.

18 “The sons of Noah who left the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the whole earth was populated.

20 “Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness. 24 Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25 He said, “Canaan is cursed. He’ll be a servant of servants to his brothers. 26 He said, “Blessed be Yehovah, the Elohim of Shem. May Canaan be his servant. 27 May Elohim enlarge Japheth. Let him live in the tents of Shem. May Canaan be his servant.

28 “Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood. 29 All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years, then he died.

GENESIS 10

1 Now these are the family records of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

2 “The sons of Japheth, Gomer, Magog, Madai, JavanTubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The descendants of Gomer, Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. 4 The descendants of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. 5 From these the maritime nations separated into their lands, each clan and nation separated by distinct languages. after their families, in their nations.

6 “The descendants of Ham, Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. 7 The descendants of Cush, Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah, Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush was the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one on earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter in Yehovah’s face. So it’s said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter in Yehovah’s face. 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 Out of that land he went out into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (the same is the great city). 13 Mizraim was the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (that the Philistines descended from) and Caphtorim. 15 Canaan was the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth, 16 the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites were spread abroad. 19 The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as you go toward Gerar, to Gaza, as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, to Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, in their nations.

21 “To Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born. 22 The descendants of Shem, Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram. 23 The descendants of Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad was the father of Shelah. Shelah was the father of Eber. 25 Two sons were born to Eber. The name of the one was Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided. His brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 30 Their dwelling was from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. 31 These are the descendants of Shem, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, after their nations.

32 “These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations. Of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

GENESIS 11

1 'Long ago' the whole earth 'spoke' the same language with the same vocabulary. 2 Then, as they traveled east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They told each other, “Let’s make bricks, and bake them completely. They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Hey, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with a summit reaching into heaven[1], and let’s make a name for ourselves so that we won’t be scattered over the entire surface of the earth. 5 Yehovah came down to examine the city and the tower that the people were building. 6 and Yehovah said [to His Son], “Look, they are one people, and they all share the same language. This is only the beginning of what they could do. Now nothing they want to do will be beyond their reach. 7 Let’s go down there and confuse their language, so that they won’t understand each other’s speech.” 8 So Yehovah dispersed them from there over the entire surface of the earth, to stop them from building the city. 9 So its name was called Babel, because from there Yehovah confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yehovah scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.

10 “This is the genealogy of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old and was the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 Shem lived five hundred years after he was the father of Arpachshad, and was the father of sons and daughters. 12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and was the father of Shelah. 13 Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he was the father of Shelah, and was the father of sons and daughters. 14 Shelah lived thirty years, and was the father of Eber, 15 and Shelah lived four hundred three years after he was the father of Eber, and was the father of sons and daughters. 16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and was the father of Peleg. 17 Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he was the father of Peleg, and was the father of sons and daughters. 18 Peleg lived thirty years, and was the father of Reu. 19 Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he was the father of Reu, and was the father of sons and daughters. 20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and was the father of Serug. 21 Reu lived two hundred seven years after he was the father of Serug, and was the father of sons and daughters. 22 Serug lived thirty years, and was the father of Nahor. 23 Serug lived two hundred years after he was the father of Nahor, and was the father of sons and daughters. 24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and was the father of Terah. 25 Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he was the father of Terah, and was the father of sons and daughters. 26 Terah lived seventy years, and was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 “Now this is the genealogy of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. 28 Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah. 30 Sarai was barren. She had no children. 31 Terah took Abram his son, Lot son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went out from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. 32 The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.

[1] Yehovah stopped the building project and He scattered humanity all over the globe, but they never forgot the notion of going to heaven. The ancient Greeks and Romans strongly perpetuated the old Babylonian goal in their detailed version: The Elysian Fields, while Valhalla, “the hall of the slain” is the version from Norse, German and Scandinavian mythology. It was said to be an enormous hall located in Asgard. Nirvana is from Buddhism. Their version is a place of perfect peace and happiness. The American Indians had their Happy Hunting Grounds. The Greek and Roman mythologies soon found a home in Christianity. The Biblical concept of New Jerusalem coming to us and the righteous inheriting the earth soon lost out to the pagan concept of souls wafting off to heaven. Another 180 degree turn!

GENESIS 12

1 Now Yehovah told Abram, “Get out of your country, and away from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I’ll show you. 2 I’ll make of you a great nation. I’ll bless you and make your name great. You’ll be a blessing. 3 I’ll bless those who bless you, and I’ll curse those who curse you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed by you. 4 So Abram went, as Yehovah had spoken to him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the 'people' they had gotten in Haran, and they went out to go into the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed thru the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh. There were Canaanites in the land. 7 Yehovah appeared to Abram and said, “I’ll give this land to your descendants. He built an altar there to Yehovah, who appeared to him. 8 He left from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to Yehovah and called on the name of Yehovah. 9 Abram traveled, going on still toward the South.

10 “There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, because the famine was severe in the land. 11 Then as he approached Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at. 12 So when the Egyptians will see you, they’ll say, “This is his wife.’ They’ll kill me, but they’ll save you alive. 13 Please say that you are my sister, so that it will be well with me for your sake, and so that I can live because of you. 14 Then when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 The leaders of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys and camels. 17 Yehovah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 Pharaoh called Abram and asked, “What is this that you’ve done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, “She is my sister’, so that I took her to be my wife? So see your wife, take her, and go your way.” 20 Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they brought him on the way with his wife and all that he had.

GENESIS 13

1 Abram went up out of Egypt, he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South.

2 “Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. 3 He went on his journeys from the South even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar that he had made there at the first. There Abram called on the name of Yehovah. 5 Lot who went with Abram also had flocks, herds and tents. 6 The land wasn’t able to bear them, so that they could live together, because their substance was great, so that they couldn’t live together. 7 There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock, and the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land at that time. 8 Abram said to Lot, “Please, don’t allow this strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, because we’re relatives. 9 Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go left, then I’ll go to the right. Or if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left. 10 Lot 'looked up', and saw the entire plain of the Jordan River, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yehovah, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. 11 So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan River for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves from each other. 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the towns of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13 The men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked sinners against Yehovah.

14 “Yehovah told Abram, after Lot had left him, “Look ‘all around’ from the location where you are—north south, east and west, 15 because all the land that you can see I’ll give to you and to your descendants forever. 16 I’ll make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can count the dust particles of the earth, then your descendants can also can be counted. 17 Get up, walk around the land thru its length and width, because I’ll give it to you. 18 Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, and built an altar there to Yehovah.

GENESIS 14

1 Then in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, 2 that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar). 3 All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea). 4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, that is by the wilderness. 7 They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same as Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.

8 “The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar) went out, and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim, 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against the five. 10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills. 11 They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way. 12 They took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

13 “One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorites, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner, and these were allies of Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them as far as Dan. 15 He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, that is on the left of Damascus. 16 He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

17 “The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine, since He was priest of the Highest Elohim. 19 He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of Elohim Highest, possessor of Heaven and earth, 20 and blessed be Elohim Highest, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. Then 'Abram' gave 'Melchizedek' a tenth of everything.[1] 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself. 22 Abram told the king of Sodom, “I’ve lifted up my hand to Yehovah, Elohim Highest, possessor of Heaven and earth, 23 that I won’t take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, otherwise you should say, “I’ve made Abram rich.’ 24 I’ll accept nothing from you except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them take their share.

[1] The Hebrew says 'he' and 'Him'. Compare with Hebrews 7:2.

GENESIS 15

1 After these things the Word of Yehovah came to Abram in a vision, and said, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I’m your shield, your exceedingly great reward. 2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Yehovah, what will You give me since I still don’t have a son and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram said, “You haven’t given me any descendants, and, and 'someone' born in my house is my heir. 4 The Word of Yehovah came to him, saying, “This man won’t be your heir, but the one coming from your own body will be your heir! 5 Then Yehovah took him outside, and said, “Look up into the sky and count the stars, if you’re able to count them.” Then He said to Abram, “‘That’s the number of’ your descendants.” 6 He believed in Yehovah, and He credited him as being righteous.

7 “He told him, “I am Yehovah who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it. 8 He said, “Sovereign Yehovah, how will I know that I’ll inherit it?” 9 He told him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a three years old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon. 10 He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other, but he didn’t divide the birds. 11 The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12 When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. 13 Then ‘Yehovah’ said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, and be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years. 14 I’ll also judge that nation, who they’ll serve. Afterward they’ll come out with great wealth, 15 but you’ll go to your fathers in peace. You’ll be buried in a good old age. 16 Then in the fourth generation they’ll return here, since the wickedness of the Amorites hasn’t fully developed.

17 “After sunset, when it was dark, a smoking oven appeared, and a blazing torch passed between these pieces. 18 On the same day Yehovah made a COVENANT with Abram and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River: 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

GENESIS 16

Abram, Sarai and Hagar

1 Abram’s wife Sarai had not been able to have children for him. But she had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since Yehovah has prevented me from having children. Go, 'sleep' with my maidservant.. That way I’ll have children thru her. Abram complied with what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in the land of Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maid Hagar and gave her to her husband as his wife. 4 He 'slept' with Hagar, and when she realized that she pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I gave my servant to your embrace, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May Yehovah judge between me and you. 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave is in your hands; do whatever you want with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly that she ran away from her.

7 “The Messenger of Yehovah found her near a spring in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai. 9 The Messenger of Yehovah said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit to her authority. 10 The Messenger of Yehovah told her, “I’ll greatly multiply your descendants, so that they will be beyond counting. 11 The Messenger of Yehovah told her, “You are pregnant, and will give birth to a son! You’ll name him Ishmael [he became Father of the Arabs], because Yehovah has heard your distress. 12 He’ll be like a wild ass of a man. His fist will be against everyone, and everyone’s fist will be against him. He’ll live in hostility toward all his brothers. 13 And she called the name of Yehovah who spake unto her, “You are the Elohim who revealed Himself,” for she said, “I have just stayed alive after seeing Him!” 14 So the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. It’s between Kadesh and Bered! 15 Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son. Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son who Hagar bore. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

GENESIS 17

The Covenant of Circumcision

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yehovah appeared to Abram, and told him, “I’m El Shaddai. Come into My presence and be blameless. 2 I’ll establish My covenant between Me and you, and increase your numbers greatly”. 3 Abram fell face down, and Elohim told him, 4 “As for Me, My covenant is with you! You’ll be the father of very many nations. 5 You’ll no longer be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, because I’ve made you the father of very many nations. 6 I’ll make you exceedingly fruitful. Your descendants will establish many nations. Kings will be descended from you. 7 I’ll establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, thruout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be your Elohim and the Elohim of your descendants after you. 8 I’ll give you and your descendants after you the land where you are living, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I’ll be their Elohim.

9 “Elohim said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to preserve My covenant, you and your descendants after you thruout their generations. 10 This is the covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, that you are to preserve: Every male among you is to be circumcised. 11 You must be circumcised. It will be a token of the covenant between Me and you. 12 Every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised thruout your generations, including servants, whether 'they’re' born in your house or purchased with silver from a foreigner who’s not 'related' to you. 13 A servant who is born in your house or purchased with your silver must be circumcised; so My covenant will be evident in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who isn’t circumcised must be removed from his people. He has broken My covenant.

15 Then Elohim said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you are no longer to call her Sarai, her name is to be Sarah [Princess]. 16 I’ll bless her, and furthermore I’ll give you a son by her. Yes, I’ll bless her, and she’ll be the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be descended from her. 17 Then Abraham fell facedown and laughed and thought to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Could Sarah bear a child at ninety years old?” 18 Abraham said to Elohim, “Why not have Ishmael live in Your sight!” 19 Elohim said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac [laugher]. I’ll 'extend' My covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. 20 As for Ishmael, I’ve heard you. I’ll blessed him, and make him fruitful, and greatly multiply his descendants. He’ll become the father of twelve tribal leaders, and I’ll make him into a great nation! 21 But I will confirm My covenant with Isaac. Sarah will give birth to him at this appointed time next year. 22 When he finished talking with him, Elohim ascended from Abraham.

23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, everyone born in his househouse, and everyone bought with his silver, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised on that commemorative day, as Elohim had told him. 24 His son Ishmael was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised. 25 Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. 26 On the very same commemorative day Abraham was circumcised, as well as his son Ishmael. 27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with silver from a foreigner, were circumcised along with him.

GENESIS 18

The Creation

1 Yehovah appeared to 'Abraham' by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the heat of the day. 2 He ‘looked up’ and saw that three 'men' were standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed down to the ground, 3 and said Yehovah, if I’ve found favor in Your sight, please don’t pass by Your servant. 4 Allow me to bring some water for you to wash your feet while you rest under this tree. 5 I’ll bring some bread to strengthen you before you leave, since you have visited your servant.” They said, “Very well, do as you say.” 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quick, get three seahs of fine meal ready, knead it and bake bread.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd, and chose a tender and choice calf, and gave it to his servant who hurriedly prepared it. 8 He took butter, milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

9 “They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” He said, “She’s in the tent. 10 He said, “I’ll certainly return to you this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son! Sarah was listening by the tent door behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I and my master have grown old, will I now have this pleasure?” 13 Yehovah asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and ask, ‘Will I really have a child when I’m so old?rsquo; 14 Is anything too difficult for Yehovah? At the appointed time next year I’ll return to you, and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Sarah was afraid and denied that she had laughed. But He said, “No, you did laugh.”

16 “Then the 'men' got up from ‘the meal’, and looked out toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to send them off. 17 Yehovah asked, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham? 18 since Abraham will certainly become an important and populous nation, and every nation on earth will be blessed thru him? 19 I [the Son] have selected him to command his children and their families after him, to obey the way of Yehovah [the Father], by doing what is right and just, so that Yehovah will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him. 20 Yehovah said, “Because the outcries against Sodom and Gomorrah are so numerous, and because their sin is so very serious, 21 I’m going down now to see if their actions are as bad as the outcries that have come up to Me. If not, I will know.” 23 Abraham approached Him, and asked, “Would you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Would you still sweep them away without sparing the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who live there? 25 Be it far from You to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous like the wicked. Far be it from You. Shouldn’t the Judge of the entire world be just?” 26 Yehovah said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, then I’ll spare the entire region for their sake. 27 Abraham answered, “Consider now, since I’ve taken it on myself to speak to Yehovah*, tho I’m only dust and ashes. 28 What if there are only five short of the fifty righteous? Would you destroy the entire city for lack of five?” He said, “I won’t destroy it, if I find forty-five there. 29 Abraham spoke to Him again and proposed, “Suppose only forty are found there.” And He said, “I won’t do it for the sake of the forty.” 30 Then he said, “Yehovah, please don’t be angry, but I must ask further. What if only thirty can be found there?” He said, “I won’t do it if I find thirty there. 31 Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to Yehovah, suppose twenty are found there?” He replied, “I won’t destroy it for twenty’s sake. 32Then he said, 'Please' don’t be angry if I speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I won’t destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33 As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham, Yehovah [1] left, and Abraham returned home.

[1] One of the two Messengers in chapters 18 and 19 was the pre incarnate Yeshua, who was also called Yehovah (Yehovah). See I and My Father are ONE, Part 2.

GENESIS 19

1 The two Messengers came to Sodom that evening. Lot was sitting by the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and got up to meet them. He bowed face down to the ground, 2 and said, “See now, my masters, please turn aside into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way. They said, “No, we’ll remain in the street all night. 3 But he insisted so strongly that they went with him into his house. He prepared a banquet, and baked some unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. 5 They called to Lot, and asked him, “Where are the men who came in to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them. 6 Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door behind him. 7 He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly. 8 I have two virgin maidens. Please let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them what seems best to you! Only don’t do anything to these 'men', because they’ve come under the protection of my roof. 9 They said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now we are going to treat you worse than them!” They pressed hard on the man Lot, and approached to break down the door. 10 But the ‘men’ reached out their hands, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 11 They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.

12 “The two ’men’ asked Lot “Do you have anyone else here-sons-in-law, sons, daughters, any other 'family' in the city. Get them out of here 13 because we’re about to destroy this place. The outcry to Yehovah against them has become so great that Yehovah has sent us to destroy it.” 14 Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, because Yehovah is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. 15 When the morning came, the Messengers hurried Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, otherwise you will be incinerated in the wickedness of the city.” 16 But he hesitated, so the ’men’ grabbed his hand, and the hands of his wife and his two daughters, and they brought them safely outside the city, because Yehovah was merciful to him. 17 Once they had taken them out, one of them said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere on the plain. Escape to the mountain, otherwise you’ll be incinerated!” 18 Lot told them, “Oh no Yehovah [1]! [See Gill’s] 19 Your servant has found favor in Your sight, and You’ve shown magnificent unfailing love in saving my life! But I can’t escape to the mountain. Some disaster would overtake me there, and I’d die. 20 There is a village near enough to flee to, it’s very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared. 21 He told him, “Look, I’ve granted your request concerning this thing also, that I won’t overthrow the city that you’ve spoken of. 22 Hurry, escape there, because I can’t do anything until you get there. So the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 “The sun had risen on the 'horizon' when Lot got to Zoar. 24 Then Yehovah [the Son] rained burning sulfur stones on Sodom and on Gomorrah from Yehovah [His Father] out of the sky. 25 He overthrew those towns, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the towns, and whatever grew on the ground. 26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 27 Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yehovah. 28 He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land was rising like smoke from a furnace. 29 Then when Elohim destroyed the towns of the plain, Elohim remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the towns that Lot had lived in.

30 “Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31 The firstborn told the younger, “Our father is old, and there isn’t a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. 32 Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we’ll lie with him, so that we can preserve our father’s lineage”.” 33 They made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up. 34 It came to pass on the next day, the firstborn told the younger, “Look, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, so that we can preserve preserve our father’s lineage.” 35 So they made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up. 36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The firstborn carried a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to today. 38 The younger also bore a son, and named him Ben Ammi. He is the father of the descendants of Ammon to this today.

[1] As explained in the link above, this originally said Yehovah. So the pre incarnate Yeshua has returned. In verses 19-21 Lot asked for the plan to be changed. Had this been a Messenger relenting it would have been insubordination.

GENESIS 20

1 Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar. 2 Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister”. Abimelech king of Gerar sent men, and took Sarah. 3 But Elohim came to Abimelech in a dream at night, and told him, “You’re a dead man, because of the woman who you’ve taken! She is someone’s wife. 4 Now Abimelech hadn’t come near her. He said, “Yehovah*, will you destroy a righteous nation? 5 Didn’t he tell me, “She is my sister?” She herself said, “He is my brother.” I did this with integrity and innocent hands. 6 Elohim told him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with integrity, and I also prevented you from sinning against Me. I didn’t allow you to touch her. 7 So return the man’s wife. He’s a prophet, and he’ll pray for you, and you’ll live. If you don’t return her, then know for certain that you’ll die, you, and everyone who is yours.

8 “Abimelech got up early in the morning, and called all his servants, and explained all of these things to them. The men were very scared. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and told him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you for you to have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You’ve done things to me that shouldn’t be done!” 10 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What did you see, that you’ve done this?” 11 Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of Elohim isn’t in this place. They’ll kill me for my wife’s sake.’ 12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 Then when Elohim caused me to wander from my father’s house, I told her, “This is your kindness that you’ll show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” 14 Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. 15 Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. Live where it pleases you. 16 He said to Sarah, “I’ve given your brother a thousand pieces of silver! It’s for you a covering of the eyes to everything that are with you! In front of all you are vindicated. 17 Abraham prayed to Elohim. Elohim healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. 18 For Yehovah had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

GENESIS 21

1 Yehovah visited Sarah as he had said, and Yehovah did to Sarah what He had said. 2 Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time that Elohim had told him. 3 Abraham named his son who was born to him, who Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as Elohim had commanded him. 5 Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “Elohim has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me. 7 She said, “Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I’ve borne him a son in his old age.

8 “The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great Feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 Sarah saw son of Hagar the Egyptian, who she had borne to Abraham, mocking. 10 So she said to Abraham, “Throw out this maidservant. and her son! The son of this maidservant. won’t be heir with my son, Isaac. 11 The matter was very severe in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 12 Elohim said to Abraham, ““Don’t be so distressed about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your descendants will be named thru Isaac. 13 I’ll also make a nation of the son of the maidservant., because he is your descendant. 14 Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the young man, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15 The water in the bottle was spent, and she 'left' the child under one of the shrubs. 16 Then she went and sat down across from him, about a bow shot away and said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” So she sat across from him and cried loudly. 17 Elohim heard the boy crying, and the Messenger of Elohim called to Hagar out of the sky, and asked her, “What’s the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. Elohim has heard the boy crying where he is. 18 Get up and help the boy up, and hold him in your hand, because I’m going to make a great nation from his descendants.” 19 Then Elohim opened her eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She went and filled the a skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 Elohim was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and became an archer as he grew up. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

22 “Then at that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “Elohim is with you in everything you do. 23 So swear to me here before Elohim that you won’t deal unfairly with me, my children, or my descendants. Show me and the land where you are temporarily staying as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown you.” 24 Abraham said, “I’ll swear. 25 Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well that Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away. 26 Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t hear about it until today.” 27 Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs that you’ve set by themselves mean?” 30 He said, “You’ll accept these seven ewe lambs from me as my evidence that I’ve dug this well. 31 So he called that place Beersheba, because they both swore there. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech got up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called on the name of Yehovah, the Everlasting Elohim there. 34 Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.

GENESIS 22

1 Some time later, Elohim tested Abraham, and told him, “Abraham!” He said, “Here I am. 2 He said, Please [1] take your son, your only son Isaac who you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I’ll instruct you about. 3 Abraham got up early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and got up, and went to the place that Elohim had instructed him to go. 4 On the third day Abraham ‘looked up’ and saw the place in the distance. 5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go ahead. We’ll worship, and come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and loaded it on his son Isaac’s back. Then he picked up the fire coals and the knife, and they both went on together. 7 Then Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” He said, “Here are the fire coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “Elohim will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, son. So they both went on together. 9 When they arrived at the place Elohim had told him about, Abraham built the altar there, and carefully arranged the wood. Then he tied up his son Isaac and set him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Abraham reached out and took the knife in hand to kill his son. 11 The Messenger of Yehovah called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “I’m here.” 12 He said, “Don’t lay a hand on the boy, or do anything to him, because now I know that you fear Elohim [Father], seeing that you haven’t withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Abraham ‘looked up’ and saw that behind him was a ram caught by his horns in the thicket! Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham named the place “Yehovah Will Provide”. And to this day 'people' say, “On Yehovah’s mountain, it will be provided.”

15 “The Messenger of Yehovah called to Abraham from Heaven a second time 16 and said, “I’ve sworn by Myself,’ says Yehovah, ‘that because you’ve done this, and haven’t withheld your son, your only son, 17 that I’ll greatly bless you, and I’ll make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will own the gateways of their enemies. 18 All the nations on earth will be blessed by your descendants, because you obeyed ‘what I said’.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba, because Abraham lived in Beersheba.

20 “Then afterward, Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 Bethuel was the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, “Tahash, and Maacah.

[1] Of the 22 Bible versions I checked (here), only the ISV includes the word “please”, which changes the entire scenario. Isaac was a young man who also had to voluntarily submit to the request of his father, a man well over 100 years of age. This equates to Yeshua submitting to His Father’s will.

GENESIS 23

1 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah’s life. 2 Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (the same as Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to cry for her. [Small Kaf] 3 Abraham got up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Heth: 4 I’m an immigrant and a foreigner living with you. Give me a burial plot with you, so that I can bury my dead out of my sight. 5 The children of Heth answered Abraham, 6 “Hear us master. You are a leader of Elohim among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.” 7 Abraham got up, and bowed to the people of the land, the children of Heth. 8 He told them “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, out of my sight, hear me, and approach Ephron son of Zohar for me, 9 so that he can give me the cave of Machpelah, that he has, that is in the end of his field. Have him charge me the full amount of silver for possession of the burial place.”

10 “Now Ephron was sitting among the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who entered at the gate of his city: 11 “No, my master, hear me. I’ll give you the field, and the cave that’s in it. In the presence of the children of my people I will give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12 Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13 He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, “If only you will, please hear me. I’ll pay the price of the field. Take it from me, and I’ll bury my dead there. 14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “My master, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? So bury your dead.” 16 Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver that he had mentioned in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard. 17 So Ephron’s field that was in Machpelah to the east of Mamre the field and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders were deeded over 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. 20 The field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham for a personal burial place by the children of Heth.

GENESIS 24

1 Abraham was old, and well advanced in age. Yehovah had blessed Abraham in everything. 2 Abraham said to the senior servant in his household, who was in charge of everything that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh. 3 I’ll make you swear by Yehovah, the Elohim of Heaven and the Elohim of the earth, that you won’t take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, where I live. 4 But go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac. 5 The servant told him, “What if the woman isn’t willing to follow me to this land? Must I bring your son back to the land you came from?” 6 Abraham told him, “Make sure that you don’t take my son back there. 7 Yehovah, the Elohim of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, “I’ll give this land to your descendants.’ He’ll send his Messenger before you, and you’ll take a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman isn’t willing to follow you, then you’ll be free from my oath. But you must not bring my son back there again. 9 The servant put his hand under Abraham’s his master’s thigh, and swore to him concerning the matter.

10 “The servant took ten of his master’s camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master’s with him. He got up, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. 11 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water. 12 He said, “Yehovah, the Elohim of my master Abraham, please give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 I’m standing by the spring. The daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that the young lady to who I’ll say, “Please lower your pitcher, so that I can drink’, and she’ll say, “Drink, and I’ll also give your camels a drink’. Have her be the one you’ve appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I’ll know that you’ve shown kindness to my master.

15 “Then, before he had finished speaking, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16 The young lady was very beautiful, a virgin, no man had known her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 The servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please give me a drink, a little water from your pitcher. 18 She said, “Drink, my master. She hurried, and set her pitcher in my hand, and gave him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll also draw water for your camels until they’ve finished drinking. 20 She hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

21 “The man looked steadfastly at her, remaining silent, to determine whether Yehovah had made his journey prosperous or not. 22 Then as the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, 23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father’s house for us to stay in?” 24 She told him, “I’m the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who she bore to Nahor. 25 She said furthermore to him, “We have both straw and provender enough, and room for you to stay. 26 The man bowed his head, and worshiped Yehovah. 27 He said, “Blessed be Yehovah, the Elohim of my master Abraham, who hasn’t forsaken his unfailing love and his truth toward my master. As for me, Yehovah has led me in the way to the house of my master’s relatives. 28 The young lady ran, and told her mother’s household about these matters.

29 “Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban. Laban ran out to the man, to the spring. 30 When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard his sister Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels at the spring. 31 He said, “Come in, you blessed of Yehovah. Why are you standing outside? I’ve prepared the house, and made room for the camels. 32 The man came into the house, and he unloaded the camels. He gave straw and provender to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I won’t eat until I’ve told my message. He said, “Speak on.

34 “He said, “I’m Abraham’s servant. 35 Yehovah has blessed my master greatly. He has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 Sarah, my master’s wife, bore a son to my master when she was old. He has given all that he has to him. 37 My master made me swear, saying, “You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, 38 but go to my father’s household, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’ 39 I asked my master, “What if the woman won’t follow me?’ 40 He told me, “Yehovah, before who I walk, will send His Messenger with you and prosper your way. You’ll take a wife for my son from my relatives, and of my father’s household. 41 Then you will be free of my oath, when you come to my relatives. If they don’t give her to you, you’ll be free from my oath.’ 42 I came to the spring today, and said, “Yehovah, the Elohim of my master Abraham, if You are about to prosper the way that I’m going” 43 well, I’m standing by this spring. So may it be that when a virgin comes out to draw water, and I ask her, “Please give me a little water to drink from your pitcher,” 44 that she will tell me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” then have her be the woman who Yehovah has appointed for my master’s son.’ 45 Before I had finished the thought in my mind, I saw Rebekah come out with a pitcher on her shoulder. She went down to the spring, and drew, and I asked her, “Please give me a drink.’ 46 She hurried and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, “Drink, and I’ll also give your camels a drink too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels a drink. 47 I asked her, “Whose daughter are you?’ She said, “The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, who Milcah bore to him.’ I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands. 48 I bowed my head, and worshiped Yehovah, and blessed Yehovah, the Elohim of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter for his son. 49 Now if you’ll deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, so that I can turn to the right hand, or to the left.

50 “Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing proceeds from Yehovah. We can’t speak to you bad or good. 51 Rebekah is before you. Take her, and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as Yehovah has said! 52 Then when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the ground before Yehovah. 53 The servant brought silver and gold jewelry, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and her mother. 54 They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and spent the night. They got up in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master. 55 Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young lady stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she can go. 56 He told them, “Don’t hinder me since Yehovah has prospered my way. Send me away so that I can go to my master. 57 They said, “We will call the young lady, and ask her. 58 They called Rebekah, and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I’ll go. 59 They sent their sister Rebekah away, along with her nurse, Abraham’s servant, and his men. 60 They blessed Rebekah, and said to her “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your descendants possess the gates of their enemies. 61 Rebekah got up with her ladies. They rode on the camels, and followed the man. The servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

62 “Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, because he lived in the Negev. 63 Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the evening. He 'looked up' and saw that there were camels comin'looked up' and saw Isaac, she fell off of her camel! 65 She told the servant, “Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master. She took her veil, and covered herself. 66 The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. He loved her. Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

GENESIS 25

1 Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah. 2 She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian, Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5 Abraham gave everything he had to Isaac, 6 but to the sons of Abraham’s concubines, Abraham gave gifts. He sent them east, away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, to the east country.

7 “These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred seventy-five years. 8 Abraham gave up the spirit, and died at a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and joined his ancestors in death. 9 Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, son of Zohar the Hittite, that is before Mamre, 10 the field that Abraham purchased from the children of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife. 11 Then after the death of Abraham, Elohim blessed Isaac, his son. Isaac lived by Beer Lahai Roi.

12 “Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, who Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant., gave birth to Abraham. 13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth, the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments, twelve princes, according to their nations. 17 These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred thirty-seven years. He gave up his spirit and died, and joined his ancestors in death. 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur to the 'east' of Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He settled in defiance of all his brothers.

19 “This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham was the father of Isaac. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah in marriage as his wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21 Isaac prayed to Yehovah for his wife, because she was sterile. Yehovah ‘granted his prayer’, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her. She said, “If it is so, why do I live?” She went to ask Yehovah. 23 Yehovah told her, “Two nations are in your womb. Two people will be separated from your body. The one nation will be stronger than the other nation. The older will serve the younger. 24 When her time to give birth arrived, she saw that there were twins in her womb! 25 The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau. 26 After that, his brother was born with his hand holding Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob [heel holder]. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. 27 The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, an outdoors man. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. 28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 “Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, because I’m famished. So his name was called Edom. 31 Jacob said, “First, sell me your birthright. 32 Esau said, “Look, I’m about to die. What good is the birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first. He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. He ate and drank, then got up and left. This is how Esau scorned his birthright.

GENESIS 26

1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar. 2 Yehovah appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt. Live in the land I’ll tell you about. 3 Stay in this land, and I’ll be with you, and bless you. To you and your descendants, I’ll give all these lands, and I’ll establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I’ll multiply your descendants like the stars in the heavens, and give your descendants all these lands. All the nations on earth will be blessed by your descendants, 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice, and obeyed My requirements, My Commandments, and My statutes and My Torah instructions. 6 Isaac lived in Gerar.

7 “The men who lived there asked him about his wife. He said, “She’s my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She’s my wife,” because he thought, “The men who live here might try to kill me to get Rebekah since she is so beautiful. 8 Then when he had been there for a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked thru a window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah, his wife. 9 So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Look, she’s obviously your wife. Why did you say, “She’s my sister?’ Isaac answered, “Because I thought I would be killed because of her.” 10 Then Abimelech said, “What is this you’ve done to us? One of the men might have easily lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 11 Abimelech warned all the people, “Whoever touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”

12 “Isaac sowed in that land, and harvested in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yehovah blessed him. 13 The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great. 14 He owned so many flocks, herds, and so many servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. 15 Now all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with dirt. 16 Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us, because you are too powerful for us. 17 Isaac left there, camped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.

18 “Isaac dug out the wells that had been dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime. The Philistines had filled them after the death of Abraham; and he gave the wells the same names his father had given them. 19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found an artesian spring. 20 The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours. He named the well Esek, because they contended with him. 21 They dug another well, and they argued over that one too. He named it Sitnah. 22 He left that place and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, “Now Yehovah has made room for us, and we’ll be fruitful in the land.

23 “He went up from there to Beersheba. 24 Yehovah appeared to him the same night, and said, “I’m the Elohim of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, because I’m with you, and will bless you, and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake. 25 He built an altar there, and called on the name of Yehovah, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac’s servants dug a well.

26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army. 27 Isaac told them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We saw plainly that Yehovah was with you. We said, “We should have an oath between us, between you and us, let’s make an alliance alliance with you, 29 so that you won’t harm us, as we have not touched you, since we’ve done nothing to you but good, and sent you away in peace.’ Now you are blessed by Yehovah. 30 He made them a Feast, and they ate and drank. 31 They got up some time in the morning, and swore to each other. Isaac sent them away, and they parted in peace. 32 That same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him about the well that they had dug, they said, “We’ve found water!”. 33 He called it Shibah. So the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

34 “When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith as his wife, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

GENESIS 27

1 When Isaac was old, and his eyes were so dim that he couldn’t see, he called Esau his older son, and said to him, “My son?” He answered him, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “See now, I’m old. I don’t know the day of my death. 3 So please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt some venison for me. 4 Make it delicious food, just the way I like it, and bring it to me, so that I can eat, so that I can give you my blessing before I die.

5 “Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison and bring it back, 6 Rebekah told Jacob her son, “I heard your father tell Esau your brother, 7 ‘Bring me some venison, and make some savory food for me to eat, and bless you before Yehovah, before my death.’ 8 So my son, listen to me and do exactly what I tell you. 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I’ll prepare delicious food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Take it to your father so that he can eat it, so that he will bless you before his death. 11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I’m a smooth skinned man. 12 What if my father touches me? I’ll appear to be a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, not a blessing. 13 His mother told him, “May your curse fall on me, my son. Just do what I tell you, and go get the young goats for me. 14 He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, the way his father loved it. 15 Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, that were in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son. 16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed her son Jacob the delicious food that she had prepared, including freshly baked bread.

18 “He came to his father, and said, “Father?” He said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I’m Esau your firstborn. I’ve done what you asked me to do. Please get up, sit and eat some of my venison, so that you can bless me. 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you’ve found it so quickly, son?” He replied, “Because Yehovah your Elohim brought it to me.” 21 Isaac told Jacob, “Please come closer so that I can feel you, son, to make sure that you are really my son Esau. 22 Jacob approached Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. 23 He didn’t recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am. 25 He said, “Bring it near to me, and I’ll eat my son’s venison, so that I can bless you. He brought it to him, and he ate. He also brought him wine, and he drank it. 26 His father Isaac told him, “Come closer and kiss me, son. 27 He came and kissed him. He caught the smell of his clothes, and blessed him, and said, “Ah! The smell of my son is like the smell of the open country that Yehovah has blessed! 28 May Elohim give you of dew from the sky, and the richness of the land, and plenty of grain and new wine. 29 People will serve you, and nations will bow down to you. Be master over your brothers. May your mother’s sons bow down to you. Anyone who curses you will be cursed, and anyone who blesses you will be blessed.

30 “Then as soon as Isaac finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He also made some delicious food, and brought it to his father. He said to his Father, get up and eat your son’s venison, so that you can bless me. 32 Isaac his father asked him, “Who are you?” He said, “I’m your son, your firstborn, Esau. 33 Isaac began trembling violently, and asked, “Then who was it who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and blessed him—and he’ll certainly be blessed. 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me also, father. 35 He said, “Your brother came in deceitfully, and has taken away your blessing. 36 He said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has supplanted me twice. He took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. He said, “Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered Esau, “I’ve made him your master, and I’ve given him all his brothers as servants. I have I provided him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Do you only have one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, father. Esau raised his voice, and cried. 39 Isaac his father replied, “The place where you live will be away from the fertility of the land, and away from the dew of the sky above. 40 You live by your sword, and you’ll serve your brother. Then when you break loose, you’ll shake his yoke from your neck.

41 “Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that his father had given him. Esau told himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near. Then I’ll kill my brother Jacob. 42 The words of Esau, her older son, were repeated to Rebekah. She called for Jacob, her younger son, and told him, “Your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you! 43 So son, obey my voice. Get up and flee to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s wrath turns away, 45 until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you’ve done to him. Then I’ll send for you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

46 “Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will life be to me?” [Small Koof]

GENESIS 28

1 Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “You are not to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 2 Get up, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father. Marry a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May El Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you can become a company of people, 4 and give you the blessing of Abraham, you and to your descendants with you, so that you can inherit the land [by conquest] where you travel, that Elohim gave to Abraham. 5 So Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Paddan Aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, Rebekah’s brother, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

6 “Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram to get a wife there, and that as he blessed him he gave given him a command, “You must not marry a woman from the daughters of Canaan.” 7 He knew that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother, and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan didn’t please Isaac, his father. 9 Esau went to Ishmael, and took, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, as his wife.

10 Jacob left Beersheba and headed toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 As he dreamed he saw an elevated highway [1] stationed on the earth, and its top reached to heaven! Amazingly, the Messengers of Elohim were ascending and descending on it! 13 Yehovah [Yeshua / Jesus] stood above it and said, “I am Yehovah, the Elohim of Abraham your father, and the Elohim of Isaac. I’m going to give the land you are lying on to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you’ll spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. Thru you and your descendants, all the families of the earth will be blessed. 15I’m with you, and I’ll watch over you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land! I won’t leave you until I’ve done what I’ve promised you. 16 Jacob awakened from his sleep, and he said, “Surely Yehovah is in this place, and I didn’t know it”, 17 and this is the GATEWAY [1] [entrance] to heaven! 18 Jacob got up early in the morning and took the stone he had put by his head and set it up as a marker [pillar] and poured olive oil on top of it. 19 He renamed the place Bethel [Home of El, {Elohim}], tho previously the name of the city had been Luz.

20 “Jacob made a vow, he said, ‘If Elohim will be with me, and protect me on this journey, and give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, 21 allowing me to come back to my father’s house in peace, then Yehovah will be my Elohim, 22 and then this stone that I’ve set up for a marker will be Elohim’s home. Of everything that You give me, I’ll surely give a tenth to You.

[1] The word usually translated as ladder only occurs once in the Tanak. A better clue to its meaning can be had by checking the root word that it is taken from, that is used a dozen times and literally means, “An elevated “highway” or “Way”. Yeshua will fulfill this (John 1:51).

GENESIS 29

1 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the 'people' of the east. 2 He looked, and saw a well in the field, and there were three flocks of sheep lying there by it. From that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well’s mouth was large. 3 There all the flocks were gathered. They rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone back on the well’s mouth in its place. 4 Jacob told them, “My relatives, where are you from?” They said, “We are from Haran. 5 He told them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” They said, “We know him. 6 He asked them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well. See, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep. 7 He said, “Look, it’s still the middle of the day, not time to gather the livestock together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them. 8 They said, “We can’t, until all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well’s mouth. Then we water the sheep.

9 “While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, because she was a shepherdess. 10 Then when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother, Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered Laban’s flock his mother’s brother. 11 Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and cried. 12 Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father. 13 Then when Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things. 14 Laban told him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh. He stayed with him for a month. 15 Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my brother, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?” 16 Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and attractive. 18 Jacob loved Rachel. He said, “I’ll serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter. 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me. 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, because of the love he had for her. 21 Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days of service are finished. I want to have 'marital relations' with her. 22 Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 23 Then in the evening, he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to 'Jacob', and he had marital relations with her. 24 Laban gave Zilpah his maidservant. to his daughter Leah for a maidservant..

25 “Then in the morning, he saw that it was Leah. He said to Laban, “What is this you’ve done to me? Didn’t I serve you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It isn’t our custom here to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the bridal week of this one, and we’ll give you the other also in return for serving me seven more years. 28 Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife. 29 Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah, his maidservant., to be her maidservant.. 30 Jacob had marital relations with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, and served him another seven years.

31 “When Yehovah saw that Leah was being 'neglected', He enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32 Leah became pregnant again, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. She said, “Because Yehovah has looked at my affliction. Now my husband will love me. 33 She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, “Because Yehovah hasheard that I'm neglected, he gave me this son also.” She named him Simeon. 34 She she became pregnant again and gave birth to a son, and said, “Now this time will my husband will feel affection for me, because I’ve borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. 35 She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and said, “This time I will praise Yehovah. So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

GENESIS 30

1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die.” 2 Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in Elohim’s place, who has kept you from 'having children'?” 3 She said, “Here is Bilhah, my servant. 'Sleep' with her, so that she can give birth 'on my behalf', so that I can obtain children thru her. 4 She gave him Bilhah her maidservant. as a wife, and Jacob 'slept with' her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Jacob. 6 Rachel said, “Elohim has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son. So she named him Dan. 7 Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant. became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel said, “I’ve had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won. And she named him Naphtali.

9 “When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah, her maidservant., and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant. gave birth to a son for Jacob. 11 Leah said, “By Gawd” [a false god]! So she named him Gawd. 12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave birth to her second son for Jacob. 13 Leah said, “I am Happy, because the daughters will call me blessed. So she named him Asher.

14 “Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 She said to her, “Is it a small matter that you’ve taken away my husband? Do you want to take away my son’s mandrakes as well?” Rachel said, “So he’ll lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes. 16 Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me, because I’ve surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes. He lay with her that night. 17 Elohim listened to Leah. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. 18 Leah said, “Elohim has given me my hire, because I gave my maidservant. to my husband. She named him Issachar. 19 Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. 20 Leah said, “Elohim has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I’ve borne him six sons. She named him Zebulun. 21 Afterward, she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

22 “Elohim remembered Rachel, and Elohim listened to her, and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son, and said, “Elohim has taken away my reproach. 24 She named him Joseph, saying, “May Yehovah add another son to me.

25 “Then when Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, so that I can go to my own place, and to my country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for who I’ve served you, and let me go. You know how hard I’ve worked for you. 27 Laban told him, “If now I’ve found favor in your eyes, stay here, because I’ve learned by divination that Yehovah has blessed me because of you.” 28 He said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.” 29 He told him, “You know how I’ve served you, and how your livestock have fared with me. 30 It was little that you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. Yehovah has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?” 31 He said, “What will I give you?” Jacob said, “You won’t give me anything. If you’ll do this thing for me, I’ll feed your flock again and tend it. 32 I’ll pass thru all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This will be my hire. 33 So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that isn’t speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that are found with me will be considered stolen. 34 Laban said, “Agreed. We’ll do as you’ve said.” 35 That day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and handed them over to his sons. 36 He set three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

37 “Jacob took to himself rods of fresh poplar, almond, plane tree, peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear that was in the rods. 38 He set the rods that he had peeled opposite the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink. They bred when they came to drink. 39 The flocks bred before the rods, and the flocks produced streaked, speckled and spotted. 40 Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the black in the flock of Laban, and he put his own droves apart, and didn’t put them into Laban’s flock. 41 Then whenever the stronger of the flock conceived, Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, so that they could matee among the rods, 42 but when the flock were feeble, he didn’t put them in. So the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 The man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, camels and donkeys.

GENESIS 31

1 He heard Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away everything that was our father’s. From what was our father’s, has he acquired all this wealth. 2 Jacob noticed that Laban didn’t appear as friendly to him as before. 3 Yehovah told Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors and to your relatives, and I’ll be with you.” 4 So Jacob called Rachel and Leah out into the field where his flocks were, 5 and told them, “I see the expression on your father’s face isn’t toward me as before, but the Elohim of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I’ve served your father with all of my strength. 7 Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but Elohim didn’t allow him to hurt me. 8 If he said this, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages’, then the entire flock gave birth to speckled. If he said this, ‘The streaked will be your wages’, then the entire flock gave birth to streaked. 9 So Elohim has taken away your father’s livestock, and given them to me. 10 Then during mating season I looked up and saw in a dream that the male goats that leaped on the flock were streaked, speckled and gray spotted. 11 In the dream the Messenger of Elohim called to me, 'Jacob'! And I replied, ‘Here I am.’ 12 He said, “Now look up and see all the male goats that leap on the flock are streaked, speckled and grizzled, because I’ve seen everything that Laban is doing to you. 13 I’m the Elohim of Bethel, where you anointed a stone marker, where you made a vow to Me. Now get up and leave this land, and return to your native land. 14 Rachel and Leah replied, “Is there still any share or inheritance for us in our father’s house? 15 Doesn’t he consider us foreigners? He has sold us and devoured our silver. 16 For all the wealth that Elohim has taken away from our father, that is ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever Elohim has said to you, do.

17 “Then Jacob got up and set his sons and his wives on the camels, 18 and he took away all his livestock, and all his possessions that he had gathered, including the livestock that he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to Isaac his father, in the land of Canaan. 19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father’s, 20 and Jacob stole the heart of Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing. 21 So he fled with everything that he had. He got up, crossed over the River, and headed toward the mountains of Gilead.

22 “Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. 23 So he took his relatives with him, and pursued him for seven days and caught up with him in the mountain of Gilead. 24 Elohim came to Laban, the Syrian, in a dream at night, and told him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.

25 “Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban and his relatives camped on the mountains of Gilead. 26 Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you’ve deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of ‘war’. 27 Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, without telling me. I could have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourines and harp music. 28 But you didn’t allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? You’ve acted foolishly. 29 It’s within my power to hurt you, but the Elohim of your father spoke to me last night, and said, “Be careful that you don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” 30 Now, you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father’s house, but why have you stolen my gods?” 31 Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, so I said, ‘You could take your daughters away from me by force.’” 32 Anyone you find your gods with won’t be allowed to live. Before our relatives, find what is yours with me, and take it, because Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had stolen them. 33 Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two female servants, but he didn’t find them. He went out of Leah’s tent, and went into Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Laban rummaged thru the tent, but didn’t find them. 35 She said to her father, “Don’t be angry with me master that I can’t get up before you, because I’m having my period. He searched, but didn’t find the teraphim.

36 “Jacob was angry, and argued with Laban. Jacob answered Laban, “What is my crime? What is my sin that you’ve so hotly pursued me? 37 Now that you’ve rummaged thru all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, so that they can judge between us two. 38 I’ve been with you for twenty years. Your ewes and your female goats have’t aborted their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 I didn’t bring you any animals injured by predators. I bore the loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 This was my situation, during the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 These twenty years I’ve been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you’ve changed my wages ten times. 42 Unless the Elohim of my father, the Elohim of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away with nothing. Elohim has seen my oppression and the labor of my hands, and reprimanded you last night. 43 Laban answered Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, these children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and everything that you see is mine, and what can I do today to my daughters, or to their children who they’ve borne? 44 Now come, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and have it be for a witness between me and you.

45 “So Jacob took a stone and set it up for a pillar. 46 Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there, by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. 48 Laban said, “This heap is witness between me and you today.” So it was called Galeed 49 and Mizpah, because he said, “Yehovah watch between me and you, when we’re absent from each other. 50 If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, tho no man is with us, Elohim is witness between me and you! 51 Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap, and see the pillar that I’ve set between me and you. 52 May this heap be a witness, and the pillar be a witness, that I won’t pass beyond this heap to you, and that you won’t pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, to cause harm. 53 May the Elohim of Abraham, and the Elohim of Nahor, the Elohim of their father, judge between us.” Then Jacob swore by the fear of his father, Isaac. 54 Jacob offered a zebak [sacrifice] on the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain.

55 Early in the morning, Laban got up and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban returned to his home.

GENESIS 32

1 Jacob went on his way, and the Messengers of Elohim met him. 2 When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is Elohim’s army. He called the name of that place Mahanaim.

3 “Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau in the region of Seir in the land of Edom. 4 He commanded them: “This is what you’ll tell my master, Esau. This is what your servant Jacob, says. I’ve lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now. 5 I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male and female servants. I’ve sent to tell my master in order to find favor in your sight.” 6 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau. Not only that, but he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him.” 7 Then Jacob was very afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, the flocks, the herds and the camels into two groups, 8 and he said, “If Esau comes to the one group, and strikes it, then the group that is left will escape.

9 “Jacob said, “Elohim of my father Abraham, and Elohim of my father Isaac, Yehovah, who told me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I’ll do you good’, 10 I’m not worthy of the least of all the unfailing love, and of all the truth that you’ve shown to your servant, because with just my staff I passed over this Jordan River, and now I’ve become two groups. 11 Please deliver me from the grasp of my brother, from the grasp of Esau, because I fear him, otherwise he’ll come and strike me, and the mothers with the children. 12 You said, “I’ll surely do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, that can’t be numbered because there are so many.

13 “He stayed there that night, and took from what he had with him, a present for Esau, his brother, 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 16 He put them in the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a space between herds. 17 He commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks, “Who do you belong to? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?’ 18 Then you must say, “They are your servant Jacob’s. It’s a present sent to my master Esau. He is behind us!’ 19 He also commanded the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is what you’ll say to Esau when you find him. 20 You’ll say, ‘Not only that, but your servant Jacob is behind us!’ For, he said, ‘I’ll appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I’ll see him ‘in person’. Perhaps he’ll accept me.’” 21 So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp. 22 He got up that night, and took his two wives, his two maidservant.s, and his eleven sons and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over what he had.

24 “Jacob was left alone, and a Man wrestled with him until dawn. 25 When He saw that He couldn’t defeat him, He struck Jacob’s hip socket while He wrestled with him. 26 The ‘Man’ said, “Let Me go, because it’s almost dawn. But Jacob said, “I won’t let You go unless You bless me.” 27 He asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.” 28 He said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you’ve struggled with Elohim and with men, and you won. 29 Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me Your name.” He replied, “Why do you want to know My name?” Then He blessed him there. 30 So Jacob named that place Peniel [Face of El], because he said, “I have seen Elohim face to face, and I’m still alive.” 31 The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh. 32 So the Israelites don’t eat the sinew of the hip that is on the hollow of the thigh to this day, because He touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

GENESIS 33

1 Jacob looked up and saw Esau was coming, along with his four hundred men. He divided the children between Leah, Rachel and the two maidservant.s. 2 He put the maidservant.s and their children in front, Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. 3 He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother. 4 Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept. [Jots] 5 He looked up and saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?” He said, “The children who Elohim has mercifully given your servant.” 6 Then the maidservant.s came near with their children, and they bowed themselves. 7 Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves. After them, Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed themselves. 8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob said, “To find favor in the sight of my master.” 9 Esau said, “I have enough, brother, keep what is yours.” 10 Jacob said, “Please, no, if I’ve now found favor in your sight, then take the present I’m handing you, because I’ve seen your face, as one sees the face of Elohim, and you were pleased with me. 11 Please take the gift that I brought you, because Elohim has dealt mercifully with me, and because I have plenty.” He urged him, and he took it.

12 Esau said, “Let’s take our journey, and let’s go, and I’ll go before you. 13 Jacob told him, “My master knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young, and if they’re driven too hard, even for one day, the entire flock will die. 14 Please master, go on before your servant, and I’ll follow behind slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are before me and at the pace of the children, until I meet up with my master in Seir.” 15 Esau said, “Let me now leave with you some of the people who are with me. He said, “Why? Let me find favor in the sight of my master. 16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

17 “Jacob traveled to Succoth, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. So the name of the place is called Succoth. 18 Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan Aram, and camped before the city. 19 He bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, ‘purchased from’ the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of silver. 20 He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.

GENESIS 34

1 Dinah, Leah’s daughter, who she bore to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. 2 Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the leader of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and violated her. 3 He was 'strongly attracted' to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady. 4 Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, “Get me this young lady as a wife.” 5 Now Jacob heard that he had violated Dinah, his daughter, and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob remained silent until they came. 6 Hamor, Shechem’s father went out to Jacob to talk with him. 7 The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved and they were very angry, because he had behaved outrageouslyy in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter, something that should never be done. 8 Hamor talked with them, saying, “My son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You’ll live with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it. 11 Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you ask of me I’ll give. 12 Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I’ll give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife.” 13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, and spoke, because he had violated Dinah their sister, 14 and told them, “We can’t give our sister to someone who is uncircumcised, because that is a reproach to us. 15 But on this condition will we consent to you. If you’ll be as we are, all of your males must be circumcised, 16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we’ll take your daughters to us, and we’ll live with you, and we’ll become one people. 17 But if you won’t listen to us, and be circumcised, then we’ll take our sister, and we’ll leave. 18 Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19 The young man didn’t wait to do this, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter, and he was honored above all the house of his father. 20 Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city: 21 These men are peaceful with us. So let them live in the land and trade in it. The land is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters as wives, and let’s give them our daughters! 22 Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. 23 Shouldn’t their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let’s give our consent to them, and they’ll live with us. 24 Everyone who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, everyone who went out of the gate of his city.

25 “Then on the third day, when they were sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came on the unsuspecting city and killed all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of a sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and left. 27 Jacob’s other sons came upon the dead bodies and looted the city because their sister had been defiled. 28 They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, and everything in the city and in the fields 29 and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything in the houses. 30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me, making me odious to the inhabitants of this land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I’m few in number. They’ll gather together against me and strike me, and I’ll be destroyed, I and my house.” 31 They said, “Should he have treated our sister as a whore?”

GENESIS 35

1 Elohim said to Jacob, “Get up and go up to Bethel, and live there. Make an altar to Elohim, who appeared to you when you fled from the presence of Esau your brother. 2 Then Jacob said to his household, and to everyone with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change your clothes. 3 Let’s get up and go up to Bethel. I’ll make an altar to Elohim there, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way that I went. 4 They gave Jacob all of the foreign gods that were in their hands, and the rings that were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak that was by Shechem. 5 They traveled, and a terror of Elohim was on the towns that were around them, and they didn’t pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7 He built an altar there, and called the place El Bethel, because that is where Elohim was revealed to him, when he fled from the presence of his brother. 8 Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak, and it was named Allon Bacuth.

9 “Elohim appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him. 10 Elohim told him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name won’t be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel.” He named him Israel. 11 Elohim also told him, “I’m El Shaddai; be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a ‘commonwealth’ of nations will come from you. Kings will be among your 'descendants'! 12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I’ll give to you and to your descendants after you. I will give the land. 13 Elohim went up from him in the place where he spoke with him. 14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a stone pillar. He poured out a wine offering on it, and poured olive oil on it. 15 Jacob called the place where Elohim spoke with him Bethel.

16 “They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She began to give birth and had great difficulty. 17 And as she was having great difficulty, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, because now you’ll have another son.” 18 As she breathed her last—as she was dying—she named her son Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin. 19 Rachel died, and was buried along the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem). 20 Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel’s grave to today.

21 “Israel traveled, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 22 Then, while Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

23 “The sons of Leah, Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah (Rachel’s maidservant.), Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah (Leah’s maidservant.), Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

27 “Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (that is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners. 28 Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years. 29 Isaac gave up the spirit and died, and joined his ancestors in death, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

GENESIS 36

1 Now this is the genealogy of Esau (that is, Edom). 2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan, Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth. 4 Adah gave birth to Eliphaz for Esau, and Basemath gave birth to Reuel, 5 Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

6 “Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, along with his cattle, all his animals and all his possessions, that he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and went into a land away from his brother Jacob. 7 Their substance was too great for them to live together, and the land of their travels couldn’t bear them because of their livestock. 8 Esau lived in the highlands of Seir. Esau is Edom.

9 “This is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in the highlands of Seir. 10 These are the names of Esau’s sons, Eliphaz son of Adah, the wife of Esau, and Reuel son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. 11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz. 12 Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she carried to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. 13 These are the sons of Reuel, Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 14 These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife, she carried to Esau Jeush, Jalam and Korah.

15 “These are the leaders of the sons of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau, clan leader Teman, clan leader Omar, clan leaders Zepho, clan leader Kenaz, 16 clan leader Korah, clan leader Gatam, clan leader Amalek, these are the leaders who came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom, these are the sons of Adah. 17 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son, clan leader Nahath, clan leader Zerah, clan leader Shammah, clan leader Mizzah, these are the leaders who came of Reuel in the land of Edom, these are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 18 These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife, clan leader Jeush, clan leader Jalam, clan leader Korah, these are the leaders who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. 19 These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their clan leaders.

20 “These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land, Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These are the leaders who came of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom. 22 The children of Lotan were Hori and Heman. Lotan’s sister was Timna. 23 These are the children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam. 24 These are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father. 25 These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. 26 These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Cheran. 27 These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan. 28 These are the children of Dishan, Uz and Aran. 29 These are the leaders who came of the Horites: clan leader Lotan, clan leader Shobal, clan leader Zibeon, clan leader Anah, 30 clan leader Dishon, clan leader Ezer, and clan leader Dishan, these are the leaders who came of the Horites, according to their leader in the land of Seir.

31 “These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites: 32 Bela son of Beor, reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah. 33 Bela died, and Jobab son of Zerah of Bozrah succeeded him as king. 34 Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king. 35 Husham died, and Hadad son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, and succeeded him as king. The name of his city was Avith. 36 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah succeeded him as king. 37 Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river, succeeded him as king. 38 Shaul died, and Baal Hanan son of Achbor succeeded him as king. 39 Baal Hanan son of Achbor died, and Hadar succeeded him as king. The name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

40 “These are the names of the leaders who came from Esau, according to their families, after their places, and by their names, clan leader Timna, clan leader Alvah, clan leader Jetheth, 41 clan leader Oholibamah, clan leader Elah, clan leader Pinon, 42 clan leader Kenaz, clan leader Teman, clan leader Mibzar, 43 clan leader Magdiel and clan leader Iram. These are the leaders of Edom, listed by the places they settled and the land they owned. Esau was the patriarch of the Edomites.

GENESIS 37

1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 2 These are the family records of Jacob. Joseph, a young man of seventeen was tending the flock with his brothers, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a multicolored tunic. 4 His brothers knew that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him and couldn’t say a kind word to him.

5 “Joseph had a dream. When he mentioned it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 So he asked them to “Please listen carefully to the dream that I had. 7 We were binding sheaves together out in the field. Suddenly my sheaf stood up, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” 8 Then his brothers replied, “Do you actually intend to reign over us? Are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him all the more because of the dream he had told. 9 Then he had another dream. He told his brothers, “I’ve had another dream. I saw the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowing down to me!” 10 He related it to his father as well as to his brothers. His father reprimanded him, and asked, “What 'sort' of dream did you have? Should your mother and I and your brothers really come and bow down to the ground in front of you?” 11 His brothers became more jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

12 “His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. [Jots] 13 Israel said to Joseph, aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I’ll send you to them. He told him, “Here I am.” 14 He told him, “Go now, see if your brothers are well, as well as the flock, and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 A man found him, and I saw that he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16 He said, “I’m looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.” 17 The man said, “They have left here, because I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.

18 “They saw him in the distance, and before he got near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said one to another, “The dreamer is coming! 20 Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits, and we’ll say, ‘A wild animal has devoured him. We’ll see what becomes of his dreams.’ 21 Reuben heard it, and rescued him from their 'grasp', and said, “Let’s not take his life.” 22 Reuben told them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” He intended to save him from their 'grasp', and return him to his father. 23 Then when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that he was wearing, 24 and they took him, and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

25 “They sat down to eat bread, and they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What profit would we have if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come on, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay a hand on him, because he is our brother, our flesh. His brothers listened to him. 28 Then as some Midianite traders passed by, Joseph was pulled out of the pit, and Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they took Joseph to Egypt.

29 “Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit, and he tore his clothes. 30 He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more, and I, where will I go?” 31 They took Joseph’s coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood. 32 They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We found this. Examine it and see if it’s your son’s coat or not. 33 He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s coat. A wild animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.” 34 Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son for many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “I’ll go down to sheol to my son mourning.” His father cried for him. 36 The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.

GENESIS 38

1 Then at that time, Judah went down from his brothers, and visited an Adullamite named Hirah. 2 Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite there whose name was Shua. He ‘married’ her, and 'slept with' her. 3 She conceived and had a son, and he named him Er. 4 She conceived again and had a son and she named him Onan. 5 She had still another son and named him Shelah. He was at Chezib, when she had him. 6 Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 Er, Judah’s firstborn was wicked in Yehovah’s sight. Yehovah killed him. 8 Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up descendants to your brother.” 9 Onan knew that the descendants wouldn’t be his, and it happened, when he went in to his brother’s wife, he spilled it on the ground, otherwise he would give descendants to his brother. 10 What he did was evil in Yehovah’s sight, and He killed him too. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah is grown up,” for he said, “Otherwise he’ll also die, like his brothers.” Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

12 “After many days, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheep shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite. 13 Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep! 14 She took off the clothing of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, along the way to Timnah, because she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she wasn’t given to him as a wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a whore, because she had covered her face. 16 He turned to her by the way, and said, “Please come, let me 'have sex with' you,” since he didn’t know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, so that you can 'have sex with' me?” 17 He said, “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock.” She said, “Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?” 18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She said, “Your signet and your cord and the staff in your hand.” He gave them to her, and 'had sex with' her, and she conceived by him.

19 “She got up and went away, and took off her veil, and put on the clothing of her widowhood. 20 Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he couldn’t find her. 21 Then he asked the men of her place, “Where is the prostitute who was at Enaim by the road?” They said, “There has been no prostitute here.” 22 He returned to Judah, and said, “I haven’t found her, and also the men of the place said, ‘There has been no prostitute here.’” 23 Judah said, “Let her keep it, otherwise we’ll be shamed.” I sent this young goat, and you haven’t found her.

24 “Then about three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law has practice prostitution, and furthermore, she is pregnant by prostitution. Judah said, “Bring her here so she can be burnt.” 25 When she was brought there, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I’m pregnant by the man who owns these.” She also said, “Please check to see whose these are, the signet, the cords and the staff.” 26 Judah acknowledged them, and said, “She is more righteous than I, because I didn’t give her to Shelah, my son. And he didn’t 'have sex with' again.”

27 “When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb. 28 When she travailed, one put out a hand, and the midwife tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 29 Then, as he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “Why have you made a breach for yourself?” So he was named Perez. 30 Afterward his brother who had the scarlet thread on his hand came out, and he was named Zerah.

GENESIS 39

1 Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 Yehovah was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 His master saw that Yehovah was with him, and that Yehovah made everything that he handled to prosper. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight. He served him, and he made him overseer of his house. He handled everything that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over everything that he had, Yehovah blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake, and the blessing of Yehovah was on everything that he had, in the house and in the field. 6 He left everything that he had in Joseph’s control. He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food that he ate. Joseph was well-built and handsome.

7 “In time, his master’s wife had her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “My master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has me handle everything. 9 He isn’t greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. So how could I do this great wickedness, and sin against Elohim?” 10 She spoke to Joseph daily, but he didn’t listen to her pleas to lie by her or to be with her. 11 About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. 12 She caught him by his garment and said, “Lie with me!” He left his garment in her hand ran outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside, 14 she called to the men of her house, and told them,“He has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed. 15 Then when he heard me scream, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.

16 “She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. 17 She told him, “The Hebrew servant who you brought to us, came in to me to mock me, 18 and then, as I screamed, he left his garment by me, and ran outside. 19 Then when his master heard the account his wife told—“This is what your servant did to me,”— his anger burned. 20 Joseph’s master took him, and put him into prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in custody. 21 But Yehovah was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. 22 The prison warden had Joseph handle all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it. 23 The prison warden didn’t look after anything that was under his control, because Yehovah was with him, and whatever he did, Yehovah made it prosper.

GENESIS 40

1 Then later, the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cup bearer and the chief baker. 3 He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in prison, the place where Joseph was bound. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days. 5 They both had dreams, each man had his own dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup bearer and the baker of the king of Egypt who were bound in the prison. 6 Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw that they were sad. 7 He asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” 8 They told him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one who can interpret them.” Joseph replied, “Don’t interpretations belong to Elohim? Please tell it to me.

9 “The chief cup bearer told his dream to Joseph, he said, “In my dream I saw a grapevine in front of me, 10 and in the grapevine were three branches. It was as tho it had budded, its blossoms shot out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 12 Joseph told him, “This is its interpretation, the three branches are three days. 13 Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You’ll put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, the way you did when you were his cup bearer. 14 But remember me when it is well with you, and show kindness, to me please, and mention me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. 15 Indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.

16 “When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was dreaming, and I saw three baskets of white bread on my head. 17 In the uppermost basket there were all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head. 18 Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days, Pharaoh will cut off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat away your flesh.”

20 “Three days later, it was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he threw a 'party' [1] for all his servants. He lifted up the heads of his chief cup bearer and his chief baker— 21 that is, he restored the chief cup bearer to his position, so he could resume placing the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 Then he hanged the chief baker, just like Joseph had predicted in his interpretation. 23 Yet the chief cup bearer forgot all about Joseph.

[1] Birthday parties never end well in the Bible. See also Job 1:4; and Matthew 14:6-8.

GENESIS 41

1 Then at the end of two full years, Pharaoh dreamed that he stood by the river. 2 Out of the river came seven cattle, sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass. 3 Seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river. 4 The ugly and thin cattle ate the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke. 5 He slept and dreamed a second time, and saw seven heads of grain come out of one stalk, healthy and good. 6 Seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and saw that it was a dream.

8 “Then in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent for all of Egypt’s magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for the Pharaoh. 9 Then the chief cup bearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my crimes today. 10 Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker. 11 We both had a dream one night, and both dreams ‘left us questioning’ an explanation. 12 There was a young Hebrew man with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he explained to each of us what they meant. 13 It turned out just the way he interpreted them to us. I was restored to my position, but the baker was hanged.”

14 “Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and he came in to Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I’ve had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I’ve heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it. 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It isn’t in me. Elohim will give Pharaoh the answer he wants.” 17 Pharaoh told Joseph, “In my dream, I stood on the brink of the river, 18 and I saw seven cattle coming up out of the river, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass, 19 and I saw seven other cattle come up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, uglier than anything I’ve ever seen in all the land of Egypt. 20 The thin and ugly cattle ate the first seven fat cows, 21 Once they had eaten them up, it couldn’t be discerned that they had eaten them, but they were still as ugly as they had been. So I awoke. 22 I saw in my dream seven heads of grain coming from one stalk, full and good, 23 and I saw seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted by the east wind, spring up after them. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.

25 “Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean one thing. Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He’s about to do. 26 The seven good cows represent seven years, and the seven good heads of grain represent seven years. The dreams have one meaning. 27 The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them represent seven years, as do the seven empty heads of grain blasted by the east wind, they represent seven years of famine. 28 That is what I explained to Pharaoh. What Elohim is about to do He has shown to Pharaoh. 29 Seven bountiful years are coming to the entire land of Egypt. 30 After them there will be seven years of famine, and all the bounty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will deplete the land, 31 and the bounty will be forgotten in the land because of the famine that follows, because it will be very severe. 32 The dream was repeated to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by Elohim, and Elohim will soon bring it to pass. 33 So Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man, and set him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Pharaoh should do this, and appoint overseers over the land, and collect a fifth of the land of Egypt’s produce in the seven plentiful years. 35 They should collect all the food produced in these coming good years, and store grain under the ‘authority’ of Pharaoh for food in the towns, and they should preserve it. 36 The food will serve as a reserve for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will come on the land of Egypt, so that the land won’t perish during the famine.

37 “Pharaoh saw this as a good thing, and all his servants saw it the same way. 38 Pharaoh said to his servants, “Could we find another man like this, someone imbued with the Spirit of Elohim?” 39 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because Elohim has shown all of this to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 40 You will be over my house, and your word will be law for all of my people. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. 41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I’m putting you in charge of the entire land of Egypt!” 42 Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain abound his neck. 43 He had him ride in his second-in-command chariot. They shouted before him, “Kneel down!” This signified that he was in charge of the entire land of Egypt. 44 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I’m Pharaoh, and without your permission no one will lift up their hand or their foot in the entire land of Egypt.” 45 Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah, and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. So Joseph traveled over the land of Egypt. 46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph traveled from the presence of Pharaoh, and went thruout all the land of Egypt. 47 In the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly. 48 He collected all the food of the seven years that were in the land of Egypt, and stored the food in the towns. Every city stored the food grown in the fields surrounding them. 49 Joseph stored grain like the sand of the sea, sso much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

50 “ Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. 51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “Elohim has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” 52 He named the second Ephraim, “For Elohim has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

53 “The seven plentiful years in the land of Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine thruout the region, but there was bread thruout the land of Egypt. 55 When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you to do.” 56 The famine covered the face of the land. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 And all the surrounding countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe thruout the region.

GENESIS 42

1 When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?” 2 He said, “I’ve heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy some for us there, so that we don’t 'starve'. 3 Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, because he said, “Something terrible ould happen to him.”

5 “Israel’s sons came to buy along with others who came, because of the famine in the land of Canaan. 6 Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like an immigrant to them, and spoke roughly with them. He told them, “Where did you come from?” They said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.” 8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. 9 Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamed about them, and told them, “You are spies! You’ve come to see the nakedness of the land.” 10 They told him, “No, master, your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all one man’s sons, we’re honest men. Your servants aren’t spies.” 12 He told them, “No, you’ve come to see the nakedness of the land!” 13 They said, “We, your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, see the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.” 14 Joseph told them, “It is like I told you, you are spies! 15 By this you’ll be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you won’t leave here, unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 One of you go and get your brother, and you’ll be bound, so that your words can be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” 17 He put them all together into custody for three days.

18 “Joseph told them on the third day, “Do this, and live, because I fear Elohim. 19 If you are honest men, then have one of your brothers be bound in your prison, but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. 20 Bring your youngest brother to me, so your words can be verified, and you won’t die.” They did so. 21 They said one to another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his life, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. So this distress has come on us.” 22 Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, “Don’t sin against the child’, and you wouldn’t listen? So now his blood is required.” 23 They didn’t know that Joseph understood them, because there was an interpreter between them. 24 He turned away from them, and cried. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him within their sight.

25 “Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to return every man’s silver into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done for them. 26 They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and left from there. 27 As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey some food in the lodging place, he saw that his silver was in the mouth of his sack! 28 He said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned! It’s in my sack!” In their ‘shock’ they turned trembling to each other, asking, “What has Elohim done to us?”

29 “They returned to Jacob their father, in the land of Canaan, and told him everything that had happened to them, they said: 30 “The man, the master of the land, spoke roughly with us, and mistook us for spies in the country. 31 We told him, ‘We are honest men. We aren’t spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father, one is no more, and the youngest is with our father in the land of Canaan today.’ 33 The man, the master of the land, said to us, ‘By this I’ll know that you are honest men, leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I’ll know that you aren’t spies, but that you are honest men. So I’ll deliver your brother to you, and you’ll trade in the land.”

35 “Then as they emptied their sacks they saw that every man’s bundle of silver was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of silver they were afraid. 36 Jacob, their father, told them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. Everything is against me. 37 Reuben told his father, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I’ll bring him to you again.” 38 He said, “My son won’t go down with you, because his brother is dead, and he only is left. If any harm comes to him along the way on the journey, then you’ll bring my gray hairs down with sorrow to sheol.

GENESIS 43

1 The famine was severe in the land. 2 Then when they had eaten all the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father told them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.” 3 Judah told him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You won’t see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food, 5 but if you don’t send him, we won’t go down, because the man told us, ‘You won’t see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ 6 Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?” 7 They said, “The man asked directly about us and our relatives, he asked, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’ 8 Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we’ll get up and go, so that we can live and not 'starve', both we, and you, and also our little ones. 9 I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand you will require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever, 10 because if we hadn’t delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.” 11 Their father Israel replied, “If it must be so, then do this. Take some the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry it down as a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds. 12 Take twice as much silver in hand, and return the silver that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.” 13 Take your brother also, get up and return to the man. 14 May El Shaddai give you mercy before the man, so that he can release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I’m bereaved of my children, I’m bereaved.”

15 “The men took that present, and they took twice as much silver in hand, and Benjamin, and got up and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he told the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare a meal, because the men will dine with me at noon.” 17 The man did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. 18 The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house, and they said, “Because of the silver that was returned in our sacks the first time, we’re brought in, so that he can find an opportunity to be against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” 19 They approached the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, 20 and said, “Oh, my master, we certainly came down the first time just to buy food. 21 When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and saw that every man’s silver was in the mouth of his sack, our silver in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand. 22 We have brought down other silver in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.” 23 He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your Elohim, and the Elohim of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 The man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet, and he gave their donkeys fodder. 25 They got the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, because they heard that they should eat bread there.

26 When Joseph came home, they brought him the present they had in hand into the house, and bowed down to the ground to him. 27 He asked them of their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man you spoke of? Is he still alive?” 28 They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed their heads, and did homage. 29 He ‘looked up’ and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” He said, “Elohim be merciful to you, my son.” 31 He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.” 32 They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him, by themselves, because the Egyptians don’t eat bread with Hebrews, because it’s an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one with another. 34 He sent shares to them from before him, but Benjamin’s share was five times as big as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.

GENESIS 44

1 He commanded the steward of his house: “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s silver in the opening of his sack. 2 Put my silver cup in the opening of the sack of the youngest, along with the silver for his grain.” So he did what Joseph told him. 3 At morning light, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. 4 When they left the city, and hadn’t gone far, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow the men. When you overtake them, ask them, “Why have you rewarded evil for good? 5 Isn’t this what my master drinks from, and what he even divines with? You’ve done evil in doing this.”

6 “He overtook them, and he repeated those words to them. 7 They asked him, “Why does my master speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 8 We brought the silver that we found in our sacks back to you from the land of Canaan. Why would we steal silver or gold out of your master’s house? 9 Any of your servants found with it should die, and we also will be my master’s bond servants.” 10 He said, “May it be according to your words, the one who it’s found with will be my bond servant, and the rest of you will be innocent.” 11 Then they hurried, and every man took his sack down to the ground, and every man opened his sack. 12 He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13 Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.

14 “Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him. 15 Joseph told them, “What deed is this that you’ve done? Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?” 16 Judah said, “What will we tell my master? What will we say? How will we clear ourselves? Elohim has found out the wickedness of your servants. We’re my master’s bond servants, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found!” 17 He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he’ll be my bond servant, but as for you, go up in peace to your father.” 18 Then Judah approached him, and said, “Oh, my master, please let your servant speak a word in my master’s ears, and don’t let your anger burn against your servant, because you are equal to Pharaoh.

19 “My master asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20 We told my master, ‘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, and his father loves him.’ 21 You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I can see him.’ 22 We said to my master, ‘The boy can’t leave his father, because if he were to leave his father, his father would die.’ 23 You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you’ll see my face no more.’ 24 Then when we came up to your servant my father, we told him what our master said. 25 Our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food.’ 26 We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we’ll go down, because we can’t see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27 Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons, 28 and the one went out from me, and I said, ‘Surely he is torn in pieces,’ and I haven’t seen him since. 29 If you also take this one from me, and harm happens to him, you’ll bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to sheol.’ 30 So when I come to your servant my father, and the boy isn’t with us, seeing that his life is bound up in the boy’s life, 31 then when he sees that the boy is no more, he’ll die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to sheol. 32 because your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, I said, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I’ll bear the blame to my father forever.’ 33 So please let your servant stay instead of the boy, a bond servant to my master, and let the boy go back with his brothers. 34 How could I go back to my father, if the boy isn’t with me—because I could not stand to see the tragedy that would overtake my father?;”

GENESIS 45

1 Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before everyone who stood before him, and he cried, “Have every man leave me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 He cried aloud. The Egyptians heard it, and the house of Pharaoh heard it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I’m Joseph! Is my father still alive?” His brothers couldn’t answer him, because they were terrified in his presence. 4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near me, please. They came near and He said, “I’m Joseph, your brother, who you sold into Egypt. 5 Now don’t be grieved, or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, since Elohim sent me before you to preserve life. 6 These two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years where there will be no harrowing or harvest. 7 Elohim sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but Elohim, and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, master of his entire house, and ruler over the entire land of Egypt. 9 Hurry and return to my father, and tell him, “This is what your son Joseph says, ‘Elohim has made me master of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait. 10 You’ll live in the land of Goshen, and you’ll be near me, you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds and everything that you have. 11 I’ll provide for you there, because there are still five years of famine, otherwise you and your household and everything that you have will be lost to poverty. 12 Take a close look, you and my brother Benjamin, and see that it’s me speaking to you! 13 You’ll tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and of everything that you’ve seen. You must hurry and bring my father down here.” 14 He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept, and Benjamin cried on his neck. 15 He kissed all his brothers, and cried over them, after his brothers spoke with him.

16 “The report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this. Load your animals, and travel to the land of Canaan. 18 Take your father and your households, and return to me, and I’ll give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you’ll eat the fat of the land.’ 19 Now you are commanded, do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Also, don’t concern yourselves with your belongings, because the best of all of the land of Egypt is yours.” 21 The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, by the order of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the trip. 22 He gave each of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. 23 To his father, he sent ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father along the way. 24 So he sent his brothers away, and they left. He told them, “See that you don’t quarrel on the way.”

25 “They left Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. 26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler of the entire land of Egypt.” He was stunned, and he didn’t believe them. 27 They told him everything that Joseph said. When he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, Jacob’s spirits were revived. 28 Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I’ll go and see him before I die.”

GENESIS 46

1 Israel began his trip with everything that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered zebakim [sacrifices] to the Elohim of his father, Isaac. 2 Elohim spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He said, “Here I am.” 3 He said, “I’m Elohim, the Elohim of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, because I’ll make you into a great nation there. 4 I’ll go down with you into Egypt. I’ll also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes.” 5 Jacob got up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They took their livestock and the goods that they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his descendants with him. 7 He brought his sons, and his grandsons, his daughters, his granddaughters, all of his descendants with him into Egypt.

8 “These are the names of the Israelites who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons, Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. 9 Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon, Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul son of a Canaanite woman. 11 Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 12 Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah, but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puvah, Iob and Shimron. 14 Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon and Jahleel. 15 These are Leah’s sons who she gave to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. 16 Gawd’s sons, Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli. 17 Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah, Heber and Malchiel. 18 These are Zilpah’s sons, who Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and she gave birth to Jacob sixteen in all. 19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. 20 To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, who Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, gave to him. 21 The sons of Benjamin were Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard. 22 These are Rachel’s sons, who were born to Jacob fourteen in all. 23 The son of Dan was Hushim. 24 The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem. 25 These are Bilhah’s sons, who Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she gave to Jacob; there were seven in all. 26 All the people who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct descendants, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the people numbered sixty-six. 27 Joseph’s two sons who were born to him in Egypt. All the family members of the ‘descendants’ of Jacob who came into Egypt numbered seventy.

28 “He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Joseph got his chariot ready, and went up in Goshen to meet his father Israel. He presented himself to him, and ‘embraced’ him and cried. He ‘embraced’ him for a long while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die, since I’ve seen your face, and that you are still alive. 31 Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father’s house, “I’ll go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and tell him, “My brothers, and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. 32 These men are shepherds, because they’ve tended livestock, and they’ve brought their flocks, and their herds, and everything that they have.” 33 Then, when Pharaoh summons you, and asks, “What is your occupation?” 34 you should answer, “Your servants have tended livestock from our youth until now, both we, and our ancestors,” so that you can settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”

GENESIS 47

1 Then Joseph went in and told the Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds and all that they own have come from the land of Canaan, and they are in the land of Goshen”! 2 From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to the Pharaoh. 3 The Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They told the Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our ancestors.” 4 They told the Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, because there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. The famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen.” 5 The Pharaoh told Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and your brothers live in the best of the land. Have them settle in the land of Goshen; and if you know of any capable men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

7 “Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before the Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed the Pharaoh. 8 The Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How many years have you lived?” 9 Jacob said to the Pharaoh, “The length of my pilgrimage has been one hundred and thirty years. The years of my life have been few and painful. But they don’t equal the lifespan of my ancestors, the duration of their pilgrimages.” 10 Jacob blessed the Pharaoh, and then left the presence of the Pharaoh. 11 Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as the Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Joseph provided his father and his brothers and his father’s entire household with food, according to the needs of their children.

13 “There was no bread in all the land, because the famine was very severe, the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph gathered up all the silver that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they were buying, and Joseph brought the silver into the Pharaoh’s house. 15 When the silver was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, why should we die in your presence? Our silver is spent.” 16 Joseph said, “Give me your livestock, and I’ll give you food for your livestock, if your silver is gone.” 17 They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds and for the donkeys, and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 When that year was finished, they came to him a second year, and told him, “We won’t hide from my master how our silver is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my master’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my master, but our bodies, and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your very eyes, and our land go to waste? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be in service to the Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we can live and not die, and so the land won’t be desolate. 20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for the Pharaoh, because every Egyptian man sold his field, since the famine was severe on them, and the land became the Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he moved them to the towns from one end of the border of Egypt all he way to the other end of it. 22 But he didn’t buy the land of the priests, because the priests had a share from the Pharaoh, and ate their share that the Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn’t sell their land.

23 “Then Joseph told the people, “I’ve bought you and your land today for the Pharaoh! Here is seed for you. You can sow the land. 24 At the harvest you must give a fifth to the Pharaoh, and four fifths will be for you, as seed for your field, for your households, and food for your little ones.” 25 They said, “You’ve saved our lives! May we find favor in our master’s sight, and we’ll be the Pharaoh’s servants.” 26 Joseph made it a statute, still in effect today in the land of Egypt, that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. Only the priests’ land did not become Pharaoh’s.

27 “The Israelites settled in the region of Goshen in Egypt. They acquired property there, were ‘prolific’, and increased greatly in number. 28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years. 29 The time was approaching that Israel would die, so he called his son Joseph, and told him, “If I’ve found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh [Targums: the place of my circumcision], and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my ancestors, you must carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.” He said, “I’ll do as you’ve said.” 31 He said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed in prayer at the head of the bed.

GENESIS 48

1 Then later, someone said to Joseph, “Your father is sick!” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 Someone told Jacob, “Your son Joseph is coming to see you”! And Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed. 3 Jacob said to Joseph, El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 and told me, “I’ll make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I’ll make of you a commonwealth of nations, and give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession’! 5 And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt, before I came to you into Egypt are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just like Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children you have after them will be yours. Their inheritance will be ‘allotted’ under the name of their brothers. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan along the way, when there was still some distance to arrive in Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (the same as Bethlehem).

8 “Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, who Elohim has given me here. He said, “Please bring them to me, and I’ll bless them.” 10 Now Israel’s eyes were dim due to age, so that he couldn’t see. He brought them close to him, and he kissed them, and embraced them. 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and now Elohim has allowed me see your descendants as well!” 12 Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed with his face to the ground. 13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. 14 Israel reached out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim’s head, the younger one, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, because Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 He blessed Joseph, and said, “May the Elohim who my fathers Abraham and Isaac 'lived for', the Elohim who has fed me all my life to this very day, 16 may the Messenger who has rescued me from all evil bless the lads, and may my name 'live on' in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they multiply greatly thruout the earth.

17 “When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s hand, to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so father. This is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head. 19 His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He will also become a people, and he will also be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he is, and his descendants will become a ‘commonwealth’ of nations. 20 He blessed them that day, saying, “In you Israel will bless, saying, ‘Elohim make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’” He set Ephraim before Manasseh.

21 “Israel said to Joseph, “I’m dying, but Elohim will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your ancestors! 22 I gave you one more mountain ridge than your brothers. I took it from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

GENESIS 49

Israel Blesses His Sons

1 Jacob called for his sons, and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what you [your descendants] will encounter in the last days. 2 Gather around and listen, sons of Jacob, listen to your father Israel.

3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, and the very first of my virility, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. 4 Unstable as water, you won’t remain preeminent, because you climbed into your father’s bed and defiled it. He climbed up to my couch!

5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence. 6 May I never be present in their meetings. May my honor never be tarnished in their assemblies, because in their anger they’ve killed men, and on a whim they’ve hamstrung oxen. 7 May their anger be cursed because it’s so fierce; and may their fury be cursed because it’s so cruel. I’ll scatter them thruout the descendants of Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you. You’ll grab your enemies by the neck. Your father’s sons will bow down to you. 9 Judah, you are a lion’s cub. You have returned from the kill, my son. He crouches and lies down like a lion; like a lioness, who will bother 'them'? 10 The scepter won’t depart from Judah, or decrees of law from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, the One all nations will obey. 11 He tethered his foal to a grapevine, and his donkey’s colt to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.

13 “Zebulun will reside by the coast. He’ll be for a haven for ships, and his territory will extend to Sidon.

14 “Issachar is like a strong donkey, crouching down between the sheepfolds [as guardians?]. 15 When he sees that the resting place is good and that the land is pleasant, he will lean his shoulder into the burden and become a slave laborer.

16 Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan will be a serpent along the way, an adder on the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls off backwards. 18 I wait for Your deliverance, Yehovah.

19 “Gawd’s will be attacked by a marauding band, but he’ll strike back at their heels.

20 “Asher’s food will be rich. He’ll create royal delicacies.

21 “Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.

22 “Joseph is a fruitful 'bough', a fruitful 'bough' near a spring; whose 'branches' run over a wall. 23 “The archers savagely attacked him, shot at him and pursed him viciously, 24 But his bow remained steady and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the 'name of' the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 25 by the Elohim of your father, who will help you, by El Shaddai, who will bless you, with blessings from the heavens above, blessings from the depths below, blessings of the breasts and the womb. 26 “The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors up to the furthest bounds of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph,and on the crown of the head of the 'most' distinguished among his brothers.

27 “Benjamin is a 'ravenous' wolf. In the morning he devours his prey, and in the evening he divides the spoil.”

28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father told them as he blessed each of them with the blessing most appropriate for them.

29 Then he gave them these instructions: “I’m about to join my ancestors. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave in the field of Machpelah, 'near' Mamre in the land of Canaan, that Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. 31 Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there. Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there, and I buried Leah there. 32 The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.

GENESIS 50

1 Joseph fell on his father’s face, cried on him, and kissed him. 2 Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for this, because that is how long it takes to embalm. The Egyptians mourned for him for seventy days. 4 When the days of mourning for him were over, Joseph told the house of the Pharaoh, “If I’ve found favor in your eyes, please tell Pharaoh: 5 ‘My father made me swear, “I’m dying. Bury me in the grave that I dug for myself in the land of Canaan. So please allow me to go up and bury my father, and then I’ll return. 6 Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father, as he made you swear.” 7 Joseph went up to bury his father, and all of Pharaoh’s servants went with him, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 the entire house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 Chariots and cavalry accompanied him. It was a very large procession. 10 When they reached Atad’s threshing floor, located beyond the Jordan River, they lamented and cried loudly. He mourned for his father seven days. 11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at Atad’s threshing floor, they said, “This is a solemn mourning by the Egyptians. So it was called Abel Mizraim [mourning of Egypt]. It is across the Jordan River.

12 “His sons did for him just as he commanded them. 13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, that Abraham bought along with the field as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. 14 Joseph returned to Egypt”, he and his brothers, and everyone who went up with him to bury his father, once he had buried his father.

15 “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Maybe Joseph will hate us, and retaliate for all of the evil that we did to him.” 16 They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died: 17 ‘You must tell Joseph, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you. Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the Elohim of your father. Joseph cried when they told him. 18 His brothers also went and fell down before 'him', and they said, “We’re your servants. 19 Joseph asked them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in Elohim’s place? 20 As far as you’re concerned, you intended to harm me, but Elohim intended it for good, the present outcome, so that many lives would be saved. 21 So don’t be afraid. I’ll take care of your little ones. He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

22 “Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father’s house. Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children, as well as the children who had been born to Manasseh’s son Machir, who were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees. 24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I’m dying, but Elohim will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that He swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 25 Then Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath: “Elohim will certainly take care you, and then you are to carry my bones away from here.” 26 So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years, and he was embalmed and put in a coffin in Egypt.

EXODUS 1

Chapters 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30, 31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40

1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob), 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun,Benjamin, 4 Dan Naphtali, Gawd and Asher. 5 In all, Jacob had seventy [DSS] descendants [DSS) & Acts 7:14], but Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and that entire generation. 7 The Israelites were prolific and increased greatly and multiplied, and grew extremely strong, and the land was filled with them.

8 “A new king rose to power over Egypt, who had not known Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “The Israelite people are more numerous and stronger than we are! 10 Let’s deal shrewdly with them, or they’ll multiply, and then when a war breaks out, they’ll side with our enemies, and fight against us, and escape from the land. 11 So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with their burdens. They built storage towns for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. So they came to dread the Israelites. 13 The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work hard 14 and they made their lives bitter with hard labor, in brick and mortar, and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all their harsh labor on them.

15 “The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one was named Shiphrah, and another was named Puah, 16 and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthing stools, if it’s a son, you must kill him, but if it’s a daughter, allow her to live. 17 But the midwives feared Elohim, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them. They saved the baby boys lives. 18 The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and asked them, “Why have you done this, and saved the boys lives?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women, they are more vigorous. They give birth before the midwife comes to them. Elohim favored the midwives, and the people increased in number and 21 then, because the midwives feared Elohim, he gave them families of their own. 22 Pharaoh commanded all his people, “You must throw every son born to you into the river, but you can save every daughter.

EXODUS 2

1 A man from the house of Levi took a daughter of Levi as his wife. 2 The woman conceived, and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and pitch and she put the baby in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river bank. 4 His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him. 5 Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her maidservant. to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby, and the baby was crying. She felt sorry for him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, so that she can nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go. The maiden went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I’ll give you your wages. The woman took the child, and nursed him. 10 The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.

11 “Then in those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers, and looked at their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. 12 He looked this way and that, and when he saw that there was no one around, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. 13 He went out the next day, and saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other. He said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you striking your fellow?” 14 He replied, “Who made you a leader and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?” Moses was afraid, and said, “Surely this thing is known. 15 Now when Pharaoh heard about it, he tried to have Moses killed. But Moses fled from Pharaoh’s presence, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

16 “The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, “How is it that you’ve returned so early today?” 19 They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the grasp of the shepherds, and then he drew water for us, and watered the flock. 20 He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why is it that you’ve left the man? Call him, so that he can eat something. 21 Moses was content to live with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter. 22 She had a son, and he named him Gershom, because he said, “I’ve lived as a foreigner in a foreign land.

23 “After a long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help, and their cry rose up to Elohim because of the slavery. 24 Elohim heard their groaning, and Elohim remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and Jacob. 25 Elohim saw the Israelites, and Elohim was concerned about them.

EXODUS 3

The Burning Bush

1 Meanwhile, Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the 'west' side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of Elohim. 2 The Messenger of Yehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked, and saw that the bush was on fire, but the bush wasn’t burning up. 3 So he thought, “I must go over and see this amazing sight—why the bush isn’t burning up? 4 When Yehovah saw Moses coming to take a closer look, Elohim called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” He replied, “Here I am.” 5 He said, “Don’t come any closer. Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is kadosh ground.” 6 He said, “I’m the Elohim of your father, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac and the Elohim of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at Elohim.

7 “Yehovah said, “I’ve seen the oppression of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their taskmasters. I know how much they’re suffering. 8 I’ve come down to rescue them out of the grasp of the Egyptians, and bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, the home of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 I’ve heard the cry of the Israelites and I’ve seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 Now go! I’m sending you to Pharaoh, so that you can bring My people the Israelites out of Egypt. 11 Moses asked Elohim, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, or that I should lead the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 He replied, “Certainly I’ll be with you, and this is the 'proof' that I sent you: When you’ve brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will serve Elohim on this very mountain. 13 Then Moses said to Elohim, “I am going to the Israelites, and I will tell them, “The Elohim of your ancestors has sent me to you.’ And when they ask me, “What is His name?’ What should I tell them?” 14 Elohim said to Moses I AM WHO I AM,” and He said, “You will tell the Israelites this I AM has sent me to you.’

15 “Elohim also said to Moses, “This is what you must say to the Israelites: “Yehovah, the Elohim of your ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My eternal name, My name to remember thruout the generations.’ 16 “Now go and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, “Yehovah, the Elohim of your ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me. He said, “I’ve been watching closely, and I’ve seen what is being done to you in Egypt, 17 So I said I will bring you up out of misery in Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land that flows with milk and honey. 18 They’ll heed to what you say. Then you and the elders of Israel must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, “Yehovah, the Elohim of the Hebrews has met with us. Now please allow us go three days’ journey into the wilderness to offer zebakim [sacrifices] to Yehovah, our Elohim.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt won’t allow you to go unless a powerful hand forces him. 20 I’ll reach out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles that I’ll perform among them. After that he’ll let you go. 21 I’ll grant these people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and then when you leave, you won’t leave empty-handed. 22 But every woman will ask her neighbor and the woman living in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you’ll put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You must plunder the Egyptians [for backpay].

EXODUS 4

1 Moses answered, “But they won’t believe me, or listen to my voice, because they’ll say, “Yehovah hasn’t appeared to you. 2 Yehovah told him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod”. 3 He said, “Throw it on the ground. So he threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses ran away from it. 4 Yehovah told Moses, “Reach out your hand, and take it by the tail. He reached out his hand, and grabbed it, and it became a rod in his hand. 5 With this they can believe that Yehovah, the Elohim of their ancestors, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac and the Elohim of Jacob, has appeared to you. 6 Yehovah also told him, “Now put your hand inside your coat. He put his hand inside his coat, and when he took it out, he saw that his hand was leprous, as white as snow. 7 He said, “Put your hand inside your coat again. He put his hand inside his coat again, and when he took it out of his coat it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 It will happen, if they won’t believe you or heed the first sign, they’ll believe and heed the latter sign. 9 But then, if they won’t believe either of these two signs, or listen to your voice, you’ll take some of the water from the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water that you take out of the river will turn to blood on the dry ground.

10 “Moses said to Yehovah, “Oh, Yehovah, I’ve never been eloquent, not in the past or since You have spoken to your servant. I speak slowly and get tongue tied. 11 Yehovah told him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing or blind? Isn’t it I, Yehovah? 12 So go, and I’ll help you speak, and teach you what you should say. 13 He said, “Oh, Yehovah, please send someone else. 14 The anger of Yehovah burned against Moses, and He said, “What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. He is already coming out to meet you. He’ll be glad to see you. 15 You’ll speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I’ll help both of you speak, and instruct you what to do. 16 He’ll serve as the spokesman to the people. He’ll serve as your mouth, and you’ll be like Elohim to him. 17 You’ll take this rod in your hand, with it you’ll perform the signs.

18 “Moses returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and told him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive. Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace. 19 Yehovah told Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because everyone who wanted to kill you is dead. 20 Moses took his wife and sons, and put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took Elohim’s staff in his hand. 21 Yehovah told Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform all the miracles before Pharaoh that I’ve put within your 'power', but I’ll strengthen his resolve and he won’t let the people go. 22 Then you can tell Pharaoh, ‘This is what Yehovah said: Israel is My firstborn son, 23 and I’ve told you, “Let My son go, so that he can serve me,” and you’ve refused to let him go. Look, I’ll kill your son, your firstborn.

24 “Then on the way at a lodging place, Yehovah met Moses and wanted to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and threw it at his feet, and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. 26 So He let him alone. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

27 “Yehovah told Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. He went, and met him on Elohim’s mountain, and kissed him. 28 Moses told Aaron all the words of Yehovah that he had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do. 29 Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the Israelites. 30 Aaron repeated everything that Yehovah had said to Moses, and performed the signs in the sight of the people. 31 The people believed, and when they heard that Yehovah had visited the Israelites, and that He had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

EXODUS 5

1 Later Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what Yehovah, the Elohim of Israel says, ‘Let My people go, so that they can hold a Feast [Chagag] for Me in the wilderness’”. 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is Yehovah, that I should obey Him and let Israel go? I don’t know Yehovah, and I’m not about to let Israel go. 3 They said, “The Elohim of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and offer zebakim to Yehovah, our Elohim, so that He doesn’t discipline us with plague or 'warfare'.” 4 The king of Egypt told them, “Why would you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!” 5 Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them stop working?”

6 “The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers: 7 “You will no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 You will require them to make the same number of the bricks as before. You won’t diminish anything of it, because they are idle, that’s why they cry, “Let us go and make and offer zebakim to our Elohim.’ 9 Give heavier work to the men, so that they can labor there, and don’t let them pay any attention to lies. 10 So the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and they told the people, “This is what Pharaoh says, “I won’t give you straw. 11 Go get straw where you can find it, because none of your work load will be reduced.’” 12 So the people scattered abroad thruout all the land of Egypt to gather chaff for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!” 14 The officers of the Israelites, who Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota either yesterday and today, in making brick as before?” 15 Then the officers of the Israelites came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you treating your servants this way? 16 No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, “Make brick!’ and your servants are being beaten, but the fault is in your own people. 17 But he said, “You are idle! You are idle! So you say, “Let us go and offerzebakim to Yehovah.’ 18 Go back to work, because you won’t be given any straw, but you must produce the same number of bricks!”

19 “The officers of the Israelites saw that they were in trouble, when they were told, “You must not lessen any of your daily quotas of bricks!” 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came from Pharaoh, 21 and they told them, “May Yehovah look at you, and judge, because you’ve made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hands to kill us. 22 Moses returned to Yehovah, and said, “Yehovah, why have You brought trouble on these people? Why did You send me? 23 Since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on these people, and You have done nothing at all to rescue Your people.”

EXODUS 6

1 Then Yehovah told Moses, “Now you’ll see what I’ll do to Pharaoh. By the force of My strong hand he will release them, and by My strong hand he will force them to leave his land!”

2 “Elohim spoke to Moses, and told him, “I am Yehovah. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as the Mighty Conqueror, but I did not reveal My name Yehovah to them. 4 I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as foreigners. 5 I’ve heard the groaning of the Israelites, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. and I’ve remembered My covenant. 6 So tell the Israelites:, “I am Yehovah, and I’ll bring you out from under the oppression of the Egyptians. I’ll free you from their slavery, and I’ll redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 Then I’ll claim you as My own people, and I’ll be your Elohim, and you’ll realize that I am Yehovah your Elohim, who brought out from under the forced labor of the Egyptians. 8 I’ll bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I’ll give it to you as a heritage. I am Yehovah. 9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they refused to listen to Moses. They had become too discouraged by their cruel slavery.

10 “Yehovah told Moses: 11 Go in and speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, ask him to let the Israelites leave his land. 12 Moses spoke before Yehovah, “Look, the Israelites haven’t listened to me. So why would the Pharaoh listen to me, a man with uncircumcised lips?” 13 Yehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command to the Israelites, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

14 “These are the heads of their fathers’ houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron/*8 and Carmi, these are the families of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, Jachin, Zohar and Shaul son of a Canaanite woman, these are the families of Simeon. 16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath and Merari, and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years. 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. 18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel, and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as his wife, and she gave birth to Aaron and Moses for him, and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years. 21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan and Sithri. 23 Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife, and she gave birth to Nadab and Abihu for him, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph, these are the families of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar Aaron’s son took one of the daughters of Putiel for his wife, and she cgave birth to Phinehas for him. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families. 26 It was the same Aaron and Moses, who Yehovah said, “Bring out the Israelites from the land of Egypt by their family groups.” 27 They are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the Israelites from Egypt. It was that Moses and Aaron.

28 “Then on the day when Yehovah spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 Yehovah told Moses, “I am Yehovah. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt everything that I tell you. 30 Moses said to Yehovah, “Since I am so unskilled in speech; why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

EXODUS 7

1 Yehovah told Moses, “I’ve made you an elohim to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet! 2 You must say whatever I command you, and Aaron your brother will tell Pharaoh, insisting that he allow the Israelites to leave his land. 3 I’ll harden Pharaoh’s mindset, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh won’t listen to you, and I’ll lay My hand on Egypt, and bring My armies, My people Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 The Egyptians will realize that I am Yehovah, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt, and bring the Israelites out from among them. 6 Moses and Aaron did precisely what Yehovah commanded them to do. 7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

8 “Yehovah told Moses and Aaron: 9 “When Pharaoh tells to you, “Perform a miracle,” then you’ll tell Aaron, “Take your rod, and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a dragon *. 10 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did what Yehovah had commanded, and Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a dragon. 11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. The magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their enchantments. 12 Every one of them threw down his rod, and they became dragons, but Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods. 13 Pharaoh’s mindset was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yehovah had foretold.

14 “Yehovah told Moses, “Pharaoh is very stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Then when he goes out to the water, you’ll stand by the river bank to meet him, and you’ll take in hand the rod that was turned into a dragon 16 You’ll tell him, “Yehovah, the Elohim of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, “Let My people go, so they can serve Me in the wilderness,” even tho you haven’t listened as yet. 17 This is what Yehovah says, “This is how you’ll realize that I am Yehovah. I’ll strike the water in the Nile with the rod in my hand, and it will turn into blood. 18 The fish in the river will die, and the river will become foul, and the Egyptians will be loathe to drink water from the river.” 19 Yehovah told Moses, “Tell Aaron, “Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the water of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, so that they will become blood, and there will be blood thruout all the land of Egypt, both in utensils of wood and in utensils of stone. 20 Moses and Aaron did as Yehovah commanded, and he lifted up the rod, and struck the water in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants, and all the water in the river was turned into blood. 21 The fish in the river died, and the river became foul, and the Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river. The blood was thruout the entire land of Egypt. 22 The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments, and Pharaoh’s mindset was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yehovah had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He didn’t even take this into consideration. 24 All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink, because they couldn’t drink of the water from the river. 25 Seven days had passed, after Yehovah had struck the river.

EXODUS 8

1 Yehovah told Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, “This is what Yehovah says: “Let My people go, so that they can serve Me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I’ll plague all your borders with frogs, 3 and the river will swarm with frogs that will come into your house, and into your bedrooms, and on your beds, and into your servants houses, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs, 4 and the frogs will come up on both you, and on your people, and on all your servants. 5 Yehovah told Moses, “Tell Aaron ’Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt. 6 Aaron reached out his hand over the water of Egypt, and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. 7 The magicians did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Ask Yehovah if He will take the frogs away from me, and from my people, and I’ll let the people go, so that they can offer zebakim to Yehovah. 9 Moses told Pharaoh, “I’ll give you the honor of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, so that the frogs are destroyed from you and your houses, and only remain in the river. 10 Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be as you say, that you will know that there is no one like Yehovah our Elohim. 11 The frogs will leave you, your houses, your servants and your people. They’ll only remain in the river. 12 Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to Yehovah about the frogs that He had brought on Pharaoh. 13 Yehovah did what Moses asked., and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts and the fields. 14 They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his mindset, and didn’t listen to them, as Yehovah had predicted.

16 “Yehovah told Moses: Tell Aaron ’Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, so that it becomes lice thruout all the land of Egypt.” 17 They did so. Aaron reached out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on the people and the animals, all the dust of the earth became lice thruout all the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on the people and the animals. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of Elohim,” but Pharaoh’s mindset was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yehovah had predicted.

20 “Yehovah told Moses: Get up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and as he comes out to the water, andtell him, “This is what Yehovah says: “Let My people go, so that they can serve Me. 21 Otherwise, if you won’t let My people go, I’ll send swarms of flies on you, and your servants, and your people, and into your houses, and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also on the ground where they’re standing. 22 I’ll set apart the land of Goshen in that day, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there. This way you will realize that I, Yehovah, am here in the land. 23 I’ll distinguish between My people and yours. This sign takes place tomorrow.” 24 Yehovah did so, and there was a heavy mixture of flies in Pharaoh’s house, in his servants’ houses, and thruout the land of Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of stinging flies. 25 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, present an offering to your Elohim in the land!” 26 Moses said, “It isn’t appropriate to do so, because we’d be offering the abomination of the Egyptians to Yehovah our Elohim. Should we be offering the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and wouldn’t they stone us? 27 We must go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and present an offering to Yehovah our Elohim, as He commanded us. 28 Pharaoh said, “I’ll let you go, so that you can present an offering to Yehovah your Elohim in the wilderness, but you must not go very far away. Pray for me. 29 Moses said, “I’ll leave you, and I’ll pray to Yehovah for the swarms of flies to leave Pharaoh, your servants, and your people tomorrow. But Pharaoh must not act deceptively again by refusing to allow the people to go and offer zebakim to Yehovah. 30 Moses left Pharaoh, and prayed to Yehovah. 31 Yehovah did what Moses had said, and He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Not one remained. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his 'resolve' again, and he didn’t let the people go.

EXODUS 9

The Fifth Plague

1 Then Yehovah said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, “This is what Yehovah, the Elohim of the Hebrews, says, “Let My people go, so that they can worship Me. 2 If you refuse to let them go and continue to restrain them, 3 then the hand of Yehovah will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the fields—the horses, the donkeys, the camels, on the herds and on the flocks. 4 But Yehovah will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and none of the 'animals' that belong to the Israelites will die. 5 Yehovah appointed a set time, He said, “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this in the land. 6 Yehovah did it the next day, all the livestock in Egypt died [those in the fields, v.3], but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. 7 Pharaoh sent [investigators] who saw that not one of the Israelites’ animals had died. But Pharaoh’s 'resolve' was hardened, and he didn’t let the people go!

8 “Yehovah told Moses and Aaron, “Take 'some' handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and have Moses toss it into the air where Pharaoh can watch. 9 It will become fine dust over the entire land of Egypt, causing festering boils on man and beast thruout the land of Egypt.” 10 So they took ashes from a kiln and stood in front of Pharaoh, and Moses tossed it up into the air and it produced boils on man and beast. 11 The magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. 12 Yehovah hardened Pharaoh’s 'resolve', and he didn’t listen to them, just as Yehovah had predicted to Moses.

13 Then Yehovah told Moses, “Get up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yehovah, the Elohim of the Hebrews, says: Let My people go, so that they can worship Me. 14 This time I’ll send all My plagues against you and your officials andt your people. Then you’ll know that there is no one like Me on earth. 15 By now I could have reached out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been eradicated from the earth. 16 But the reason I’ve 'spared' you, is to show you My power, and make My name known thruout the earth. 17 You are still interfering with My people by not letting them go. 18 So tomorrow about this time I’ll 'send down' the worst hailstorm that has ever been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now! [Today we use exclamation points instead of “Beholds”.] 19 So send a warning that all of your livestock and everything you have in the fields needs to be brought into the houses. Every man and beast still outside in the fields and not brought in will die when the hail falls on them.” 20 The servants of Pharaoh who believed the Word of Yehovah quickly had their servants and their livestock brought into the houses. 21 Anyone who didn’t believe the Word of Yehovah left their servants and livestock in the fields. 22 Then Yehovah told Moses, “Reach out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over the land of Egypt on man and beast, and on all the vegetation in the fields thruout the land of Egypt. 23 Moses reachhed out his rod toward the heavens, and Yehovah sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed struck the earth. Yehovah rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 So there was hail, and lightning flashing continually with the extremely heavy hail, such as had never occurred anywhere in the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck every part of the land of Egypt, everything in the fields, both man and beast, and the hail beat down all the vegetation in the fields and devastated every tree. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, there was no hail.

27 Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and told them, “I’ve sinned this time. Yehovah is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the guilty ones. 28 Appeal to Yehovah. We’ve had enough of Elohim’s thunder and hail. I’ll let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.” 29 Moses told him, “As soon as I leave the city, I’ll reach out my hands to Yehovah. The thunders will cease, and there won’t be any more hail. Then you’ll know that the earth is Yehovah’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you still don’t fear Yehovah Elohim. 31 (The flax and the barley were destroyed, since the barley was aviv, and the flax was budding. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed, since they ripen later.) 33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands to Yehovah, and the thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder was over, he sinned again, he and his officials hardened their 'resolve'. 35 The mindset of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the Israelites go, just as Yehovah had predicted thru Moses.

EXODUS 10

1 Then Yehovah told Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, because I’ve hardened his mindset, and the mindsets of his officials, in order to perform My signs in their 'presence', 2 so you can tell your children and your grandchildren how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, so that you will realize that I am Yehovah. 3 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and told him, “This is what Yehovah, the Elohim of the Hebrews, asks, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so they can serve Me. 4 But if you refuse to let My people go, then tomorrow I’ll bring locusts into your territory! 5 They’ll cover the surface of the land so that no one will be able to see the ground. They’ll also eat the rest of what was missed by the hail, including every tree growing in your fields. 6 They’ll fill your houses, all your officials’ houses, and the houses of all the Egyptians—something your parents and your ancestors have never seen from the day they settled in the land till now.’” Then he turned and left Pharaoh. 7 Pharaoh’s servants told him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, so that they can serve Yehovah, their Elohim. Don’t you realize that Egypt is destroyed?” 8 Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he told them, “Go, serve Yehovah your Elohim, but who who will go?” 9 Moses said, “We’ll go with our young and our old, with our sons and daughters, with our flocks and herds, because we must hold a Feast to Yehovah. 10 He told them, “May Yehovah be with you, if I ever let you go with your little ones! 'I know' you have evil in 'mind'. 11 No, only the men can go and worship Yehovah, if that is what you want!” So they were driven from Pharaoh’s presence. 12 Yehovah told Moses, “Reach out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they can come up on the land of Egypt, and eat all the vegetation in the land, including everything that the hail has left. 13 Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yehovah brought an east wind on the land all day and all night, and in the morning the east wind brought the locusts. 14 The locusts invaded the entire land of Egypt, and settled down in the whole territory. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, and there never will be again. 15 They covered the ground everywhere until it was black. They ate all the plants and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in the countryside anywhere in Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh quickly called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “I’ve sinned against Yehovah your Elohim, and against you. 17 So please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yehovah your Elohim, so He can also take away from me this death. 18 So he left Pharaoh, and prayed to Yehovah. 19 Yehovah turned an exceeding strong west wind that took away the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. Not one locust remained within the borders of Egypt. 20 But Yehovah hardened Pharaoh’s mindset, and he didn’t let the Israelites go.

21 “Yehovah told Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness that can be felt”! 22 Moses reached out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23 They couldn’t see each other, and no one moved around for three days, but all the Israelites had light in their homes. 24 Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve Yehovah. Only leave your flocks and your herds behind. Even your little ones can go with you. 25 But Moses said, “You must also allow us to take our animals for zebakim [sacrifices] and burnt offerings, to 'present' to Yehovah our Elohim. 26 Our livestock must also go with us. Not one hoof will be left behind, because we must take them to serve Yehovah our Elohim, and we won’t know what we will need to serve Yehovah until we get there. 27 But Yehovah hardened Pharaoh’s mindset, and he wouldn’t let them go. 28 Pharaoh told him, “Don’t ever let me see your face again, because on the day you see my face, you’ll die!” 29 Moses said, “You have spoken well. I’ll never see your face again.

EXODUS 11

1 Yehovah told Moses, “I’ll bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt, afterward he’ll let you go. When he lets you go, he’ll drive you all out. 2 Announce to the people that every man and woman should ask their Egyptian neighbors for their articles of silver and gold. 3 Yehovah gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And Moses was highly respected in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s officials and the people. 4 Moses said, “This is what Yehovah says: “About midnight I’ll go out among the Egyptians, 5 and every firstborn son [Commentary] in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, all the way to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the mill, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 6 There will be a great cry thruout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, and will never be again. 7 But against any of the Israelites, not even a dog will bark against man or beast, so that you will know that Yehovah makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel. 8 All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me and say, ‘Get out, along with all your 'followers' [1], and after that I’ll leave.’ And he left Pharaoh’s presence in hot anger. 9 Yehovah told Moses, “Pharaoh won’t listen to you, so My 'miracles' will be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10 Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and Yehovah hardened Pharaoh’s mindset, and he didn’t allow the Israelites to leave his land.

[1] Literally “people at your feet”

EXODUS 12

The Tabernacleh Plague

1 Yehovah said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 This New Moon will be the beginning of your New Moons. It will be the first New Moon of your year. 3 Announce to the entire congregation of Israel: On the tenth day of this month, every man must select a lamb, within their ‘tribal’ households, a lamb for each [often extended] household. 4 Now if the family is too small to eat a lamb, then he and the neighbors from the nearest house must take one based on the number of people and what each person will eat, and divide the lamb accordingly. 5 Your lamb must be a year old male with no defects. You must select it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You must keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the entire congregation of the congregation of Israel will kill him in the 'afternoon' [ie between the evenings] 7 They must take some of the blood, and put it on the both sides of the door frame and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 They must eat the flesh that night, roasted over a fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. 9 Don’t eat any of it raw, or boiled in water, it must be roasted over fire— its head, its legs and its inner parts. 10 You must not leave any of it till morning; but if any of it is left over in the morning, it must be burned. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your belt around your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry, because it’s Yehovah’s Passover. 12 I’ll go thru the land of Egypt that night, and strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, whether man or beast. I’ll

[1] execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am Yehovah. 13 The blood will serve as a sign on the houses where you are. When I [not some “death angel”] see the blood, I’ll skip [compare to Tyndale] over you, so that no devastation will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

14 “This day will serve as a memorial. You must celebrate [chagag] it as a Pilgrimage Feast [chag] to Yehovah, a perpetual ordinance. 15 ‘You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day [Preparation day] you must remove the leaven from your houses, because anyone who eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day will be ‘banished’ from Israel. 16 On the first day you must have a kadosh congregation, and on the seventh day another kadosh congregation. No work will be done on those days, other than making your meals. That’s all you can do. 17 You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this commemorative day I brought you out of the land of Egypt like an army. So you’ll celebrate this day thruout your generations, by an ordinance forever. 18 In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day of the month, you must eat unleavened bread. 19 For seven days there is to be no leavening found in your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened will be excluded from the congregation of Israel, whether a foreigner, or native-born. 20 You are not to eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you are to eat unleavened bread.

21 “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and told them, “Go, select lambs from your flocks for your families, and kill the Passover. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood in a basin, and brush the lintel and both sides of the door frame with the blood from the basin. None of you are to go thru the doorway of your house until morning, 23 because Yehovah [1] will go thruout Egypt to kill the Egyptians, and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on both sides of the door frame, Yehovah will pass over the doorway, and won’t allow the destruction to enter your houses and destroy you. 24 You must observe this event as a perpetual ordinance for you and to your descendants. 25 Once you’ve entered the land that Yehovah will give you, as He has promised, you’ll commemorate this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 Tell them, ‘It’s the Passover zebak [sacrifice] to Yehovah, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.’” Then the people knelt down and worshiped. 28 Then the Israelites went and did this; they did exactly what Yehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron.

29 At midnight, Yehovah 'killed' every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in a dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud crying thruout Egypt, because there wasn’t a house without someone dead. 31 During the night he called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Get up, get away from my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship Yehovah, as you asked! 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you asked, and leave, and also bless me!” 33 The Egyptians urged the people, to leave the land in a hurry, because they said, “We’re all going to die!” 34 So the people picked up their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped in clothing carried on their shoulders. 35 The Israelites had done [not “did”] as Moses had instructed. They had asked the Egyptians for their silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 Yehovah had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they handed over whatever they asked for, and they stripped Egypt of its wealth.

37 “The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, plus all the women and children. 38 Many other people went with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock. 39 They baked unleavened cakes with the dough they brought from Egypt. It wasn’t leavened, because they were quickly forced out of Egypt, and didn’t have time to prepare food for themselves. 40 Now the length of time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 Then at the end of the 430 years, that commemorative day [2], all of Yehovah’s people marched out of the land of Egypt like an army. 42 It is a night of vigil toward Yehovah, enabling them to leave the land of Egypt. So this same night is a night of vigilance to be celebrated by all of Israel to honor Yehovah; an annual vigil by all of Israel for the generations to come.

43 “Yehovah told Moses and Aaron, “These are the ordinances for the Passover. No foreigner is allowed to eat it, 44 any man’s slave you have purchased with silver can eat it after you have circumcised him. 45 No temporary resident or hired worker can eat it. 46 It is to be eaten in a single house. Never take any of the meat outside the house or break any of the bones. 47 The entire congregation of Israel must celebrate it. 48 If a foreigner temporarily residing among you wants to celebrate the Passover to Yehovah, then all of his males must be circumcised, then he can participate and celebrate it, and he’ll be just like someone who was born in the land, but no uncircumcised person can eat it. 49 The same instructions apply to the native-born and the foreigner who resides among you.”

50 All the Israelites did just what Yehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 On that commemorative day, Yehovah brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions. [3]

[1] Pulpit Commentary: “Compare verses 12, 13 [to verse 23] which are closely followed. The only important difference is, the new expression, "[Yehovah] will not suffer the destroyer to come in," which has generally been regarded as implying, that the actual agent in the killing of the first-born was a "destroying angel." But it is to be noted that elsewhere Yehovah himself is everywhere spoken of as the sole agent; and that in the present passage the word used has the meaning of "destruction" no less than that of "destroyer."

[2] This “reveals that the Exodus from Egypt began on the very anniversary of when [Yehovah] formally and irrevocably confirmed the Covenant by oath with Abram, the same occasion in which a prophecy of the Exodus was given, four centuries earlier! Many have assumed this reference in Exodus 12:41 suggests the Children of Israel left Egypt ON the same day they ate the Passover. Though these two things were in close proximity, that wasn’t the point at all!”

[3] This 2 hour Youtube presentation on the physical evidence of the Exodus is almost convincing enough for me to buy the book, but then, I don’t even own most of the books I’ve written.

EXODUS 13

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Dedicate all of the firstborn to Me, whatever opens the womb among the Israelites, both of man and beast are Mine.

3 “Moses told the people, “Remember this day-the day you marched out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, because by a powerful hand Yehovah brought you out of there. (Remember, don’t eat any leavened bread.) 4 Today, in the month Aviv, you’re leaving. 5 Then when Yehovah brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites and the Jebusite, that He swore to your ancestors to give you, a land that flows with milk and honey, you are to observe this ceremony in this month: 6 You’ll eat unleavened bread for seven days, and on the seventh day there will be a Feast to Yehovah. 7 Unleavened bread will be eaten thruout the seven days, and no leavened bread should be seen with you. No leavening should be seen anywhere in your territory. 8 You’ll tell your son on that day, “It’s because of what Yehovah did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 This annual commemoration will serve as a sign on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the Torah of Yehovah must remain on your ‘lips’, because Yehovah brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand. 10 You’ll celebrate this ordinance at the appointed time from year to year. 11 Then when Yehovah brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and to your ancestors, and gives it to you, 12 then you’ll dedicate the first offspring of every womb to Yehovah. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to Yehovah’s. 13 Every firstborn of a donkey you’ll redeem with a lamb, and if you don’t redeem it, then you must break its neck, and you must redeem every firstborn among your sons. 14 “Then when your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is this?’ You’ll tell him, ‘ With a powerful hand Yehovah brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh too stubborn to let us go, Yehovah killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, the firstborn of man and beast alike. So we offer zebakim [sacrifices] to Yehovah all the firstborn males, but all the firstborn of our sons we redeem.’ 16 So this commemoration will be like a sign on your hand, and like a symbol on your forehead, because by a powerful hand Yehovah brought us out of Egypt.

17 “Then once Pharaoh had let the people go, Elohim didn’t lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, altho that was close, because Elohim said, “Perhaps the people will change their minds when they see war, and they will return to Egypt,” 18 but Elohim led the people around by way of the wilderness by the Red Sea, and the Israelites went up armed out of the land of Egypt. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because he had made the Israelites swear, “Elohim will surely visit you, and you’ll carry my bones away from here with you. 20 They took their journey from Succoth, and camped in Etham, at the edge of the wilderness. 21 Yehovah went before them during the day in a columnar cloud, to lead them on their way, and at night in a column of fire, to give them light, so that they could travel by day and by night. 22 The columnar cloud was always with the people during the day, as was the column of fire at night .

EXODUS 14

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp facing Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You must camp in front of Baal Zephon, facing it by the sea. 3 Pharaoh will think, ’The Israelites are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has boxed them in.’ 4 I’ll harden Pharaoh’s 'resolve', and he’ll chase after them. Then I’ll receive honor because of Pharaoh and his entire army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yehovah. So the Israelites did this.

5 “When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants changed their 'minds' about them, and they said, “What have we done by releasing our Israelite slaves?” 6 He made ready his chariot, and took his army with him, 7 and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them. 8 Yehovah hardened the 'resolve' of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he chased after the Israelites as the Israelites were leaving triumphantly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his cavalry, and his army, and overtook them as they camped by the sea at Pihahiroth next to Baal Zephon. 10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching toward them, and they were very afraid. The Israelites cried out to Yehovah. 11 They told Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you in Egypt, “Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians?’ It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. 13 Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand there and watch Yehovah save you today, because the Egyptians you have seen today, you will never see again. 14 Yehovah will fight for you; just remain silent.

14 “Yehovah said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it, and the Israelites will advance into the sea on dry ground. 17 I’ll harden the 'resolve' of the Egyptians, and they’ll go in after them, and I’ll gain honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots and over his cavalry. 18 The Egyptians will realize that I am Yehovah, when I’ve gained honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots and over his cavalry.

19 “The Messenger of Elohim, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the columnar cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. 20 It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp. There was the cloud and there was darkness, yet 'the cloud' lit up the night [for Israel][for Israel], and they remained separated all night.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yehovah swept the sea back by the power of his spirit[1] all night, turning the seabed into dry ground, and the water was divided. 22 The Israelites advanced into the sea on the dry ground, and the water formed walls to them on their right and their left. 23 The Egyptians set out in pursuit, and all of Pharaoh’s horses, his war-chariots and his charioteers followed them into the sea. 24 Then during the morning watch, Yehovah looked down on the Egyptian army thru the column of fire and cloud, and threw the Egyptian camp into confusion. 25 He made their chariot wheels fall off so that they could barely move, so the Egyptians shouted, “Let’s get away from the Israelites, because Yehovah fighting for them against the Egyptians!”

26 Yehovah told Moses, “Reach out your hand over the sea, so that the water overwhelmed the Egyptians, their chariots and their charioteers.” 27 Moses reached out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its previous state at daybreak. As the Egyptians were trying to escape, Yehovah tossed the Egyptians into the sea. 28 The water returned, and covered the chariots and the cavalry,including Pharaoh’s entire army that pursued them into the sea. Not even one of them remained. 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground thru the sea, and the water was like walls to them on their right and their left. 30 So Yehovah saved Israel that day from the grip of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the impressive handiwork of Yehovah toward the Egyptians, and the people feared Yehovah, and they believed in Yehovah and His servant Moses.

[1] His spirit, not the wind. A wind strong enough to blow out the sea would have blasted Israel from the banks first! A wind strong enough to dry the mud alone, not to mention the sea, would have been far stronger than any hurricane.

EXODUS 15

1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to Yehovah: “I’ll sing to Yehovah, because He is highly exalted; He has thrown the horses and their riders into the sea. 2 Yah is my strength and song. He has become my deliverance. This is my Elohim, and I’ll praise Him, my father’s Elohim, and I’ll exalt Him. 3 Yehovah is a warrior! His name is Yehovah.

5 “He has throw Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea. His elite officers sank in the Red Sea. 5 The deep water covered them. They sank to the depths like a stone. 6 Yehovah, Your right hand is majestic in power. Yehovah, Your right hand smashes the enemy. 7 In the greatness of Your excellency, You overthrew those who rose up against You. You sent out Your wrath. It consumed them like chaff. 8 With a blast of Your nostrils, the flowing water piled up. The floods stood up like a dam. The deep water congealed in the middle of the sea. 9 The enemy said, “I’ll pursue. I’ll overtake. I’ll divide the spoil. My desire will be satisfied on them. I’ll draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ 10 You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. [Fitted with armor] they sank like lead in the 'raging' water.

11 “Who among the elohim is like You, Yehovah? Who is like You, splendidly kadosh, fearful in praises and performing miracles? 12 You reached out Your right hand. The earth swallowed them. 13 In Your unfailing love You led the people that You’ve redeemed. You’ve guided them in Your strength to Your kadosh habitation. 14 The people have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Then the leaders of Edom were dismayed. Trembling took hold of the warriors of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. 16 Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of Your arm they are as still as a stone” until Your people pass over, Yehovah, until the people You bought pass by. 17 You’ll bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, the place, Yehovah, that You’ve made for Yourself to live in, the Temple, Yehovah, that Your hands have established. 18 Yehovah will reign forever and ever.

19 “The horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his cavalry into the sea, and Yehovah brought back the water of the sea on them, but the Israelites walked on dry land amid the sea.

20 “Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. 21 Miriam answered, “Sing to Yehovah, because He is highly exalted. He hurled horses and their riders into the sea.”

22 “Moses led Israel away from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur. They traveled three days in the wilderness without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the water of Marah, because it was bitter. So they named it Marah. 24 The people murmured against Moses, saying, “What will we drink?” 25 Then he cried to Yehovah. Yehovah showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them. 26 He said, “If you’ll carefully obey the voice of Yehovah your Elohim, and do what is right in His sight, and pay attention to His Commandments, and obey all His statutes, I’ll never make you suffer any of the diseases I made the Egyptians suffer, because I, Yehovah, am your healer.”

27 “They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.

EXODUS 16

1 They took their journey from Elim, and the entire congregation of Israelites went into wilderness of Sin that lies between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving the land of Egypt. 2 The entire congregation of Israel grumbled about Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites told them, “We wish that we had died by the hand of Yehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, because you’ve brought us out into this wilderness to kill the entire congregation with hunger.

4 “Then Yehovah said to Moses, “I’ll rain bread from the sky for you, and the people will go out and gather a day’s share every day, so that I can test them, to see if they’ll walk in My Torah, or not! 5 Then on the sixth day, they’ll prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather daily. 6 Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you’ll know that Yehovah has brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning, you’ll see the splendor of Yehovah, because He hears your murmuring against Yehovah. Who are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 Moses said, “Now Yehovah will give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you, because Yehovah hears you murmuring against Him. And who are we? Your murmuring isn’t against us, but against Yehovah.

9 “Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the entire congregation of Israelites, “Come before Yehovah, because He has heard your murmuring.’ 10 Then, as Aaron spoke to the entire congregation of Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and saw the splendor of Yehovah appearing in the cloud. 11 Yehovah told Moses, 12 I’ve heard the murmuring of the Israelites. Tell them, “At evening you’ll eat meat, and in the morning you’ll be filled with bread, and you’ll realize that I am Yehovah your Elohim. 13 Then that evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a blanket of dew surrounding the camp. 14 When the dew lying there had had vanished, they saw on the surface of the wilderness small round things, as small as frost on the ground.

15 “When the Israelites saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?” They didn’t know what it was. Moses told them, “It is the bread that Yehovah has given you to eat. 16 This is what Yehovah has commanded, “Everyone gather as much as you need to eat, an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, you’ll take it, every man for those who are in his tent. 17 The Israelites did as they were told. Some gathered more, some less. 18 When they measured it with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little didn’t run out. Everyone gathered exactly what they needed to eat. 19 Moses told them, “No one should leave any of it until morning. 20 But they didn’t listen to Moses. Some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms, and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them. 21 So they gathered as much as they needed every morning, and when the sun got hot, it melted.

22 “On the sixth day they gathered twice as much 'food'—two omers apiece, and all the leaders of the congregation reported it to Moses. 23 He told them, “This is what Yehovah said, “Tomorrow is a Sabbath congregation, a Sabbath kadosh to Yehovah. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and anything that is left over you can set aside until morning.’ 24 They laid it aside until morning, as Moses asked, and it didn’t become foul, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat that today, because today is a Sabbath to Yehovah. You won’t find any on the ground today. 26 Six days you’ll gather it, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There won’t be any then. 27 Then on the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28 Yehovah told Moses, “How long will you refuse to obey My Commandments and My instructions?? 29 Yehovah has given you the Sabbath, so He gives you enough bread for two days on the sixth day! Everyone is to remain where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 “The House* of Israel called it Manna. It was like coriander seeds, white, and it tasted like wafers with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what Yehovah has commanded, “Keep an omer-full of it thruout your generations, so that they can see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ 33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it aside before Yehovah, to be kept thruout your generations 34 as Yehovah had commanded Moses, so Aaron placed 'the manna' before the Testimony [1], to be preserved. 35 The Israelites ate the manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.

[1] The two stone tablets that the Ten Commandments were written on: Exodus 34:28

EXODUS 17

1 The entire congregation of Israel tmoved on from the Wilderness of Sin by stages, as Yehovah had commanded, and camped in Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink. Moses told them, “Why are you quarreling with me? Why do you test Yehovah?” 3 The people were thirsty for water there, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to kill us, our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 Moses cried to Yehovah, “What should I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 Yehovah told Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand that you struck the Nile with, and go. 6 I’ll stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You’ll strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so the people can drink! Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested Yehovah, saying, “Is Yehovah among us, or not?”

8 “Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Yehoshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, and with Elohim’s rod in my hand. 10 So Yehoshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Then when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands were heavy, and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset. 13 So Yehoshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

14 “Yehovah told Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Yehoshua, that I’ll completely blot out any memory of Amalek from under the sky. 15 Moses built an altar, and named it, “Yehovah Is My Banner.” 16 He said, “Yah has sworn, “Yehovah will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

EXODUS 18

1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about everything that Elohim had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how Yehovah had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 After Moses had sent his wife Zipporah away, his father-in-law Jethro took her in, 3 and her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom, because Moses said, “I’ve lived as a foreigner in a foreign land. 4 The name of the other was Eliezer, because he said, “My father’s Elohim was my help, and rescued me from Pharaoh’s sword. 5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses into the wilderness where he was camped, at the Mountain of Elohim. 6 He said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, have come to you with your wife, and her two sons with her. 7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent. 8 Moses told his father-in-law everything that Yehovah had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that came on them along the way, and how Yehovah rescued them. 9 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things that Yehovah had done for Israel, in rescuing them from the grasp of the Egyptians. 10 Jethro said, “Blessed be Yehovah, who has delivered you from the grasp of the Egyptians, from the grasp of Pharaoh and from the grasp of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that Yehovah is greater than all the gods; in fact it was proven by the way they treated 'Israel' so contemptuously. 12 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and zebakim [sacrifices] for Elohim. Aaron came with all of the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before Elohim.

13 “Then the next day Moses settling the people’s disputes, and the people surrounded Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw how he dealt with the people, he asked, “What is this you do for the people? Why are you sitting here alone to judge, and all the people standing around you from morning till evening?” 15 Moses said to his father-in-law, “The people come to me to inquire of Elohim. 16 When they have an issue, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I explain the statutes of Elohim, and His laws. 17 Moses’ father-in-law told him, “What you are doing isn’t good. 18 You’ll surely wear away, both you, and the people with you, because this is too heavy a burdenfor you. You aren’t able to perform it yourself alone. 19 So listen to me. I’ll give you counsel, and Elohim be with you. You represent the people before Elohim, and bring the issues to Elohim. 20 You must teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way that they must ‘live’, and the work that they must do. 21 You should select from all the people able men fear Elohim, men of truth, hating unjust gain, and place them over them to be leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties and leaders of tens. 22 They should judge the people virtually every time. But the more difficult matters they should bring to you, but every small matter they must judge themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they’ll share the load with you. 23 If you do this, and Elohim commands you so, then you’ll be able to endure, and all of these people also will go to their place in peace.

24 “So Moses listened to what his father-in-law said, and did everything that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men all over Israel, and made them leaders over the people, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens. 26 They judged the people virtually every time, and they brought the difficult issues to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. 27 Moses let his father-in-law leave, and he went back to his own land.

EXODUS 19

Israel at Mount Sinai

1 On the first day of the ‘third’ month [Gill’s], after the Israelites left Egypt, on that commemorative day, they entered the Sinai Desert. 2 After they had moved from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai, and Israel set up camp in the wilderness in front of the mountain. 3 Moses went up to Elohim, and Yehovah called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the descendants of Jacob. Tell the Israelites, 4 ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Me. 5 So if you’ll diligently obey My voice, and obey My Covenant, then you’ll be My treasured possession out of all the nations, tho the entire earth is Mine, 6 and you’ll be My Kingdom of priests, and a kadosh nation.’ This is what you’ll say to the Israelites. 7 So Moses went back and called for the elders of the people, and presented to them everything that Yehovah had commanded him to say. 8 All the people answered together, “We will do everything that Yehovah has said.” So Moses brought the people’s answer back to Yehovah.

9 “Yehovah told Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, so the people can hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever! Then Moses told the words of the people to Yehovah. 10 Yehovah said to Moses, “Go to the people, and dedicate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing, 11 and be ready for the third day, because on the third day Yehovah will come down on Mount Sinai in view of all the people. 12 Put boundaries for the people all around and say: “Be careful not to go up onto the mountain or touch the border of it. Anyone who touches the mountain must be put to death. 13 No one should lay a hand on them [intervene]. They must be stoned or shot thru with arrows. whether man or animal they must not live.’ When the Jubilee shofar sounds a long blast, they must come up to the mountain. 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and set the people apart, and they washed their clothes. 15 He said to the people, “Be ready by the third day. Don’t have sexual relations with a woman.

16 “On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud shofar sounded. Everyone in the camp was trembling with fear. 17 Moses led the people out of the camp to meet Elohim, and they stood at the base of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was entirely covered in smoke, because Yehovah descended on it in fire, and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled severely. 19 As the sound of the shofar escalated more intensely, Moses spoke, and Elohim replied to him. 20 Yehovah came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. Then Yehovah summoned Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up. 21 Then Yehovah told Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break thru to see Yehovah to gaze, or many of them will die. 22 The priests who approach Yehovah should also dedicate themselves, or Yehovah will break out in judgment against them.” 23 Moses said to Yehovah, “The people can’t come up to Mount Sinai, because You warned us, ‘Set barriers around the mountain, and consider it kadosh.’” 24 Then Yehovah told him, “Go down and bring Aaron back with you. But don’t allow the priests and the people to break thru to come up to Yehovah, or He will break out in judgment against them. 25 So Moses went down to the people and reminded them.

EXODUS 20

The Ten Commandments

1 Elohim pronounced all these ultimatums [commands, orders, proposals]: 2 I am Yehovah your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You must never have any gods ‘other than’ [Keil] Me! 4 You must never make yourselves an idol or an image of anything in the heavens above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [to worship] 5 You must never bow down to them or serve them, because I, Yehovah your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 6 but showing unfailing love to thousands of generations of those who love Me and obey My Commandments [1] 7 You must never misuse the name of Yehovah your Elohim, because Yehovah won’t let anyone go unpunished who misuses His name. 8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it kadosh! 9 You have six days to labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yehovah your Elohim. You must never do any work then, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock or the foreigners living in your'towns', 11 because in six days Yehovah made Heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them, and 'ceased' [working] on the seventh day, so Yehovah blessed the Sabbath day and made it kadosh. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days will be prolonged in the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you. 13 You must never murder! 14 You must never commit adultery! 15 You must never steal! 16 You must never give a false testimony against [to hurt] your neighbor. 17 You must never desire to take your neighbor’s house! You must never desire to take your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to him.”

18 “Everyone heard thunder and saw the lightning, and heard the sounding of a shofar, and saw the mountain smoking. When they saw all this, they trembled, and stood off in the distance. 19 They told Moses, “Speak to us yourself, and we’ll listen, but don’t have Elohim speak with us or we’ll die. 20 Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid, because Elohim has come to test you, so that the fear of Him will 'remain' with you to keep you from sinning.” 21 The people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness where Elohim was.

22 “Yehovah told Moses, “This is what you are to tell the Israelites, “’You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from the sky. 23 Don’t ever make any gods to rival Me. Don’t make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves.

24 “You must build an earthen altar for Me, and offer on it your zebakim [sacrifices] and your fellowship offerings, your sheep and your cattle. I’ll come to you and bless you anywhere I cause My name to be remembered. 25 If you build an altar for Me, you must not build it with cut stones. If you use any tools on it, you will make it profane. 26 You must never go up to My altar on steps, or your nakedness would be exposed on it.’

[1] The Ten Commandments are not suggestions, mere “words”. Yeshua made an offer you can’t refuse: If you want to live, keep the Commandments! Matthew 19:16-19; Mark 10:17-22; Luke 18:18-23; Revelation 22:14. This will “get your foot in the door”, but you can do even better.

EXODUS 21

1 “These are the regulations you must present to them: 2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he’ll serve six years and in the seventh he’ll go out free without paying anything. 3 If he comes in ‘single’, he must leave single. If he’s married, then his wife will leave with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will be her master’s, and he’ll go out by himself. 5 But if the servant plainly say, “I love my master, my wife, and my children. I won’t go out free,’ 6 then his master will bring him to Elohim, and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear thru with an awl, and he’ll serve him forever. 7 If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she won’t go out as the male servants do. 8 If she does’t please the master who has selected her for himself, then he must allow her to be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, since he has treated her unfairly. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must treat her like a 'legal' daughter. 10 If he takes another wife for himself, he must not diminish her food, her clothing and her marital rights. 11 If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she can leave without paying any silver.

12 “Anyone who strikes a man so that he dies will surely be put to death, 13 but not if it’s unintentional, but if Elohim allows it to happen, then I’ll appoint you a place where he’ll flee. 14 If someone plans and carries out the murder of his neighbor, you must take him even from My altar and put them to death. 15 Anyone who attacks his father or his mother must certainly be put to death. 16 “Whoever kidnaps someone, whether he has sold them or they are found in his possession, must certainly be put to death. 17 Anyone who curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.

18 “If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed, 19 if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him will be cleared, only he must pay for the loss of his time, and provide for his healing until he is completely healed. 20 If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and they dies under his hand, he must certainly be punished. 21 But, if he gets up after a day or two, he won’t be punished, because he is his property. 22 “If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, the 'offender' must pay whatever fine the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow. 23 But if there is any further injury, the penalty is a life for a life, 24 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, 25 a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound and a bruise for a bruise. 26 If a man strikes his male or female slave in the eye, and the eye is blinded, he must let the slave go free in compensation for the eye. 27 And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free in compensation for the tooth.

28 “If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must certainly be stoned, and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the bull won’t be held responsible. 29 But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and it has been testified to its owner, and he hasn’t kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull will be stoned, and its owner will also be put to death. 30 But if payment is demanded, he can save his life by paying the full amount demanded of him. 31 Even if it gores a son or gored a daughter, he will be dealt with by this same ruling. 32 If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver will be given to their master, and the ox will be stoned.

33 “If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit must make restitution; he must give silver to its owner, and the dead animal will be his. 35 If one man’s bull injures another’s, and it dies, then they’ll sell the live bull, and divide its price, and they’ll also divide the dead animal. 36 Or if it’s known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner hasn’t kept it in, he must certainly pay bull for bull, and the dead animal will be his own.

EXODUS 22

1 If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it, or sells it, he’ll repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. 2 If a thief is caught breaking and entering [during the night], and he is beaten to death, no one is guilty of murder. 3 But if it happens after sunrise, he is guilty of murder. He must make restitution. If he has nothing, then he must be sold to pay for what he stole. 4 If he is caught with the stolen property red handed, whether it’s an ox, a donkey or sheep, he must repay double.

5 “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten, and lets his animal loose, and it grazes in another man’s field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field, and from the best of his own vineyard. 6 If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that shocks of grain or standing grain or a field is incinerated, the one who kindled the fire must certainly make restitution.

7 “If a man delivers to his neighbor silver or stuff to keep, and it’s stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he’ll pay double. 8 If the thief isn’t found, then the master of the house will come near to Elohim, to find out if he hasn’t put his hand to his neighbor’s goods. 9 For every offense involving property, whether it concerns an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or clothing or for any kind of lost property, and someone claims, ’That’s mine,’ the case between the two parties is to come before the judges [elohim]. He who the judges pronounce guilty must pay double to his neighbor. 10 If a man delivers a donkey to his neighbor, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, and there are no witnesses, 11 the oath of Yehovah will be between them both, whether he hasn’t put his hand to his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept it, and he won’t make restitution. 12 But if it’s stolen from him, he’ll make restitution to its owner. 13 If it’s torn in pieces, he should bring it as evidence. He won’t make good what was torn. 14 If a man borrows anything from a neighbor and it is damaged, or dies, its owner not being with it, he’ll surely make restitution. 15 If its owner is with it, he won’t make it good. If it was rented, the loss 'is covered by' the rental price.

16 “If a man entices a virgin who isn’t pledged to be married, and lies with her, he’ll surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife. 17 If her father completely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay in silver the equivalent of the dowry of virgins.

18 “You must not allow a sorceress to live. 19 Whoever has sex with an animal must certainly be put to death. 20 Anyone who offers an offering to any god, other than Yehovah, will be completely destroyed. 21 You must never mistreat or oppress a foreigner. 'Remember', you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. 22 Never take advantage of a widow or orphaned child. 23 If you take advantage of them in any way, and they cry out to Me, I’ll surely hear their cry, 24 and My wrath will grow hot, and I’ll kill you with a sword, and your wives will be widows, and your children orphans. 25 If you lend silver to any of My people with you who is poor, you must not treat him as a creditor, or charge him interest. 26 If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you must return it to him before the sun goes down, 27 because that is his only covering, it’s his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? Then, when he cries to Me, I’ll hear, because I’m merciful. 28 You won’t blaspheme Elohim, or curse a ruler of your people.

29 “You must not postpone an offering from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. You must give the firstborn of your sons to Me. 30 You must do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Seven days it will be with its mother, then on the eighth day you’ll give it to Me. 31 You will be kadosh men to Me, so you must not eat any flesh that is torn by animals in the countryside. You must throw it to the dogs.

EXODUS 23

Land Sabbaths

1 You must never spread a falsehoods. Never join hands with the wicked and be a malicious witness. 2 You must never follow the croud in wrongdoing, or testify in court to side with with the majority to pervert justice. 3 Never show favoritism to a poor person in their lawsuit. 4 If you come across your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you absolutely must bring it back to him again. 5 If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has fallen down under his load, don’t leave the 'man'; be sure to help free it. 6 Never deny justice to poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Avoid a false charge, and don’t condemn innocent and righteous people to death, because I won’t justify the wicked. 8 Never accept a bribe, because a bribe blinds those who have sight and distorts the words of the righteous. 9 Never oppress foreigners, because you know what it’s like to be foreigners, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

10 “You can sow your fields for six years and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year you are to let it rest and lie fallow, so the poor of your people can eat whatever grows there, and what they leave the wild animals can eat. You must do the same with your vineyards and olive groves. 12 Six days you can do your work, and on the seventh day you must stop [working], so that your oxen and your donkies can rest. The slaves born in your household and foreigners can also rest. 13 Be careful to do everything that I’ve told you, and never memorialize the names of other gods [demons], or let them be heard from your ‘lips’. 14 Three times a year you must celebrate a Feast to honor Me. 15 You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, during the appointed time in the New Moon of Aviv [green ears of barley], because that’s when you came out from Egypt. No one should appear before Me empty handed. 16 Also celebrate the Harvest Feast of the firstfruits [Pentecost] of your labor from what you sow in the fields, and the Harvest Feast at the end of the agrarian [Barnes] year, once you’ve harvested your crops from the fields. 17 Three times each year all the men must appear before the Sovereign Yehovah. 18 You must never offer the blood of My zebak with leavened bread, and the fat from My Feast should never remain all night until morning. 19 Bring the first of the firstfruits of your land into the 'Temple' of Yehovah your Elohim. You must never boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

20 “I’m going to send a Messenger ahead of you to protect you along the way, and to bring you to the place that I’ve prepared! 21 Pay close attention to Him and do what He says. Don’t defy Him, because He won’t pardon your disobedience, since My name resides in Him. 22 But if you pay close attention to Him and do everything I say, then I’ll be an enemy of your enemies, and an adversary of your adversaries. 23 My Messenger will go ahead of you, and bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I’ll wipe them out. 24 You must never bow down to their gods, or serve them, or imitate their behavior. Instead, you must completely defeat them and smash their sacred pillars. 25 You must serve Yehovah your Elohim, and He’ll bless your food and your water, and I’ll remove sickness from among you. 26 No one will miscarry or be barren in your land; I’ll ensure that you live your full number of days. 27 I’ll send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion every nation you confront. I’ll make all your enemies turn their backs to you and flee. 28 I’ll send hornets ahead of you that will drive the Hivites, the Canaanites and the Hittites 'away from' you. 29 I won’t drive them out ahead of you in a single year, otherwise the land would become desolate, and the wild animals would 'overwhelm' you. 30 Little by little I’ll drive them out ahead of you until you’re numerous enough to take possession of the land. 31 I’ll establish your borders from the Red Sea all the way to the ‘Mediterranean’ sea, and from the ‘Sinai Desert’ to the Euphrates River, because I’ll hand the inhabitants of the land over to you, and you’ll drive them out of your 'way'. 32 You must never make any treaties with them or their gods. 33 They must not live in your land, or they’ll cause you to sin against Me. If you serve their gods you’ll be trapped in a snare.

EXODUS 24

Israel Accepts the Yehovah’s Covenant

1 Then 'the Word' [Targum of Jonathan] said to Moses, “Come up to Yehovah, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance. 2 Moses is to approach Yehovah alone, but the other seventy shouldn’t approach, and none of the people should come up with him. 3 Moses went and told the people everything what Yehovah had said, and all the ordinances, and all the people answered in ‘unison’, “We will do everything Yehovah has said.” 4 Moses wrote down all of Yehovah’s words. He got up early in the morning and built an altar at the ‘foot’ of the mountain with twelve pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young Israelite men who offered zebakim [sacrifices] and made fellowship offerings of bulls to Yehovah. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and he sprinkled the other half of the blood on the altar. 7 He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, “We will do everything Yehovah has said, and we will be obedient.” 8 Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that Yehovah has made with you based on everything you just heard!”

9 “Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and THEY SAW the Elohim of Israel. Under His feet was something like a 'floor' made of lapis lazuli [“sapphire”], as clear as the sky itself. 11 He didn’t raise His hand against the leaders of the Israelites. They saw Elohim, and they actually ate and drank!

12 “Yehovah told Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain, and stay here, and I’ll give you the stone tablets with the Torah and the commandments that I’ve written for their instruction.” 13 Moses set out with his assistant Yehoshua, and Moses climbed up Elohim’s Mountain. 14 He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are with you! Whoever is involved in a legal dispute should 'consult' them. 15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The splendor of Yehovah settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from inside the cloud. 17 To the Israelites, the appearance of the splendor of Yehovah looked like a blazing fire on the summit of the mountain. 18 Moses entered the cloud, and climbed the mountain, and Moses stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

EXODUS 25

1 Yehovah said to Moses: 2 “Tell the Israelites to take an offering for Me. You are to take My offering from anyone who is willing to give. 3 This is the offering that you’ll take from them, “Gold, silver, bronze, 4 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, 5 rams’ skins dyed red, fine leather [?], acacia wood, 6 olive oil for the lights, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense 7 onyx stones and other gemstones to be set in the chief priest’s ephod and his breastplate. 8 Have them build Me a Temple, so that I can live with them. 9 Make everything according to the pattern that I show you, both the Tabernacle and all of its furniture.

10 “Make an Ark of acacia wood. Its length is to be two and a half cubits, its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half in height. 11 Overlay it with pure gold. Overlay it inside and outside, and make a gold molding around it. 12 Cast four gold rings for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings on one side of it, and two rings on the other side. 13 Make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 Put the poles into the rings on the sides of the Ark to carry the ark. 15 The poles must stay in the rings of the ark. They aren’t be removed from it. 16 Put the Tablets of the Testimony [1] that I will give you into the ark. 17 Make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits in length, and a cubit and a half wide. 18 Make two cherubim of hammered gold. Make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. Make the cherubim on its two ends of a single piece with the mercy seat. 20 The cherubim will spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, facing one another. The faces of the cherubim will be toward the mercy seat. 21 Put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and put the Testimony that I give you in the ark. 22 There I’ll meet with you, and I’ll tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the Ark of the Testimony, everything that I command you for the Israelites.

23 “You are to make a table of acacia wood. It will be two cubits long, and a cubit wide and one and a half cubits high. 24 Overlay it with pure gold, and put a gold molding around it. 25 Make a rim of a handwidth around it. You’ll make a gold molding on the rim around it. 26 Make four gold rings for it, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet. 27 The rings will be close to the rim, as places for the poles to carry the table. 28 Make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, so the table can be carried with them. 29 Make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls to pour out offerings with. You’ll make them of pure gold. 30 Continuously set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me.

31 “Make a menorah of pure gold. Its base, its stem, its cups, its buds and its petals must be hammered from the same piece. 32 Six branches are to extend from the sides; three branches of the menorah from one side and three branches of the menorah from the other side. 33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and petals are to be on the first branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and petals on the next, and so on for all six branches extending from the menorah, 34 and in the menorah four cups shaped like almond blossoms, with buds and petals, 35 with a bud under the first pair of branches extending from it, and a bud under the next pair of branches coming from it, and so on for all six branches extending from the menorah. 36 The buds and branches must be hammered from the same piece of pure gold. 37 Then make seven lamps, and elevate the lamps so they illuminate the space in front of it. 38 Its snuffers and trays must also be made of pure gold. 39 ‘The menorah’ and all these accessories will be made from a talent of pure gold. 40 Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.

[1] The two stone tablets that the Ten Commandments were written on: Exodus 34:28

EXODUS 26

The Tabernacle Drapery

1 You are to make the Tabernacle with ten drapes of finely spun linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by a skilled craftsman. 2 The length of each drape will be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each drape four cubits; all the drapes will have the same measurements. 3 Five of the drapes must be sewn together, and the other five drapes must also be sewn together. 4 You are to make blue loops on the edge of the outer drape in the first set, and do the same on the outer edge of the drape in the second set. 6 You are to make fifty loops on one drape, and make fifty loops on the edge of the drape in the second set, with the loops opposite each other.

7 “You are to make drapes of goat’s hair for a canopy over the Tabernacle. You are to make eleven drapes in all. 8 Each drape is to be thirty cubits long and four cubits wide. The eleven drapes will all have the same measurements. 9 Join five of the drapes together into one set and the other six into another set. Then fold the sixth drape double at the front of the tabernacle. 10 Make fifty loops on the edge of the one drape that is outermost in the set, and fifty loops on the edge of the drape that is outermost in the second set. 11 Then make fifty bronze clasps, and put them in the loops of the drapes with the clasps so that it is one continuous unit. 12 The overlapping part that is left over from the drapes of the tabernacle, the half drape that is left over is to hang down the back of the Tabernacle. 13 The cubit on one side, and the cubit on the other of what is left over in the length of the drapes of the tabernacle is to hang over the sides of the tabernacle on either side to cover it. 14 You are to make a covering for the tabernacle of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of fine leather [?] above.

15 “Then you are to make the vertical planks for the Tabernacle of acacia wood. 16 The length of each plank is to be ten cubits, and the width of each plank is to be one and a half cubits, 17 with two dovetails in each plank fitting them together. Cut all the planks of the Tabernacle the same way. 18 Cut twenty planks for the south side of the Tabernacle 19 and make forty silver bases to go under the twenty planks—two bases for each plank, one under 'each' dovetail. 20 and for the second side of the Tabernacle, the north side, cut twenty planks, 21 and along with their forty bases of silver, two bases 'under each plank'. 22 For the back side of the Tabernacle, to the west, cut six planks. 23 Cut two planks for the corners of the Tabernacle at the far end. 24 They are to be joined together beneath, and joined together at the top by a single ring. So it should be for both of them; they will form the two [rear] corners. 25 There are to be eight planks with their sixteen silver bases—two bases under 'each plank'. 26 Then you are to cut five crossbars of acacia wood for the planks on one side of the Tabernacle, 27 and five crossbars for the planks on the other side of the Tabernacle, and five crossbars for the planks on the far side of the Tabernacle to the west. 28 The center crossbar is to run from one end to the other down the middle of the planks. 29 Then overlay the planks with gold, and make gold rings to brace the crossbars, and overlay the crossbars with gold. 30 “Set up the Tabernacle according to the plan that you were shown on the mountain.

31 “Make a canopy of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen with cherubim woven into it by a skilled craftsman. 32 Use gold hooks to hang it on four acacia wood posts overlaid it with pure gold, standing on four silver bases. 33 Hang the canopy under the clasps, and bring the Ark of the Testimony in there within the canopy, and the canopy will separate the Kadosh Place from the Most Kadosh Place. 34 Put the mercy seat on the Ark of the Testimony in the Most Kadosh Place. 35 Then set the table outside the canopy, and the menorah on the south side of the Tabernacle, opposite the table; put the table on the north side.

36 “For the doorway to the Tabernacle make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and spun linen—the work of an embroiderer. 37 Make five posts of acacia wood for the screen and overlay them with with gold, also make their hooks of gold, and cast five bronze bases for them.

EXODUS 27

The Bronze Altar

1 Build the altar out of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits wide. The altar must be square, and it is to be three cubits high. 2 Make horns on its four corners. The horns and the altar must be made from one piece of wood, and you must overlay it with bronze. 3 Make all the utensils out of bronze—its pots for removing ashes, its shovels, basins, forks and firepans; 4 Also make a grate for it of bronze mesh, and make four bronze rings on the mesh at its four corners. 5 Put it under the ledge of the altar so the net will reach halfway up the altar. 6 Make poles out of acacia wood for the altar, and overlay them with bronze. 7 Its poles are to be put thru the rings on both sides of the altar when it is carried. 8 Make it with hollow planks. Make it just like you were shown on the mountain.

9 “Make a courtyard for the Tabernacle. The south side of the courtyard is to have curtains of finely spun linen, a hundred cubits long for one side; 10 with twenty posts set in twenty bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts must be made of silver. 11 Likewise for the north side in length there will be curtains one hundred cubits long, with twenty posts set in twenty bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts must be made of silver. 12 “The west end of the courtyard will be fifty cubits wide and have curtains hung from ten posts 'set in' ten bases. 13 The width of the court on the east side eastward will be fifty cubits. 14 The curtains for one side will be fifteen cubits with three posts 'set in' three bases. 15 And make the curtains on the other side fifteen cubits long hung from three posts 'set in' three bases. 16 For the gate of the courtyard there will be a screen twenty cubits long, made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen, the work of an embroiderer—with four posts and four bases. 17 All the pillars around the court should be banded together with silver, their hooks made of silver, and their bases made of bronze. 18 The length of the court is to be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty cubits thruout, and the height five cubits, made of finely spun linen and bases of bronze. 19 All of the equipment used in the service of the Tabernacle, including all the tent pegs for the courtyard, must be made of bronze.

20 “Command the Israelites provide you with virgin oil from crushed olives for the light, in order to keep the lamp burning continually. 21 In the Tabernacle of the Congregation, outside the veil in front of the ark of the Testimony, Aaron and his descendantst are to tend the lamps from evening until morning before Yehovah. This is to be a perpetual statute for the Israelites thruhout their generations.

EXODUS 28

The Priestly Array

1 “Have your brother Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar come to you. They will serve Me as the Israelite priests. 2 Make kadosh garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and refinement. 3 Tell all the skilled 'craftsmen' who I’ve filled with the spirit of wisdom to make Aaron’s clothing suitable for serving Me in the priest’s office. 4 These are the clothes that they’ll make, a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a checkered coat, a turban and a sash, and they’ll make kadosh clothing for Aaron your brother and his sons, so he can serve Me in the priest’s office. 5 They must 'use the donated' gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen. [JFB] 6 “They are to make the ephod out of gold, blue, purple and scarlet fabric and finely spun linen by a skilled craftsman. 7 It must have two shoulder straps attached at the top corners so that it can be joined together. 8 The exquisitely woven sash on the ephod must be made of the same material: of gold, blue, purple and scarlet fabric and finely spun linen. 9 Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel’s sons, 10 in the order of their birth—six names on one stone and the other six on the second. 11 Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter would engrave a signet ring. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings 12 and fasten the two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod as memorial stones for Israel. Aaron will carry their names before Yehovah on his shoulders as a memorial. 13 Make gold filigree settings. 14 and you are to make two pure gold chains like braided ropes, and attach the braided chains to the filigree settings.

15 “Make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skilled craftsman, with the same workmanship as the ephod. Make it of gold, blue, purple and scarlet yarnyarn, and of finely spun linen. 16 It must be square and folded double, a span long and a span wide. 17 You are to mount four rows of precious stones on it. The first row will be ruby, topaz and emerald. 18 and in the second row a turquoise, lapis lazuli [“sapphire”] and a diamond [?]; 19 and in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; 20 and in the fourth row a beryl, an onyx and a jasper mounted in gold filigree. 21 The stones will correspond to the names of the sons of Israel, each must be engraved like a signet ring with the name of one of the twelve tribes. 22 Make on the breastplate of pure gold braided chains, resembling ropes. 23 Make two gold rings for the breastplate, and attach the two rings to the two corners of the breastplate. 24 Then attach the two gold cords to the two rings on the corners of the breastplate. 25 You must put the other two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, attaching them to the shoulder 'straps' of the ephod in the front. 26 Make two gold rings, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its inside edge next to the ephod. 27 Make two gold rings, and fasten them to the bottom of the shoulder straps on the front of the ephod, close to the seam, above the exquisitely woven waistband of the ephod. 28 Bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so it can be on the exquisitely woven waistband of the ephod, so that the breastplate won’t swing out from the ephod. 29 Aaron will carry the names of the Israelites in the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he enters the Kadosh Place as a continuing reminder before Yehovah. 30 Place the Urim and Thummim into the breastplate of judgment, so it will remain on Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before Yehovah, and Aaron will carry the [means of] judgment of the Israelites over his heart before Yehovah continually.

31 “You are to make the robe of the ephod entirely blue. 32 Make an opening at the top in the center. It must have a woven collar around the opening, like the opening on a coat of armor, so that it doesn’t tear. 33 'Sew' pomegranates made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn all around the hem with gold bells between them, 34 so that golden bells and pomegranates 'alternate' around the hem of the robe. 35 It must be worn by Aaron whenever he serves as priest. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters and leaves the Kadosh Place before Yehovah, so that he doesn’t die.

36 “Make a plate of pure gold and engrave it as you would a signet ring: “KADOSH TO YEHOVAH.’ 37 Fasten it on the front of the turban with a blue chord. 38 It must remain on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will remove the guilt of the kadosh things, that the Israelites are making kadosh with all their kadosh offerings. It must always be on his forehead, so that they will be acceptable to Yehovah.

39 “Weave the checkered tunic of fine linen and make a turban of fine linen. Have an embroiderer make the sash.

40 “You must make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons for splendor and refinement. 41 Put them on your brother Aaron, and on his sons; then anoint them, commission them and have them dedicated to serving Me as priests. 42 “Make them linen undergarments to cover their 'skin', reaching from the waist to the thigh. 43 Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the Tabernacle of the Congregation, or when they approach the altar to serve as priests in the Kadosh Place, so they don’t incur guilt and die. It will be a perpetual statute for him and for his future descendants.

EXODUS 29

1 This is what you must do in order to commission them to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two unblemished rams, 2 with unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with olive oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and made with fine wheat flour. 3 Put them in a basket, and bring the basket along with the bull and the two rams. 4 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and wash them with water. 5 Take the clothes and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breastplate. Wrap him with the exquisitely woven waistband of the ephod. 6 Set the turban on his head, and attach the kadosh crown on the turban. 7 Then take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 Bring his sons, and put tunics on them. 9 Put sashes on Aaron and his sons and fasten caps on them. The priesthood is to be theirs by a permanent statute. This is the way you will 'commission' Aaron and his sons.

10 “Then bring the bull before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 Kill the bull before Yehovah, at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 12 Take some of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 13 Take all the fat that covers the entrails, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you must burn with fire outside of the camp, it’s a sin offering.

15 “Then take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the head of the ram. 16 Kill the ram and take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar. 17 Cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails, and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head. 18 Burn the whole ram on the altar, it’s a burnt offering to Yehovah, a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to Yehovah.

19 “Then take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear , and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood around on the altar. 21 Take some of the blood on the altar, and the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his clothing, and on his sons, and on the clothing of his sons with him, and he’ll be made kadosh, as well his clothing, and his sons, and his sons’ clothing. 22 Also take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat on them, and the right thigh (because it’s a ram of dedication), 23 and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is set before Yehovah. 24 Put all of this in Aaron’s hands, and in his sons’ hands, and wave them for a wave offering before Yehovah. 25 Then you must take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar as a sweet and soothing incense before Yehovah. It’s an offering by fire to Yehovah. 26 Then take the breast of Aaron’s ram of dedication, and wave it as a wave offering before Yehovah, and it will be your share. 27 Dedicate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering that was presented from the ram contrabuttion, from the one that was for Aaron and from the one thet was for his sons. 28 and it will be for Aaron and his sons as their share forever from the Israelites, because it’s a wave offering. It will be the Israelites’ contribution from their fellowship zebakim, their contribution to Yehovah.

29 “The kadosh clothing of Aaron will be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be dedicated in them. 30 For seven days the son who is priest in his place will put them on, when he comes into the Tabernacle of the Congregation to minister in the Kadosh Place. 31 Then take the ram of dedication, and boil its flesh in a Kadosh Place. 32 Aaron and his sons will eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread in the basket, at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 33 They must eat the things that atonement was made for, to announce and dedicate them, but an immigrant must not eat them, because they are kadosh. 34 If any of the dedicated flesh or bread remains in the morning you must burn it 'up', it must not be eaten, because it’s kadosh.

35 ““This is what you are to do for Aaron and his sons, based on everything I’ve commanded you. Take seven days to 'commission' them. 36 Every day you must offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and cleanse the altar, when you make atonement for it, and you’ll anoint it, to dedicate it. 37 For seven days you must make atonement for the altar and dedicate it. The altar will be most kadosh, whatever touches the altar will be kadosh.

38 “Now this is what you must offer on the altar, two lambs a year old, each day continuously. 39 You must offer one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb in at evening, 40 and with the one lamb one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of wine for a wine offerings. 41 Offer the other lamb in the evening, and do to it like the grain offering and the wine offering of the morning, as a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yehovah. 42 It is to be a continual burnt offering thruout your generations at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation before Yehovah, where I’ll meet with you, and speak to you. 43 I’ll meet with the Israelites there, and the place will be kadosh by My splendor. 44 I’ll dedicate the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the altar. I’ll also dedicate Aaron and his sons to serve Me in the priest’s office. 45 I’ll live among the Israelites, and be their Elohim. 46 They’ll realize that I am Yehovah their Elohim, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I could live among them. I am Yehovah their Elohim.

EXODUS 30

1 You must make an altar to burn incense on. Make it of acacia wood. 2 Its length will be one cubit, and its width one cubit. It is to be square, and two cubits high. Its horns must be made from one piece. 3 You are to overlay it with pure gold, its top, all the sides and its horns, and make a gold molding around it. 4 Make two gold rings, and put them below the molding on its two ribs and on its two sides as holders for the poles to carry it with. 5 Make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 Put it before the veil beside the Ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I’ll meet with you. 7 Aaron will burn incense of fragrant incense on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he’ll burn it. 8 When Aaron lights the lamps in the evening, he’ll burn it, a perpetual incense before Yehovah thruout your generations. 9 You’ll offer no strange incense on it, no burnt offering or grain offering, and you must never pour a wine offering on it. 10 Aaron must make atonement on its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements. Once every year he must make atonement on it thruout your generations. It’s most kadosh to Yehovah.

11 “Yehovah told Moses: 12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, then each man must pay a ransom for his life to Yehovah as he is counted, to prevent any plague among them when you count them. 13 They’ll give this: everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel after the shekel of the Temple, (the shekel is twenty gerahs,) half a shekel for an offering to Yehovah. 14 Everyone counted from twenty years old and over, must give this contribution to Yehovah. 15 The rich won’t give more, and the poor won’t give less than half a shekel, when you give your offering to Yehovah, to make atonement for yourselves. 16 You must take the atonement silver from the Israelites, and use it for the service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, so that it will serve as a memorial for the Israelites before Yehovah, to make atonement for yourselves.

17 “Yehovah told Moses: 18 “You must also make a bronze basin, and its base of bronze to wash with. Put it between the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the altar, and put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and their feet in it. 20 When they go into the Tabernacle of the Congregation, they must wash with water, so they don’t die, or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering by fire to Yehovah. 21 So they’ll wash their hands and their feet so they don’t die, and it will be a perpetual statute to them, to him and to his descendants thruout their generations.

22 “Yehovah told Moses: 23 “Also take fine spices, of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels, and fragrant cinnamon half as much—two hundred and fifty, and fragrant cane—two hundred and fifty, 24 and cassia five hundred, like the shekel of the Temple, and a hin of olive oil. 25 Make it a kadosh anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be a kadosh anointing oil. 26 Use it to anoint the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the Ark of the Testimony, 27 the table and all its articles, the menorah and its accessories, the incense altar, 28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin with its base. 29 Dedicate them, so that they’ll be most kadosh. Whatever touches them will be kadosh. 30 Anoint Aaron and his sons, and dedicate them, so that they can serve Me in the priest’s office. 31 Tell the Israelites, “This will be a kadosh anointing oil to Me thruout your generations. 32 It must not be poured on anyone’s body, and you are not to make any like it using the same formula. It’s kadosh, and you must consider it kadosh. 33 Whoever blends any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an immigrant must be cut off from their people.’”

34 “Yehovah told Moses, “Take fragrant spices, gum resin, onycha, galbanum; the fragrant spices with pure frankincense, each of equal weight, 35 and make incense from it, the work of a perfumer, seasoned with salt, very kadosh. 36 Grind some of it into very finely, and put some of it before the Testimony in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, where I’ll meet with you. It will be most kadosh to you. 37 Never make any incense for yourselves in the same proportions. It is to be regarded by you as kadosh to Yehovah. 38 Anyone who makes any like it to enjoy the fragrance must be cut off from their people.”

EXODUS 31

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Look, I’ve called Uri’s son Bezalel by name, the son of Hur, from the house of Judah, 3 and the spirit [feminine] of Elohim has filled him with wisdom, understanding and ability in every trade 4 to create artistic designs in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut gemstones for settings, and in the carving of wood, and in all kinds of workmanship. 6 I’ve appointed with him Ahisamach’s son Oholiab from the tribe of Dan, and in the mind of all who are wise-minded I’ve put wisdom, so that they can make everything that I’ve commanded you, 7 the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tabernacle, 8 the table and its utensils, the kadosh menorah with all its utensils, the incense altar, 9 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, the basin and its base, 10 the finely worked clothing”, “The kadosh clothing for Aaron the priest”, “The clothing of his sons to minister in the priest’s office, 11 the anointing oil and the incense of fragrant incense for the Kadosh Place, according to everything that I’ve commanded you they’ll do.

12 “Yehovah told Moses: 13 “Tell the Israelites: “Most certainly you must keep My Sabbaths, because it’s a sign between Me and you thruout your generations, so you’ll realize that I am Yehovah who makes you kadosh. 14 You’ll keep the Sabbath, because it’s kadosh to you. Everyone who profanes it will surely be put to death, because whoever does any work there, that person will be removed from the people. 15 Work can be done for six days, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, kadosh to Yehovah. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death. 16 The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day—'celebrate' the Sabbath—thruout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It’s a sign between Me and the Israelites forever, because Yehovah made Heaven and earth in six days, and on the seventh day He stopped working and was refreshed.”

18 “When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two Tablets of the Testimony, stone tablets inscribed by the finger of Elohim.

EXODUS 32

1 When the people saw that Moses was late coming down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and told him, “Come, make us gods to go before us, because as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him. 2 Aaron told them, “Rip off the gold earrings from the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me. 3 All the people ripped off their gold earrings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into a molten calf, and they said, “This is your god, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow will be a Feast to Yehovah. 6 They got up early the next day, and offered zebakim [sacrifices], and brought fellowship offerings, and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and got up to 'participate in revelry'.

7 “Yehovah told Moses, “Get down, because your people, who you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! 8 They’ve turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them. They’ve made themselves a molten calf and have worshiped it, and have made offerings to it, and said, “This is your god, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 9 Yehovah told Moses, “I’ve seen these people, they are a 'headstrong' people! 10 So leave Me alone, so that My wrath can burn hot against them, and so I can incinerate them, and I’ll make you [your descendants into] a great nation. 11 Moses begged Yehovah his Elohim, and said, “Yehovah, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people who you’ve brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, “He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains, and to wipe them off the face of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce fury, and reconsider harming Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, your servants. You swore by Yourself, and told them, “I’ll multiply your descendants like the stars of the sky, and all this land that I’ve spoken of I’ll give to your descendants, and they’ll inherit it forever. 14 So Yehovah reconsidered the the disaster He said He would bring on His people.

15 “Moses turned, and went down from the mountain with the two Tablets of the Testimony in his hand. They were inscribed on 'both sides, front and back'. 16 The tablets were the work of Elohim, and the writing was the writing of Elohim engraved on the tablets. 17 When Yehoshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of war in the camp. 18 He said, “It isn’t the sound of people shouting for victory, or the sound of those crying for being overcome, but the sound of people singing that I hear. 19 Then as soon as he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain. 20 He took the calf that they had made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder and scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. 21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you’ve brought such a great sin against them?” 22 Aaron said, “Master don’t allow your anger to get hot. You know the people, how they are set on being bad. 23 They told me, “Make us gods to go before us, because as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’ 24 I told them, “Whoever has any gold should take it off,’ so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.

25 “When Moses saw that the people were 'out of control', (because Aaron had let them get 'out of control' to their shame among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on Yehovah’s side, come to me! ” All the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 He told them, “This is what Yehovah, the Elohim of Israel says: “Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate thruout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ 28 The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29 Moses said, “Announce yourselves today to Yehovah, yes, every man against his son, and against his brother, so that he can bestow on you a blessing today.

30 “Then the next day, Moses told the people, “You have sinned a great sin. Now I’ll go up to Yehovah. Perhaps I’ll make atonement for your sin. 31 So Moses returned to Yehovah, and said, “Oh, these people have committed a serious sin. They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if you will, remove their sin” and if not, then blot me out of the book that You’ve written. 33 Yehovah told Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me will be blotted out of My book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place that I told you about. My Messenger will lead you! But on the day when I visit for punishment, I’ll punish them for their sin. 35 Yehovah struck the people, because of what they did with the calf that Aaron had made.

EXODUS 33

Moses Sees Yehovah’s Back

1 Yehovah told Moses, “You and the people you brought out of Egypt must leave this place. Go to the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘;I’ll give it to your descendants.’ 2 I’ll send My Messenger ahead of you, and I’ll drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and the Jebusites. 3 Go to that land flowing with milk and honey. But I won’t go with you, because you are a 'rebellious' people, and I might exterminate you along the way.” 4 When the people heard this distressing news, they mourned, and no one put on their jewelry. 5 Yehovah told Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a 'headstrong' people. If I were to come among you for a single moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I’ll decide what to do with you.” 6 The Israelites stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.

7 “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it “The Tabernacle of the Congregation”. Everyone who wanted to consult Yehovah went outside the camp to the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 8 Then when Moses went out to the Tabernacle, all the people got up, and stood, everyone at their tent door, and watched Moses until he had gone into the Tabernacle. 9 Then when Moses entered the Tabernacle, the columnar cloud descended, and stationed at the door of the Tabernacle, and Yehovah would speak with Moses. 10 When all the people saw the columnar cloud stationed at the entrance of the Tabernacle, all the people would get up and worship, each at the entrance to their own tents. 11 Yehovah would speak to Moses face to face, the way a person speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his assistant, the young man Yehoshua, son of Nun, stayed inside the tent.

12 Moses said to Yehovah, “You’ve been telling me to lead these people, but you haven’t let me know who You’ll send with me. You also said, ‘I know you by name, and you have found favor in My sight.’ 13 So if I’ve been pleasing in Your sight, please teach me Your ways, so I can know You better, and continue to find favor in Your sight. Consider that this nation is Your people.” 14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I’ll give you rest.” 15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence doesn’t go with us, don’t make us leave this place. 16 How will anyone ever know You’re pleased with Your people and me? Isn’t it Your Presence among that us sets Your people and me apart from all other people on the face of the 'earth'?” 17 Yehovah told Moses, “I’ll do what you’ve asked, because I’m pleased with you, and I know you by name.

18 “He said, “Please let me see Your splendor.” 19 He said, “I’ll cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and proclaim before you My name, Yehovah. I’ll show favor to anyone I want to, and I’ll be compassionate with anyone I want to. 20 But” He said, “You can’t see My face, because no one can see Me and live.”[1] 21 Then Yehovah said, “Look, there’s a place next to Me where you can stand on the rock. 22 Then, while My splendor passes by, I’ll put you in a crevice in the rock, and cover you with My hand until I’ve passed by, 23 then I’ll take away My hand, and you’ll see My back, but you won’t see My face.”

[1] Every single reference in the Torah, the Writings and the Prophets about “the Messenger of Yehovah” is a reference to the pre-incarnate Yeshua, and it is still largely a wonderful “secret”. This was a very unusual “face to face” of Moses and the 70 with the pre-incarnate Yeshua. It shouldn’t be all that surprising that the ancients thought that a personal visit from Yehovah, or the Messenger of Yehovah, was a death sentense. Here are some of the reasons for the fear: In 2 Kings 19:35 the Messenger of Yehovah killed 185,000 Assyrians. In Judges 5:23 we read: “Curse Meroz,’ said the Messenger of Yehovah. ‘Severely curse its inhabitants, because they didn’t come to the aid of Yehovah, to aid Yehovah against the valiant warriors!” Isaiah said (6:1,5): “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw Yehovah sitting on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the 'Temple'...5 Then I said, “How dreadful for me, I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among people with unclean lips, and I’ve seen Commander Yehovah with my own eyes!” In Judges 17 there is a lengthy account: 17 “Then Manoah asked the Messenger of Yehovah, “What is Your name, so that we can honor You when Your 'announcement' comes true?” 18 The Messenger of Yehovah replied, “Why are you asking for My name? It’s a secret.”... 20 As the flames from the altar ascended skyward from the altar, the Messenger of Yehovah ascended in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell face down on the ground. 21 When the Messenger of Yehovah was no longer visible to Manoah or his wife, Manoah realized that He was the Messenger of Yehovah. 22 So Manoah said to his wife, “We’re going to die, because we have seen Elohim.” The future won’t be all that different: In Zechariah 14:3-4, 12 Then Yehovah [the Son] will go out and wage war against those nations, as He previously fought in battle! 4 And when this day arrives, His [Yeshua’s (Jesus’s)] feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, forming a very large valley, [Elohim is on Mt. Zion, Isaiah 10:12] so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south...12 This is the plague that Yehovah will strike all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem with: Their flesh will rot away while they are still standing on their feet, and their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongues will rot away in their mouths. And Malachi added (3:1-2): I’ll send My messenger, and He’ll prepare the way before Me, and the Sovereign who you’re looking for will suddenly come to His 'Temple', the Messenger of the covenant, who you desire. He’s coming, says Commander Yehovah. 2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can 'survive' when He appears? He is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap.” Then here things start to change: Revelation 21:3 “I heard a loud voice from the sky say, “Look, Yehovah’s tabernacle [dwelling place] is among humanity [Gr. anthropos]. He will live with them and they’ll be His people, and Yehovah will be with them, yes Yehovah Himself will be with them.” In the end: Revelation 22:4 They’ll see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.”

EXODUS 34

1 Yehovah told Moses, “Cut two stone tablets like the first, and I’ll write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you shattered. 2 Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself before Me on the mountaintop. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Even the flocks and herds are not to graze in front of this mountain.” 4 He cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and Moses got up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yehovah had commanded him, carrying the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then Yehovah [#2] descended in the cloud, and stood with him there [no cleft of the rock necessary here], and called out His name, Yehovah [#1]. 6 Yehovah [#2] passed by in front of him [again, no special precautions], and proclaimed, “Yehovah [#1]! Yehovah Elohim, [#2]!, compassionate and merciful, patient, and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining unfailing love for thousands, forgiving wrongdoing, disobedience and sin. But He won’t let the guilty go unpunished, allowing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing 'to pass to' the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. [Enlarged Nun]. 8 Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped. 9 He said, “If I’ve found favor in Your sight now, Yehovah [#1], please let Yehovah [#2] [1] travel with us, even tho the people are 'stubborn' and rebellious, and pardon our wrongdoing and sin, and accept us as Your own possession.”

The Covenant Re-established

10 “He said, “I’ll make a covenant, before all your people I’ll do 'miracles', such as have never been done anywhere on earth or in any nation, and all the people where you are will see the work of Yehovah, because it’s an awesome thing that I’ll do with you!

11 “Observe what I command you today. I’ll drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites! 12 Be careful that you don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, or it will be a snare among you. 13 But break down their altars, and smash their pillars to pieces, and you must cut down their Asherah poles, 14 because you’ll worship no other god, for Yehovah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous Elohim. [Large Resh] 15 Don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, otherwise they will practice prostitution after their gods, and ze’bak [sacrifice] to their gods, and someone might invite you eat some of his zebak, 16 and you might take some of his daughters for your son, and their daughters might practice prostitution after their gods, and make your sons practice prostitution after their gods. 17 Never make molten idols for yourselves. 18 You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread.For seven days you must eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of the Aviv, because in the month of the Aviv you came out of Egypt. 19 The firstborn from every womb is Mine, and all your male livestock, the firstborn of cattle and sheep. 20 You must redeem with a lamb the firstborn of your donkeys; and if you don’t redeem it, then you must break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one will appear before Me empty-handed. 21 You will work six days, but on the seventh day you must rest, even at plowing time and in harvest you’ll rest. 22 You must celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruit of the wheat harvest, and the Harvest Feast annually at the end of the agricultural cycle. 23 Three times in the year all your males are to appear before the Sovereign Yehovah, the Elohim of Israel. 24 I’ll drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before Yehovah, your Elohim, three times in the year. 25 You must not offer the blood of My zebak with leavened bread, and none of the ‘meat’ of the Feast of the Passover can be kept until morning. 26 “You will bring the very first of the firstfruits of your ground to Yehovah your Elohim’s 'Temple'. “You must never boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

27 Yehovah told Moses, “Write down these words, because in accordance with these words I’ve made a covenant with you and with Israel. 28 He was there with Yehovah forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

29 “Then Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in Moses’ hand. When he came down from the mountain, Moses didn’t realize that the skin on his face shone because he had spoken with Him. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, with the skin on his face shining, they were afraid to come near him. 31 Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them all of the Commandments that Yehovah had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses was finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But when Moses went in before Yehovah to speak with him, he would take off the veil until he came out. Whenever he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 the Israelites would see that Moses’ face was shining, and Moses put the veil back on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.

[1] See Gill’s. The Sopherim (Jews) deleted Yehovah’s name here and 133 other places, and replaced it with Adonai. Acknowledging Two Yehovah’s was too much for them.

EXODUS 35

1 Moses gathered the entire Israelite congregation, and told them, “These are the things that Yehovah has commanded you to do. 2 ‘For six days work may be done, but the seventh day will be a kadosh day for you, a Sabbath, of complete rest to Yehovah. Anyone who does work on it must be executed. 3 You must not light fires in your homes on the Sabbath day.

4 “Moses spoke to the entire congregation of the Israelites, and said, “This is what Yehovah commanded: 5 ‘Take from among you an offering to Yehovah. Whoever is willing should bring it as Yehovah’s contribution: gold, silver, bronze, 6 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, 7 rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, 8 olive oil for lighting, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and other stones to be mounted on the ephod and the breastplate. 10 ‘Any skilled craftsmen among you should come and make everything Yehovah has commanded: 11 the Tabernacle, its outer covering, its roof, its clasps, its planks , its bars, its pillars, and its bases, 12 the ark, and its poles, the mercy seat, the veil of the screen, 13 the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the showbread, 14 the menorah with its utensils, its lamps and the olive oil for the light; 15 and the incense altar with its poles, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, and the curtain for the doorway at the entrance of the Tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering, with its bronze grating, it poles, and all its utensils, the basin with its stand, 17 the curtains of the courtyard with its pillars and their bases, and the screen for the gateway to the courtyard; 18 the pegs of the Tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their ropes; 19 the finely woven garments for ministering in the Kadosh Place, the kadosh clothing for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests.”

20 “Then the whole Israelite congregation left Moses’ presence. 21 Everyone who was willing came and whose spirit prompted him brought Yehovah a contribution, for the work of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and for all of its service and for the kadosh clothing. 22 All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds: brooches, earrings and signet rings and bracelets. They all presented their gold as an offering to Yehovah. 23 Everyone who had blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red or fine leather [?] brought them. 24 Everyone who could make an offering of silver or bronze brought it as Yehovah’s offering, and everyone who owned acacia wood for any aspect of the service brought it. 25 Every 'skilled' woman spun yarn by hand, and brought what they had spun, blue and purple and scarlet fabric or fine linen. 26 All the women who were moved and had the skill spun the goats’ hair. 27 The leaders brought the onyx stones, and the gemstones to be mounted on the ephod and on the breastplate, 28 as well as the spice and olive oil for the lights, for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense. 29 All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought material for the entire 'project' that Yehovah had commanded thru Moses to be done, as a voluntary offering to Yehovah.

30 “Moses told the Israelites, “Yehovah has called Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the house of Judah by name! 31 He has filled him with Elohim’s spirit [feminine], with wisdom and skill, and understanding of every kind of craftsmanship, 32 in making exquisite works of gold, silver and bronze 33 and in cutting and setting gemstones, and in wood carving—enabling every imaginable skill. 34 He has given both he and Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with the skill to perform every kind of engraving, and designing and embroidering in blue, purple and scarlet material, and in fine linen, and weaving—they can perform any task and design anything.

EXODUS 36

1 Bezalel and Oholiab will work with every craftsman who Yehovah has given the necessary skills and talents to do all the work in the construction of the 'Temple' the way that Yehovah has commanded.

2 “Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every other craftsman that Yehovah had given skills, and who was stirred to come and do the work. 3 and Moses gave them all the offerings that the Israelites had contributed for the task of the construction of the Kadosh Place. And they continued to bring him voluntary offerings every morning. 4 And all the craftsman who were working on the Kadosh Place, left whatever work they had been doing, 5 and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than we need for the construction work that Yehovah commanded to be done. 6 So Moses issued a command, and it was proclaimed thruout the camp, saying, “No man or woman needs to make anything else as an offering for the Kadosh Place.” So the people were not allowed to contribute any more. 7 The stuff they had was more than sufficient for all the work they had to do.

8 “All the skilled craftsmen among those who did the work made the Tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen. Bezalel embroidered them with blue, purple and scarlet fabric, with a design of cherubim worked into them. 9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain was four cubits. All the curtains were the same size. 10 He coupled five curtains together, and the other five curtains he coupled together. 11 He made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling. Likewise he made in the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second coupling. 12 He made fifty loops in the one curtain, and he made fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that was in the second coupling. The loops were opposite each other. 13 He made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains together with the clasps, so the Tabernacle was a unit.

14 “He made curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the Tabernacle. He made them eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain was four cubits. All eleven curtains had the same measurements. 16 He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. 17 He made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the coupling, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second coupling. 18 He made fifty bronze clasps to couple the tent together, so it would be a single unit. 19 He made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of tachash hides above.

20 “He made the vertical planks for the Tabernacle of acacia wood. 21 Each plank was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 22 Each plank had two tenons, joined together. He made all the planks of the Tabernacle this way. 23 He made the planks for the Tabernacle, twenty planks for the south side southward. 24 He made forty bases of silver under the twenty planks, two bases under one plank for its two tenons, and two bases under another plank for its two tenons. 25 The second side of the Tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty planks, 26 and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one plank, and two bases under another plank. 27 They made six planks for the far end, the west end of the tabernacle, 28 He made two planks for the corners of the Tabernacle at far end. 29 They were double beneath, and they were the same all the way to its top to one ring. He did this to both of them in the two corners. 30 There were eight planks, and their bases of silver, sixteen bases, under every plank two bases. 31 He made bars of acacia wood, five for the planks of the one side of the Tabernacle, 32 and five bars for the planks of the other side of the Tabernacle, and five bars for the planks of the Tabernacle at the rear side to the west. 33 He made the middle bar pass thru in the center of the planks from the one end to the other. 34 He overlaid the planks with pure gold, and made their gold rings for places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with pure gold.

35 “He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, with cherubim. He made it with the work of an embroiderer. 36 He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with pure gold. They made gold hooks for them and they cast their four silver bases. 37 He made a screen for the door of the tent of blue, purple, scarlet and fine twisted linen made by an embroiderer, 38 and made the five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their tops and their bands with pure gold, and their five bases were made of bronze.

EXODUS 37

1 Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half in height. 2 He overlaid it with pure gold inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. 3 He cast four gold rings for it on its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. 4 He made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid it with pure gold. 5 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the Ark to carry the ark. 6 He made a mercy seat of pure gold. Its length was two and a half cubits, and it was a cubit and a half wide. 7 He made two cherubim of hammered gold at the two ends of the mercy seat, 8 one cherub on one end, and another cherub on the other end. He made the cherubim from one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. 9 The cherubim spread out their wings above the throne, covering the mercy seat with their wings. They faced each other, looking toward the mercy seat.

10 “He made the table out of acacia wood. It was two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. 11 He overlaid it with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. 12 He made a border of a handwidth around it, and made a gold molding on its border around it. 13 He cast four gold rings for it, and put the rings in the four corners that were on its four feet. 14 The rings were next to the frame to hold the poles used in carrying the table. 15 He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with pure gold, to carry the table. 16 He made the utensils that were on the table of pure gold, its dishes, its spoons, and its bowls and pitchers for pouring wine offerings.

17 “He made the menorah out of pure hammered gold. He made it all from one piece: its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers were all from the same piece. 18 There were six branches coming out of its sides, three branches of the menorah out of one side, and three branches of the menorah out of the other side, 19 three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower, and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower, as were the six branches coming out of the menorah. 20 In the menorah were four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers, 21 and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches coming out of it, and a bud under two branches coming out of it, as were the six branches coming out of the menorah. 22 Their buds and their branches were made from the same piece. All of it was hammered from the same 'piece' of pure gold. 23 He made its seven lamps, and its snuffers, and its trays of pure gold. 24 He made the 'menorah' and all its utensils from a talent of pure gold.

25 “He made the incense altar from acacia wood. It was square, its length was a cubit, and its width a cubit. Its height was two cubits. Its horns were made from the same piece. 26 He overlaid it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns. He made a gold molding around it. 27 He made two gold rings for it under its molding crown, on its two ribs, on its two sides, for places for poles to carry it. 28 He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. 29 He had a perfumer make the kadosh anointing oil and the kadosh incense of fragrant incense

EXODUS 38

1 He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. It was square. Its length was five cubits, its width five cubits, and its height was three cubits. 2 He made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were from one piece, and he overlaid it with bronze. 3 He made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its utensils of bronze. 4 He made for the altar a grating of a network of bronze, under the ledge around it beneath, reaching halfway up. 5 He cast four rings for the four ends of bronze grating, to be places for the poles. 6 He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bronze. 7 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it. He made it hollow with planks.

8 “He made the laver of bronze with its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the attending women who served at the doorway of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

9 “He made the court, for the south side southward the curtains of the court were of fine twisted linen, one hundred cubits, 10 their pillars were twenty, and their bases twenty, of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver. 11 The north side one hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their bases twenty, of bronze, the hooks of the pillars, and their bands of silver. 12 The west side were curtains of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their bases ten, the hooks of the pillars, and their bands of silver. 13 The east side eastward fifty cubits. 14 The curtains for the one side were fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their bases three, 15 and the same for the other side. On both sides of the gate of the courtyard were curtains fifteen cubits long, with their three pillars and their three bases. 16 All the curtains around the courtyard were made of finely spun linen. 17 The bases for the pillars were made of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands were made of silver, and the overlaying of their tops, of silver, and all the pillars of the court were banded with silver. 18 The screen for the gate of the court was made by an embroiderer from blue, purple, scarlet, and finely spun linen. it was twenty cubits long and five cubits high, just like the curtains of the courtyard. 19 Their four pillars and their four bases were made of bronze. Their hooks and bands were silver, and their tops were covered with silver. 20 All the pins of the Tabernacle, and around the court were made of bronze.

21 “ This is the amount of material that was used for the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that was recorded at Moses’ command, for the service of the Levites, under the 'direction' of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest. 22 Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur from the house of Judah made everything that Yehovah had commanded Moses. 23 With him was Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skilled craftsman and an embroiderer in blue, purple, scarlet, and in fine linen. 24 All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the Kadosh Place, inluding the gold of the offering was twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred thirty shekels, after the shekel of the Kadosh Place. 25 The silver of those who were counted of the congregation was one hundred talents, and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, 'using the standard' shekel of the Kadosh Place, 26 a beka a head, (that is, half a shekel, 'using the standard' shekel of the Kadosh Place) for everyone who passed over to those who were counted, from twenty years old or more: 603,550 men. 27 The one hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the Kadosh Place, and the bases of the veil, one hundred bases for the one hundred talents, a talent for each base. 28 Of the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their tops, and made bands for them. 29 The bronze of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand four hundred shekels. 30 With this he made the bases to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the bronze altar and its bronze grating, and all the utensils of the altar, 31 the bases all around the court, the bases for the entrance to the courtyard, all the pegs of the Tabernacle and all the pegs around the court.

EXODUS 39

1 Of the blue, purple and scarlet, they made finely worked clothing, for ministering in the Kadosh Place, and made the kadosh clothing for Aaron, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

2 “He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet and finely spun linen. 3 They hammered the gold into thin sheets, and cut them into threads, to work it into the blue, the purple, the scarlet and the fine linen, the work of the skilled craftsman. 4 They made shoulder straps for the ephod; it was attached at two edges. 5 The decorative belt on it was of like workmanship and material: gold, blue, purple and scarlet material, and finely woven linen, just as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 6 They worked the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold, engraved with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the Israelites. 7 He put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the Israelites, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

8 “He made the breastplate, the work of a skillful workman, like the work of the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, scarlet and fine spun linen. 9 It was square. They made the breastplate double. Its length was a span, and its width a span, being double. 10 They set in it four rows of stones. The first row was a row of ruby, topaz and emerald; 11 and the second row, a turquoise, lapis lazuli [“sapphire”], and a diamond; 12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold filigree. 14 The stones corresponded to the names of the sons of Israel; each engraved like a signet ring with the name of one of the twelve tribes. 15 They made on the breastplate braided chains of pure gold resembling rope. 16 They made two settings of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 17 They put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. 18 The other two ends of the two braided chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the front. 19 They made two gold rings, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, that was toward the side of the ephod inward. 20 They made two gold rings, and put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in its front, close by its coupling, above the decorative band of the ephod. 21 They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue lace so that it could be on the decorative band of the ephod, and so the breastplate would not come loose from the ephod, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

22 They made the woven robe of the ephod completely blue. 23 The opening of the robe in its middle was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around its opening, so it couldn’t be torn. 24 They made on the hem of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet and twined linen. 25 They also made pure gold bells, and fastened the bells between the pomegranates around the hem of the robe; 26 a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe, to minister in, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

27 “They made the coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, 28 and the turban of fine linen, and the linen headbands of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twisted linen, 29 and the sash of finely spun linen, and blue, purple and scarlet fabric, the work of the embroiderer, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

30 “They made the plate of the kadosh crown of pure gold, and engraved as you would a signet ring, “DEDICATED TO YEHOVAH”. 31 They fastened a blue cord to it, to fasten it on the turban above, just as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

32 “So all the work of the Tabernacle of the Congregational Tabernacle was finished. The Israelites did everything just as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

33 “They brought the Tabernacle to Moses, the Tabernacle, with all its furniture, its clasps, its planks, its bars, its pillars, its bases, 34 the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, the cover made of tachash, the veil of the screen, 35 the Ark of the Testimony with its poles, the mercy seat, 36 the table, all its utensils, the showbread, 37 the kadosh menorah, its lamps, with the lamps placed in order, all its utensils, the olive oil for the lights, 38 the gold altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, the screen for the doorway of the Tabernacle, 39 the bronze altar, its bronze grating, its poles, all of its utensils, the basin and its base, 40 the curtains of the court, its pillars, its bases, the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, its pins, all the instruments of the service of the Tabernacle, for the Tabernacle of the Congregation, 41 the finely woven clothing for ministering in the Kadosh Place, the kadosh clothing for Aaron the priest, and the clothing of his sons to minister in the priest’s office. 42 So the Israelites did all the work the way Yehovah had commanded Moses. 43 Moses inspected all the work they had done, and they had done exactly as Yehovah had commanded. Then Moses blessed them.

EXODUS 40

1 Yehovah said to Moses: 2 “On the first day of the month [New Moon day] you are to set up the Tabernacle (the Tabernacle of the Congregation). 3 You are to put the Ark of the Testimony in it, and you are to screen the Ark with the veil. 4 You are to bring in the table, and set in order the things that are on it. You must bring in the menorah, and light its lamps. 5 You are to set the gold altar for incense before the Ark of the Testimony, and put the veil at the doorway of the tabernacle. 6 You will set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the Tabernacle of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 7 You are to set the basin between the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the altar, and put water in it. 8 Set up the surrounding courtyard, and hang the screen the gateway of the courtyard. 9 You will then take the anointing oil, and anoint the Tabernacle, and everything in it, and dedicate it, and all its furniture, and it will be kadosh. 10 You are to anoint the altar of burnt offering, with all its utensils, and dedicate the altar, and the altar will be most kadosh. 11 You are to anoint the basin and its stand, and dedicate it. 12 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and wash them with water. 13 You are to put on Aaron the kadosh clothing, and anoint him, and set him apart to serve Me in the priest’s office. 14 Then bring his sons, and put coats on them. 15 You are to anoint them, as you anointed their father, so that they can serve Me in the priest’s office; and their anointing will qualify them for a permanent priesthood thruout their generations.”

16 “Moses did everything just as Yehovah commanded him. 17 Then on the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the Tabernacle was raised up. 18 Moses raised up the Tabernacle, and laid its bases, and set up its planks, and put in its bars and raised up its columns. 19 He spread the covering over the tent, and put the covering of the Tabernacle on top of it, just as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 20 He put the Testimony into the Ark, and set the poles on the ark, and put the mercy seat above on the ark. 21 He brought the Ark into the Tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the Ark of the Testimony, as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 22 He put the table in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, on the side of the Tabernacle northward, outside of the veil. 23 He set the bread in order on it before Yehovah, as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 24 He put the menorah in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, opposite the table, on the side of the Tabernacle southward. 25 He lit the lamps before Yehovah, as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 26 He put the gold altar in the Tabernacle of the Congregation before the veil, 27 and he burned incense of fragrant incense on it, as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 28 He set up the curtain at the entrance to the Tabernacle. 29 He also put the altar for burnt offering at the entrance to the Tabernacle, of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and offered the burnt offering and the grain offering on it as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 30 He set the large basin between the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the altar, and put water in it for washing. 31 Moses, Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet there. 32 Whenever they entered the Tabernacle of the Congregation and approached the altar, they washed, just as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 33 He set up the courtyard around the Tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the curtain for the gate of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.

34 Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the splendor of Yehovah filled the Tabernacle. 35 Moses wasn’t able to enter the Tabernacle of the Congregation, because the cloud had settled down on it, and Yehovah’s splendor filled the Tabernacle. 36 Whenever the cloud would rise from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on their journey. 37 But if the cloud didn’t rise, then they didn’t set out until the day it rose. 38 So Yehovah’s cloud hovered over the Tabernacle during the day, and there was fire in the cloud at night within view of the entire House* of Israel, thruout all their journeys.

LEVITICUS 1

Chapters 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27

The Burnt Offering

1 And [1] Yehovah called to Moses, and spoke to him from the Tabernacle of the Congregation: [Small Aleph] 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, “When anyone of you offers an offering to Yehovah, you must offer your offering of the livestock from the herd and from the flock.

3 ‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, heis to offer a male without defects. He must offer it at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation in order to be accepted before Yehovah. 4 He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 5 He must kill the bull before Yehovah. Aaron’s sons, the priests, will present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 6 He will then flay the burnt offering, and cut it into pieces. 7 The sons of Aaron the priest will start a fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Aaron’s sons the priests, will arrange the pieces, the head and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire on the altar. 9 But he must wash the entrails and its legs with water. The priest will burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yehovah.

10 “‘But if the offering is a burnt offering from the flock of either the sheep or the goats, you must offer a male without defect. 11 He’ll kill it on the north side of the altar before Yehovah. Aaron’s sons the priests will sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 12 He’ll cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. The priest will lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire on the altar, 13 but the entrails and the legs he is to wash with water. The priest will offer it all, and burn it on the altar. It’s a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yehovah.

14 ‘If his offering to Yehovah is a burnt offering of birds, then he must offer his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons. 15 The priest will bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar, and its blood will be drained out on the side of the altar, 16 and he’ll take away its crop with its filth and toss it on the east side of the altar on the place for the ashes. 17 He’ll tear it open by the wings without dividing it. The priest will burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It’s a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yehovah.

[1] The word “And” here establishes continuity with Exodus.

LEVITICUS 2

Grain Offerings

1 “When anyone presents a grain offering to Yehovah, his offering is to be of fine flour. They are to pour olive oil on it and put frankincense on it. 2 He’ll bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. Take from this a handful of flour with olive oil together with all the frankincense, and the priest will burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yehovah. 3 What is left of the grain offering will be Aaron’s and his sons.’ It’s a very special part of the offerings presented to Yehovah by fire.

4 “When you present a grain offering baked in an oven, it is to be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with olive oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with olive oil. 5 If your offering is grain baked on a griddle, it too will be made of unleavened fine flour, mixed with olive oil. 6 You’ll tear it in pieces, and pour olive oil on it. It’s a grain offering. 7 If your offering is a grain offering in a pan with a lid, it will be made of fine flour with olive oil. 8 You must bring the grain offering that is made of these things to Yehovah, present it to the priest, and he’ll take it to the altar. 9 The priest will remove part of the grain offering and burn it as a memorial, burning it on the altar, an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yehovah. 10 What is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons. It’s a very special part of the offerings to Yehovah made by fire.

11 ‘No grain offering that you offer to Yehovah will be made with leaven, because you must not burn any leaven or honey as an offering by fire to Yehovah. 12 As an offering of firstfruits you may offer them to Yehovah, but they must never ascend from the altar as a pleasing aroma. 13 You are to season every grain offerings with salt. Don’t allow the salt of the covenant with your Elohim to be missing from your grain offering. You must offer salt with all your offerings.

14 ‘If you present a firstfruit offering to Yehovah, you must bring your first-fruit offering as aviv [1] roasted in fire—grits. 15 You must put olive oil on it, and lay frankincense on it; it’s a grain offering. 16 The priest will then burn some of the grits and some of the olive oil, along with all the frankincense as its memorial; it’s an offering burnt for Yehovah.

[1] “...green ears of corn dried by the fire; these were ears of barley, which began to be ripe in the month Abib, which month had its name from hence, and is the word here used; these were dried by the fire, being green and moist, or otherwise they could not have been ground...”—Gills

LEVITICUS 3

The Fellowship Offerings

1 “If his ze’bak [sacrifice] is a fellowship offerings, if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he must present one without defects before Yehovah. 2 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and Aaron’s sons, the priests will sprinkle the blood around on the altar. 3 He must offer from fellowship offerings an offering by fire to Yehovah, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4 and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, that is by the loins, and the cover on the liver he must remove with the kidneys. 5 Aaron’s sons will burn it on the altar on the burnt offering, that is on the wood that is on the fire, it’s a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to Yehovah.

6 ‘If his offering for an atoning offering of fellowship offerings to Yehovah is from the flock, male or female, he must offer it without defects. 7 If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he must offer it before Yehovah, 8 he must lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and Aaron’s sons will sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 9 From the zebak of the fellowship offerings he must bring as an offering by fire to Yehovah, the entire fat tail that he must remove close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 10 and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, that is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he’ll take away. 11 The priest will burn it on the altar, it’s the food of the offering made by fire to Yehovah.

12 ‘If his offering is a goat, then he must offer it before Yehovah, 13 and he’ll lay his hand on its head, and kill it before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and Aaron’s sons will sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 14 He must present part of his offering as an offering by fire to Yehovah, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, 15 the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, that is by the loins, and the cover on the liver that he will remove with the kidneys. 16 The priest will burn them on the altar. It is food, an offering by fire to Yehovah as a pleasing aroma. All the fat belongs to Yehovah. 17 ‘It will be a perpetual statute thruout your generations wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.’”

LEVITICUS 4

The Law of Sin Offerings

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Tell the Israelites: “If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things that Yehovah has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them,

3 “if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then he should offer for his sin a young bull without defects to Yehovah as a sin offering. 4 He must bring the bull to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation before Yehovah, and lay his hand on the head of the bull, and kill the bull before Yehovah. 5 The anointed priest will take some of the blood from the bull, and bring it to the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 6 The priest will dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yehovah, before the veil of the Temple. 7 The priest will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before Yehovah in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and pour out all of rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 8 He must take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering off of it, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, 9 and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, that is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys and take it away, 10 as it’s being taken off of the bull of fellowship offerings. The priest will burn them on the altar of burnt offering. 11 He will carry he bull’s skin, all its flesh, its head, its legs, its entrails and its dung, 12 the entire bull, outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. Where the ashes are poured out it will be burned.

13 ‘If the entire congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the congregation, and they’ve done any of the things that Yehovah has commanded not to be done, and are guilty, 14 when the sin they’ve committed becomes known, then the congregation will offer a young bull as a sin offering, and bring it before the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 15 The elders of the congregation will lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yehovah, and the bull will be killed before Yehovah. 16 The anointed priest will bring some of the blood of the bull to the Tabernacle of the Congregation, 17 and the priest will dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before Yehovah, before the veil. 18 He will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar before Yehovah in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the rest of the blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 19 He must take all of its fat away and burn it on the altar. 20 He must also do with the bull the same thing he did with the bull of the sin offering; he must offer it the same way. So the priest will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. 21 He’ll carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It’s the sin offering for the congregation.

22 ‘When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any of the things that Yehovah his Elohim has commanded not to do, and is guilty, 23 if the sin he committed is revealed to him, he must bring as his offering a goat, a male without defects. 24 He’ll lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before Yehovah. It’s a sin offering. 25 The priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He’ll pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 He must burn all of its fat on the altar, like the fat of a fellowship offering, and the priest will make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he’ll be forgiven.

27 ‘If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things that Yehovah has commanded not to be done, and is guilty, 28 if the sin he committed is revealed to him, then he must bring for his offering a goat, a female without defects, for his sin that he has committed. 29 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. 30 The priest will take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and the rest of its blood he must pour out at the base of the altar. 31 He must remove all of its fat, like the fat removed from a fellowship offering, and the priest will burn it on the altar for a pleasing aroma to Yehovah, and the priest will make atonement for him, and he’ll be forgiven. 32 ‘If he brings a lamb as his offering as a sin offering, he must bring a female without defects. 33 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it as a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34 The priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and all the rest of its blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar. 35 He must remove all of its fat, like the fat of a lamb taken away from a fellowship offering, and the priest will burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yehovah made by fire, and the priest will make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has committed, and he’ll be forgiven.

LEVITICUS 5

The Law of Guilt Offerings

1 ‘When someone sins by failing to respond to a public call to testify about something they have witnessed, heard, or known about, they will be held responsible for their sin. 2 ‘Or if anyone touches any unclean thing, whether it’s the carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and it’s hidden from them, and he is unclean, then they are unclean and guilty. 3 ‘Or if he touches human impurities, whatever the impurity is that caused them to be unclean, and it’s hidden from them, when they realize it, then they are guilty. 4 ‘Or if anyone swears rashly with their lips to do evil, or to do good, whatever it’s that a man might utter rashly with an oath, and it’s hidden from them, when they realize it, then they’ll be guilty of one of these. 5 Then when a person is guilty of any of these things, they must confess the sin they have committed, 6 and bring their guilt offering to Yehovah for the sin that they have committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, as a sin offering, and the priest will make atonement for them concerning their sin.

7 ‘If they can’t afford a lamb, then they must bring a guilt offering for their sin of two turtledoves or two young pigeons to Yehovah, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. 8 They must bring them to the priest who will first offer the one for the sin offering. They must wring off its head from its neck, but not sever it completely. 9 He’ll sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood will be drained out at the base of the altar. It’s a sin offering. 10 He must offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance, and the priest will make atonement for them concerning the sin they have committed, and they’ll be forgiven.

11 ‘But if they can’t afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, they are to bring as an offering for their sin a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. They must not put olive oil or frankincense on it, because it’s a sin offering. 12 They must bring it to the priest, and the priest will take a handful of it as a memorial portion, and offer it up in smoke on the altar, with the offerings of Yehovah by fire. It’s a sin offering. 13 The priest will make atonement for them concerning his sin that they have committed in any of these things, and they’ll be forgiven, and the rest will be the priest’s, as the grain offering.

14 “Yehovah told Moses: 15 “If anyone acts unfaithfully, and sins unintentionally against the kadosh things of Yehovah, then they must bring their guilt offering to Yehovah, a ram without defects from the flock, according to their own valuation in silver by shekels, specifically the shekel of the Kadosh Place for a guilt offering. 16 They must make restitution for what they have done wrong against the kadosh thing, and add a fifth to it, and give it to the priest, and the priest will make atonement for them with the ram of the guilt offering, and they’ll be forgiven. 17 If anyone sins, and does any of the things that Yehovah has commanded not to be done, tho they didn’t realize it, they are still guilty, and must bear their punishment. 18 They must bring a ram without defects from of the flock, according to their own valuation for a guilt offering, to the priest, and the priest will make atonement for them concerning the wrong that they committed unintentionally, and they’ll be forgiven. 19 It’s a guilt offering. They are certainly guilty before Yehovah.

LEVITICUS 6

Guilt Offerings

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against Yehovah, by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to them, or thru robbery, or if they have extorted from their neighbor, [Small Mem] 3 or has found something that was lost and lied about it, or if they swear falsely about any of the sinful things a person might do, 4 when they sin in any of these ways and are found guilty, they must return what they stole or took by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to them, or the lost item they found, 5 or whatever it was that they swore falsely about. They must restore it in full, and add a fifth more to it. They are to pay its owner on the day they bring their guilt offering. 6 They must bring their guilt offering to Yehovah, a ram without defects from the flock, according to your own assessment for a guilt offering, and bring it to the priest. 7 The priest will make atonement for them before Yehovah, and they’ll be forgiven of whatever whatever it was that they were guilty of.

8 “Yehovah told Moses: 9 “Command Aaron and his sons: “These are the instructions for the burnt offering; the burnt offering itself must remain on the hearth of the altar overnight as the fire is kept burning. [Small Mem] 10 The priest is to put on his linen clothes, including his linen undergarments next to his body. Then he’ll remove the ashes from where the fire has incinerated the burnt offering on the altar, and he’ll put them beside the altar. 11 Then he is to take off these clothes and put on others, and carry the ashes outside of the camp to a ceremonially clean place. 12 The fire on the altar must be kept burning on it, it must never go out, and the priest will burn wood on it every morning, and he is to lay the burnt offering in order on it, and burn on it the fat of the fellowship offerings. 13 Fire must be kept burning on the altar continually, it must not go out.

14 ‘This is the instruction of the grain offering, Aaron’s sons will offer it before Yehovah, before the altar. 15 He’ll take from there his handful of the fine flour of the grain offering with the olive oil, and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and burn it on the altar for a pleasing aroma, as a memorial offering, to Yehovah. 16 What is left of it Aaron and his sons will eat. It will be eaten without leavening in a Kadosh Place. They must eat it in the court of the Tabernacle of the Congregation 17 It must not be baked with leaven. I’ve given it as their share of My offerings made by fire. It’s most kadosh, like the sin offering and as the guilt offering. 18 Every male among the descendants of Aaron will eat it as their share forever thruout your generations, from the offerings of Yehovah made by fire. Whoever touches them will be kadosh.

19 “Yehovah told Moses: 20 “This is the offering that Aaron and his sons are to present to Yehovah on the day he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering every day, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening. 21 It will be made with olive oil in a griddle. When it’s soaked, you’ll bring it in. You’ll offer the grain offering in baked pieces for a pleasing aroma to Yehovah. 22 The anointed priest that will be in his place from among his sons will offer it. It is Yehovah’s perpetual share and is to be entirely burned. 23 Every grain offering of a priest will be entirely burned. It must not be eaten.

24 “Yehovah told Moses: 25 “Tell Aaron and to his sons: “These are the instructions for sin offering, in the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering will be killed before Yehovah. It’s most kadosh. 26 The priest who offers it for sin will eat it. It will be eaten in a Kadosh Place, in the court of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 27 Anything that touches its flesh will become kadosh. When there is any of its blood sprinkled on a garment, you’ll wash whatever was sprinkled in a Kadosh Place. 28 But the clay pot that it’s boiled will be broken, and if it’s boiled in a bronze vessel, it will be scoured, and rinsed in water. 29 Every male among the priests will eat it, it’s most kadosh. 30 But no sin offering is to be eaten if its blood has been brought into the Tabernacle of the Congregation to make atonement in the Kadosh Place is to be eaten; it must be burned.

LEVITICUS 7

Instructions for the Guilt Offering

1 ‘“These are the instructions for the guilt offering. It’s most kadosh. 2 In the place where they kill the burnt offering, he is to kill the guilt offering, and he’ll sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 3 He’ll offer all of its fat, the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, 4 and the two kidneys and the fat on them near the loins; he will also remove the lobe on the liver with the kidneys. 5 and the priest will burn them on the altar for an offering by fire to Yehovah, it’s a guilt offering. 6 Every male among the priests can eat it. It will be eaten in a Kadosh Place. It’s most kadosh. 7 ‘ “The same instructions apply to the sin offering as the guilt offering. It belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it. 8 The priest who presents any man’s burnt offering is to have for himself the hide of the burnt offering that he has presented. 9 Every grain offering that is baked in the oven, and everything that is dressed in the pan, and on the griddle will be the priest’s who offers it. 10 Every grain offering, mixed with olive oil or dry, will be shared equally by all of Aaron’s sons.

11 ‘These are the instructions for the fellowship offerings that anyone will present to Yehovah. 12 If he offers it as a way of giving thanks, then along with the zebak [sacrifice] of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with olive oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with olive oil, and cakes mixed with olive oil. 13 With cakes of leavened bread he’ll offer his offering with the offering of his fellowship offerings for thanksgiving. 14 Of it he is to offer one out of each offering for a heave offering to Yehovah. It will be the priest’s who sprinkles the blood of the fellowship offerings. 15 The flesh of the offering of his fellowship offerings for thanksgiving will be eaten on the day of his offering. He won’t leave any of it until morning. 16 ‘But if the offering of his offering is a vow, or a voluntary offering, it will be eaten on the day that he offers his offering, and on the next day what remains of it will be eaten, 17 but what remains of the flesh of the offering on the third day must be set on fire. 18 If any of the meat of his fellowship zebak is eaten on the third day, it won’t be accepted. You will not receive credit for it. It is an abomination. The person who eats any of it will bear the guilt. 19 ‘The flesh that touches any unclean thing won’t be eaten. It will be set on fire. As for the flesh, everyone who is clean can eat it, 20 but anyone who eats meat from the fellowship offerings that belongs to Yehovah, while they are unclean, must be cut off from the people. 21 When anyone touches any unclean thing, the impurities of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats some of the flesh of fellowship offerings that belong to Yehovah, that person must be removed from the people.”

22 “Yehovah told Moses: 23 “Tell the Israelites, “You must eat no fat of bulls, sheep or goats. 24 The fat of what dies by itself, and the fat of what is torn of animals, can be used for any other purpose, but you will in no way eat it. 25 Anyone who eats animal fat from an offering by fire presented to Yehovah, is a person who must be removed from his people. 26 You must not eat any blood, whether it’s of a bird or an animal in any of your dwellings. 27 Anyone who eats any blood is a person who must be removed from the people.

28 “Yehovah told Moses: 29 “Tell the Israelites, “He who offers the offering of his fellowship offerings to Yehovah must bring his offering to Yehovah from of the offering of his fellowship offerings. 30 With his own hands h is to bring the offerings of Yehovah made by fire. He must bring the fat with the breast, so the breast can be waved for a wave offering before Yehovah. 31 The priest will burn the fat on the altar, but the breast will be Aaron’s and his sons.’ 32 You must give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from the zebakim of your fellowship offerings. 33 When any of Aaron’s sons offers the blood of the fellowship offerings and the fat, the right thigh will be his share. 34 I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution from the Israelites, from the zebakim of their fellowship offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as a permannt share from the Israelites. 35 This is the anointing share of Aaron, and the anointing share of his sons, out of the offerings of Yehovah made by fire in the day when he presented them to serve Yehovah in the priest’s office 36 that Yehovah commanded to be given them of the Israelites on the day He anointed them. It’s their share forever thruout their generations.

37 “This is the instruction of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the dedication and of fellowship offerings, 38 that Yehovah commanded Moses in Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to offer their offerings to Yehovah in the Sinai Desert.

LEVITICUS 8

Aaron and His Sons Become Priests

<1>1 Yehovah said to Moses, <1>2 “Take Aaron and his sons the garments and the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread, <1>3 and gather the whole congregation at the entrance to the Tabernacle of the Congregation. <1>4 So Moses did as Yehovah commanded him, and the congregation gathered at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. <1>5 Moses told the congregation, “This is what Yehovah has commanded <1>us to do. <1>6 Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them in pure water. <1>7 He put the tunic on him, tied the sash around him, clothed him in the robe, put the ephod on him. He put the decorative band of the ephod around him and tieded it to him. 8 He placed the breastplate on him, and he put the Urim and the Thummim inside the breastplate. 9 He put the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the gold plate, the kadosh crown, as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 10 Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the Tabernacle and everything in it, and dedicated them. 11 He sprinkled it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand to dedicate them. 12 He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, and anointed him to dedicate him. 13 Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and clothed them with coats, and tied sashes on them, and put headbands on them as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

14 “He brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 He killed it, and Moses took the blood and put it around on the horns of the altar with his finger, purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar to make it kadosh, to make atonement for it. 16 He took all the fat that was on the entrails, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses burned it on the altar. 17 But the bull, its skin, its flesh and its dung, he set on fire outside the camp, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

18 “He presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 And Moses killed it and sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 20 He cut the ram into its pieces, and Moses burned the head, the pieces and the fat. 21 He washed the entrails and the legs with water, and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma. It was an offering by fire to Yehovah, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

22 “He presented the other ram, the ram of dedication, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23 He killed it, and Moses took some of its blood, and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot. 24 He brought Aaron’s sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot, and Moses sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 25 He took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat on the entrails, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right thigh, 26 and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before Yehovah, he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat, and on the right thigh. 27 He put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before Yehovah. 28 Then Moses took them from their hands, and burned them on the altar on the burnt offering. They were a dedication for a pleasing aroma. It was an offering by fire to Yehovah. 29 Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before Yehovah. It was Moses’ part of the ram of dedication, as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 30 Moses took some of the anointing oil, and some of the blood that was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his clothing, on his sons, on his sons’ clothing with him, and set Aaron apart, his clothing, and his sons, and his sons’ clothing with him.

31 “Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the flesh at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and eat it there and the bread that is in the basket of dedication as I commanded, saying, “Aaron and his sons will eat it.’ 32 What remains of the flesh and of the bread you must burn with fire. 33 You will not leave the entrance of the Tabernacle of the Congregation for seven days, until the days of your dedication are fulfilled, because it will take seven days to dedicate you. 34 What has been done today, Yehovah has commanded to be done, to make atonement for you. 35 You must remain at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the Congregation day and night for seven days, and keep Yehovah’s command, so that you won’t die. This is what I was commanded.” 36 Aaron and his sons did everything that Yehovah commanded thru Moses.

LEVITICUS 9

The Priests Ministry Begins

1 Then on the eighth day, Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel, 2 and he said to Aaron, “Take a calf from the herd as a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without defects, and offer them before Yehovah. 3 You must tell the Israelites, “Take a male goat as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without defects, for a burnt offering, 4 and a bull and a ram for fellowship offerings to make an offering before Yehovah, and a grain offering mixed with olive oil, because today Yehovah will appear to you. 5 They brought what Moses commanded before the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the entire congregation came near and stood before Yehovah. 6 Moses said, “This is what Yehovah commanded that you should do, and the splendor of Yehovah will appear to you.

7 “Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar, and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and the people, and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as Yehovah commanded. 8 So Aaron approached the altar, and killed the calf of the sin offering that was for himself. 9 Aaron’s sons brought him the blood, and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, 10 but the fat, and the kidneys, and the cover from the liver of the sin offering, he burned on the altar, as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 11 The flesh and the skin he set on fire outside the camp. 12 He killed the burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons delivered the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar. 13 They delivered the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head, and he burned them on the altar. <1>14 He also washed the internal organs and the legs, and offered them up in smoke with the burnt offering on the altar.

15 “He presented the people’s offering, and took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people, and killed it, and offered it for sin, like the first. <1>16 He presented the burnt offering, and offered it as prescribed by the ordinance. 17 He presented the grain offering, and filled his hand from there, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning. <1>18 He also killed the bull and the ram as the people’s fellowship zebak and Aaron’s sons handed him the blood and he sprinkled it around on the altar, 19 and the fat of the bull and of the ram, the fat tail, and what covers the entrails, and the kidneys, and the cover of the liver, 20 and they put the fat on the breasts, and he burned the fat on the altar, 21 and the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before Yehovah, as Moses commanded.

22 “Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people, and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the fellowship offerings. 23 Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and came out, and blessed the people, and the splendor of Yehovah appeared to all the people. 24 Fire came out from the presence of Yehovah, and incinerated the burnt offering and the fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell face down.

LEVITICUS 10

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

1 Nadab, Abihu and Aaron’s sons each took their censers and put fire in them, and laid incense on it, and offered 'unlawful' fire before Yehovah, contrary to what he had commanded them. 2 And fire came out from the presence of Yehovah, and devoured them, and they died before Yehovah. <1>3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what Yehovah said: “I’ll show Myself kadosh to those who come near Me, and before all the people I’ll be honored.’ So Aaron said nothing. 4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron’s uncle, and told them, “, Come here and carry your relatives away from the front of the Kadosh Place. Take them outside the camp.” 5 So they approached, and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6 Moses said to Aaron and Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, “Don’t let the hair of your heads be unkempt or tear your clothes, or you’ll die too, and He will be angry with the entire congregation. But your relatives, the whole House of Israel may mourn for those who Yehovah has destroyed by fire. 7 You Must not even leave the doorway of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, or you’ll die, because the anointing oil of Yehovah is on you. So they did as Moses said.

8 “Yehovah told Aaron: 9 “You and your sons are not to drink wine or liquor when you go into the Tabernacle of the Congregation, or you will die, it will be a perpetual statute thruout your generations. 10 You must distinguish between the kadosh and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and you are to teach the Israelites all the statutes that Yehovah has spoken to them by Moses.

12 “Moses spoke to Aaron, and Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left, “Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings of Yehovah made by fire, and eat it without leavening beside the altar, because it’s most kadosh, 13 and you’ll eat it in a Kadosh Place, because it’s your share, and your sons’ share, of the offerings of Yehovah made by fire, because this is what I’m commanded. 14 But you can eat he breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the offering in a clean place, you, and your sons, and your daughters with you, because they are given as your share, and your children’s share of the Israelites’ fellowship offerings. 15 They are to bring the thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by waving, along with the offerings by fire of the fat, to present as a wave offering before Yehovah. These will belong to you and your children as your perpetual share, just as Yehovah has commanded.

16 Later, Moses tried to find the goat of the sin offering and found that it had been burned up! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, and asked, 17 “Why haven’t you eaten the sin offering in the Kadosh Place, since it’s most kadosh, and He has given it you to remove theguilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Yehovah? 18 Since its blood was not brought inside the inner part of the Kadosh Place, you certainly should have eaten it in the Kadosh Place, as I commanded. 19 Aaron answered Moses “Today they’ve offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before Yehovah, and such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been pleasing in the sight of Yehovah?” 20 When Moses heard that, it seemed 'reasonable'.

LEVITICUS 11

Clean and Unclean Animals

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites, “These are the living things that you can eat among all the animals that are on earth. 3 You can eat any animal with divided, that is, split hooves and that chews their cud. 4 ‘But these you must not eat of those that chew cud, or of those with a split hoof, the camel, because it chews cud but doesn’t have a split hoof, he is unclean for you. 5 The hyrax, because it chews cud but doesn’t have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. 6 The hare, because it chews cud but does not have hooves—it is unclean for you. 7 And swine, because they have completely divided hoofs but don’t chew cud; it is unclean to you. 8 You must never eat their flesh or touch their carcasses, they are unclean to you.

9 ‘These you can eat of all that are in the water, whatever has fins and scales in the water, in the seas and in the rivers, that you can eat. 10 But anything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales of all the swarming things and other living creatures in the water is to be considered abominable to you, 11 you are to detest them. You must not eat of their flesh, and you’ll detest their carcasses. 12 Anything that lacks fins and scales in the water is abominable to you.

13 ‘These you’ll detest among the birds, they must not be eaten, they are an abomination, eagles, and vultures, black vultures, 14 red kites, any kind of black kites, 15 any kind of ravens, 16 horned owls, screech owls, gulls, any kind of hawk, 17 little owls, cormorants, great owls, 18 white owls, desert owls, ospreys, 19 storks, any kind of heron, hoopoes and bats.

20 ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination for you. 21 Yet you can eat these, of all winged creeping things that go on all fours, that have legs above their feet, that hop on the ground. 22 You can even eat any kind of locust, any kind of katydid, any kind of cricket, and any kind of grasshopper. 23 But all winged creeping things that have four feet are an abomination for you.

24 ‘By these you’ll become unclean, whoever touches the carcass of one will be unclean until the evening. 25 Whoever carries any part of their carcass must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 26 ‘Every animal that parts its hoof but lacks split hooves, or chews cud is unclean for you. Everyone who touches them will be unclean. 27 Whatever goes on its paws among all animals that go on all fours, they are unclean for you. Whoever touches their carcass will be unclean until the evening. 28 Anyone who carries their carcass must wash their clothes, and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean for you.

29 ‘These are 'creatures' that are unclean for you among the creeping things that creep on the earth, weasels, rats, any kind of great lizard, 30 geckos, and monitor lizards, wall lizards, sand lizards and chameleons. 31 These are unclean for you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until the evening. 32 When any one of them dies and falls on anything it becomes unclean, whether it’s a wooden item, or clothing, or hide, or sack, whatever tool it is that you work with, it must be put into water, and it will be unclean until the evening, then it will be clean. 33 Every clay pot that any of them falls into, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break it. 34 All food that can be eaten that comes into contact with the contaminated water will be unclean, and any liquid that can be drunk in any such vessel will be unclean. 35 Anything that part of their carcass falls on will be unclean, whether an oven, or range for pots, it must be broken in pieces, they are unclean, and will be unclean for you. 36 But a spring or a cistern that water is gathered from will be clean, but anything that touches their carcass will be unclean. 37 If part of their carcass falls on any seed that is to be sown, it’s clean. 38 But if water is poured on the seed, and part of their carcass falls on it, it’s unclean for you.

39 ‘If any animal that you can eat dies, whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until the evening. 40 Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash their clothes, and be unclean until the evening. Also anyone who carries its carcass must wash their clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

41 ‘Every swarming creature creeps on the earth is an abomination. It must not be eaten. 42 Whatever moves on its belly, and whatever moves on all fours, or anything with many feet, including all creeping things that creep on the earth, those you must not eat because they are an abomination. [Long Vav] 43 You must not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, never make yourselves unclean with them, so as to be defiled by them, 44 because I am Yehovah your Elohim. Set yourselves apart and be kadosh, because I’m kadosh, never defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth, 45 because I am Yehovah who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your Elohim. You must be kadosh, because I’m kadosh.

46 ‘These are the instructions concerning the animals, birds, and of every living creature that swims in the water, and of every creature that scurry along the ground, 47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living things that can be eaten and the living thing that can’t be eaten.

LEVITICUS 12

Laws of Motherhood

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Tell the Israelites: “When a woman gives birth to a boy, she will be unclean for seven days, as she is during the days of her monthly period. 3 On the eighth day the boy must be circumcised. 4 She’ll continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days. She must not touch any kadosh thing, or enter the Kadosh Place, until the days of her purifying are finished. 5 But if she bears a girl, then she’ll be unclean for two weeks, as in her period, and she’ll continue in the blood of purification sixty-six days. 6 ‘When the days of her purification are finished, for a son or a daughter, she’ll bring to the priest at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, a year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, as a sin offering, 7 and he’ll offer it before Yehovah, and make atonement for her, and she’ll be cleansed from the flow of her blood. “These are the instructions for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. 8 If she can’t afford a lamb, then she must take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering, and the other as a sin offering, and the priest will make atonement for her, and she’ll be clean.

LEVITICUS 13

Skin Diseases

1 Yehovah told to Moses and Aaron: 2 “If anyone has a swelling, a rash, or a shiny spot on their skin that turns into an infectious skin disease, then they must be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests, 3 and the priest will examine the disease in the skin of the body, and if the hair in the disease has turned white, and the appearance of the disease is deeper than the body’s skin, it’s a skin disease, and the priest will examine him, and pronounce him unclean. 4 But if the shiny spot is white in the skin of his body, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and its hair hasn’t turned white, then the priest will quarantine the infected person for seven days. 5 The priest will examine them on the seventh day, and if the disease is arrested in their eyes, and the disease hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest will quarantine them for seven more days. 6 The priest will examine them again on the seventh day, and if the disease has faded, and the disease hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest will pronounce themm clean. It’s a scab. They must wash his clothes, and be clean. 7 But if the scab spreads on the skin, after they have shown themselves to the priest for their cleansing, they must show themselves to the priest again. 8 The priest will examine them to see if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest will pronounce them unclean. It’s a skin disease.

9 “When someone has a skin disease, then they must be brought to the priest. 10 The priest will examine them. If there is a white rising in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the rising, 11 it’s a skin disease on the skin of his body, and the priest will pronounce them unclean. He won’t isolate them, because he is unclean. 12 If the skin disease breaks out all over the skin, and the skin disease covers all the skin of the infected person from his head to foot, as far as it appears to the priest, 13 then the priest will examine them, and see if the skin disease has covered all their flesh, he’ll pronounce them clean of the disease. It has all turned white, they are clean. 14 But whenever raw flesh appears in them, they’ll be unclean. 15 The priest will examine the raw flesh, and pronounce them unclean, the raw flesh is unclean. It’s a skin disease. 16 Or if the raw flesh turns again, and is changed to white, then they must return to the priest, 17 and the priest will examine them, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest will pronounce them clean of the disease. They are clean.

18 “When the body has a boil on its skin, and it has healed, 19 and in the place of the boil there is a white rising, or a shiny spot, reddish-white, then it must be shown to the priest, 20 and the priest will examine it, and if its appearance is deeper than the skin, and its hair has turned white, then the priest will pronounce them unclean. It’s a skin disease that has broken out in a boil. 21 But if the priest examines it and sees that there are is white hair in it, and it isn’t deeper than the skin, but is dim, then the priest will quarantine them seven days. 22 If it spreads in the skin, then the priest will pronounce them unclean. It’s a disease. 23 But if the shiny spot remains in one place, and hasn’t spread, it’s the scar from the boil, and the priest will pronounce them clean.

24 “Or when the body has a burn from fire on its skin, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a shiny spot, reddish-white, or white, 25 then the priest will examine it, and if the hair in the shiny spot has turned white, and its appearance is deeper than the skin, it’s a skin disease. It has broken out in the burn, and the priest will pronounce them unclean. It’s a skin disease. 26 But if the priest examines it, and there is no white hair in the shiny spot, and it isn’t lower than the skin, but is faded, then the priest will isolate them for seven days. 27 The priest will examine them on the seventh day. If it has spread in the skin, then the priest will pronounce them unclean. It’s a skin disease. 28 But if the shiny spot stays in its place, and hasn’t spread in the skin, but is faded, it’s the swelling from the burn, and the priest will pronounce them clean, because it’s the scar from the burn.

29 “When a man or woman has a disease on their head or on 'his' beard, 30 then the priest will examine the disease, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin, with yellow, thin hair in it, then the priest will pronounce them unclean, it’s a scale, it’s a skin disease of the head or of the beard. 31 If the priest examines the disease of itching, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and there is no dark hair in it, then the priest will isolate the person infected with itching for seven days. 32 On the seventh day the priest will examine the disease, and if the scale hasn’t spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the appearance of the scale isn’t deeper than the skin, 33 the person will shave everything except the scab, and the priest will quarantine the person with the scale for seven more days. 34 On the seventh day, the priest will examine the scale to see if the scale hasn’t spread in the skin, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, then the priest will pronounce them clean. They’ll wash their clothes, and be clean. 35 But if the scale spreads in the skin after their cleansing, 36 then the priest will examine them, if the scale has spread in the skin, the priest need not look for yellow hair, they are unclean! 37 But if in his eyes the scale is arrested, and black hair has grown in it, the scale is healed, they are clean. The priest will pronounce them clean.

38 “When a man or a woman has bright spots in the skin of the body, including white bright spots, 39 then the priest must examine them to see if the bright spots on the skin of their body are a dull white, it’s a harmless rash, it has broken out in the skin, they are clean.

40 “If a man’s hair has fallen from his head, he is bald. He is clean. 41 If his hair has fallen off from the front part of his head, he is forehead bald. He is clean. 42 But if there is in the bald head, or the bald forehead, a reddish-white disease, it’s a skin disease breaking out in his bald head, or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest will examine them to see if the rising of the disease is reddish-white in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, like the appearance of a skin disease, 44 he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest will surely pronounce them unclean. His disease is on his head. 45 Anyone with a skin disease must wear torn clothes, the hair on their head must be unkempt. They must cover their upper lip, and cry, “Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 All the days that the disease inflicts them they’ll be unclean. They are unclean. They must live in quarantine outside of the camp.

47 “The garment also that a skin disease is in, whether it’s a wool garment, or a linen garment, 48 whether it’s in warp, or woof, of linen, or of wool, whether in a skin, or in anything made of skin, 49 if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything made of skin, it’s a skin disease, and must be shown to the priest. 50 The priest will examine the disease, and quarantine the disease seven days. 51 He’ll examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever use the skin is used for, the disease is a destructive mildew. It’s unclean. 52 He’ll burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of skin, that disease is, because it’s a destructive mildew. It will be burned in the fire. 53 If the priest examines it, and the disease hasn’t spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, 54 the priest is to order whatever is contaminated to be washed and in quarantine for seven more days. 55 Then the priest will examine it, after the disease is washed to see if the disease hasn’t changed in color, and the disease hasn’t spread, it’s unclean, you must burn it in the fire. It’s a mildewed spot, whether the bareness is inside or outside. 56 If the priest looks and notices that the disease has faded after it’s washed, then he’ll tear it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof, 57 and if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it’s spreading. You must burn up anything that’s contaminated. 58 The garment, whether the warp or the woof, or any article made of leather from which the mildue has departed when you washed it, it must then be washed a second time and it will be clean.” 59 These are the instructions concerning mildew contamination in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or in anything made of leather, in order to pronounce it clean or unclean.

LEVITICUS 14

Cleansing Skin Diseases

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “This is the instruction [Torah] for person with a skin diseases on the day of their cleansing, when they are brought to the priest. 3 The priest must go outside of the camp for the examination, to see if the skin disease has been healed in the person with the skin disease. 4 Then the priest will order someone to take for the person who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, some cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop. 5 Then the priest will order someone to kill one of the birds in a clay pot over living [1] water. 6 As for the living bird, he’ll take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the living water. 7 He’ll sprinkle the person who is to be cleansed from the skin disease seven times, and pronounce them clean, and release the living bird in the open fields. 8 The person being cleansed must then wash their clothes, shave off all their hair, and bathe themself in water, and they’ll be clean. Afterwards they’ll return to the camp, but remain outside of their tent for seven days. 9 On the seventh day, they must shave off all the hair from their head again, even beards and eyebrows, all their hair must be shaved off. They must wash their clothes, and bathe their body in water, then they’ll be clean. 10 On the eighth day they must take two male defect free lamds, and one ewe lamb a year old without defects, and three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a flour offering, mixed with olive oil, and one log [about half a liter] of olive oil. 11 The priest who cleanses the person will present the person who is to be cleansed, and the zebakim [sacrifices], before Yehovah, at the entrance of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 12 The priest will kill one of the male lambs and bring it for a guilt offering, along with the log of olive oil, and present them as a wave offering before Yehovah. 13 He’ll kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in that part of the Temple, because as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the guilt offering. It’s most kadosh. 14 The priest will take some of the blood from the guilt offering, and the priest will put it on the tip of the right ear of the person who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 The priest will take some of the log of olive oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. 16 The priest will dip his right finger in the olive oil that is in his left hand, and sprinkle some of the olive oil with his finger seven times before Yehovah. 17 The priest will put some of the rest of the olive oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of the person who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering. 18 The rest of the olive oil that is in the palm of the priest’s hand must be put on the head of the person who is to be cleansed, and the priest will make atonement for the person before Yehovah. 19 The priest will offer the sin offering, and make atonement for the person who is to be cleansed from their impurities, and afterward he’ll kill the burnt offering. 20 The priest will offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. In this way the priest will make atonement for the person, and the person will be clean.

21 “But anyone who is poor, and can’t afford so much can bring one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to bring about their atonement, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, and a log of olive oil, 22 and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, whatever they are able to afford. One of them will be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. 23 On the eighth day he must bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the doorway of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, before Yehovah. 24 The priest will take the lamb for a guilt offering, and the log of olive oil, and the priest will wave them before Yehovah as a wave offering. 25 He’ll slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering. The priest will take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right ear lobe of one who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 The priest will pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27 and sprinkle with his right finger some of the olive oil that is in his left palm seven times before Yehovah. 28 Then the priest will put some of the olive oil that’s in his palm on the right ear lobe of the person to be cleansed, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, in the same place where the blood of the guilt offering was put. 29 And the rest of the olive oil that’s in the priest’s palm will be put on the head of the person who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for them before Yehovah. 30 Then ‘the priest’ will offer one of the turtledoves or the pigeons, whichever the person can afford, 31 the ‘most affordable’ one as a sin offering, the other for a burnt offering, along with the grain offering. The priest will make atonement for the person who is to be cleansed before Yehovah. 32 These are the instructions for someone who has an infectious skin disease and cannot afford the offering for their cleansing.

33 “Yehovah told Moses and Aaron: 34 “When you’ve come into the land of Canaan that I’m giving to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession, 35 then the person who owns the house must come and tell the priest, ’I have seen something that looks like a sign of mildew in my house.’ 36 The priest will order them to empty the house, before the priest goes in to examine the disease, so that everything in the house doesn’t become unclean, and afterward the priest will go in to inspect the house. 37 He’ll examine the disease to see if the disease is in the walls of the house, with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, and to see if it appears to be deeper than the wall, 38 the priest will go outside the house to the doorway and quarantine the house for seven days. 39 The priest will return on the seventh day to examine it. If the disease has spread in the walls of the house, 40 then the priest must order them to tear out the stones with the contamination, and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. 41 and he’ll have the inside of the house to be scraped everywhere, and they’ll pour out the mortar, that they scraped off, outside of the city into an unclean place. 42 They must take other stones, and replace those stones, and use new mortar, and plaster the house. 43 If the disease returns, and spreads in the house, after he has removed the stones, and after he has scraped the house, and after it was plastered, 44 then the priest will come in and examine it again, if the disease has spread in the house, it’s a destructive mildew in the house. It’s unclean. 45 He must tear down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house’s mortar, and carry them out of the city into an unclean place. 46 Anyone who goes into the house while it’s shut up will be unclean until the evening. 47 Anyone who lies down in the house must wash their clothes, and anyone who eats in the house must wash their clothes. 48 If the priest comes in, and examines it, and sees that the mildue hasn’t spread in the house, after the house has been plastered, then the priest will pronounce the house clean, because the contamination has not reappeared.

49 “To purify the house he must take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. 50 He’ll kill one of the birds in a clay pot over living water. 51 Then he’ll take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed as well as in the living water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 He’ll cleanse the house with the bird’s blood, the living water, the living bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and with the scarlet yarn, 53 but he’ll release the living bird outside of the city into the open fields. This is how he’ll make atonement for the house, and it will be clean. 54 This is the instruction for any disease of a skin disease, and for an scale, 55 and for the destructive mildew on a garment, and for a house, 56 and for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot, 57 to teach when it’s unclean, and when it’s clean. This is the instruction about skin disease.

[1] I take this living water to be the pure vibrant flowing water from an artesian spring.

LEVITICUS 15

Bodily Discharges

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “Tell the Israelites: When a man has an unusual discharge from his body, due to his discharge he is unclean. 3 This will be his uncleanness in his discharge, whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body has stopped from his discharge, it’s his uncleanness. 4 ‘Every bed where he who has the discharge lies will be unclean, and everything he sits on will be unclean. 5 Anyone who touches his bed must wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening. 6 Anyone who sits on anything that the man who had the discharge sat must wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening. 7 ‘Anyone who touches the body of the man who had the discharge must wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening. 8 ‘Or if the man with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, then they must wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until evening. 9 ‘Any saddle he who has the discharge rides on will be unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under them will be unclean until the evening; and whoever carries those things must wash their clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 11 ‘Whoever he who has the discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water must wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening. 12 ‘Any clay container that the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden container must be rinsed in water. 13 ‘When the man who had a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he must count off seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and he’ll bathe his flesh in running water and be clean. 14 ‘On the eighth day he is to take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before Yehovah to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and give them to the priest, 15 and the priest will offer them, one as a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest will make atonement for them before Yehovah for his discharge.

16 ‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he’ll bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening. 17 Every garment, and every skin, where the semen was, will be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening. 18 When a man has sexual relations with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they must both wash themselves in water, and they will remain unclean until evening.

19 ‘When a woman has her monthly discharge, she will be unclean for seven days. Anyone who touch her will be unclean until evening. 20 ‘Everything that she lies on in her impurity will be unclean. And anything that she sits on will be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed must wash their clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the evening. 22 Whoever touches anything that she sits on will wash their clothes, and bathe themseves in water, and be unclean until the evening. 23 If 'blood' is on the bed or the furniture she was sitting on, when anyone touches it they will be unclean until evening. 24 If a man has sexual relations with her and blood from her menstruation gets on him, he will be unclean for seven days, and any bed he lies on will become unclean.

25 ‘If a woman has a discharge of blood many days not in the time of her period, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her period, all the days of the discharge of her impurities will be as in the days of her period, she is unclean. 26 Every bed that she lies on all the days of her discharge will be to her as the bed of her menstruation, and everything she sits will be unclean. 27 Whoever touches these things will be unclean, and must wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening. 28 ‘But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she’ll count to herself seven days, and after that she’ll be clean. 29 On the eighth day she’ll take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 30 The priest will offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest will make atonement for her before Yehovah for the impurities of her discharge.

31 ‘This is how you’ll separate the Israelites from their impurities, so they don’t die in their impurities, when they defile My tabernacle that is among them.”

32 “These are the instructions for any man made unclean by an emission of semen, 33 and for the woman who is ill because of menstrual impurity, and for anyone who has a discharge, whether a male or a female, or a man who lies with a woman when she is unclean.”

LEVITICUS 16

The Day of Atonements

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who had died when they approached the presence of Yehovah. 2 Yehovah said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron not to come just any time into the Most Kadosh Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat on the ark, or he will die; because I appear in the cloud on the mercy seat. 3 “This is how Aaron is to come into the Kadosh Place: with a young bull as a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He must put on the kadosh linen coat, and he must have and the linen undergarments next to his body, and he must be wearing the linen sash, and dressed with the linen turban. These are the kadosh clothing. He must bathe his body in water, and put them on. 5 He must take two male goats as a sin offering from the congregation of Israel, and a ram for a burnt offering. 6 Aaron must offer the bull as the sin offering for himself to make atonement for himself and his household. 7 Then he must take the two goats and present them before Yehovah at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 8 Aaron is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Yehovah, and the other lot for the Azazel goat. 9 Aaron will present the goat that the lot fell on to Yehovah, and offer him as a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the Azazal is to be presented ALIVE before Yehovah [1] to make atonement for sins. It is to be sent into the wilderness as the Azazel.

11 “Aaron is to bring the bull for his own sin offering, (making atonement for himself and his household), and he is to slaughter the bull as the sin offering for himself. 12 He must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before Yehovah, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring them inside the veil. 13 He must put the incense on the fire before Yehovah, so that a cloud of incense covers the mercy seat that is on the Ark of the Testimony [aka Ark of the Covenant], or else he will die. 14 He’s to take some of the bull’s blood, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side. Also in front of the mercy seat he is to sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 15 Then he will slaughter the goat as a sin offering for the people, and bring his blood inside the veil, and do with his blood what he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle [2] it on the mercy seat, and in front of the mercy seat. 16 He must make atonement for the Kadosh Place, because of the impurities of the Israelites, and because of their rebellion, all their sins. He’ll do for the Tabernacle of the Congregation, that is among them amid their impurities. 17 No one should be in the Tabernacle of the Congregation when he enters to make atonement in the Kadosh Place until he leaves after he has made atonement for himself, his household,, and for the entire congregation of Israel. 18 Then he will go out to the altar that’s before Yehovah and make atonement for it, and take some of the bull’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and spread it around on the horns of the altar. 19 He’ll sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to 'separate' it from the uncleanness of the Israelites. 20 When he’s finished atoning for the Kadosh Place and the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the altar, he’ll offer the live goat. 21 Aaron will lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the sins of the descendant’s of Israel, and all their rebellious behavior—everything they did wrong; and he’ll put them on the head of the goat, and lead him away into the wilderness, handled by a man who’s waiting. 22 The goat will carry all their sins on himself to a remote place, and the ‘man’ will release the goat in the wilderness.

23 “Then Aaron will come into the Tabernacle of the Congregation and take off the linen clothing that he put on when he went into the Kadosh Place, and leave them there. 24 Then he’ll bathe himself in water in a 'designated' place, and put on his clothes, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering to make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 He will burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. 26 The man who lets the goat go for the Azazel goat must wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and afterward he can return to the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Kadosh Place, will be carried outside the camp, and they’ll burn their skins, their flesh and their waste are to be burned 'up'. 28 The man who burns them must wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and afterward he can return to the camp. 29 This is to be a perpetual statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you must humble yourselves by fasting and do no work of any kind, whether native-born, or foreigners living among you. 30 It is on this day that atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you from all your sins. You’ll be clean in Yehovah’s presence. 31 It’s to be a Sabbath congregation to you. You’ll humble and deny yourselves, it’s a permanent statute. 32 The priest who is anointed and dedicated to serving as priest in his father’s place will make the atonement. He will put on the linen clothing, the kadosh garments, 33 Then he’ll make atonement for the Kadosh Place and the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and for the altar, and he’ll make atonement for the priests and for all the people in the congregation. 34 This is to be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the Israelites once a year for of all their sins. It was done as Yehovah commanded Moses.

[1] The goat was not to be thrown over a cliff as the custom (borrowed from pagans) became, and as they tried to Yeshua on the day of Atonements when He began His ministry.

[2] Each of us is responsible for a sprinkling of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) shed blood.

LEVITICUS 17

Sinful Sexual Relations

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Tell Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites that this is what Yehovah has commanded: 3 Anyone from the house * of Israel who kills an ox or a lamb or a goat inside or outside of the camp 4 and hasn’t brought it to the doorway of the Tabernacle of the Congregation to offer it as an offering to Yehovah before the Tabernacle of Yehovah—that person is guilty of bloodshed; they have shed blood and must be removed from the people. 5 This is so the Israelites can bring their zebakim [sacrifices] that they were making in the open fields [to idols: JFB] and bring them to Yehovah, to the doorway of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, to the priest, and offer them as zebakim of fellowship offerings to Yehovah. 6 The priest will sprinkle the blood on the altar of Yehovah at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to Yehovah. 7 They must no longer offer any of their zebakim to the goat idols that they have prostituted themselves with. This will be a perpetual statute for them thruout their generations.’

8 “Tell them: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or or a zebak, 9 and doesn’t bring it to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation as an offering to Yehovah will be removed from the people.

10 “If anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who live among them eats any kind of blood, I’ll 'turn and' face the person who eats blood, and cut them off from among the people, 11 because the life in a body is in the blood, and I’ve given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, since it is the 'lifeblood' that makes atonement. 12 So I’ve told the Israelites, “None of you are to eat blood, and no stranger who lives as a foreigner among you is to eat blood. 13 ‘Anyone from House of Israel or any foreigner living among them who hunts any animal or bird that can be eaten must pour out its blood, and cover it with dirt. 14 Since the life of every 'creature' is in its blood, I told the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any 'creature', because the life of every 'creature' is in its blood; anyone who eats it must be excluded.”

15 “Anyone who eats an animal that died a natural death, or was torn by predators, whether they are native-born or aliens must wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until evening; then they’ll be clean. 16 But if they don’t wash their clothes and their bodies, they’ll be guilty of sin.’”

LEVITICUS 18

Unlawful Sexual Relations

1 Yehovah told Moses, 2 Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, “I am Yehovah your Elohim. 3 You must not do what they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you must not do what they do in the land of Canaan, where I’m bringing you. You must never 'live' by their statutes. 4 You’ll do My ordinances, and you’ll keep My statutes, and 'live by' them, I am Yehovah your Elohim. 5 You’ll keep My statutes and My ordinances, and if anyone does this, they’ll live in them, I am Yehovah.

6 ‘None of you should approach anyone who is a close relative, to have sexual relations, I am Yehovah. 7 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your father, or have relations with your mother, she is your mother. You must not have relations with her. 8 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife, it’s your father’s nakedness. 9 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home, or born abroad. 10 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, or of your daughter-in-law, you must not see their nakedness, because their nakedness is yours. 11 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife’s daughter, conceived by your father, since she is your sister. 12 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister, she is your father’s near kinswoman. 13 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s near kinswoman. 14 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your father’s brother, you must not approach his wife, she is your aunt. 15 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law, she is your son’s wife. You must not have sexual relations with her. 16 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, it’s your brother’s nakedness. 17 ‘You must not have sexual relations with a woman and her daughter. You must not take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to have sexual relations with them, they are near kinswomen, it’s wickedness. 18 ‘You must not take a wife to her sister, to be a rival, to have sexual relations with her, while her sister is still alive.

19 ‘You must not approach a woman to have sexual relations with her as long as she has her monthly period. 20 ‘You must not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, and defile yourself with her. 21 ‘You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, and you must not profane the name of your Elohim, I am Yehovah. 22 ‘You must not lie with a man, as with a woman. That is an abomination. 23 ‘You must not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it, and no woman should give herself to an animal, to lie down with it, it’s a perversion.

24 ‘Don’t defile yourselves in any of these things, because in all these ways the nations that I’m casting out before you were defiled. 25 The land was defiled, so I punished its wickedness, and the land vomited out her inhabitants. 26 You must obey My statutes and My ordinances, and not commit any of these abominations, whether native-born or foreigners living among you. 27 The people of the land who were there before committed all these detestable activities, and the land has become defiled. 28 The land will vomit you out the way it vomited out the nations that were here before you if you defile it. 29 ‘Whoever does any of these abominations will be excluded from the people. 30 You must obey My instructions. Don’t practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am Yehovah your Elohim.

LEVITICUS 19

Laws of Civilization

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the entire congregation of Israel and tell them, “You must be kadosh, because I, Yehovah your Elohim, am kadosh. 3 ‘Each one of you must respect your mother and your father. You must preserve My Sabbaths. I am Yehovah your Elohim. 4 ‘Don’t turn to idols, or make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yehovah your Elohim.

5 ‘When you offer a fellowship zebak to Yehovah, you must offer it properly so that you will be accepted. 6 It will be eaten the same day you offer it and the next day, and if anything remains until the third day it must be set on fire. 7 If any of it is eaten on the third day, it’s an abomination. It won’t be accepted. 8 Anyone who eats it will bear their wickedness, because they have profaned something kadosh to Yehovah, and that person will be removed from the people.

9 ‘When you harvest your land, you must not entirely harvest the corners of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You must not glean your vineyard, and you must not gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard, you must leave them for the poor and for the foreigners. I am Yehovah your Elohim.

11 ‘You must not steal. ‘You must not lie [1]. ‘You must not deceive one another. 12 ‘You must not swear by My name falsely, and profane the name of your Elohim. I am Yehovah. 13 ‘You must not oppress your neighbors or rob them. ‘The wages of a hired servant must not remain in your possession all night until morning. 14 ‘You must not curse the deaf, or trip the blind, but you must fear your Elohim. I am Yehovah. 15 ‘You must never be unjust, you must not be partial to the poor or show favoritism to the great, you are to judge your neighbors in righteousness. 16 ‘You must never go 'around' spreading slander among your people. ‘You must never endanger your neighbor’s life. I am Yehovah. 17 ‘You must not harbor hateful thoughts toward your brother. Rather reprimand your neighbor, but don’t incur sin because of them. 18 ‘You must not take vengeance or bear any grudge against your neighbor, but you’ll love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yehovah.

19 ‘You must obey My statutes. ‘You must not crossbreed two different breeds of animals. ‘You must not sow your fields with hybrid crops or wear clothing made of linen and wool woven together.

20 ‘If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, engaged to another man, but who has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there must certainly be punishment. Yet they are not to be put to death, because she was not free. 21 He’ll bring his guilt offering to Yehovah, to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, a ram for a guilt offering. 22 The priest will make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before Yehovah for the sin he has committed, and the sin that he has committed will be forgiven.

23 ‘When you come into the land and plant all kinds of fruit trees, you must not eat the fruit for the first three years.[2] 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit will be kadosh, for giving praise to Yehovah. 25 In the fifth year you can eat its fruit, (you do this to increase your yield). I am Yehovah your Elohim.

26 ‘You must not eat any meat with the blood still in it, you must never divine, or practice sorcery. 27 ‘You must not cut the hair on the sides of your heads, or clip off the edge of your beard. 28 ‘You must not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, or put any tattoo marks on yourselves. I am Yehovah. 29 ‘Don’t profane your daughter by making her a whore, otherwise the land will fall to prostitution, and the land will become full of wickedness. 30 ‘You will preserve My Sabbaths, and reverence My Temple, I am Yehovah. 31 ‘Don’t turn to those who are mediums, or to the wizards. Don’t seek them out and be defiled by them. I am Yehovah your Elohim.

32 ‘You will rise up before the gray head, and honor the face of an old man, and you’ll fear your Elohim. I am Yehovah. 33 ‘If an immigrant lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you must not mistreat them. 34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you should be treated as the native-born among you, and you’ll love them as yourself, because you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yehovah your Elohim. 35 ‘You must never be unfair in measuring length, weight or volume. 36 You must have just balances, just weights, a just ephah and a just hin. I am Yehovah your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 ‘You must obey My statutes and My ordinances by doing them. I am Yehovah.

[1] “neither lie one to another; in common speech and conversation, in trade and business, and particularly by demanding money of a man who never had anything of him, as Aben Ezra; and who owes him nothing, and yet affirms, with a lie, that he is indebted to him, and insists on payment.”—Gills

[2] Fruit sugar in the soil is a powerful biological stimulant for soil life and a fledgling tree, sort of like black strap molasses.

LEVITICUS 20

Molech Worship and Other Sina

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 Tell the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner living among you in Israel who 'sacrifices' any of his 'children' to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land must stone them with stones. 3 I also will be 'dead set' against that person, and cut them off from among the people, because he has given a 'child' to Molech, defiling My Kadosh Place, and profaning My kadosh name. 4 If the people of the land [tolerate] hide their eyes when that person gives his children to Molech, and don’t put them to death, 5 then I’ll be 'dead set' against that person, and against their family, and cut them off, and anyone else who follows them in prostituting themselves to Molech.

6 ‘When anyone turns to mediums and spiritists in prostituting themselves to them, I’ll be 'dead set' against them and cut them off from among the people.

7 ‘Dedicate yourselves and be kadosh, because I am Yehovah your Elohim. 3 You must obey My statutes, and 'live' by them. I am Yehovah who sets you apart.

9 ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother will surely be put to death, since they cursed their father or mother, their blood guilt will be on them.

10 ‘If a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, such as his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress must certainly be put to death. 11 ‘The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness, both of them must certainly be put to death, their blood guilt will be on them. 12 ‘If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them must certainly be put to death, they’ve committed a perversion, their blood guilt will be on them. 13 ‘If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination, they must certainly be put to death, their blood guilt will be on them. 14 ‘If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. The man and the two women must be burned, so that there will be no immorality among you. 15 ‘If a man lies with an animal, he’ll surely be put to death, and you’ll kill the animal. 16 ‘If a woman approaches any animal, and lies down with it, you’ll kill the woman and the animal, they’ll surely be put to death, their blood will be on them. 17 ‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and they have 'sexual relations', it’s a shameful thing, and they’ll be publicly removed from the people, he has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, he’ll bear his wickedness. 18 ‘If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood, and both of them will be removed from among their people. 19 ‘You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, or of your father’s sister, because he has made naked his close relative, they’ll bear their wickedness. 20 If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness, they’ll bear their sin, they’ll die childless. 21 ‘If a man takes his brother’s wife, it’s an impurity, he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness, they’ll be childless.

22 ‘You will keep all My statutes, and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land where I’m bringing you to dwell won’t vomit you out. 23 You must not practice the customs of the heathens that I am driving out before you. They did all of these things, and I abhorred them. 24 I told you, “You will take possession of their land, and I will give it to you to occupy, a land that flows with milk and honey”. I am Yehovah your Elohim who separated you from the heathens.

25 ‘You must distinguish between clean animals and unclean, and between unclean fowl and clean, and you must not make yourselves abominable by animals or birds, or by anything that that 'crawls' on the ground; I have set them apart as unclean for you. 26 You are to be kadosh to Me, because I, Yehovah, am kadosh, and have set you apart from other people to be Mine.

27 ‘A man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist must certainly be put to death. They are to be stoned; their blood guilt will be on them.

LEVITICUS 21

Standards for the Priests

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses, “Speak to the priests, and Aaron’s sons, and say to them, “A priest must not defile himself 'by touching' the dead among his people, 2 except for his close relatives: for his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 and for his virgin sister who is close to him, who has had no husband; because of her he can defile himself. 4 He must never defile himself for his inlaws and so profane himself. 5 ‘They must not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards, or make any cuttings in their flesh. 6 They must be kadosh to their Elohim, and not profane the name of their Elohim, because they offer the offerings of Yehovah made by fire, the bread of their Elohim, so they’ll be kadosh. 7 ‘They must not marry a woman who is a whore, or profane, or marry a woman divorced from her husband, because he is kadosh to his Elohim. 8 You must set him apart, because he offers the bread of your Elohim, he’ll be kadosh to you, because I Yehovah, who dedicates you, am kadosh. 9 If the daughter of any priest profanes herself by playing the prostitute, then she profanes her father, and she must be set on fire.

10 ‘The priest who is highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who has been dedicated to put on the clothing, must not dishevel his hair [?] or tear his clothes. 11 He must not go near a dead body, or defile himself for his father or mother, 12 and he must not leave the Kadosh Place or profane the Kadosh Place of his Elohim, because he is dedicated with the anointing oil of his Elohim. I am Yehovah. 13 ‘He must choose a virgin wife. 14 He must never marry a widow, a divorced woman, or someone defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, 15 He must not profane his descendants among his people, because I am Yehovah who makes him kadosh.

16 “Yehovah told Moses: 17 “Say to Aaron, “None of your descendants thruout their generations who has a defect, can approach to offer the bread of his Elohim. 18 Any man who has a defect must not come near the altar, a blind man, or a lame man, or someone who has a 'disfigured' face, or any other deformity, 19 or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand, 20 or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or someone who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles. 21 None of the descendants of Aaron the priest with a defect can approach to offer the offerings of Yehovah made by fire. Since has a defect, he must not approach to offer the bread of his Elohim. 22 He can eat the bread of his Elohim, both the most kadosh, and the kadosh, 23 but he must never approach the veil, or approach to the altar, because he has a defect. He must not profane my Kadosh Place, because I am Yehovah who makes them kadosh. 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the Israelites.

LEVITICUS 22

Various Rules for Priests

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the kadosh things of the Israelites that they make kadosh to Me, so as not to profane My kadosh name. I am Yehovah. 3 Tell them, “If anyone of all your descendants thruout your generations approaches the kadosh things that the Israelites make kadosh to Yehovah, having his impurities on him, that porson will be excluded from My presence. I am Yehovah. 4 ‘Any of the descendants of Aaron with a skin disease or a discharge must not eat kadosh things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or by a man who has an emission of semen, 5 or whoever touches any creeping thing, that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean, whatever his uncleanness 6 the person that touches any such thing will be unclean till evening, and must not eat the kadosh things, unless he has bathed his 'body' in water. 7 When the sun is down, he’ll be clean, and afterward he can eat the kadosh things, because it’s his bread. 8 Anything that dies by itself, or is torn by animals, he must not eat, defiling himself by it. I am Yehovah. 9 ‘They must follow My requirements, otherwise they will bear sin for it, and die because they profaned it. I am Yehovah who makes them kadosh.

10 ‘No one outside a priest’s family is to eat the kadosh offering. A foreign visitor staying with the priests, or a hired servant must never eat of the kadosh things. 11 But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his silver, he can eat it, and those who are born in his house can eat his bread. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married to an outsider, she must not eat the offering of the kadosh things. 13 But if a priest’s daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no children, and has returned to her father’s house, as in her youth, she can eat her father’s bread, but no stranger can eat any of it. 14 ‘If a man eats something kadosh unwittingly, then he’ll add a fifth of its value to it, and give the kadosh thing to the priest. 15 The priests must not profane the kadosh things of the Israelites that they offer to Yehovah, 16 and cause them to bear the wickedness that brings guilt when they eat their kadosh things, because I am Yehovah who makes them kadosh.

17 “Yehovah told Moses: 18 “Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the Israelites, and say to them, “Whoever is of the House* of Israel, or a foreigner in Israel who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows, or any of their voluntary offerings that they offer to Yehovah for a burnt offering, 19 must offer a male from the cattle, sheep or goats without any defects in order for you to be accepted. 20 But anything that has a defect you must not offer, because it won’t be acceptable for you. 21 Whoever offers an atoning offering of fellowship offerings to Yehovah to accomplish a vow, or for a voluntary offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted, there will be no defect there. 22 Those that are blind, injured, maimed, having a wart, festering, or having a running sore must not be offered to Yehovah, or have an offering by fire made of them on the altar to Yehovah. 23 With regard to an ox or a lamb that has an overgrown or stunted member, you can present it as a voluntary offering, but it won’t be accepted for a vow. 24 You must not offer an 'animal' that has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut, you must not offer such to Yehovah. You must not do this in your land. 25 You must not accept such animals from a foreigner and offer them as the food of your Elohim. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are corrupted by defects.’”

26 Yehovah told Moses: 27 “When a bull, a sheep or a goat is born it will remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it will be acceptable as an offering by fire presented to Yehovah. 28 Whether it’s a cow or a ewe, you must not kill it and its young both in one day. 29 When you offer an atoning offering of thanksgiving to Yehovah, you must offer it in such a way that you will be accepted. 30 It must be eaten on the same day; leave none of it until the morning. I am Yehovah. 31 You must preserve My Commandments by doing them. I am Yehovah. 32 You must not profane My kadosh name. I will be recognized as kadosh among the Israelites. I am Yehovah who makes you kadosh. 33 I brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your Elohim. I am Yehovah.

LEVITICUS 23

Sabbaths and Festivals

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: These are Yehovah’s appointed Festivals that you will proclaim to be kadosh public assemblies. They are My Festivals: 3 ‘You can work for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of complete rest, a kadosh gathering. Don’t do any work! It is the Sabbath of Yehovah wherever you gather [1]

4 ‘These are Yehovah’s appointed times, the kadosh public assemblies you are to declare at their appointed times.

Passover

Feast of Unleavened Bread

Wave Sheaf Day (Part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread)

Pentecost (aka Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, firstfruits)

The Feast of Trumpets

The Day of Atonements

The Feast of Tabernacles

The Eighth Day

[1] At the end of the age, “You’ll be banished from their synagogues (assemblies)... John 16:2.” But since the time of Constantine, dialog has been banished and a weekly monologue is considered normal! but The Bible Never Mentions Sermons!.

LEVITICUS 24

The Lamp and the Bread

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Command the Israelites to bring you 'pure' oil from crushed olives for the lamps [of the menorah] to keep the lamps burning continually. 3 Outside the veil of the Testimony in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, Aaron will tend the lamps from evening to morning before Yehovah continually, it will be a perpetual statute thruout your generations. 4 He must keep the lamps in order on the pure gold menorah before Yehovah continually.

5 Then take fine flour, and bake twelve loaves from it, with two tenths of an ephah in each loaf. 6 Arrange them in two rows, six in each row, on the pure gold table before Yehovah. 7 You must put 'pure' frankincense near each row to serve as a memorial portion for the bread, a fire offering to Yehovah. 8 Every Sabbath day he must arrange the 'bread' before Yehovah continually. It’s an everlasting covenant for the Israelites. 9 It will be for Aaron and his sons, and they’ll eat it in a Kadosh Place, because it’s the most kadosh portion of Yehovah’s offerings by fire; a perpetual statute.

10 “The son of an Israelite woman whose father was an Egyptian went out among the Israelites; and the Israelite woman’s son and an Israelite man fought with each other in the camp. 11 The Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, a daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan.) 12 They put him in custody until Yehovah’s will could be made clear to them. 13 Then Yehovah said to Moses: 14 “Take the man who cursed outside the camp, and have everyone who heard him lay their hands on his head, and have the entire congregation stone him to death. 15 You must tell the Israelites, “Whoever curses his Elohim will be punished for their sin. 16 Anyone who blasphemes the name of Yehovah must certainly be put to death, the entire congregation is to stone them, whether a foreigner or someone native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.

17 ‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death. 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must compensate for it, animal for animal. 19 Whoever injures a neighbor is to be injured the same way: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, anyone who inflicts an injury on another must receive the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal compensate for it, but whoever kills a human being must be put to death. 22 You are to apply the same standard to foreigners as you do the natives, because I am Yehovah your Elohim.

23 “Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the guy who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

LEVITICUS 25

The Shemitah and Jubilee Years

1 Yehovah told Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 Speak to the Israelites and tell them, “When you come into the land that I’m giving you, then the land must not be worked, it’s a Sabbath celebration [the shemitah] to honor Yehovah. 3 You are to sow your fields for six years, and prune your vineyards for six years, and gather in fruit, 4 but during the seventh year there will be a Sabbath, a Sabbath rest for the land to honor Yehovah. You must not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 You must not preserve the “after crop”* of what grows by itself [only harvest for daily use], or make wine* from the grapes of your untended vines. It will be a sabbatical year for the land. 6 The fresh Sabbath produce of the land will be food for you, for your servants, your maids, your hired servants, and for the temporary residents living as foreigners with you. 7 Even your livestock and the game animals on your land will all be yours to eat.

Announcing the upcoming Year of Jubilee

8 ‘You must count off seven Sabbaths of years—seven times seven years, so that the seven Sabbaths of years amounts to a period of forty-nine years. 9 THEN you must sound shofars loudly [1] on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonements you must sound shofars loudly thruout your entire land. 10 You must dedicate the fiftieth year, and proclaim [or read] liberty thruout the land to everyone who lives there. It will be your Jubilee. Each of you can return to your own property, and each of you can return to your own clan. 11 The fiftieth year will be your Jubilee year. During ‘that year’ you must not plant, or preserve the ‘after crop’* from what grows by itself, or make wine* from any leftover* grapes. 12 It’s a Jubilee, it will be a ‘time of dedication’ [kadosh] for you. You can eat the fresh voluntary produce from your fields.

13 “In this Year of Jubilee each of you can return to your ancestral property. 14 If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy anything from them, don’t take advantage of them. 15 When you buy property from your neighbor, base the price on the number of years since the last Jubilee. Your neighbor must sell it to you based on the number of crops until the next jubilee. 16 If there are many years [until the next Jubilee], you should increase the price, but if there are only a few years left, you should reduce the price, because they are only 'leasing' from you a number of crops. 17 You must never take advantage of each other, but you must fear your Elohim, because I am Yehovah your Elohim.

18 “You must preserve and obey My statutes and My ordinances. When you obey them you will live securely in the land. 19 Then the land will yield its crops, and you’ll have plenty of food, and live there in security. 20 If you ask, “What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we don’t sow or gather crops?’” 21 I’ll send such a blessing to you in the sixth year that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. 22 When you are sowing the eighth year, you’ll still be eating some of the old harvest, and continue eating from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

23 ‘The land must not be permanently sold, because the land is Mine. You are foreigners living as temporary residents with Me. 24 So for every piece of property you hold you must provide the option to redeem [reclaim] the land during the Jubilee. 25 “’If one of your 'fellow countrymen' becomes so poor that they 'lease' some of their property, then his nearest relative can come and redeem what his 'fellow countryman' has 'leased'. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes more prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 then he can calculate the years since the 'lease', and refund the balance to the man he sold [leased] it to, and return to his ancestral property. 28 But if he isn’t able to 'buy' it back for himself, then what he has 'leased' will remain in the hands of the one who purchased [leased] it until the Year of Jubilee, and in the Jubilee it will be released, and he canl return to his property. 29 “’If a man sells a home in a walled city, then his right of redemption remains valid for a full year after the sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. 30 If it isn’t redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house in the walled city becomes the permanent property of the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It isn’t subject to release during the Jubilee Year. 31 But houses in unwalled villages are regarded as part of the open fields. They can be redeemed, and must be returned at the Jubilee. 32 “As for the Levitical cities, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the homes in the cities they own. 33 So any property purchased from a Levite is redeemable—any house in a Levitical city must be released in the Jubilee, because the houses in their cities are their [only] property within Israel. 34 But the open pastureland surrounding their cities can’t be sold, because it’s their permanent property. 35 If a countryman of yours becomes poor, and can’t support himself, you are to support him as a foreigner or temporary resident, and allow him to live beside you. 36 Take no interest or profit from him, but fear your Elohim, so that your countryman can live among you. 37 You must not lend him your silver at interest, or sell your food at a profit. 38 I am Yehovah your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your Elohim.

39 “’And if your fellow countryman becomes destitute and sells himself to you, don’t subject him to slave labor. 40 Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident. He is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then you will release him and his children, and they can return to their ancestral property. 42 They are My servants who I brought out of the land of Egypt. They must not be sold as slaves. 43 You must not rule over them harshly, but fear your Elohim. 44 As for the male and female slaves you may acquire—you can buy male and female slaves from the pagan nations around you. 45 You can also buy some of the foreigners living among, and members of their families born in your countryy. They will be your property. 46 You can acquire them for yourselves and can make them slaves for life. You can work them as slaves. But don’t treat the Israelites harshly. They are your fellow Israelites.

47 ‘If an immigrant or temporary resident among you prospers, and your fellow countryman becomes poor, and sells himself to foreigners living among you, or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 then after he has been sold he has the right of redemption. One of his relatives can redeem him. 49 His uncle or cousin can redeem him, or one of his close relatives from his clan can redeem him, or if he prospers, he can redeem himself. 50 Then he and his buyer are to calculate the time from the year he sold himself to him until the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the number of years he was with his buyer, like the wages of a hired worker. 51 If many years are still left, he must make the refund relative to 'the years' of the sale price; 52 If only a few years are left until the Year of Jubilee, he must calculate it with him and refund the price of his redemption in proportion to his remaining years. 53 Like a man hired on an annual basis he will stay with him. The buyer should not treat them harshly in your sight. 54 If he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he’ll be released in the Year of Jubilee, he, and his children with him. 55 The Israelites are My servants, My servants that I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am Yehovah your Elohim.

[1] KJV wrongly says “trumpet of the jubile”, in agreement with the Jewish custom of beginning years in the seventh month—a practice begun in Babylonian captivity. An upcoming Jubilee was only to be announced on the Day of Atonements.

LEVITICUS 26

Covenant Blessings

1 ‘You must not make an idols for yourselves, or erect a carved image, sacred pillar or an obelisk, in your land to bow down to it, because I am Yehovah your Elohim. 2 ‘You must preserve My Sabbaths, and have reverence for My Temple. I am Yehovah.

3 ‘If you ‘live’ by My statutes, and obey My Commandments, and actually do them, 4 then I’ll send you your rain in the right season, and the land will yield produce, and the trees in the fields will produce their fruit. 5 Your threshing will ‘continue’ until the grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting time [Clarke’s]! You’ll eat your fill of food, and live securely in your own land. 6 ‘I’ll give peace in the land, and you’ll lie down, and no one will frighten you, and I’ll remove wild animals from the land, and 'warfare' will never traverse your land. 7 You’ll chase your enemies, and they’ll 'die' before you 'in conflict'. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. 9 ‘I’ll have respect for you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you. 10 You’ll eat the old supply and clear out the old to make room for the new. 11 I’ll move My tabernacle among you, and 'I' won’t abhor you. 12 I’ll walk among you, and be your Elohim, and you’ll be My people. 13 I am Yehovah your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you wouldn’t be their slaves, and I’ve broken the bars of your yoke, and made you 'stand tall'.

... Or I Will Curse You

14 ‘But if you won’t listen to Me, and won’t abey all these Commandments, 15 and if you reject My statutes, and abhor My ordinances, and won’t do all My Commandments, but break My covenant, 16 I also will do this to you, I’ll appoint terror over you, consumption and fever that will destroy your sight and your strength will ebb away. You’ll sow your seeds in vain because your enemies will eat 'what you plant'. 17 I’ll be 'dead set' against you, and you’ll be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you’ll flee when no one pursues you.

18 ‘If you, in spite of these things, won’t obey Me, then I’ll punish you seven years [or times] more for your sins. 19 I’ll break the pride of your power, and I’ll make your sky like iron, and your soil like bronze. 20 Your strength will be spent in vain, because your land won’t yield its increase, and the trees of the land won’t yield their fruit.

21 ‘If you walk contrary to Me, and won’t listen to Me, then I’ll bring seven times more plagues on you relative to your sins. 22 I’ll send the wild animals among you that will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number. Your roads will be deserted.

23 ‘If under these conditions you still won’t be corrected by Me, but go about contrary to Me, 24 then I’ll also go about contrary to you, and I’ll strike you seven more times for your sins. 25 I’ll bring a sword on you that will avenge your vengeance against My covenant, and when you’ve been gathered together into your towns, I’ll send a plague among you, and you’ll be handed over to the enemy. 26 When I have broken your staff of life, your bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they’ll deliver your bread rationed out by weight, and you’ll eat it, but still be hungry.

27 ‘If in spite of this you won’t listen to Me, and walk contrary to Me, 28 then I’ll walk contrary to you in wrath, and I’ll chastise you seven times for your sins. 29 You’ll eat the flesh of your sons, and you’ll eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 I’ll destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and throw your dead bodies on the bodies of your idols, and 'I' will abhor you. 31 I’ll devastate your towns, and destroy your “holy places”, and I’ll refuse to smell the sweet fragrances 'of your burnt offerings’ [Targum of Jonathan]. 32 I’ll devastate your land so much that your enemies will be shocked when they come to settle it. 33 I’ll scatter you among the nations, and I’ll and unsheat a sword against you, as your country becomes desolate and your towns become ruins.

34 Then the land will make up for its Sabbath years as it lies deserted while you are in exile in your enemies’ land. Then the land will rest and make up for its missed Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies deserted, it will celebrate the rest that it didn’t have on your Sabbaths, when you lived there. 36 ‘As for those of you who are left, I’ll send a faintness into their minds in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight, and they’ll flee, as someone fleeing from the sword, and they’ll fall when no one pursues. 37 They must stumble over one another, as if it were before a sword when no one pursues, and you’ll have no ability to stand before your enemies. 38 You’ll perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will eat you up. 39 Those of you who are left will waste away in your wickedness in your enemies’ lands, and also in the sins of their fathers will they waste away with them.

40 ‘“But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—the unfaithfulness they committed against Me, and their acting with hostility against Me— 41 that made Me act with hostility against them, and bring them into the land of their enemies. Then if they humble their uncircumcised mindset, and they make amends for their wickedness, 42 then I’ll remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham, and I’ll remember the land. 43 The land also will be left by them, and celebrate its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them [1], and they’ll accept the punishment of their wickedness, because they rejected My ordinances, and they abhorred My statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I won’t reject them or abhor them, and destroy them completely, and break My covenant with them, because I am Yehovah their Elohim, 45 but I’ll for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, who I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, so that I could be their Elohim. I am Yehovah.

46 “These are the statutes, ordinances and laws that Yehovah made between him and the Israelites in Mount Sinai by Moses.

[1] “Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, &c.—A long arrear of sabbatic years had accumulated through the avarice and apostasy of the Israelites, who had deprived their land of its appointed season of rest. The number of those sabbatic years seems to have been seventy, as determined by the duration of the captivity. This early prediction is very remarkable, considering that the usual policy of the Assyrian conquerors was to send colonies to cultivate and inhabit their newly acquired provinces.”—JFB

LEVITICUS 27

Vows and Valuations

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that when someone makes a special vow to Yehovah, the person must be valued by your established valuation of people belonging to Yehovah. 3 If the valuation concerns a man from twenty to sixty years old, your valuation is fifty silver shekels of the standard set for use in the Kadosh Place. 4 If it’s a woman, then your valuation will be thirty shekels. 5 If the person is between five to twenty years of age, then your valuation will be twenty silver shekels for a boy and ten silver shekels for a girl. 6 If the person is from a month of age to five years old, then your valuation will be five silver shekels for a boy, and your valuation will be three silver shekels for a girl. 7 If the person is from sixty years old and upward, if it’s a man, then your valuation will be fifteen shekels, and for a woman ten shekels. 8 But if the person is too poor to pay your valuation, then he’ll be presented to a priest who will determine the value based on what the person can afford.

9 “If the vow involves one of the animals that can be used as an offering to Yehovah, any of them that someone gives to Yehovah will be considered kadosh. 10 They must not replace or exchange a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one; if they do substitute animals, then both it and its substitute will be kadosh. 11 If it’s any unclean animal that can’t be offered as an offering to Yehovah, then the animal must be presented to a priest, 12 and the priest will value it, whether 'high' or 'low'. The value will be whatever the priest determines. 13 But if the owner decides to redeem it, one-fifth more must be added to its valuation.

14 “If anyone dedicates their house as something kadosh to Yehovah, then a priest must appraise it, whether it’s 'high' or 'low'. The value will be whatever the priest determines. 15 If someone [1] dedicates their house and decides to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value in silver, and the house will again become theirs.

16 “If someone dedicates part their field to Yehovah, then your valuation will be proportionate to the seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver to a omer of barley seed. 17 If you dedicate a field during the Year of Jubilee, your set valuation stands. 18 But if you dedicate your field after the Jubilee, then a priest will calculate the silver for you in proportion to the years left until the next Year of Jubilee, and deduct from your valuation. 19 If the person who dedicated the field ever wants to redeem it, then they must add a fifth more silver to it, and it will become theirs again. 20 But if they don’t redeem the field, or if they have sold it to someone else, it is no longer redeemable. 21 When the field reverts in the Jubilee, it will be kadosh to Yehovah, a devoted field, it becomes the priest’s property. 22 “If they dedicate a field to Yehovah that they 'leased', (that isn’t part of a field of their ancestral property), 23 then a priest will determine its value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the person will pay that price on that day as a kadosh thing to Yehovah. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field will return to the person who 'leased' it out, the actual owner. 25 All of your valuations will be set using the standard shekel of the Kadosh Place, twenty gerahs to the shekel.

26 “No one can dedicate the firstborn of an animal to Yehovah, whether an ox or sheep, it’s already Yehovah’s. 27 If it’s an unclean animal, then they can buy it back according to your valuation, adding a fifth to it. If it isn’t redeemed, it must be sold at the assigned value.

28 “But nothing that a person owns and devotes to Yehovah from anything he owns, whether a person, an animal, or his inherited landholding, can be sold or redeemed. Every devoted thing is most kadosh to Yehovah. 29 “No one devoted to destruction can be ransomed; they must be put to death.

30 “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees belongs to Yehovah. It’s kadosh to Yehovah. 31 If anyone redeems any part of his tithe, they must add a fifth more to it. 32 Every tenth head of cattle or sheep that passes under the shepherd’s staff will be kadosh to Yehovah. 33 You must not look to see if it is good or bad or make any exchanges. But if you do exchange it, both the first animal and its substitute will be kadosh. They cannot be redeemed.”

34 “These are the Commandments that Yehovah gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

[1] While Hebrew always defaults to the male gender, as in “a man”, women too could own property, as in Proverbs 31.

NUMBERS 1

Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36

The Census of Israel

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert, in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, on the first day of the second month, during the second year after they left the land of Egypt: 2 “Take a census of the entire Israelite congregation, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, every male ‘individually’, 3 from twenty years of age and upward, everyone in Israel who is able to go to war. You and Aaron must register them by their divisions. 4 One man from every tribe will be there to assist you, each one a head of his fathers’ 'family' . 5 These are the names of the men who will stand with you, Of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur; 6 of Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai; 7 of Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab; 8 of Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar; 9 of Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon; 10 of the children of Joseph, of Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur; 11 of Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni; 12 of Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai; 13 of Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran; 14 of Gawd, Eliasaph son of Deuel; 15 of Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan; 16 These are the ones who were chosen from the congregation, the leader of their fathers’ tribes and heads of families of Israel.

17 “Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned by name. 18 They assembled the entire congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they registered their ancestry according to their family records by their families and their ancestral households, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more. 19 just as Yehovah had commanded Moses. So he counted them in the Sinai Desert.

20 “The descendants of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war. 21 The number from the tribe of Reuben was 46,500. 22 Of the descendants of Simeon: All the men twenty years of age or more who were able to go out to war were counted and listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their tribes and families. 23 The number from the tribe of Simeon was 59,300. 24 Of the descendants of Gad, according to their family records by their tribes and families, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war, 25 the number from the tribe of Gawd was 45,650. 26 Of the descendants of Judah, according to their family records by their tribes and families, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war, 27 the number from the house of Judah was 74,600. 28 Of the descendants of Issachar, according to their family records by their tribes and families, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war, 29 the number from the tribe of Issachar was 54,400. 30 Of the descendants of Zebulun, according to their family records by their tribes and families, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war, 31 the number from the tribe of Zebulun was 57,400. 32 Of the descendants of Joseph, according to their family records by their tribes and families, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war, 33 the number from the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500. 34 Of the descendants of Manasseh, according to their family records by their tribes and families, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war, 35 the number from the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200. 36 Of the descendants of Benjamin, according to their family records by their tribes and families, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war, 37 the number from the tribe of Benjamin was 35,400. 38 Of the descendants of Dan, according to their family records by their tribes and families, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war, 39 the number from the tribe of Dan was 62,700. 40 Of the descendants of Asher, according to their family records by their tribes and families, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war, 41 the number from the tribe of Asher was 41,500. 42 Of the descendants of Naphtali, according to their family records by their tribes and families, according to the number of names, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years old or more, whoever was able to go out to war, 43 the number from the tribe of Naphtali was 53,400.

44 “These are the ones who Moses and Aaron counted, along with the twelve leading men of Israel, each representing his fathers’ household. 45 So the Israelites were registered by households, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war in Israel. 46 The entire registry was 603,550 men. 47 But the Levites were not registered with them by their fathers’ tribe.

48 “Yehovah had told Moses: 49 “Don’t register the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. 50 Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings, and everything in it. They must carry the Tabernacle, and all its furnishings, and they’ll take care of it, and camp around it. 51 When the Tabernacle is to move, the Levites will take it down, and when the Tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites will set it up. Anyone else who approaches it must be put to death. 52 The Israelites are to camp by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their own 'banner'. 53 But the Levites will camp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, so that there won’t be wrath on the Israelite congregation. So the Levites will be in charge of the Tabernacle of the Testimony. 54 So the Israelites did everything just as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

NUMBERS 2

Layout of the Camps

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “The Israelites must all camp by their own standard, with the banners of their 'ancestral families'. They are to camp around the Tabernacle of the Congregation at a distance.

3 “Those on the east side toward the sunrise are to camp under the standard of Judah, by their divisions, and the leader of the House of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab. 4 His division 'numberes' 74,600 men. 5 The tribe of Issachar will camp next to them, and the leader of the descendants of Issachar is Nethanel son of Zuar. 6 His division numbers 54,400 men. 7 Also on the east is the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the descendants of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon. 8 His division 'numbers' 57,400 men. 9 The total number in their military divisions in Judah’s camp is 186,400; They will set out first.

10 “On the south side will be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their divisions. The leader of the descendants of Reuben is Elizur son of Shedeur. 11 His division numbers 46,500 men. 12 Those camped next to him will be the tribe of Simeon. The leader of the descendants of Simeon is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 13 His division numbers 59,300 men. 14 Then comes the tribe of Gawd. The leader of the descendants of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel. 15 His division numbers 45,650 men. 16 The total number of men assigned to the camp of Reuben, by their divisions numbers 151,450 men. They will set out second.

17 “Then the Tabernacle of the Congregation will set out with the Levites staying in the middle of the camps. The tribes will move out in the same order as they are in the camp, everyone in place by their standards.

18 “On the west side will be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their divisions, and the leader of the descendants of Ephraim is Elishama son of Ammihud. 19 His division numbers 40,500 men. 20 Next to him will be the tribe of Manasseh. The leader of the descendants of Manasseh is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. 21 His division numbers 32,200 men. 22 Then comes the tribe of Benjamin, and the leader of the descendants of Benjamin is Abidan son of Gideoni. 23 His division numbers 35,400 men. 24 The total in their military divisions who belong to Ephraim’s camp is 108,100. They must set out third.

25 “On the north side will be the standard of the camp of Dan according to their divisions, and the leader of the descendants of Dan will be Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. 26 His division numbers 62,700. 27 Encamped next to him will be the tribe of Asher. The leader of the descendants of Asher is Pagiel son of Okran. 28 His division numbers 41,500 men. 29 Then comes the tribe of Naphtali. The leader of the descendants of Naphtali is Ahira son of Enan. 30 His division numbers 53,400 men. 31 All the men who belong to Dan’s camp number 157,600. They must set out last by their standards.

32 “This is the entire number of Israelites counted by households. All the men in the camps, by their divisions, number 603,550. 33 But the Levites were not numbered with the other Israelites, just as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 34 So the Israelites did everything that Yehovah commanded Moses; they camped by their standards in this way and moved out the same way, each of them with their clan and 'ancestral' family.

NUMBERS 3

The Levitical Priesthood

1 This is the genealogy of Aaron and Moses’ 'descendants' at the time when Yehovah spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 These are the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadab the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests who he appointed to serve as priests. 4 Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of Yehovah when they presented unauthorized fire before Yehovah in the Sinai Desert, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father.

5 “Yehovah told Moses: 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest so that they can assist him. 7 They must carry out the duties for him and for the entire congregation by doing the work of the Tabernacle. 8 They are to take care of all the furnishings of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, along with the duties of the the Israelites, by doing the work of the Tabernacle. 9 Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are the only Israelites to be given to him on the behalf of the Israelites. 10 You are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they’ll serve as priests; 'anyone' else who approaches the kadosh things must be put to death.

11 “Yehovah told Moses: 12 “Look, I’ve taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the Israelites, and the Levites will be Mine, 13 since all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I made kadosh to Me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They’ll be Mine. I am Yehovah.

14 “Yehovah spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert: 15 “Count the descendants of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families. You must count every male from a month old and upward. 16 Moses counted them according to the Word of Yehovah, as he was commanded.

17 “These were the sons of Levi by their names, Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 18 These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families, Libni and Shimei. 19 The sons of Kohath by their families, Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20 The sons of Merari by their families, Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.

21 “Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites, these are the families of the Gershonites. 22 The number of all the males who were counted a month old or more totaled 7,500. 23 The families of the Gershonites are to camp on the west side behind the Tabernacle. 24 The leader of the fathers’ 'family' of the Gershonites will be Eliasaph son of Lael. 25 The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Tabernacle of the Congregation will be the Tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, 26 the curtains of the court, the screen for the door of the court by the Tabernacle, around the altar, and its cords for all of its service.

27 “Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites, these are the families of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old or more, there were 8,600, keeping the requirements of the Temple. 29 The families of the sons of Kohath will camp on the south side of the Tabernacle. 30 The leader of the fathers’ 'family' of the families of the Kohathites will be Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31 Their duty will be the ark, the table, the menorah, the altars, the utensils of the 'Temple' that they minister with, the screen and all its service. 32 Eleazar son of Aaron the priest will be the principal leader of the Levites, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the Temple.

33 “The clans of the Mahlites and the Mushites belonged too Merari; these were the Merarite clans. 34 The number of all the males a month old or more was 6,200. 35 The leader of the fathers’ 'family' of the families of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail. They must camp on the north side of the Tabernacle. 36 The appointed duty of the sons of Merari will be the Tabernacle’s planks, its bars, its pillars, its bases, all its instruments, all its service, 37 the pillars of the court around it, their bases, their pins, and their cords.

38 “Those who camp before the Tabernacle eastward, in front of the Tabernacle of the Congregation toward the sunrise, will be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the requirements of the 'Temple' for the duty of the Israelites. Anyone else who comes near will be put to death. 39 All who were counted of the Levites, who Moses and Aaron counted at the commandment of Yehovah, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand. [Jots]

40 “Yehovah told Moses, “Number all the firstborn males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. 41 You’ll take the Levites for me (I am Yehovah) instead of all the firstborn among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the Israelites. 42 Moses counted, as Yehovah commanded him, all the firstborn among the Israelites. 43 All the firstborn males according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those who were counted of them, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three. 44 Yehovah told Moses: 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock, and the Levites will be Mine. I am Yehovah. 46 The redemption price of the 273 firstborn Israelites who outnumber the Levites, 47 will cost five shekels apiece for each one, that is a 'Temple' shekel, (a shekel being twenty gerahs), 48 and give the silver, the redemption price of those who outnumber the Levites, to Aaron and his sons. 49 Moses took the redemption silver from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levites, 50 from the firstborn of the Israelites he took the silver, one thousand three hundred sixty-five 'Temple' shekels. 51 Then Moses gave the redemption silver to Aaron and his sons, at the command of Yehovah, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

NUMBERS 4

The Kohathites

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their ancestral houses, 3 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who enters the service, to do the work in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 4 This is the responsibility of the descendants of Kohath in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the care of most kadosh things. 5 When the camp moves forward, Aaron and his sons will go in, and they’ll take down the veil of the screen, and cover the Ark of the Testimony with it, 6 and put a covering of fine leather on it, and spread over it a pure blue cloth, and put the poles in place. 7 “Over the table of the Presence they must spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes, bowls, and pitchers for the 'wine' offerings; the bread that is continually there must stay on it. 8 They must spread a scarlet cloth over everything and cover all of this with a covering made of fine leather [?], and then insert the poles. 9 “They are to take a blue cloth and cover the menorah of light, and its lamps and its snuffers and its trays and all its jars for the olive oil used to supply it. 10 They must put it and all its utensils within a covering of fine leather, and put it on the frame. 11 On the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and put its poles in place. 12 They must take all the utensils of ministry that they minister with in the Temple, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on the frame. 13 They must remove the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it. 14 Then they are to place on it all the utensils that they minister with, the fire pans, the flesh hooks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar, and spread on it a covering of fine leather, and put in its poles. 15 When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the kadosh things, and all the furnishings of the Kadosh Place, as the camp moves forward, then the sons of Kohath will come to carry them, but they must not touch the kadosh things or they’ll die. These are the things in the Tabernacle of the Congregation that the Kohathites are to carry. 16 The duty of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest will be the olive oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual grain offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of the entire Dwelling Place, and everything in it, the Kadosh Place and its furnishings.

17 “Yehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron: 18 “Don’t destroy the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites. 19 Do this for them so that they may live and not die when they approach the most kadosh things: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and what he is to carry. 20 but they must not go in to see the kadosh things even for a moment, or they’ll die.

21 “Yehovah told Moses: 22 “Also take a census of the Gershonites by their fathers’ households, by their families. 23 Register men between thirty years and fifty years of age; anyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens: 25 they must carry the curtains of the Tabernacle, and the Tabernacle of the Congregation, its covering, and the covering of fine leather that is above on it, and the screen for the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, 26 and the curtains of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, that is by the Tabernacle and around the altar, and their cords, and all the equipment for their service. They must do everything that needs to be done with these things. 27 “The entire service of the sons of the Gershonites, all their transportation duties and all their other work, is to be done at the command of Aaron and his sons. You are to assign to them everything they’re supposed to carry. 28 This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and their duty will be under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

29 “As for the sons of Merari, youare to number them by their families, by their fathers’ houses. 30 Register men from thirty to fifty years of age who enter the service to do the work of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 31 These are all their duties, relative to their service in the Tabernacle of the Congregation: the Tabernacle’s planks, the crossbars, posts and bases, 32 and the posts surrounding the court and their bases, pegs, and cords, with all the instruments required for their service. You are to assign by name the items that each man is responsible to carry. 33 These are all of the responsibilities of the Merarite clans at the Tabernacle of the Congregation, under the 'direction' of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.”

34 “Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the congregation counted the Kohathites by their clans and by their families. 35 from thirty years old and all the way to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 36 Those who were counted by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty. 37 These are those who were counted of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, who Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of Yehovah by Moses.

38 “Those who were counted of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their ancestral houses, 39 from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, 40 The total of those who were counted was 2,630. They were listed by families and households. 41 This was the total of all those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone who served in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, who Moses and Aaron counted according to Yehovah’s command.

42 “Those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, by families and households 43 from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, 44 those who were counted by their families numbered 3,200. 45 These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, who Moses and Aaron counted according to the commandment of Yehovah by Moses.

46 “All those who were counted by the Levites, who Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted by families and households 47 from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who qualified to do the work of serving and carrying the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 48 They counted 8,589 men. 49 At the commandment of Yehovah they were counted by Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry. So were they counted by him, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

NUMBERS 5

When a Wife Goes Astray

1 Yehovah instructed Moses: 2 “Command the Israelites to quarantine from the camp anyone who has a serious skin disease, and everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by touching a corpse. 3 You must remove both male and female outside of the camp, so as not to defile their camp, since I live among them. 4 The Israelites did so, and put them outside of the camp. The Israelites did as Yehovah instructed Moses.

5 “Yehovah told Moses: 6 “Tell the Israelites: ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, and becomes unfaithful toward Yehovah, and that person is guilty, 7 then they must confess the sin they’ve done, and make restitution for their wrong in full, and add one-fifth to it, and give it to the person who was wronged. 8 But if that person has no close relative to accept the compensation for the wrong, the compensation for wrong is to be made to Yehovah for the priest, in addition to the ram to make atonement for him. 9 Every 'contribution' 'besides' the kadosh things that the Israelites present to the priest will be his. 10 Everyones kadosh gift is theirs to give, but what anyone gives to the priest will be his.”

11 “Yehovah told Moses: 12 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, “If any man’s wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him, 13 and another man has had sexual relations with her without her husband’s knowledge, and it is 'kept secret', while she may have been defiled herself, there is no witness to accuse her and she has not been caught in the act, 14 and a 'sense' of jealousy comes over him, and he suspects that his wife has defiled herself, or if a 'sense' of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife,tho she has not defiled herself, 15 then the man is to bring his wife to the priest, and bring her offering for her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He’ll pour no olive oil on it, and put no frankincense on it, it’s a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, a reminder of wickedness. 16 “The priest is to bring her forward and have her stand before Yehovah, 17 and the priest will take kadosh water in a clay pot, and the priest will take dust that is on the floor of the Tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 The priest will set the woman before Yehovah, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the grain offering of memorial in her hands, that is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest will have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19 The priest will have her take an oath and tell her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray and been 'unfaithful to' your husband, then be 'immune' to this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray, and been 'unfaithful to' your husband, and if you are defiled by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband,” 21 then the priest will have the woman swear the oath of the curse, and the priest will tell the woman, “May Yehovah cause others see that you are cursed among your people when He makes your womb waste away and your abdomen swell; 22 and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your womb waste away. The woman will say, “Aw-main, Aw-main. 23 ‘The priest will write these curses in a book, and he’ll blot them out into the water of bitterness. 24 He’ll make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse, and the water that causes the curse will enter her and become bitter. 25 The priest will take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and wave the grain offering before Yehovah, and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest will take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial, and burn it on the altar, and afterward have the woman drink the water. 27 After he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that causes the curse will enter her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her womb waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people. 28 If the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean, then she’ll be free, and conceive descendants.

29 ‘This is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and defiles herself while married to her husband, 30 or when the sense of jealousy comes on a man, and he is suspicious of his wife, then he is to set the woman before Yehovah, and the priest will apply this entire law to her. 31 The husband will be free of blame, but the [guilty] woman will bear the consequences of her wickedness.”

NUMBERS 6

The Nazirite Vow

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Tell the Israelites, “When either a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazarite, to separate themself to Yehovah, 3 they must never drink wine, liquor, vinegar made from wine or liquor, or any kind of grape juice or raisins. 4 For the duration of their separation they must eat nothing that comes from a grapevine including seeds and skins. 5 ‘For the duration of their vow of separation no razor is to be used on their head. Until the time oftheir separation to Yehovah is finished they will be kadosh. They must let their hair grow long. 6 ‘Thruout their time of separation to Yehovah they must never go near a dead body. 7 They they must not make themselves unclean for their father or mother, or their brother or sister when they die, because the symbol of their dedication to Elohim appears on their head. 8 Thruout their period of separation they are kadosh to Yehovah. 9 ‘If anyone dies very suddenly beside them, defiling the hair that symbolizes their dedication, then they must shave their head on the day of their cleansing. On the seventh day they must shave it. 10 On the eighth day they must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 11 The priest will offer one as a sin offering, and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for them, because of the guilt they incurred due to the dead, and will make their head kadosh that same day. 12 They must dedicate to Yehovah the days of their separation, and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering, but the previous days will be void, because their separation was defiled.

13 ‘This is the law of the Nazarite, when the duration of their separation is finished, they must come to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, 14 and present their offering to Yehovah: a one year old male lamb without defects for a burnt offering, a one ewe lamb a year old without defects as a sin offering, and one ram without defects for a fellowship offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with olive oil, and their grain offering, and their wine offerings. 16 The priest will present them before Yehovah, and offer their sin offering, and their burnt offering. 17 They must ze’bak [sacrifice] the ram as a fellowship offering to Yehovah, along with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest will offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering. 18 The Nazarite will shave the head of their separation at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and take the hair of the head of their separation, and put it on the fire under the fellowship offerings. 19 The priest will take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them on the hands of the Nazarite, after they have shaved the head of their separation, 20 and the priest will wave them for a wave offering before Yehovah. This is kadosh for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that, the Nazarite can drink wine. 21 “These are the instructions for those who have made the Nazarite vow, and concerning their offering to Yehovah for their separation, in addition to what else they can afford. They must fulfill the vows they have made, according to the law of separation.” 22 Yehovah told Moses: 23 “Tell Aaron and to his sons, “This is how you’ll bless the Israelites. Tell them, 24 ‘Yehovah bless you, and keep you. 25 Yehovah will make His face shine on you, and be merciful to you. 26 Yehovah will 'look' toward you with favor and give you peace.’ 27 “So they will pronounce My name to bless the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

NUMBERS 7

Offerings at the Dedication of the Altar

1 Now on the day that Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, he anointed it and set it apart with all its furnishings and the altar and all its utensils; he also anointed them set them apart. 2 The leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses made offerings. (These were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who 'were' over the men who were counted. 3 They brought their offering before Yehovah, six covered wagons, twelve oxen, a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox, and they presented them before the Tabernacle. 4 Yehovah told Moses: 5 “Accept these from them so that they can be used in the work associated with the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and give them to the Levites, to each man for their service. 6 Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. 7 He gave two wagons and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, corresponding to their service, 8 and he gave four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of Merari corresponding to their service, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. 9 But he gave none to the sons of Kohath, because the service of the 'Temple' belonged to them, they carried it on their shoulders. 10 The leaders also brought dedication offerings for the altar on the day it was anointed. The leaders presented their offerings in front of the altar. 11 Yehovah told Moses, “Each day have one leader present their offering for the dedication of the altar.

12 “The one who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab, of the house of Judah. 13 His offering was one silver platter that weighed one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 14 one gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense, 15 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 16 one male goat as a sin offering, 17 and for fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.

18 “On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, gave his offering. 19 He offered for his offering, one silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 20 one gold ladle weighing ten shekels, filled with incense, 21 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 22 one male goat as a sin offering, 23 and for fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar.

24 “On the third day Eliab son of Helon, leader of the descendants of Zebulun 25 presented his offering, one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 26 one gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense, 27 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 28 one male goat as a sin offering, 29 and for the fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon. 30 On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur, leader of the descendants of Reuben 31 presented his offering, one silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 32 one gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense, 33 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 34 one male goat as a sin offering, 35 and for fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.

36 “On the fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, leader of the descendants of Simeon 37 presented his offering, one silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 38 one gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense, 39 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 40 one male goat as a sin offering 41 for the fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five year old male lambs, this was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

42 “On the sixth day, Eliasaph son of Deuel, leader of the descendants of Gad 43 presented his offering, one silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 44 one gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense, 45 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 46 one male goat as a sin offering, 47 and for fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel.

48 “On the seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud, leader of the descendants of Ephraim 49 presented his offering, one silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 50 one gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense, 51 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 52 one male goat as a sin offering, 53 and for the fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud.

54 “On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, leader of the descendants of Manasseh 55 presented his offering, one silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 56 one gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense, 57 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 58 one male goat as a sin offering, 59 and for fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. 60 On the ninth day Abidan son of Gideoni, leader of the descendants of Benjamin 61 presented his offering, one silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 62 one gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense, 63 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 64 one male goat as a sin offering, 65 and for fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan son of Gideoni.

66 “On the tenth day Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, leader of the descendants of Dan 67 presented his offering, one silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 68 one gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense, 69 one young bull,one ram,one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 70 one male goat as a sin offering, 71 and for fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

72 “On the eleventh day Pagiel son of Ochran, leader of the descendants of Asher 73 presented his offering, one silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 74 one gold ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense, 75 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 76 one male goat as a sin offering, 77 and for fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Ochran.

78 “On the twelfth day Ahira son of Enan, leader of the descendants of Naphtali 79 presented his offering, one silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels by the standard 'Temple' shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, 80 one gold spoon of ten shekels, filled with incense, 81 one young bull, one ram, one year old male lamb for a burnt offering, 82 one male goat as a sin offering, 83 and for fellowship offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira son of Enan.

84 “This was the dedication of the altar on the day when it was anointed by the leaders of Israel, twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, twelve gold ladles, 85 each silver platter weighing one hundred thirty shekels, and each bowl seventy, all the silver of the utensils weighed two thousand four hundred shekels by the standard 'Temple' shekel, 86 the twelve gold ladles, filled with incense, weighing ten shekels apiece by the standard 'Temple' shekel, all the gold of the ladles weighed one hundred twenty shekels, 87 all the livestock for the burnt offering twelve bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs a year old twelve, and their grain offering, and the male goats as a sin offering twelve, 88 and all the livestock for fellowship offerings twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after it was anointed.

89 “When Moses went into the Tabernacle of the Congregation to speak with Yehovah, he heard His voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the Ark of the Testimony from between the two cherubim, and He spoke to him.

NUMBERS 8

The Seven Lamps of the Menorah

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Speak to Aaron, and tell him, “When you light the lamps, the seven lamps will provide light in front of the menorah. 3 Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the menorah, as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 4 This was how the menorah was constructed: It was made of hammered gold—from its base to its blossoms. The menorah was hammered like the pattern that Yehovah had shown Moses.

5 “Yehovah told Moses: 6 “Take the Levites from among the Israelites, and cleanse them. 7 You must do this to them, to cleanse them, sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, have them shave their whole bodies with a razor, and have them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. 8 Then have them take a young bull, and its grain offering, fine flour mixed with olive oil, and you are to take another young bull as a sin offering. 9 You must present the Levites before the Tabernacle of the Congregation. Assemble the entire congregation of the Israelites. 10 You must present the Levites before Yehovah. The Israelites will lay their hands on the Levites, 11 and Aaron will 'present' the Levites before Yehovah for a wave offering, on the behalf of the Israelites, to enable them to do Yehovah’s service. 12 The Levites will lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, then you are to offer one as a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering to Yehovah, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 Have the Levites stand before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Yehovah. 14 In this way you are to separate the Levites from among the Israelites, and the Levites will belong to Me. 15 Then after that the Levites can go in to do their work in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and you are to cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. 16 They are entirely assigned to Me from among the Israelites. I have taken them for Myself as substitutes for all who are born first, the firstborn of all the Israelites. 17 Every firstborn among the Israelites is Mine, both man and beast. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I made them kadosh for Myself. 18 I’ve taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the Israelites. 19 I’ve given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the Israelites, to work for the Israelites in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and to make atonement for the Israelites, so that there will be no plague among the Israelites when the Israelites approach the Kadosh Place.

20 “Moses and Aaron and the entire congregation of Israel did all of these things to the Levites—everything that Yehovah commanded Moses concerning the Levites was done to them. 21 The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before Yehovah, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tabernacle of the Congregation before Aaron and his sons, as Yehovah had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

23 “Yehovah told Moses: 24 “This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old or more they are to go and serve in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, 25 but at the age of fifty years they are to 'end' their service and not work any more. 26 They can assist their brothers in the Tabernacle of the Congregation to keep an obligation, but they must not do the difficult work. This is how you are to assign the obligations of the Levites.”

NUMBERS 9

The Passover

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert, in the first month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said, 2 “Allow the Israelites to keep [kill] the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, in the 'afternoon' [ie between the evenings], you must keep [kill] it at its appointed time, in accord with all its statutes, and in accord with all its ordinances. 4 So Moses told the Israelites to keep [kill] the Passover. 5 They keep [kill] the Passover on the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the 'afternoon', in the Sinai Desert. So the Israelites did everything in accord with what Yehovah had commanded Moses.

6 “But some of the men were unclean by touching a dead body, so that they couldn’t keep [kill] the Passover that day. So they came to Moses and Aaron that same day 7 and the men said, “We are unclean due to touching the body of a dead person. Why are we prevented from presenting Yehovah’s offering at the appointed time ‘with the rest of’ Israel?” 8 Moses said to them, “Wait here, so that I can listen to what Yehovah commands concerning you.”

9 “Then Yehovah said to Moses: 10 “Tell the Israelites, “If any of you or of your descendants becomes unclean by touching a dead body, or are on a long journey, they can still keep [kill] Yehovah’s Passover. 11 In the second month, on the fourteenth day in the 'afternoon' they can keep [kill] it. They must eat ‘the lamb’ with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They must not leave any of it until morning, or break any of its bones. When they keep [kill] the Passover they must follow all the pertinent statutes. 13 But anyone who is ceremonially clean, and not on a journey who fails to keep [kill] the Passover, that person must be removed from the people, because they didn’t bring Yehovah’s offering at the appointed time, they’ll suffer the consequences of their sin. 14 “‘If foreigners living among you want to keep the Passover to Yehovah according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its ordinance, then they will do it. You must have the same statute for both the foreigners and the native-born.

15 “On the day that the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the Tabernacle, that is, the Tabernacle of the Testimony. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like a pillar of fire. 16 So it was continuously; the cloud covered it during the day, and at night it looked like fire. 17 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tabernacle, the Israelites traveled, and wherever the cloud remained, the Israelites camped. 18 At the command of Yehovah, the Israelites traveled, and at the command of Yehovah they camped, and as long as the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle they remained camped. 19 Even when the cloud remained over the Tabernacle many days, the Israelites kept Yehovah’s command, and didn’t travel. 20 Sometimes the cloud remained over the Tabernacle for just a few days, then according to the command of Yehovah they remained camped, and then at Yehovah’s command they would set out. 21 Sometimes the cloud only remained from evening until morning; when the cloud lifted in the morning, they would set out; whether during the daytime or at night, whenever the cloud lifted, they would set out. 2222 Whether it was two days, a month, or a year, as long as the cloud was above the Tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped, and didn’t travel, but when it lifted they moved. 23 At the command of Yehovah they camped, and at the command of Yehovah they moved. They obeyed Yehovah’s command, as Yehovah had commanded thru Moses.

NUMBERS 10

Two Silver Trumpets

1 Yehovah said to Moses: 2 “Make two trumpets of hammered silver. Use them for calling the congregation together and as a signal to break camp. 3 When both are blown, the entire congregation is to gather before you at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 4 If they blow just one, then the leaders, the heads of the tribes of Israel are to gather before you. 5 When you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side will go forward. 6 When you blow the alarm a second time, the camps that lie on the south side will go forward. They must blow the alarm for their journeys. 7 But when the congregation is to be gathered together, you must blow them without sounding the alarm tones. 8 Aaron’s sons, the priests, will blow the trumpets, and 'this' will serve as a perpetual statute thruout your generations. 9 When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you must sound an alarm with the trumpets. Then you’ll be remembered by Yehovah your Elohim, and you’ll be saved from your enemies. 10 Also during your joyous occasions and your appointed times, and on the New Moons, you must blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the zebakim [sacrifices] of your fellowship offerings; and they [the trumpets] will serve as a reminder for you of Elohim’s presence. I am Yehovah your Elohim.

11 “Then in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the Tabernacle of the Testimony [1]. 12 The Israelites set out on their journey from the Sinai Desert, and the cloud came to rest in the Wilderness of Paran. 13 They first went forward according to the command of Yehovah by Moses. 14 First, the standard of the camp of the House of Judah went forward according to their armies. Nahshon son of Amminadab was over his army. 15 Nethanel son of Zuar was over the army of the tribe of the descendants of Issachar. 16 Eliab son of Helon was over the army of the tribe of the descendants of Zebulun. 17 The Tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari who carried the Tabernacle went forward. 18 The standard of the camp of Reuben went forward according to their armies. Elizur son of Shedeur was over his army. 19 Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the army of the tribe of the descendants of Simeon. 20 Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the army of the tribe of the descendants of Gawd. 21 The Kohathites set out, carrying the kadosh things. The others set up the Tabernacle before they arrived. 23 Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the army of the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh. 24 Abidan son of Gideoni was over the army of the tribe of the descendants of Benjamin. 25 'Finally' the standard of the camp of the descendants of Dan, that was the rear guard of all the army, set out. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was in command of that 'division'. 26 Pagiel son of Ochran was over the army of the tribe of the descendants of Asher. 27 Ahira son of Enan was over the army of the tribe of the descendants of Naphtali. 28 So were the travels of the Israelites according to their armies, and they went forward. 29 Moses said to Hobab, son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are journeying to the place that Yehovah said, “I’ll give it to you.’ Come with us, and we’ll treat you well, because Yehovah has spoken good concerning Israel. 30 He told him, “I won’t go, but I’ll return to my own land, and to my relatives. 31 He said, “Don’t leave us, please, because you know how we’re to camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. 32 It will be, if you go with us, yes, it will be that whatever good Yehovah does to us, we’ll do the same to you.

33 “So they set out from the Mount of Yehovah on a three day journey. The Ark of the Covenant of Yehovah went before them three days’ journey, to find them a resting place. 34 The cloud of Yehovah was over them by day, when they set out from the camp. 35 Then when the AMay those who hate you flee before you!” [Inverted Nun] 36 When it rested, he said, “Return, Yehovah, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel. [Inverted Nun]

[1] The Tabernacle of the Testimony was the portable tent that contained the Ten Commandments (Exodus 38:21) It was also called “the Tabernacle of Meeting” (Exodus 30:26), where Yehovah met with the descendants of Israel. It contained “the Ark of the Testimony” (Exodus 30:26 & 21:7). The Levites were responsible for transporting it and attending to it (Numbers 1:50). Eventually it (or a better one) will be in Heaven (Revelation 15:5).

NUMBERS 11

Grumbling

1 Now the people began complaining as they typically did about hardship. When Yehovah heard it, His anger burned, and fire from Yehovah burned among them, and incinerated some people on the outskirts of the camp. 2 The people cried to Moses, and Moses prayed to Yehovah, and the fire ceased. 3 The name of that place was Taberah, because Yehovah’s fire burnt among them.

4 “The foreigners [unique word] among them had a strong craving for other food and the Israelites started wailing again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic, 6 but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at. 7 The manna was like coriander seeds, and it looked like bdellium. 8 The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes from it. Its taste resembled fresh olive oil. 9 When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.

10 “Moses heard the people crying thruout their families, every man at the door of his tent, and the anger of Yehovah was kindled greatly, and Moses was displeased. 11 Moses said to Yehovah, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight for You to have you laid the burden of all these people on me? 12 Have I conceived all these people? Have I brought them out, so You should tell me, “Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land that You swore to their ancestors?’ 13 Where could I get meat to give to all these people? They cry to me, saying, “Give us meat so that we can eat.’ 14 I’m not able to bear all these people alone, because it’s too heavy for me. 15 If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I’ve found favor in your sight, and don’t let me see my wretchedness.

16 “Yehovah told Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel who you know to be the elders of the people and officers and bring them to the Tabernacle of the Congregation and have them stand with you. 17 I’ll come down and talk with you there. I’ll take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they’ll bear the burden of the people with you, so that you don’t have to bear it by yourself. 1824 “Moses went out, and told the people the words of Yehovah, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tabernacle. 25 Yehovah came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders, then when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they never did it again. 26 But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad, and the spirit, she [1] rested on them, and they were of those who were written, but hadn’t gone out to the Tabernacle, and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!” 28 Yehoshua son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, “My master Moses, forbid them!” 29 Moses told him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all Yehovah’s people were prophets and that Yehovah would put His spirit on them!” 30 Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

31 “A wind from Yehovah went out and brought quail from the sea, and had them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth. 32 The people 'spent' all day and all night and all the next day gathering the quail. No one gathered less ten homers, and they spread the quail out all around the camp to dry. 33 While the flesh was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of Yehovah was kindled against the people, and Yehovah struck the people with a very great plague. 34 So that place was named The Graves of the Greedy, because that’s where they buried the people who had been greedy. 35 From The Graves of the Greedy the people traveled to Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth.

[1] This video shows the many places in the Tanak (Hebrew Bible) where the kadosh [holy] spirit is feminine. I take this to mean that Yehovah, creator of the original languages in Babel, chose to designate that the power emanating from Him be earmarked in the same way as a hen guarding her chicks—a feminine force, but not a person at all.

NUMBERS 12

Miriam and Aaron Grumble

1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman who he had married, (since he had married a Cushite woman); 2 They asked, “Has Yehovah really only spoken with Moses? Hasn’t He also spoken thru us?” And Yehovah heard it. 3 Now Moses was very humble, more than anyone on the surface of the earth.

4 “Suddenly Yehovah spoke to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “You three come out to the Tabernacle of the Congregation!” So the three of them came out. 5 Yehovah came down in a columnar cloud and stood at the doorway of the tabernacle, and He called Aaron and Miriam, and when they both came forward, 6 He said, “Listen to My words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yehovah, will reveal Myself to him in visions. I’ll speak to him in a dream. 7 But this is not the way it is with My servant Moses; He is the most trustworthy person in My household. 8 With him I’ll speak plainly 'face' to 'face', not in riddles, and he’ll see Yehovah’s form. So why were you not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?” 9 Yehovah’s anger was kindled against them, and He left. 10 As the cloud moved away from the Tabernacle, Miriam was covered with an infectious skin disease, as white as snow! As Aaron turned toward Miriam, he saw that she was diseased! 11 Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my master, please don’t hold this sin against us, that we have so foolishly 'committed'. 12 Don’t allow her be like a dead 'baby' coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half decomposed.” 13 Moses cried to Yehovah, saying, “Please Elohim, heal her!” 14 Yehovah told Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, Shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Have her to be confined outside the camp for seven days; and after that she can be allowed in again. 15 So Miriam was isolated outside the camp for seven days, and the people didn’t break camp till Miriam was allowed in again. 16 Afterward the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

NUMBERS 13

Scouting Out Canaan

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Send men to scout out the land of Canaan that I’m giving to the Israelites. From every tribe of their ancestors, you are to send a man, every one a leader among them. 3 Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Yehovah, all of them being heads of the Israelites. 4 These then were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori. 6 from the house of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh. 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph. 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun. 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu. 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi. 11 from the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi. 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli. 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael. 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi. 15 from the tribe of Gawd, Geuel son of Machi. 16 These are the names of the men who Moses sent to scout out the land. Moses called Hoshea son of Nun Yehoshua.

17 “Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, and told them, “Go up this way from the South, and go up into the highlands, 18 and explore the land, see what it is, and the people who live there, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and what kindthe land is that they live in, whether it’s good or bad, and what towns they live in, whether in camps, or in strongholds, 20 and what the land is, whether it’s fat or lean, whether there is wood there, or not. Be of good courage, and bring back some of the fruit of the land. It was the season for the first ripe grapes.

21 “So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. 22 They went up by the South, and came to Hebron, Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a staff between two, they also brought some pomegranates, and some figs. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the Israelites cut down from there.

25 “They returned from scouting out the land at the end of forty days. 26 They returned to Moses and Aaron, and to the entire congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh, and brought back word to them, and to the entire congregation, and showed them the fruit from the land. 27 They told him, “We came to the land where you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified, and very large, and furthermore we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 Amalek dwells in the land of the South, and the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Amorites, live in the highlands, and the Canaanites live by the sea, and along the Jordan River. 30 Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up immediately and take it, because we’re well able to overcome it. 31 But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people, because they are stronger than we are. 32 So they gave a dreadful report to the Israelites about the land that they had spied out, . They said, “The land that we went into to scout out is a land that eats up its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of large stature. 33 There we saw the Nephilim. (The descendants of Anak are Nephilim. )We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so we were in their sight.”

NUMBERS 14

They Refuse to Enter Canaan

1 The entire congregation raised their voices, and cried, and the people cried that night. 2 All the Israelites muttered against Moses and Aaron, and the entire congregation told them, “We should have died in the land of Egypt! or we should have died in this wilderness! 3 Why does Yehovah bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be prey, wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “Let’s choose a leader and return to Egypt. 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell face down before the entire Israelite congregation. 6 Yehoshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were some of those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes 7 and they spoke to the entire congregation of the Israelites, saying, “The land that we passed thru to scout out is an exceeding good land. 8 If Yehovah delights in us, then he’ll bring us into this land give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 But don’t rebel against Yehovah or fear the people of the land because they are bread for us, their defense is removed from over them, and Yehovah is with us. Don’t fear them. 10 But the entire congregation wanted to stone them. The splendor of Yehovah appeared in the Tabernacle of the Congregation to all the Israelites.

11 “Yehovah told Moses, “How long will these people despise Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs that I’ve done among them? 12 I’ll strike them with a disease, and disinherit them, and make of you a nation greater and mightier than they. 13 Moses said to Yehovah, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it. By Your power You brought these people away from them. 14 They must tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They’ve heard that You Yehovah are among these people, because You Yehovah are seen face to face, and Your cloud stands over them, and You go before them, in a columnar cloud during the day, and in a column of fire during the night. 15 Now if You killed all of these people 'at once', then the nations that have heard of Your fame will say: 16 ‘Yehovah wasn’t able to bring these people into the land that He swore to give them, so He killed them all in the wilderness.’ 17 So may the power of Yehovah be magnified just as You’ve declared: 18 ‘Yehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in unfailing love, forgiving wickedness and disobedience; but He will by no means let the guilty go unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ sins to the children to the third and fourth generation. [Enlarged Yod] 19 Please pardon the wickedness of these people according to the greatness of Your unfailing love, just as You have been forgiving them from the time they left Egypt until now.”

20 “Yehovah said, “I’ve pardoned them as you have asked. 21 Yet as surely as I live, the whole earth will be filled with the splendor of Yehovah, 22 none of the peaple who have seen My splendor and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested Me these ten times and refused to obey Me 23 will ever see the land that I swore to their ancestors, and none of those who have despised Me will see it. 24 But since My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me completely, I will bring him into the land where he went, and his descendants will inherit it. 25 Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.

26 Yehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long must I put up with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I hear all the complaints of the Israelites that they’re making against Me. 28 Tell them, “As I live,’ says Yehovah, I will do everything to you that I heard you say I would do. 29 Your bodies will drop dead in this wilderness. Every one of you who are twenty years old or more, who were registered in the census and have complained about Me will die, 30 You absolutely won’t enter the land that I swore to settle you into, except for Caleb (son of Jephunneh) and Yehoshua (son of Nun). 31 Now concerning your children who you said would be carried off as plunder—I’ll bring them in and they’ll enjoy the land that you rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be wanderers in the wilderness for forty years, suffering for your prostitution until your dead bodies are 'scattered' in the wilderness. 34 For forty years—a year for each of the forty days you scouted the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it means for Me to be against you.’ 35 I, Yehovah, have spoken. I will certainly do these things to this whole wicked congregation that has gathered against Me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.”

36 So the men Moses sent to scout out the land who returned, and incited the entire congregation to complain against him by spreading a 'fatalistic' report about the land, 37 those very men who brought back the 'fatalistic' report about the land died by the plague before Yehovah. 38 Of all the men who scouted the land, only Yehoshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.

39 “Moses reported all this to the Israelites, and the people mourned bitterly. 40 They got up early in the morning, and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Look, we’re here, and will go up to the place that Yehovah has promised, because we have sinned. 41 But Moses asked, “Why are you disobeying the command of Yehovah, because it won’t work? 42 Don’t go up, because Yehovah isn’t with you. You will be struck down before your enemies. 43 The Amalekites and Canaanites are right in front of you, and you’ll fall by the sword. Since you ceased to follow Yehovah, Yehovah won’t be with you.” 44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain, even tho the Ark of the Covenant of Yehovah and Moses, didn’t leave the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in the highlands came down and attacked them and pummeled them all the way to Hormah.

NUMBERS 15

Laws for the Next generation

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, “When you’ve come into the land where you are to live that I’m giving you, 3 and you make an offering by fire to Yehovah, a burnt offering, or an atoning offering, to accomplish a vow, or a voluntary offering, or during your appointed times from your herds or flocks as a pleasing aroma to Yehovah, 4 then the person who brings the offering must offer to Yehovah a grain offering of one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of olive oil, 5 and wine for the wine offering, a fourth of a hin with the burnt offering or for the ze’bak [sacrifice] of each lamb. 6 ‘Or for a ram, you’ll prepare for a grain offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of olive oil, 7 and for the wine offering you must offer a third of a hin of wine as a pleasing aroma to Yehovah. 8 When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering, or a zebak, to accomplish a vow or for fellowship offerings to Yehovah, 9 then offer with the bull a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of olive oil, 10 and you must offer for the wine offering half a hin of wine, for an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yehovah.

11 “This is how it is to be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or a young goat. 12 Do it for each animal, however many you prepare. 13 ‘Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this manner, an offering by fire, as a pleasing aroma to Yehovah. 14 If a foreigner is living among you, or someone else who is among you wants to present an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to Yehovah, they must do what you do. 15 The congregation is to have the same statute for both you and the foreigners who are living with you, a perpetual statute thruout your generations. You and the foreigners will be the same before Yehovah. 16 The same Torah and the same ordinances will apply to you and to the foreigners living beside you.”

17 “Yehovah told Moses: 18 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, “When you arrive in the land where I’m bringing you, 19 then when you eat bread from the land, you must offer up a wave offering to Yehovah. 20 Of the first of your dough you must offer up a cake for a wave offering, as the wave offering of the threshing floor, then you must lift it up. 21 Of the first of your dough you are to give to Yehovah a wave offering thruout your generations.

22 ‘When you err, and not observe all these Commandments, that Yehovah has spoken to Moses, 23 anything that Yehovah has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yehovah gave the command and onward thruout your generations, 24 then it will be, if it is done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, that the entire congregation will offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to Yehovah, with its grain offering, and its wine offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat as a sin offering. 25 The priest must make atonement for the entire congregation of the Israelites, and they’ll be forgiven, because it was an error, and they’ve brought their offering, an offering by fire to Yehovah, and their sin offering before Yehovah for their error, 26 and the entire congregation of the Israelites will be forgiven, as well as the strangers who live as foreigners among them, because in respect of all the people it was done unintentionally.

27 ‘If one person sins unwittingly, then he’ll offer a one year old female goat as a sin offering. 28 The priest will make atonement for the 'person' who errs, when they sin unintentionally, before Yehovah, to make atonement for them, and they’ll be forgiven. 29 You are to have one Torah for the person who does something unintentionally, as well as the person who is native-born among the Israelites, and for the strangers who live as foreigners among them.

30 ‘But the person who does anything 'defiantly', whether they are native-born or foreigners blasphemes Yehovah, and that 'person' will be removed from the people, 31 because they have despised the Word of Yehovah, and have broken His commandment. That 'person’ will completely be removed, their wickedness will be on them.

32 “While the Israelites were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to the entire congregation. 34 They put him in custody, because it hadn’t been announced what should be done to him. 35 Yehovah told Moses, “The man must certainly be put to death, the entire congregation will stone him with stones outside of the camp. 36 So the entire congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

Tzitzits

NUMBERS 16

Korah’s Rebellion

1 Now Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men, 2 and rose up against Moses with some two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation of Israel, elected by the congregation, men of renown. 3 They gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron, and told them, “You take too much on yourself, since everyone in the congregation is kadosh, every one of them, and Yehovah is among them. So why are you elevating yourselves up above the congregation of Yehovah?” 4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, 5 and he spoke to Korah and to everyone in his company and said, “In the morning Yehovah will show who is His, and who is kadosh, and draw him to Himself. The person who He chooses He will bring near to Himself. 6 Do this: Take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your followers, 7 and put fire in them, and put incense on them before Yehovah tomorrow, and it will be that the man who Yehovah chooses is kadosh. You descendants of Levi have gone too far!” 8 Moses said to Korah, “Now hear this you descendants of Levi! 9 Is it a small thing to you, that the Elohim of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the Tabernacle of Yehovah, and to stand before the congregation to serve them, 10 and that He has brought you near, and all your brothers the descendants of Levi with you? And do you seek the priesthood also? 11 So you and all of your company are gathered together against Yehovah, and Aaron, what has he done that you complain about him?”

12 “Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We won’t come up.” 13 Isn’t it enough that you brought us out of a land that flows with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but now you want to lord it over us? 14 Furthermore, you haven’t brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards, will you put out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up. 15 Moses was very angry, and said to Yehovah, “Don’t respect their offering, I haven’t taken one donkey from them or hurt one of them.

16 “Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company go before Yehovah, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow, 17 and each man take his censer, and put incense on them, and each man bring before Yehovah his censer, two hundred fifty censers, you also, and Aaron, each his censer. 18 They each took their censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense on it, and took their stand at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then when Korah had gathered the entire congregation against them at the doorway of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the splendor of Yehovah appeared to everyone in the congregation. 20 Yehovah told Moses and Aaron: 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation so that I can incinerate them in a moment!” 22 They fell face down and said, “Elohim, the Elohim of the spirits of all 'humanity', will one man sin, and will You be angry with the entire congregation?” 23 Yehovah told Moses: 24 “Tell the congregation, “Get away from the vicinity of the tent of Korah, Dathan and Abiram!’”

25 “Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 He said to the congregation, “Please get away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you’ll be consumed in all their sins!” 27 So they got away from the tent of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones. 28 Moses said, “This is how you’ll know that Yehovah sent me to do all these things and that it wasn’t my own doing. 29 If these men die like all other people, suffering the fate of all mankind, then Yehovah hasn’t sent me. 30 But if Yehovah makes a new thing [a new kind of death!], and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them, with all of their things, and they go down alive into the grave [sheol], then you’ll understand that these men have despised Yehovah. 31 As he finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their families, and all of the men who had sided with Korah and everything they owned. 33 So they, and everyone with them, went down alive into sheol. The earth closed in on them, and they perished from among the congregation. 34 Everyone in Israel around them ran away when they heard their shouts, because they thought that the earth might swallow them too! 35 Fire came from Yehovah, and devoured all two hundred fifty men who were offering incense.

36 “Yehovah said to Moses, 37 Speak to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, and tell him to take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire out there, because they are kadosh, 38 including the censers of these sinners against their own lives, and have them be made into hammered plates for a covering of the altar, because they offered them before Yehovah, so they are kadosh, and they’ll be a sign to the Israelites. 39 Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that those who were burnt had offered, and they hammered them out for a covering of the altar, 40 to be a memorial to the Israelites, so that no stranger who isn’t a descendant of Aaron comes near to burn incense before Yehovah, that he not be like Korah, and as his followers, as Yehovah spoke to him by Moses.

41 “But the next day the entire congregation of the Israelites muttered against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed Yehovah’s people!” 42 Then when the congregation had gathered against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the Tabernacle of the Congregation and saw that the cloud covered it, and the splendor of Yehovah appeared, 43 Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 44 and Yehovah said to Moses: 45 “Get away from among this congregation so that I can consume them instantly!” But they fell facedown. 46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire from off the altar in it, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them, because wrath has gone out from Yehovah! The plague has begun. 47 Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the congregation and saw that the plague had begun among the people, and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died about the matter of Korah. 50 Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and the plague stopped.

NUMBERS 17

Aaron’s Budding Staff

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and take a staff from them for each 'ancestral' house,twelve staffs, and write each man’s name on his rod. 3 Write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi, because there will be one rod for each head of their 'ancestral' houses. 4 Lay them up in the Tabernacle of the Congregation in front of the Ark of the Testimony where I meet with you. 5 Then the rod of the man who I choose will bud, and I’ll stop the constant grumblings of the Israelites against you.” 6 Moses spoke to the Israelites, and all their leaders gave him rods, for each leader one, according to their 'ancestral' houses, twelve rods in all, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7 Moses laid up the rods before Yehovah in the Tabernacle of the Testimony.

8 “When Moses went into the Tabernacle of the Testimony the next day, he saw that Aaron’s staff for the house of Levi had sprouted, formed buds, blossomed, and produced almonds! 9 Moses brought out all the staffs from before Yehovah to all the Israelites, and they looked, and every man took his staff. 10 Yehovah told Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the 'rebels' in order to put an end of their grumbling against Me, so that they don’t die. 11 Moses did just as Yehovah had commanded him.

12 “The Israelites said to Moses, “Now we’re going to die! We are dying, we are all dying! 13 Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the Tabernacle of Yehovah, dies! Are we all going to die?”

NUMBERS 18

Duties of Priests and Levites

1 Yehovah said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ 'family' with you will be responsible for sin in connection with the Kadosh Place, and you and your sons will be responsible for sin involving your priesthood. 2 But also bring your relatives with you from the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, so that they can join you, and help you, while you and your sons are before the Tabernacle of the Testimony. 3 They must keep Your commands, and the duty of all the 'Tabernacle', but they must not come near the utensils of the Kadosh Place or the altar, or they will die, and you will die, too. 4 They must join you, and attend to the responsibilities of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, for all the service of the 'Tabernacle'. But no one else can come near you. 5 You are to attend to the duties of the Kadosh Place, and the duty of the altar, so that there will no longer be wrath on the Israelites. 6 I’ve taken your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are your gift to Yehovah, to do the service of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 7 You and your sons will carry out your priestly responsibilities for everything concerning the altar, and for what is inside the veil, and you are to serve. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near will be put to death.

8 “Yehovah spoke to Aaron, “I’ve indeed given you the command of My wave offerings, including all the kadosh things of the Israelites. I’ve put you and your sons in charge of the anointing as a share forever. 9 This will be yours of the most kadosh things, kept from the fire, all of their offering, including all of theirs grain offering, and all of their sin offering, and all of the guilt offering that they render to Me will be very kadosh for you and for your sons. 10 You must eat it like the most kadosh things. Every male must eat it. You must consider it kadosh. 11 This is yours, too, the wave offering of their gift, including all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I’ve given them to you and your sons and daughters as a share forever. Everyone who is clean in your house must eat it. 12 All the best of the olive oil, and all the best of the vintage, and the grain, the firstfruits of what they give to Yehovah, I’m giving to you. 13 The first ripe fruits of everything in their land, that they bring to Yehovah, will be yours, everyone who is clean in your house must eat it. 14 Everything dedicated to Israel will be yours. 15 Everything that opens the womb, of all 'humanity' that they offer to Yehovah, both of man and animal will be yours, but you’ll surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you’ll redeem the firstborn of unclean animals. 16 When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver, using the standard shekel of the Kadosh Place, that weighs twenty gerahs. 17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are kadosh. You’ll sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as an offering by fire, as a pleasing aroma to Yehovah. 18 Their flesh will be yours, as is the wave offering, breast and the right thigh, it will be yours. 19 I have I given you all the wave offerings of the kadosh things that the Israelites offer to Yehovah, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a share forever, it’s a covenant of salt forever before Yehovah to you and to your descendants with you.

20 “Then Yehovah told Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, no portion of land among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

21 “To the descendants of Levi, I’ve given all the tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for the work they do, working at the Tabernacle of the Congregation! 22 From now on the Israelites must not come near the Tabernacle of the Congregation, or they will incur sin and die. 23 But the Levites will do the work at the Tabernacle of the Congregation. They will be responsible for their own sins. It will be a perpetual statute thruout your generations, that among the Israelites they will own no property. 24 The tithe of the Israelites that they offer as a wave offering to Yehovah, I’ve given to the Levites as an inheritance, that’s why I’ve told them, “Among the Israelites they will own no property.

25 “Yehovah told Moses: 26 “You must speak to the Levites, and tell them, “When you take from the Israelites the tithe that I’ve given you from them for your inheritance, then you must contribute an offering of it for Yehovah, a tithe of the tithe. 27 Your wave offering will be credited to you, as tho it were the grain from the threshing floor, or the full harvest from the winepress. 28 So you also will offer a wave offering to Yehovah of all your tithes that you receive of the Israelites, and of it you’ll give Yehovah’s wave offering to Aaron the priest. 29 Out of all the gifts you receive, you must contribute the best, the most kadosh part to Yehovah. 30 “So tell them, ‘Once you’ve presented the best part, then the rest will be credited to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and the product of the wine vat. 31 You’ll eat it in every place, you and your households, because it’s your compensation in return for your service in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 32 You won’t incur sin because of it once you have offered the best part of it, but you must never defile the Israelites’ kadosh offerings, or you will die.

NUMBERS 19

The Red Heifer

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron: 2 “This is the statute of the Torah that Yehovah has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you bring you an unblemished red heifer that has never been yoked. 3 You must give her to Eleazar the priest, and he’ll bring her outside the camp, and slaughtered it in His 'presence'. 4 Eleazar the priest will take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the Tabernacle of the Congregation seven times. 5 Someone will burn the heifer in His sight, her skin, her flesh, her blood and her dung will be burned. 6 The priest will take cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet and throw them onto the fire where the heifer is burning. 7 Then the priest will wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he’ll come into the camp, and the priest will be unclean until evening. 8 He who burns her will wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening. 9 A man who is clean will gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place, and it will be kept for the Israelite congregation for a water for impurity, it’s a sin offering. 10 He who gathers the ashes of the heifer will wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even, and it will be a perpetual statute for the Israelites, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them. 11 He who touches the dead body of any man will be unclean seven days, 12 the same will purify himself with water on the third day, and on the seventh day he’ll be clean, but if he doesn’t purify himself on the third day, then on the seventh day he won’t be clean. 13 Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and doesn’t purify himself, defiles the Tabernacle of Yehovah, and that 'person' will be excluded from Israel, because the water of impurity wasn’t sprinkled on him, he’ll be unclean, his impurities are still on him.

14 “This is the instruction for when a person dies in a tent, everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent will be unclean for seven days. 15 Every open container without a lid fastened on it is unclean. 16 Whoever in an open field who touches someone who was slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a human bone or a grave will be unclean for seven days. 17 “This is what you must do for people who become unclean from touching a dead body. Put some of the ashes from the red heifer that was burned as an offering for sin into a container. Then pour fresh water over them. 18 Then a clean person is to take some hyssop, and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the containers, and on the people who were there, and on the person who touched the bone or the slain or the dead or the grave, 19 and the clean person will sprinkle it on the unclean person on the third day, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being purified must wash their clothes and bathe in water, and in the evening they will be clean. 20 But if the person who becomes unclean doesn’t purify themself, that person will be excluded from among the congregation, because they have defiled the 'Temple' of Yehovah, the water for purification hasn’t been sprinkled on them, they are unclean. 21 This is a perpetual statute to them, and he who sprinkles the water for purification will wash his clothes, and the person who touches the water for impurity will be unclean until even. 22 Anything that the unclean person touches will be unclean, and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.”

NUMBERS 20

Water from the Rock

1 The Israelites, the entire congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people lived in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there. 2 There was no water for the congregation, and they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people strove with Moses, and said, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yehovah! 4 Why have you brought the congregation of Yehovah into this wilderness in order to die there, we and our animals? 5 Why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this terrible place? It’s no place ‘to grow’ grains, figs, grapevines, or pomegranates, and there’s water to drink. 6 Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the congregation to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, and fell on their faces, and the splendor of Yehovah appeared to them. 7 Yehovah told Moses: 8 “Take the rod, and gather the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock where they can 'see', so that water will come out of it. You must provide them water from the rock. This is how you’ll give the congregation and their livestock something to drink. 9 Moses took the rod from before Yehovah, as He commanded him. 10 Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he told them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?” 11 Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, as well as their livestock. 12 Yehovah told Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t establish trust in Me, and honor Me in the eyes of the Israelites, you will not bring this congregation into the land that I’ve given them. 13 This is the pool of Meribah, where the Israelites quarrled with Yehovah, and He vindicated His honor among them.

14 “Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “Your brother Israel says, ‘You know all the travail that has happened to us, 15 how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt for a long time, and the Egyptians treated us poorly, and our ancestors, 16 and when we cried to Yehovah, He heard our voices, and sent a Messenger, and brought us out of Egypt, and look, we’re in Kadesh, a city in the remotest part of your border. 17 Please let us pass thru your land. We won’t pass thru fields or thru vineyards, and we won’t drink water from the wells, we’ll go along the king’s highway, we won’t turn aside to the right or to the left until we have crossed your border.’” 18 Edom told him, “You won’t pass thru me, or I’ll come out with swords against you. 19 The Israelites told him, “We will go up by the highway, and if we or our livestock drink your water, we will pay for it. Just let us pass thru on foot without doing anything else. 20 He said, “You won’t pass thru. Edom came out against him with many people, and with a strong hand. 21 So Edom refused to give Israel passage thru his territory, so Israel turned away from him.

22 “They traveled from Kadesh, and the Israelites, the entire congregation came to Mount Hor. 23 Yehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom: 24 “Aaron will join his ancestors, because he won’t enter the land that I’ve given to the Israelites, because you rebelled against My command at the water of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor, 26 and strip Aaron of his clothing, and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron will join his ancestors, and die there. 27 Moses did what Yehovah commanded, and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of the entire congregation. 28 Moses stripped Aaron of his clothing, and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 When the entire congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they cried for Aaron thirty days, the entire House* of Israel.

Numbers 21

Arad Defeated

1 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard that Israel was coming via way of Atharim, and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2 Israel made a vow to Yehovah, and said, “If You’ll hand these people back to us we’ll completely destroy their towns. 3 Yehovah listened to Israel, and handed the Canaanites over to them, and they completely destroyed them and their towns, and the name of the place was called Hormah.

4 “They traveled from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea, to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient along the way. 5 The people spoke against Elohim, and against Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, and there is no water, and ‘we’ loath this light bread. 6 Yehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many of ‘nation’ of Israel died. 7 The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yehovah, and against you. Pray to Yehovah, that He will take the serpents away from us. So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Yehovah told Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on the standard, and it happened, that if a serpent had bitten anyone, when they looked at the bronze serpent, they lived.

10 “The Israelites traveled, and camped in Oboth. 11 They traveled from Oboth, and camped at the ruins of Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab, toward the sunrise. 12 From there they traveled, and camped in the valley of Zered. 13 From there they traveled, and camped on the other side of the Arnon in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, because the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 So it’s said in the book of the Wars of Yehovah, “Vaheb in Suphah, the valleys of the Arnon, 15 the slope of the valleys that incline toward the dwelling of Ar, lies on the border of Moab. 16 From there they traveled to Beer, that is the well that Yehovah told Moses, “Gather the people together, and I’ll give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song, “Spring up, well, sing to it, 18 the well that the leaders dug, that the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter, and with their poles.” From the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah, 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of Moab where the summit of Pisgah overlooks Yeshimon.

21 “Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites: 22 “Let me pass thru your land, we won’t turn aside into a field or a vineyard, we won’t drink water from the wells, we’ll go by the king’s highway until we have crossed your territory.” 23 Sihon wouldn’t allow Israel to pass thru his territory, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel. 24 Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok. They stopped at the border of the Ammonites because it was fortified. 25 Israel took all these towns, and Israel lived in all the towns of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its towns. 26 Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. He had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land up to the Arnon Valley. 27 So those who speak in proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon. May the city of Sihon be built and established, 28 for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, “The masters of the high places of the Arnon. 29 How horrible it is for you, Moab! You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to King Sihon of the Amorites 30 We shot at them. Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. We destroyed everything between Nophah and Medeba.” 31 So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 After Moses sent scouts to Jazer, they took its towns, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

33 “They turned and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people to do battle at Edrei. 34 Yehovah told Moses, “Don’t be afraid of him, because I’ve handed him and all his people over to you, along with his land, and you’ll do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon. 35 So they struck him and his sons and all his people, leaving them no survivors. And they took possession of his land.

NUMBERS 22

Balak Hires Balaam

1 The Israelites traveled, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan River at Jericho.

2 “Balak son of Zippor saw everything that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 Moab was very afraid of the people, because there were so many, and Moab was distressed because of the Israelites. 4 Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This multitude will lick up everything around us, like an ox licking up grass in a field. Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. 5 He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor, to Pethor, by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, “Look, a horde of people came out of Egypt. They cover the surface of the earth, and are living right across from me! 6 Please come and curse these people with me now, because they are too strong for me. Maybe I’ll prevail, so we can strike them, and I can drive them out of the land, because I know that he who you bless is blessed, and he who you curse is cursed. 7 The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left with the fee for divination in their hand, and they came to Balaam, and told him what Balak had said. 8 He told them, “Stay here tonight, and I’ll bring you word again, whatever Yehovah tells me. The leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 Elohim came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 Balaam said to Elohim, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me: 11 ‘Look, the people who have come out of Egypt, cover the surface of the earth, now, come curse them for me, maybe I’ll be able to fight against them, and drive them out. 12 Elohim said to Balaam, “You won’t go with them. You won’t curse the people, because they are blessed. 13 Balaam got up in the morning, and told the leaders of Balak, “Return to your land, because Yehovah refuses to permit me to go with you. 14 The leaders of Moab got up, and returned to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

15 “So Balak sent more princes, more honorable than they. 16 They came to Balaam, and told him, “Balak son of Zippor says, ‘Please allow nothing to keep you from coming to me, 17 for I’ll make sure you are richly rewarded, and whatever you ask of me I’ll do. Please come and curse these people for me.’” 18 Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, ‘Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond what Yehovah my Elohim says, no less, no more. 19 So please wait here tonight, so I can see if Yehovah has anything else to say to me. 20 Elohim came to Balaam at night, and told him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them, but only say what I tell you to say. 21 Balaam got up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab.

22 “Elohim’s anger was kindled because he went, and the Messenger of Yehovah placed himself in the way as a deterrent against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the Messenger of Yehovah standing in the way, with His sword drawn in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way, and went into the field, and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her back onto the road. 24 Then the Messenger of Yehovah stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 25 The donkey saw the Messenger of Yehovah, she pressed herself to the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again. 26 The Messenger of Yehovah went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 The donkey saw the Messenger of Yehovah, and she lay down under Balaam, sparking Balaam’s rage, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Yehovah gave the donkey the ability to speak, and she asked Balaam, “What have I done to you for you to have struck me three times?” 29 Then Balaam said to the donkey, “You’ve made me look stupid. If I had a sword in my hand, I’d kill you right now.” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “I’m your own donkey, the one you’ve ridden all your life until today. Have I ever done anything like this before?” And he said, “No.” 31 Then Yehovah opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Messenger of Yehovah standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in His hand; so Balaam bowed face down to the ground. 32 The Messenger of Yehovah asked him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you because you are wrecklessly resisting Me. 33 The donkey saw me, and turned aside before me these three times. Unless she had turned aside from me, surely I would have killed you by now, and saved her alive.” 34 Balaam told the Messenger of Yehovah, “I’ve sinned, because I didn’t know that You stood in the way against me. So if it displeases you, I’ll go back again.” 35 The Messenger of Yehovah told Balaam, “Go with the men, but only say what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went with the leaders of Balak.

36 “When Balak heard that Balaam came, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, on the far end of the border of the Arnon. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I earnestly send to you to call you? Why didn’t you come to me? Aren’t I completely capable of promoting you to honor?” 38 Balaam said to Balak “Look, I’ve come to you, but I can’t say anything I want to. The words that Elohim puts in my mouth is what I speak. 39 Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. 40 Balak made offerings of cattle and sheep, and sent them to Balaam, and to the leaders who were with him. 41 Then in the morning Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, and he saw some of the people.

NUMBERS 23

Baalam’s Message to Balak

1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me. 2 Balak did as Balaam had said, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on every altar. 3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I’ll go. Perhaps Yehovah will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I’ll tell you.” He went to a bare height. 4 Elohim met Balaam, and he told him, “I’ve prepared the seven altars, and I’ve offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.” 5 Yehovah put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you must say.” 6 He returned to him, and he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the leaders of Moab! 7 He recited parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel. 8 How will I curse those who Elohim hasn’t cursed? How will I defy those who Yehovah hasn’t defied? 9 From the top of the rocks I see ‘them’. From the hills I see ‘them’. Look, it’s a people who live by themselves, and don’t consider themselves ‘just another’ nation. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count a quarter of Israel? May I die the death of the righteous! May my end be like ‘theirs’!”

11 “Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and you’ve pronounced blessings on them!” 12 He replied, “shouldn’t I be careful to only say what Yehovah ‘tells me to say?’” 13 Balak told him, “Please come with me to another place, you can see them from a different location, you’ll only see a few of them, you won’t see them all, and curse them for me from there. 14 He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. 15 He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet Yehovah over there”. 16 Yehovah met Balaam, and 'told him what to say'. Then He said, “Return to Balak, and repeat this.” 17 He came to him, and saw that he was standing by his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. Balak asked him, “What has Yehovah said?” 18 He repeated the message, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor. 19 Elohim isn’t like a man who lies, or a human son who changes His mind. He says what He will do, and then He does it. When He makes a promise, He makes good on it. 20 Look, I’ve received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it. 21 He hasn’t seen wickedness in Jacob. He sees no trouble for Israel. Yehovah his Elohim is with him. The shout of a king is among them. 22 Elohim brought them out of Egypt. He has, as it were, the strength of a Monoclonius [?]. 23 Surely there is no spell against Jacob; there isn’t any divination against Israel. Now it will be said of Jacob and of Israel, “See what Elohim has done!” 24 The people rise up like a lioness, as a lion he lifts himself up! He won’t lie down until he eat his plunder, and drinks the blood of the slain.

25 “Balak said to Balaam, “Then don’t curse them at all, nor bless them at all. 26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, “Whatever Yehovah says, that I must do?’ 27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I’ll take you to another place, perhaps it will please Elohim that you can curse them from there for me. 28 Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks the desert. 29 Balaam said to Bala, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here. 30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

NUMBERS 24

Balaam Blesses Israel

1 When Balaam saw that it pleased Yehovah to bless Israel, he didn’t resort as before to sorcery. Instead he turned toward the the wilderness. 2 Balaam looked up, and he saw Israel encamped by tribes, and she, the spirit of Elohim came on him. 3 He proclaimed another parable: “Balaam son of Beor says, the man whose eye was closed says, 4 who hears the word of Elohim, who sees the vision of El Shaddai, and falls down with his eyes open. 5 How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwelling places, O Israel! 6 They stretch out like river valleys, like gardens beside a river, like the aloes that Yehovah planted, like cedar trees beside the water. 7 Water will flow from his buckets. His descendants will be in deep water. His king will be higher than Gog [1]. His kingdom will be exalted. 8 Elohim brought them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of a Monoclonius [?]. ‘They’ll’ eat up the nations ‘their’ adversaries, and break their bones in pieces, and pierce them with ‘their’ arrows. 9 ‘His people’ lie down at rest like a lion. They are like a lioness, who will rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is cursed.

10 “Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together, and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and, look, you’ve blessed them three times now. 11 So now flee to your place! I wanted to promote you to great honor, but, look, Yehovah has prevented your being honored. 12 Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I also tell your messengers who you sent to me: 13 ‘Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond what Yehovah my Elohim says, to do either good or bad of my own volition. I’ll say what Yehovah says?’ 14 Now, look, I must go to my people, come, and I’ll inform you what these people will do to your people at the end of days”. 15 He took up his parable, and said, “Balaam son of Beor says, the man whose eye was closed says, 16 Who hears the words of Elohim, knows the knowledge of the Highest One, and who sees the vision of El Shaddai, falling down, and having his eyes open. 17 I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will emerge from Israel [Yeshua], and crush thru the forehead of Moab, and destroy all the sons of buttocks. 18 Edom will become your possession. Seir, his enemy, will also be a possession, while Israel is valiant. 19 Someone from Jacob will gain dominion, and destroy the survivors of the city.

20 “He looked at Amalek, and stated a parable, “Amalek was the first of the nations, but in the end he will be destroyed forever. 21 He looked at the Kenite, and stated another proverb, “Your dwelling place is strong. Your nest is built into a cliff. 22 But Kain will be wasted, when Asshur carries you away captive.” 23 He told another parable: “Oh, who will live when Elohim does this? 24 But ships will come from the coast of Kittim. They’ll oppress Asshur, and oppress Eber. He will also come to destruction.” 25 Balaam got up and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way.

[1] A number of earlier texts read Gog, in reference to Yeshua’s victory as in Ezekiel 38:3—footnotes.

NUMBERS 25

Israel Worships Baal

1 Israel lived in Acacia Grove, and the people began to practice prostitution with the daughters of Moab, 2 because they invited the people to participate in the sacrifices to their gods, and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods. 3 Israel joined himself to Baal Peor, and the anger of Yehovah was kindled against Israel. 4 Yehovah told Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people, and hang them in broad daylight before Yehovah, so that the fierce anger of Yehovah can turn away from Israel.” 5 Moses told the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.

6 “Look, one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of the entire congregation of the Israelites, while they were crying at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 7 When Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up from among the congregation, and took a spear in his hand, 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them thru, the man of Israel, and the woman thru her body. So the plague was stayed from the Israelites. 9 Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 “Yehovah told Moses: 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest has turned My wrath away from the Israelites, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so I didn’t consume the Israelites in My jealousy. [Small Yod] 12 So tell him I’m giving him My covenant of peace. 13 and it will be to him, and to his descendants after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his Elohim, and made atonement for the Israelites.

14 “Now the name of the man of Israel who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, (a leader of a ‘family’ from Simeon.) 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.

16 “Yehovah told Moses: 17 “Harass the Midianites, and strike them, 18 because they harassed you with their wiles, in that they’ve deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.

NUMBERS 26

The Second Census

1 Then after the plague, Yehovah spoke to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest: [The Gap] 2 “Take a census of the entire congregation of the Israelites, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, everyone who is able to go out to war in Israel. 3 Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River at Jericho: 4 “Take a census of the people, from twenty years old and upward, as Yehovah had commanded Moses and the Israelites. These are the ones who came out of the land of Egypt.

5 “Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, the sons of Reuben, of Hanoch, the clan of the Hanochites, of Pallu, the clan of the Palluites, 6 of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites, of Carmi, the clan of the Carmites. 7 These are the families of the Reubenites, and those counted were 43,730. 8 The sons of Pallu, Eliab. 9 The sons of Eliab, Nemuel, and Dathan and Abiram. The same Dathan and Abiram who were chosen from the congregation, who strove against Moses and Aaron in the crowd that followed Korah, when they rebelled against Yehovah, 10 and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that crowd died, when the fire devoured two hundred fifty men, and they became a warning sign. 11 But the sons of Korah didn’t die.

12 “The sons of Simeon after their families, of Nemuel, the clan of the Nemuelites, of Jamin, the clan of the Jaminites, of Jachin, the clan of the Jachinites, 13 of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites, of Shaul, the clan of the Shaulites. 14 These were the Simeonite clans, numbering 22,200 men. 15 The sons of Gawd after their families, of Zephon, the clan of the Zephonites, of Haggi, the clan of the Haggites, of Shuni, the clan of the Shunites, 16 of Ozni, the clan of the Oznites, of Eri, the clan of the Erites, 17 of Arod, the clan of the Arodites, of Areli, the clan of the Arelites. 18 These are the families of the sons of Gad, according to the count was 40,500.

19 “The sons of Judah, Er and Onan, and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 The sons of Judah after their families were, of Shelah, the clan of the Shelanites, of Perez, the clan of the Perezites, of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites. 21 The sons of Perez were, of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites, of Hamul, the clan of the Hamulites. 22 These were the clans of Judah; they numbered seventy-six thousand five hundred.

23 “The sons of Issachar after their families, of Tola, the clan of the Tolaites, of Puvah, the clan of the Punites, 24 of Jashub, the clan of the Jashubites, of Shimron, the clan of the Shimronites. 25 These were the clans of Issachar; they numbered sixty-four thousand three hundred.

26 The sons of Zebulun after their families, of Sered, the clan of the Seredites, of Elon, the clan of the Elonites, of Jahleel, the clan of the Jahleelites. 27 These are the families of the Zebulunites they numbered sixty thousand five hundred.

28 “The sons of Joseph after their families, Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The sons of Manasseh, of Machir, the clan of the Machirites, and Machir was the father of Gilead, of Gilead, the clan of the Gileadites. 30 These are the sons of Gilead, of Iezer, the clan of the Iezerites, of Helek, the clan of the Helekites, 31 and of Asriel, the clan of the Asrielites, and of Shechem, the clan of the Shechemites, 32 and of Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaites, and of Hepher, the clan of the Hepherites. 33 Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters, and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These are the families of Manasseh, and those who were numbered of them were 52,700.

35 “These were Ephraim’s descendants by their clans: thru Shuthelah, the clan of the Shuthelahites, of Becher, the clan of the Becherites, of Tahan, the clan of the Tahanites. 36 These are the sons of Shuthelah, of Eran, the clan of the Eranites. 37 These were the Ephraimite clans; the number of men were 32,500. These were Joseph’s descendants by their clans.

38 “The sons of Benjamin after their families, of Bela, the clan of the Belaites, of Ashbel, the clan of the Ashbelites, of Ahiram, the clan of the Ahiramites, 39 of Shephupham, the clan of the Shuphamites, of Hupham, the clan of the Huphamites. 40 The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman, of Ard, the clan of the Ardites, of Naaman, the clan of the Naamites. 41 These were the clans of Benjamin: The total number of men was 45,600.

42 “These were Dan’s descendants by their clans: the Shuhamite clan from Shuham. These were the clans descended from Dan. 43 All the families of the Shuhamites, according to the count was 64,400.

44 “The sons of Asher after their families, of Imnah, the clan of the Imnites, of Ishvi, the clan of the Ishvites, of Beriah, the clan of the Berites. 45 Of the sons of Beriah, of Heber, the clan of the Heberites, of Malchiel, the clan of the Malchielites. 46 The name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. 47 These are the families of the sons of Asher, according to the count was 53,400.

48 “The sons of Naphtali after their families, of Jahzeel, the clan of the Jahzeelites, of Guni, the clan of the Gunites, 49 of Jezer, the clan of the Jezerites, of Shillem, the clan of the Shillemites. 50 These are the families of Naphtali, according to the count was 45,400.

51 “These are those who were numbered of the Israelites, 601,730.

52 “Yehovah told Moses: 53 “To these the land will be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. 54 To the more you’ll give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you’ll give the less inheritance, to everyone according to those who were numbered of him will his inheritance be given. 55 But the land will be divided by lot, according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they’ll inherit. 56 According to the lot their inheritance will be divided between the more and the fewer.

57 “These are those who were counted of the Levites after their families, of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites, of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites, of Merari, the clan of the Merarites. 58 These are the families of Levi, the clan of the Libnites, the clan of the Hebronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the Mushites, the clan of the Korahites. Kohath was the father of Amram. 59 The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt, and she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister. 60 To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 61 Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before Yehovah. 62 Those who were numbered of them were 23,000 every male from a month old and upward, because they were not numbered among the Israelites, because there was no inheritance given them among the Israelites.

63 “These are the ones who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the Israelites in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River at Jericho. 64 But among these there wasn’t a single man who had been numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who counted the Israelites in the Sinai Desert. 65 For Yehovah had said of them, “They’ll surely die in the wilderness. There wasn’t a single man left, except for Caleb son of Jephunneh, and Yehoshua son of Nun.

NUMBERS 27

A Law of Inheritance

1 Then the daughters of Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh son of Joseph came near, and these are the names of his daughters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. 2 They stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and the entire congregation, at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation: 3 “Our father died in the wilderness, and he wasn’t part of the crowd that gathered together against Yehovah among Korah’s followers. He died in his own sin, and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father disappear from among his clan, because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s brothers.” 5 Moses brought their cause before Yehovah. [Enlarged Nun Sofit]

6 “Yehovah told Moses: 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad ‘are’ right, you must surely give them property as an inheritance among their father’s brothers, and you’ll cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. 8 You’ll announce to the Israelites, “If a man dies, and has no son, then his inheritance will pass to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, then you’ll give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, then you’ll give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 If his father has no brothers, then you’ll give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he’ll own it, and it will be to the Israelites a statute and ordinance, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

12 “Yehovah told Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land that I’ve given to the Israelites. 13 When you’ve seen it, you will join your ancestors [in death], as your brother Aaron did, 14 because you disobeyed My command in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to honor Me at the water in their eyes (that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin).

15 “Moses spoke to Yehovah: 16 “May Yehovah, the Elohim of the spirits of all 'humanity', appoint a man over the congregation, 17 who can go out before them, and who can come in before them, and who can lead them out, and who can bring them in, so that the congregation of Yehovah won’t be like sheep without a shepherd. 18 Yehovah told Moses, “Take Yehoshua son of Nun, who has the spirit in him, and lay your hand on him, 19 and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before the entire congregation, and commission him in their sight. 20 Give him some of your authority so that the entire congregation of the Israelites will obey him. 21 He’ll stand before Eleazar the priest, who will inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Yehovah, at his word they will go out, and at his word they’ll come in, both he, and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation. 22 Moses did as Yehovah commanded him, and he took Yehoshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before the entire congregation, 23 and he laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as Yehovah spoke by Moses.

NUMBERS 28

Daily Offerings

1 Yehovah said to Moses: 2 “Give these instructions to the Israelites: “You must be careful to present My offering at their appointed time. My food offerings made by fire are a soothing aroma to Me’ 3 Tell them, “This is the offering made by fire that you must offer to Yehovah, male lambs a year old without defects, two each day, for a continual burnt offering. 4 Offer one lamb in the morning, and offer the other lamb in the 'afternoon' [ie between the evenings] 5 with a tenth of an ephah of finely-milled flour as a grain offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin of pressed olive oil. 6 It’s a continual burnt offering that was appointed on Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to Yehovah. 7 The liquid offering will be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. You must pour out the liquid offering of liquor to Yehovah in the Kadosh Place. 7 You must offer the other lamb in the afternoon, like the grain offering in the morning, and its liquor offering, you must offer it as an offering by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yehovah. 9 ‘On the Sabbath day two male lambs a year old without defects, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, and its wine offering, 10 this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the continual burnt offering, and its wine offerings.

11 ‘On the first of every month you must offer a burnt offering to Yehovah, two young bulls, and one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defects, 12 and three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, for each bull, and two tenths of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, for the one ram, 13 and one tenth of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering to every lamb, for a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to Yehovah. 14 Their wine offerings will be half a hin of wine for a bull, and the third of a hin for the ram, and a fourth of a hin for a lamb, this is the burnt offering of every month thruout the months of the year. 15 One male goat as a sin offering to Yehovah, it will be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its wine offerings.

16 ‘Yehovah’s Passover falls on the fourteenth day of the first month. 17 There is a Feast on the fifteenth day of this month. For seven days the bread you eat must be unleavened. 18 On the first day there is to be a kadosh public assembly. You must not do any occupational work then. 19 You must present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to Yehovah: two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defects. 20 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with olive oil, you must offer three tenths for a bull, and two tenths for the ram. 21 You must offer a tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs, 22 and one male goat as a sin offering, to make atonement for you. 23 You must offer these in addition to the burnt offering in the morning, that’s for a continual burnt offering. 24 This is how you must prepare the daily offering for seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to Yehovah, it will be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its wine offerings. 25 On the seventh day you’ll have a kadosh public assembly, you’ll do no ordinary work.

26 ‘Also during the Day of Firstfruits, when you present a new grain offering to Yehovah at your Feast of Weeks [Pentecost], you are to have a kadosh public assembly. Never do any occupational work, 27 but you must offer a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma to Yehovah, two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old, 28 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with olive oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths for the one ram, 29 a tenth for each of the seven lambs, 30 one male goat, to make atonement for you. 31 Besides the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, you are to offer them (be sure they don’t have defects), and their wine offerings.

NUMBERS 29

Festival of Trumpets Offerings

1 ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you are to have a kadosh public assembly, you must not do any occupational work, it’s the Day for sounding shofars [Yom teruah]. 2 You are to offer a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to Yehovah: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defects, 3 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with olive oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths of an ephah for the ram, for the bull, two tenths of an ephah for the ram, 4 and one tenth of an ephah for every lamb of the seven lambs, 5 and one male goat as a sin offering, to make atonement for you, 6 in addition to the burnt offering on the New Moon, and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their wine offerings, according to the ordinance, as a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to Yehovah.

7 ‘Then on the tenth day of this seventh month you must have a kadosh public assembly, and humble yourselves, and you must not do any work, 8 but you must offer a burnt offering to Yehovah as a pleasing aroma: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old, see that they have no defects, 9 and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with olive oil, three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the one ram, 10 one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs, 11 one male goat as a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and their wine offerings.

12 ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you’re to have a kadosh public assembly, you must never do any routine work then, and you must celebrate another Feast with Yehovah for seven days. 13 You must offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, of a pleasing aroma to Yehovah, thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old, they must be defect free. 14 Their grain offering is to be of fine flour mixed with olive oil, three tenths on an ephah for every bull of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams, 15 and one tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; 16 and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its liquid offering.

17 ‘On the second day you are to offer twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defects, 18 and their grain offering and their wine offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance, 19 and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and their wine offerings.

20 ‘On the third day eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defects, 21 and their grain offering and their wine offerings for the bulls, from the rams, and from the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance, 22 and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its liquid offering.

23 ‘On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defects, 24 their grain offering and their wine offerings for the bulls, from the rams, and from the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance, 25 and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its wine offerings.

26 ‘On the fifth day nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defects, 27 and their grain offering and their wine offerings for the bulls, from the rams, and from the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance, 28 and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its wine offerings.

29 ‘On the sixth day eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defects, 30 and their grain offerings and their wine offerings for the bulls, from the rams, and from the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; 31 and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its wine offerings.

32 ‘On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defects, 33 and their grain offering and their wine offerings for the bulls, from the rams, and from the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance, 34 and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its wine offerings.

35 ‘On the eighth day you must have a solemn assembly, you must never do any servile work, 36 but you’ll offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, for a pleasing aroma to Yehovah, one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defects, 37 their grain offerings and their wine offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, will be by their number, according to the ordinance, 38 and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its wine offerings.

39 ‘You will offer these to Yehovah at your appointed feasts, besides your vows, and your voluntary offerings, for your zebakim [sacrifices], and for your grain offerings, and for your wine offerings, and for your fellowship offerings. 40 Moses told the Israelites in detail everything that Yehovah had commanded Moses.

NUMBERS 30

Vows>

1 Moses told the leaders of the Israelite tribes, “This is what Yehovah has commanded. 2 When a man makes a vow to Yehovah, or swears an oath binding himself with an obligation, he must never violate his word, he must do everything that proceeds from his mouth.

3 “Also if a woman makes a vow to Yehovah, and binds herself with an obligation, while living in her father’s house in her youth, 4 and her father hears her vow or obligation but says nothing to her, then all of her vows will stand, and every obligation that she made for herself will stand. 5 But if her father forbids her on the day that he hears about it, then none of the vows, or obligations that she has bound herself to will stand, and Yehovah will forgive her, because her father forbade her.

6 “But if she is married to a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance of her lips, that she obligated herself to, 7 and her husband hears about it, but says nothing to her on the day that he hears about it, then her vows will stand, the obligations that she bound herself under will stand. 8 But if her husband forbids her on the day that he hears about it, then he voids the vow that she made and the rash statement she 'uttered' and bound herself to, and Yehovah will forgive her. 9 “But the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything that she bound herself to will stand against her. 10 If she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself with an oath, 11 and her husband heard it, and said nothing to her, and didn’t disallow her, then all her vows will stand, and every commitment that she made will stand. 12 But if her husband nullified them on the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows, or concerning her obligations, won’t stand, her husband has made them void, and Yehovah will forgive her. 13 Her husband can confirm or he can void any vow that she makes to humble herself, or any binding oath. 14 But if her husband says absolutely nothing to her, from day to day, then he confirms all the vows, or all the bonds that she made, he has confirmeded them, because he said nothing to her on the day when he heard them. 15 But if he makes them null and void after he has heard them, then he’ll bear her wickedness.

16 “These are the statutes that Yehovah commanded Moses between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter, being in her youth, in her father’s house.

NUMBERS 31

Vengeance on Midian

1 Yehovah told Moses: 2 “Avenge the Israelites for the Midianites. Afterward you’ll join your ancestors. 3 Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, so that they can go against Midian and execute Yehovah’s vengeance on Midian. 4 Of every tribe one thousand, thruout all the tribes of Israel will be sent to war. 5 So there were recruited out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 Moses sent them, one thousand from every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the utensils of the 'Temple' and ‘shofars’ to sound in his hand.

7 “They warred against Midian, as Yehovah had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. 9 The Israelites took the women of Midian and their little ones captive, and all their livestock, and all their flocks, and they took all their goods as plunder. 10 They burned down all the towns where they lived and all their encampments. 11 They took all the plunder and spoils, people and animals. 12 They brought the captives, and the plunder, and the spoil to Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and to the Israelite congregation, to the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River in Jericho.

13 “Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside of the camp. 14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war. 15 Moses told them, “Have you spared all the women? 16 Look, these caused the Israelites, thru the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yehovah in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yehovah. 17 So kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18 But all the young girls and virgins can live, keep them for yourselves. 19 Camp outside of the camp seven days, whoever has killed anyone, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. 20 As to every garment, and anything made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood, you must purify for yourselves.

21 “Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who went to the battle, “This is the statute of the Torah that Yehovah has commanded Moses, 22 however the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin and the lead, 23 everything that will survive a fire, you must pass thru the fire, and it will be clean, but it will be purified with the water for impurity, and anything can’t withstand fire you’ll pass thru water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you’ll be clean, and after that you can return to the camp.

25 “Yehovah told Moses: 26 “Take the sum of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation, 27 and divide the plunder into two parts, between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and the entire congregation. 28 Collect tribute for Yehovah from the soldiers who fought in the battle, one out of every five hundred people, cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats. 29 Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yehovah’s wave offering. 30 From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty people, cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats, all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who are responsible for the care of Tabernacle of Yehovah.

31 “Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 32 Now the plunder, over and above the booty that the soldiers took, was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 head of cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and a total of 32,000 virgins. 36 The half from the share of those went to war was 337,50 sheep, 37 and Yehovah’s tribute of the sheep was 675. 38 Of the 36,000 cattle, the tribute to Yehovah was 72. 39 Of the 30,500 donkeys, the tribute to Yehovah was 61. 40 There were 16,000 people, of whom Yehovah’s tribute was 32 people. 41 Moses gave the tribute, that was Yehovah’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as Yehovah had commanded Moses. 42 As for the Israelites’ half, that Moses separated from the soldiers— 43 the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 head of cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys 46 and 16,000 people), 47 even of the Israelites’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of men and of animals, and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for the care of Tabernacle of Yehovah, as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

48 “The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds went to Moses 49 and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the soldiers who are under our command, and not one of us is missing. 50 We have brought Yehovah’s offering, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before Yehovah. 51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, including all the handmade jewels. 52 All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to Yehovah, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels. 53 Each of the soldiers had taken spoils for himself. 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tabernacle of the Congregation as a memorial for the Israelites before Yehovah.

NUMBERS 32

Reuben and Gad Settle Gilead

1 The tribes of Reuben and Gad [“Gawd”] had a large number of livestock. They saw that the regions of Jazer and Gilead were good lands for livestock. 2 So the tribes of Gad and Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation: 3 Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon, 4 the land that Yehovah 'conquered' before the congregation of Israel are good lands for livestock, and your servants have livestock. 5 They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, then allow this land to be given to your servants as our property. Don’t make us cross the Jordan River.”

6 “Moses asked the tribes of Gad and Reuben, “Will your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7 Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land that Yehovah has given them? 8 That’s what your ancestors did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land. 9 When they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land that Yehovah had given them. 10 Yehovah’s anger was kindled in that day, and He swore: 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, will see the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, because they haven’t wholly followed Me, 12 except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Yehoshua the son of Nun, because they’ve followed Yehovah completely.’ 13 Yehovah’s anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander back and forth in the wilderness for forty years until the entire generation that had done evil in the sight of Yehovah was consumed. 14 “You’re just like your parents! You’re a brood of sinners trying to make Yehovah’s anger toward Israel more intense. 15 If you turn back from following Him, He’ll once again abandon them in the wilderness, and you’ll destroy all these people.

16 “They approached him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and towns for our little ones, 17 but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the Israelites, until we have brought them to their own place, and our little ones will live in the fortified towns for of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We won’t return to our houses until each of the Israelites has inherited their inheritance. 19 We won’t inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan River, and forward, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan River eastward. 20 Moses told them, “If you’ll do this, if you’ll arm yourselves to go before Yehovah to war, 21 and all of your armed men cross over the Jordan River before Yehovah, until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, 22 and the land is conquered before Yehovah, then afterward you’ll return and be blameless towards Yehovah, and towards Israel, and this land will be your own property before Yehovah. 23 But if you won’t do that, you’ve sinned against Yehovah, and be sure your sin will 'come back on' you! 24 Build towns for your little ones, and folds for your sheep, but do what you have 'promised'.” 25 The tribes of Reuben and Gad told Moses, “Your servants will do what my master commands. 26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks and all our livestock will be there in the towns of Gilead, 27 while your servants, everyone who is armed for war, will cross over to fight in the presence of Yehovah, as my master says.

28 “So Moses commanded concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Yehoshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the Israelites. 29 Moses told them, “If the tribes of Gad and Reuben cross the Jordan River with every man armed for battle in the Yehovah’s presence and you conquer the land, you are to give them Gilead as their own property. 30 but if they don’t cross over with you armed, they must accept land in Canaan with you.” 31 The tribes of Gad and Reuben replied, “As Yehovah has said to your servants, so will we do. 32 We will cross over armed before Yehovah into the land of Canaan, but the property we inherit will be on the 'east' side of the Jordan River.”

33 “Moses gave the tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the whole land with its towns and the territory around them. 34 The tribe of Gawd built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atrothshophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, fortified towns, and sheepfolds for sheep. 37 The tribe of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, Baal Meon, (their names being changed) and Sibmah, and they gave new names to the towns that they rebuilt. 39 The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who 'lived' there. 40 Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he lived there. 41 Jair son of Manasseh went and took its towns, and called them Havvoth Jair. 42 Nobah went and took Kenath, and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

NUMBERS 33

A Summary of Israel’s Wilderness Journey

1 These are the journeys of the Israelites after the exodus from the land of Egypt by their divisions under the 'leadership' of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses recorded their points of departure, 'step by step', as Yehovah commanded, and this is their journey listed by their points of departure:

3 “They left Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month [the First Day of Unleavened Bread]. On the very day after the Passover the Israelite people went out ‘triumphantly’ in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all the firstborn that Yehovah had struck down among them. Yehovah had executed judgment against their gods. 5 The Israelites traveled from Rameses, and camped in Succoth. 6 They traveled from Succoth, and camped in Etham by the edge of the wilderness. 7 They traveled from Etham, and turned back to Pihahirothh, east of Baal Zephon, and they camped before Migdol. 8 They traveled from before Hahiroth, and crossed thru the middle of the sea into the wilderness, and they went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and camped in Marah. 9 They traveled from Marah, and came to Elim, and in Elim there were twelve springs, and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10 They traveled from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. 11 They traveled from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 They traveled from the wilderness of Sin and camped in Dophkah. 13 They traveled from Dophkah and camped in Alush. 14 They traveled from Alush and camped in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15 They traveled from Rephidim and camped in the Sinai Desert. 16 They traveled from the Sinai Desert and camped in Kibroth Hattaavah. 17 They traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah and camped in Hazeroth. 18 They traveled from Hazeroth and camped in Rithmah. 19 They traveled from Rithmah and camped in Rimmon Perez. 20 They traveled from Rimmon Perez and camped in Libnah. 21 They traveled from Libnah and camped in Rissah. 22 They traveled from Rissah and camped in Kehelathah. 23 They traveled from Kehelathah and camped in Mount Shepher. 24 They traveled from Mount Shepher and camped in Haradah. 25 They traveled from Haradah and camped in Makheloth. 26 They traveled from Makheloth and camped in Tahath. 27 They traveled from Tahath and camped in Terah. 28 They traveled from Terah and camped in Mithkah. 29 They traveled from Mithkah and camped in Hashmonah. 30 They traveled from Hashmonah and camped in Moseroth. 31 They traveled from Moseroth and camped in Bene Jaakan. 32 They traveled from Bene Jaakan and camped in Hor Haggidgad. 33 They traveled from Hor Haggidgad and camped in Jotbathah. 34 They traveled from Jotbathah and camped in Abronah. 35 They traveled from Abronah and camped in Ezion Geber. 36 They traveled from Ezion Geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (the same is Kadesh). 37 They traveled from Kadesh, and camped in Mount Hor, by the edge of the land of Edom.

38 “Aaron the priest went up onto Mount Hor at the command of Yehovah and died there, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had departed the land of Egypt, on the fifth month, on the first day of the month. 39 Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died in Mount Hor. 40 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.

41 “They traveled from Mount Hor and camped in Zalmonah. 42 They traveled from Zalmonah and camped in Punon. 43 They traveled from Punon and camped in Oboth. 44 They traveled from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab. 45 They traveled from Iyim and camped at Dibon Gad. 46 They traveled from Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim. 47 They traveled from Almon Diblathaim and camped on the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48 They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan River at Jericho. 49 They camped by the Jordan River, from Beth Jeshimoth all the way to Abel Acacia Grove in the plains of Moab.

50 “Yehovah spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River at Jericho: 51 “Speak to the Israelites, and tell them, “When you pass over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, 52 then you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places, 53 and you are to take possession of the land, and live there, because I’ve given given the land to you to possess. 54 You’ll inherit the land by lot according to your families, to the more you’ll give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you’ll give the less inheritance, wherever the lot falls to any man, that will be his. You are to inherit according to the tribes of your ancestors. 54 You are to inherit the land by lot according to your families, to the more you’ll give a greater inheritance, and to the fewer you’ll give a lesser inheritance, wherever the lot falls to any man, that will be his. You are to inherit according to the tribes of your ancestors. 55 But if you don’t drive out the inhabitants of the land ahead of you, then those you let remain will become like thorns in your eyes and in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you live. 56 Then I’ll do to you what I plan to do to them.’”

NUMBERS 34

Boundaries of the Promised Land

1 Yehovah said to Moses: 2 “Command the Israelites,‘When you enter the land of Canaan, it will be allotted to you as an inheritance with these boundaries: 3 Your southern region will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. Your southern boundary on the east will begin at the east end of the Dead Sea. 4 Your border will turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim. It then goes past Zin and ends at Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon. 5 The border will turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and end at the Mediterranean Sea. 6 “The western border is the coastline of the 'Mediterranean' Sea; this will be your western border. 7 “This will be your northern border: From the 'Mediterranean' Sea mark off your border to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor mark a line to the entrance of Hamath, and the border will extend to Zedad. 9 Then the border will continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border. 10 ‘Then mark off your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham; 11 and the border will extend down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, and the border will go down and continue along the eastern 'slope' of the Sea of 'Galilee'. 12 Then the border will extend down to the Jordan River and end at the Dead Sea. “These demarcations all around your land will define it.”

13 “Moses commanded the Israelites, “This is the land that you are to inherit by lot. Yehovah has commanded that this land be given to the nine and a half tribes, 14 because the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gawd and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance according to their ancestral households. 15 The two and a half tribes have received their 'land' east of the Jordan River from Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise.”

16 “Yehovah said to Moses, 17 “These are the names of the men who will distribute the land for you as your inheritance, Eleazar the priest, and Yehoshua son of Nun. 18 You must select one leader of every tribe to distribute the inheritance land. 19 These are the men’s names: From the house of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh. 20 Shemuel son of Ammihud, from the tribe of Simeon; 21 Elidad son of Chislon from the tribe of Benjamin; 22 Bukki son of Jogli, a leader from the tribe of Dan; 23 Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph; 24 Kemuel son of Shiphtan, a leader from the tribe of Ephraim; 25 Elizaphan son of Parnach, a leader from the tribe of Zebulun; 26 Paltiel son of Azzan, a leader from the tribe of Issachar; 27 Ahihud son of Shelomi, a leader from the tribe of Asher; 28 Pedahel son of Ammihud, a leader from the tribe of Naphtali.” 29 These are the ones Yehovah commanded to distribute the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

NUMBERS 35

towns For the Levites

1 Yehovah spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho. He said, 2 “Command the Israelites to give the Levites some of the property they’ll inherit for towns to live in and pastureland around those towns. 3 The towns will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other livestock. 4 The pastureland surrounding the towns that you give to the Levites will extend a thousand cubits [1,500 feet] from the city walls in every direction. 5 Measure outside of city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as ‘agricultural land’ [Gill’s] for their towns. 6 “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be towns of refuge where someone who has killed someone can flee to. In addition, give them forty-two other towns. 7 Give the Levites a total of forty-eight towns, along with their pasturelands. 8 Of the towns you give from the land the Israelites possess, you must take more from the larger tribes and less from the smaller ones. Every tribe is to give some of its towns to the Levites relative to the inheritance it receives.”

9 “Yehovah said to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites: “When you cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, 11 then you are to designate towns of refuge that a person who has killed someone unintentionally can flee to. 12 These towns will be places of refuge from vigilantes, so that a person who kills someone will not die until they stand trial before the congregation. 13 Th six towns you select will be your towns of refuge. 14 Assign three on this side of the Jordan River and three in Canaan as towns of refuge. 15 These six towns will serve as places of refuge for Israelites, foreigners and strangers among you. Anyone who unintentionally kills another person can escape to these towns.

16 “If anyone strikes someone with an iron tool, and they die, that person is a murderer; the murderer must certainly be put to death. 17 Or if someone wielding a stone strikes someone dead, that person is a murderer; the murderer must certainly be put to death. 18 Or if someone wielding a wooden weapon strikes someone dead, that person is a murderer; the murderer must certainly be put to death. 19 An avenger of blood must make sure the murderer is put to death. When the 'avenger' catches up with the murderer, the 'avenger' must kill him. 20 If anyone deliberately shoves someone or throws something at them and as a result they die 21 or if out of hostility someone hits another with their fist and they die, that person must be put to death; they are a murderer. The avenger of blood must put the murderer to death when they meet.

22 “‘But if someone unintentionally pushes someone suddenly or throws something at them 23 or, without seeing them, drops a stone on them heavy enough to kill them, and they die, then since that other person was not an enemy and did not intentionally harm them, 24 then the congregation must judge between the offender and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 25 The congregation must rescue the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood, and the congregation will return them to their city of refuge, where they had fled, and they must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the kadosh olive oil. 26 But if the one guilty of manslaughter ever goes outside the border of their city of refuge where they fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds them outside the border of their city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, they won’t be guilty of bloodshed, 28 because they should have stayed in their city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer can go back to their own property. 29 “These statutory ordinance will remain thruout your generations wherever you live.

30 ‘Whoever kills another person will be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses; but no one can be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 31 ‘You are never to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who has been given the death penalty. They must be put to death. 32 ‘Never accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest. 33 ‘Don’t defile the land where you live, because bloodshed defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for blood that is shed on it, other than the blood of the person who shed it. 34 You must never defile the land where you live, and where I live, because I, Yehovah, live among the Israelites.

NUMBERS 36

Guaranteed Real Estate

1 The family leaders from the clan of the descendants of Gilead, son of Machir and grandson of Manasseh, (families of Joseph’s descendants) came and addressed Moses and the leaders who were over the Israelite families. 2 and they said, “Yehovah commanded my master to give the Israelites their land by drawing lots, and my master was commanded by Yehovah to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they 'marry' any of the men from the other Israelite tribes, their inheritance will be removed from our ancestral inheritance and added to the tribe they marry into. So part of our allotted inheritance will be lost. 4 When the Israelite Jubilee year comes, then their inheritance will be [permanently] added to the inheritance of the tribe they belong to, so their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our ancestors.

5 “Moses commanded the Israelites in accordance with the Word of Yehovah, “What the tribe of Joseph’s descendants is saying is right. 6 This is what Yehovah commands concerning Zelophehad’s daughters: They can marry anyone they wantso long as they marry within a family of their ancestor’s tribe. 7 So no Israelite land will transfer from tribe to tribe. In this way every Israelite keeps the land inherited from their ancestors. 8 Any woman who possesses an inheritance in any Israelite tribe must marry someone from the clan of her ancestral tribe, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. 9 So no inheritance is to transfer from one tribe to another, since each of the Israelite tribes is to keep the land it inherits.”

1011 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, Zelophehad’s daughters, married cousins on their father’s side. 12 They married within the families of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance stayed in the tribe of their father’s family.

13 “These are the Commandments and the ordinances that Yehovah commanded thru Moses to the Israelites in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho.

DEUTERONOMY 1

Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

Israel’s History 40 Years after the Exodus

1 This is the 'statement' that Moses gave to all the Israelites beyond the Jordan River in the wilderness in the Arabah near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Di-zahab. 2 It’s an eleven days’ journey from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road. 3 Then in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses told the Israelites everything that Yehovah had commanded him to tell them. 4 This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan River, in the land of Moab, Moses began to announce this law:

6 “Yehovah our Elohim told us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 Break camp and resume your journey, and go to the highlands of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the highlands, and in the lowland, and in the Negev , on the whole Mediterranean coast, (the land of the Canaanites), and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Look,I have placed the land before you; go in and take possession of the land that Yehovah swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give to them and their descendants after them.

9 “I told you at that time that I wasn’t able to bear the burden of alone, 10 Yehovah your Elohim has increased your numbers, and now you are as numerous as the stars in the sky! 11 May Yehovah, the Elohim of your ancestors, make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you as He promised you! 12 But how can I bear the weight of your troubles and disputes by myself? 13 Select wise and discerning and experienced men from your tribes, and I’ll make them your leaders.” 14 You replied that this was a good proposal. 15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and made them your leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and tens, and officers for your tribes. 16 I commanded your judges at that time, “Hear the cases between your 'fellow fellow Israelites', and judge righteously between a man and his fellow countryman, and a foreigner residing among you. 17 You must not show partiality in judgment; hear the small and the great alike, you won’t be afraid of the face of man, because the judgment is Elohim’s, and the cause that is too hard for you, you’ll bring to me, and I’ll hear it. 18 At that time I told you everything that you absolutely had to do.

19 “Then we set out from Horeb, and went thru that vast and dangerous wilderness that you saw on the way to the highlands of the Amorites, as Yehovah our Elohim commanded us, and we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 Then I said to you, “You have come to the highlands of the Amorites that Yehovah our Elohim is about to give us. 21 Yehovah your Elohim has placed the land before you; go up and take possession of it, as Yehovah, the Elohim of your ancestors, has told you, don’t be afraid or discouraged. 22 All of you approached me and said, “Let’s send men ahead us to explore the land for us. Have them inform us as to the route we should take and the towns we should enter.” 23 The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. 24 and they turned and went up into the highlands, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and explored it. 25 They took some of the fruit of the land in hand, and brought it down to us, and reported, “It is a good land that Yehovah our Elohim is giving us.” 26

Yet you refused to go; you rebelled against the command of Yehovah your Elohim, 27 You complained in your tents and said, “Because Yehovah hated us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites so that they could destroy us! 28 Where can we go? Our own men have put our 'morale' into meltdown, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we are, the towns are the towns are large and fortified up to the sky. We even saw the Anakim there.’” 29 Then I said to you, “Don’t tremble and don’t be afraid of them. 30 Yehovah your Elohim who goes before you, He’ll fight for you the same way that He did for you in Egypt before your very eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you’ve seen how Yehovah your Elohim carried you, as a father carries his son, all along the way which you traveled until you arrived at this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this you didn’t trust Yehovah your Elohim, 33 who went ahead of you to guide you to places to camp. He appeared in a column of fire at night and a column of smoke during the day to show you which way to go.

34 “When Yehovah heard what you said, He was angry and solemnly swore: 35 “ “None of the people from this evil generation will see the good land that I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh; he will see it, and I will give him and his sons the land that he set foot on, because he followed Yehovah without reservations. 37 Yehovah was also angry with me because of you. He said, “You won’t enter either. 38 Yehoshua son of Nun, who stands before you will enter it. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit it. 39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who don’t yet know good from evil will enter 'the land'. I will give it to them and theyŠll take possession of it. 40 But as for you, turn around and take a hike toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”

41 “Then you told me, “We have sinned against Yehovah, we’ll go up and fight just as Yehovah our Elohim commanded us. Each of you armed yourself for war and thought it would be easy to 'invade' the highlands. 42 Yehovah told me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go up or fight, because I’m not with you to keep you from being defeated by your enemies.’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would’t listen. Instead you rebelled against Yehovah’s command defiantly went up into the highlands. 44 Then the Amorites who lived in that highlands came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees, and struck you down from Seir all the way to Hormah. 45 When you came back, you cried to Yehovah, but Yehovah didn’t listen to your requests or 'pay attention' to you. 46 That’s the reason you stayed in Kadesh as long as you did.

DEUTERONOMY 2

Wandering in the Wilderness

1 Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea, as Yehovah had told me. For a long time we roamed around the region of Mount Seir. 2 Yehovah then said to me, 3 “You’ve roamed this region long enough; now turn north. 4 Inform the people, “You are about to travel thru the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau who live in Seir. They’ll be afraid of you, so be very careful. 5 Don’t provoke them, because I’m not giving you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on, because I’ve given Esau’s descendants the region of Mount Seir as their property. 6 You are to purchase food from them with silver, in order to eat, and buy water from them to drink.’” 7 Yehovah your Elohim has blessed you in every endeavor you touch. He has watched over you as you traveled thru this vast wilderness. For the last forty years Yehovah your Elohim has been with you, and you haven’t gone without anything. 8 So we passed by our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road, away from Elath and from Ezion Geber. Then we turned and traveled along the road to the Wilderness of Moab. [The Gap]

9 “Yehovah told me, “Don’t harass Moab, or start a war with them. I won’t give you any part of their land as a possession, because I’ve given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.” 10 (The Emim used to live there, a people as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakim. 11 They were thought to be Rephaim, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out, and completely destroyed them, and took their place, just as Israel did in the land that Yehovah gave to them to own.) 13 Now get up and cross the Zered River.’ So we crossed over the Zered River. 14 The time that it took for us to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Zered River was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of the soldiers in the camp had died, as Yehovah had sworn to them. 15 Yehovah’s hand was against them until they were completely eliminated them from the camp.

16 “So when all the soldiers among the people had finally died, 17 Yehovah said to me: 18 “Today you are going to cross into the region of Moab at Ar, 19 and when you get close to the Ammonites, don’t bother them or provoke them, since I don’t intend to give you any of the land that I have already given to the descendants of Lot as their property.” 20 This also used too to be thought of as the land of the Rephaim who used to live there, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, 21 a strong and numerous people, and as tall as the Anakim, but Yehovah destroyed them before the Ammonites came, and they succeeded them, took their place. 22 as He did for the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites before them. They drove them out and they are still there today. 23 and the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them, and lived in their place.) 24 Get up and cross thru the valley of the Arnon. I’ve handed you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle! 25 This very day I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on all the people under heaven, who when they hear reports about you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

26 So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth King Sihon of Heshbon with 'an offer' of peace: 27 “Let us travel thru your land, I will only travel on the highway; we will not turn off to the right or to the left. 28 We’ll pay you in silver for the food we eat and the water we drink. Just allow us to travel thru on foot, 29 a just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until I cross over the Jordan River into the land that Yehovah our Elohim gives us. 30 But King Sihon of Heshbon wouldn’t allow us to pass thru because Yehovah your Elohim hardened his spirit, and made him inflexible, in order to hand him over to you, as he has now done. 31 Yehovah told me, “I have begun to give you Sihon and his country. Now begin to take possession of his land.” 32 Then at Jahaz, Sihon and all his 'army' came out to meet us in battle. 33 Yehovah our Elohim handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons and all his entire 'army'. 34 At the same time we captured all his towns and completely destroyed the people of every city, including the women and children. We left no survivors. 35 But we carried off the animals and the plunder from the towns we had captured for ourselves. 36 From Aroer on the bank of the Arnon Valley, and the city in that valley as far as Gilead, there was no city whose wall was too high and too strong for us; Yehovah our Elohim gave everything to us. 37 But you didn’t go near to the Ammonites’ land, anywhere along the bank of the Jabbok River, the towns of the highlands or anywhere Yehovah our Elohim had forbidden.

DEUTERONOMY 3

Defeat of King Og

1 Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan. King Og of Bashan and his entire 'army' came to fight us at Edrei. 2 Yehovah told me, “Don’tDon’t be afraid of him. I’ll hand him and his entire 'army' and his land over to you. Do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.” 3 So Yehovah our Elohim also handed King Og of Bashan and entire 'army' over to us. We struck them down, leaving no survivors. 4 We captured all his towns at that time; there wasn’t one city that we didn’t take from them: sixty towns—the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 5 All of these towns were fortified with high walls, gates and bars, besides a large number of unwalled villages. 6 We completely destroyed them, as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon, destroying the men, women and children of every city. 7 But we took all the animals and the spoil from the towns as plunder for ourselves. 8 So at that time we took the land from the grasp of the two Amorite kings who were 'east of' the Jordan River, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon, 9 (that the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir.) 10 all the towns of the plateau and all of Gilead and all of Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, towns of Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 11 (Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim [Giants]. His bed was made of iron and was more than nine cubits long [over 13 feet] and four cubits wide. It is still in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

12 So we took possession of this land at that time. I gave the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory north of Aroer near the Arnon Valley, and half of the highlands of Gilead and its towns. 13 I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og to the half-tribe of Manasseh, (The entire territory of Argob in Bashan used to be called the land of the Rephaim. 14 Jair, a 'descendant' of Manasseh, took the entire territory of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites. He renamed Bashan after himself. Jair’s Villages,as it is today. 15 I gave Gilead to Machir [of Manasseh]. 16 To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley is the border) and as far as the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites, 17 as well as the Arabah, and the Jordan River as a border, from Chinnereth [the Sea of Galilee] as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt [Dead] Sea, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

18 “I commanded you [Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh] at that time: “Yehovah your Elohim has given you this land to possess. All your soldiers will cross over ready for battle ahead of your brothers the Israelites. 19 I know that you have a lot of livestock. Your wives, young children and livestock must remain in the towns that I gave you, 20 until Yehovah gives rest to your fellow Israelites, as He has to you, and they also take possession of the land Yehovah your Elohim is giving them on the other side of the Jordan River. Then they will have a place to rest as you have. After that each of you can go back to the land I gave you.”

21 I also gave Joshua this command: “You have seen with your own eyes everything that Yehovah your Elohim has done to these two kings. Yehovah will do the same to all the kingdoms you are about to enter. 22 Don’t be afraid of them, because Yehovah your Elohim is the one fighting for you.”

23 Then I pleaded with Yehovah: 24 “Sovereign Yehovah, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand. What god is there in heaven or on earth who can perform deeds and mighty acts like Yours? 25 Please let me cross over and see the beautiful land on the other side of the JordanRiver—that good highlands and Lebanon.’ 26 But because of you Yehovah was angry with me, and didn’t listen to me, and Yehovah told me, ‘That’s enough! Don’t talk to Me again about this. 27 Go up to the top of Mount Pisgah, and 'look' toward the west and north and south and the east, and see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross the Jordan River. 28 But commission Yehoshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him, because he’ll go over ahead of the people, and he’ll help them take possession of the land you see.” 29 So we stayed in the valley facing Beth-peor.

DEUTERONOMY 4

Israel Urged to Obey the Torah

1 Now Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances that I’m teaching you, and obey them, so that you can live to enter and take possession of the land that Yehovah, the Elohim of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must not add to or subtract from the Words that I’m giving you, in order to obey the Commandments of Yehovah your Elohim that I give you. 3 You saw with your own eyes what what Yehovah did at Baal Peor. There Yehovah your Elohim destroyed from among you all of the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 4 But those of you who clung to Yehovah your Elohim are all alive today. 5 Look, I’ve taught you statutes and ordinances, just as Yehovah my Elohim commanded me, so you could follow them in the land where you are entering to take possession of. 6 So obey them, because this is your source of wisdom and your understanding that the people see. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, “Surely this is a great nation of wise and understanding people. 7 What other great nation is there that has their gods as near to it as Yehovah our Elohim is to us, whenever we call on Him? 8 And what great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances as righteous as this whole Torah that I’m setting before you today?

9 “But you should be careful, and watch yourselves closely, so that you don’t forget the things that you saw with your own eyes. Don’t let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live, but pass them on to your children and grandchildren. 10 Remember the day you stood before Yehovah your Elohim in Horeb, when Yehovah told me, “Gather My people so that I can allow them to listen to My words, so that they learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and so they can teach their children.” 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while it blazed with fire clear into the sky, amid thick clouds and intense darkness. 12 Then Yehovah spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you didn’t see His form; just a voice. 13 He proclaimed His covenant to you, that He commanded you to obey—the Ten Commandments, and He wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 It was at that time that Yehovah commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances that you’re to follow in the land you’re about to cross over into and take possession of.

15 “You should be cautious, since you didn’t see any kind of form the day that Yehovah spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, 16 otherwise you could act corruptly and make a carved image for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form, 17 or the form of any animal on earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky, 18 or like anything that moves along the ground or any fish in the water beneath 'the shore'. 19 And be careful not to 'look' to the heavens and see the sun and the moon and the stars, the entire heavenly array, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, the things that Yehovah your Elohim has given to all people everywhere under heaven. 20 But Yehovah has taken you, and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace, in order to make you His own people as you are today. 21 Now Yehovah was angry with me because of you, and He swore that I wouldn’t cross the Jordan River and enter the good land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance. 22 I’m going to die in this land. I’m not going to cross the Jordan River, but you’re going about to cross and take possession of that good land. 23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of Yehovah your Elohim that He made with you. Don’t make for yourselves any carved images to represent anything that Yehovah your Elohim has forbidden. 24 Yehovah your Elohim is a consuming fire, a jealous Elohim.

25 “After you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land for a long time, and corrupt yourselves, and then make an ]idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of Yehovah your Elohim, and provoke Him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land that you are going over the Jordan River to possess. You won’t live there very long. You’ll be completely destroyed. 27 Yehovah will scatter you among the nations, and only a few of you will survive being in those nations, where Yehovah will lamentably exile you. 28 There you’ll worship hand made gods that someone just made of wood and stone. They can’t see, hear, eat or smell. 29 But from there you’ll seek Yehovah your Elohim, and you’ll find Him, when you search for Him with complete 'sincerity' and with all your being. 30 When you’re in tribulation, and all these things have happened to you, at the end of the ‘age’, you’ll return to Yehovah your Elohim, and listen to what He says. 31 Yehovah your Elohim is a compassionate Elohim, He won’t abandon you, or destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors that He swore to them.

32 “'Diligently' inquire about the distant past, long before your time, from the day Elohim created 'people' on the earth. Search the heavens from one 'horizon' to the other. Has anything this great ever happened before, or has anything like it been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of Elohim speaking from amid a fire, as you heard, and lived? 34 Or has an elohim attempted to go and take a nation as his own from another nation, by trials, signs, wonders and war, by a mighty hand an outstretched arm, and by awesome terrors, as Yehovah your Elohim did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35 It was 'proven' to you so that you could know that Yehovah is Elohim; there is no other besides Him. 36 Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you. He showed you His great fire on earth, and you heard Him speak from within a fire. 37 Because he loved your ancestors, He chose their descendants who followed them, and Personally brought you out of Egypt by His great power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and stronger than you, to bring you in and give you their land. This land is your own property today. 39 So realize today, and never 'forget' that Yehovah is Elohim in Heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 You must keep His statutes and His Commandments that I’m 'giving' you today, so it will go well with you and your descendants, so as to live 'long' in the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you for all time.”

41 Then Moses set aside three towns across the Jordan River toward the 'east' 42 that anyone who had killed someone accidentally, without previously hating could flee to; and by fleeing to one of these towns they could save their life. 43 The towns were Bezer in the wilderness plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

44 “This is the Torah that Moses placed before the Israelites. 45 These are the decrees, statutes and ordinances that Moses gave them after they left Egypt, 46 across the Jordan River in the valley facing Beth-peor in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon. Moses and the Israelites defeated him after they left Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land the land of King Og of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites who were across the Jordan River to the east. 48 from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Sion (that is, Mount Hermon) 49 and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan River to the east, as far as the 'Dead' Sea, 'at the foot of' the slopes of Pisgah.

DEUTERONOMY 5

The Ten Commandments Repeated

1 Then Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them: “Israel, listen to the statutes and the ordinances I am proclaiming as you hear them today. Learn and follow them carefully. 2 Yehovah our Elohim made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 Yehovah didn’t make this promise with our ancestors, but with those of us who are alive here and now. 4 Yehovah spoke to you face to face on the mountain from the fire. 5 (I stood between Yehovah and you at that time, to show you the Word of Yehovah, because you were afraid of the fire, and didn’t go up the mountain.) He said,

6 “I am Yehovah your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the 'land' of slavery. 7 You must never have any other Elohim other than Me. 8 You must never make an idol for yourself resembling anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the water under the earth. 9 You must never bow down to them or serve them, because I, Yehovah, your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 10 but showing true love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and obey My Commandments. [1] 11 You must never misuse the name of Yehovah your Elohim, because Yehovah won’t let anyone go unpunished who misuses His name. 12 Remember to keep the Sabbath day kadosh, as Yehovah your Elohim commanded you. 13 You are to labor and do all your work within six days, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath dedicated to Yehovah your Elohim; on that day you must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock—even the foreigners living in your 'city' must never do any work on that day, so that your male and female servants can rest, as you do 15 You must remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and Yehovah your Elohim brought you out of there with a mighty hand by an outstretched arm; so Yehovah your Elohim commanded you to do the Sabbath day. 16 Honor your father and your mother, as Yehovah your Elohim commanded you, so that you can live long and prosper in the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you. 17 You must never murder. 18 You must never commit adultery. 19 You must never steal. 20 You must never be a false witness against your neighbor. 21 You must never covet your neighbor’s wife or desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

22 “These are the commandments that Yehovah proclaimed in a loud voice to your entire congregation there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; with an astonishing voice, and He added nothing more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me. 23 And when you heard the voice coming from the darkness and saw the mountain ablaze with fire, all the leaders and heads of your tribes came to me. 24 And you said, “Yehovah our Elohim has shown us His splendor and His greatness, and we have heard His voice come from the fire. Today we’ve seen that people can live even when Elohim speaks with them! 25 Now then why should we die? This great fire will still consume us; if we hear the voice of Yehovah our Elohim any more, then we’ll die. 26 Who has ever heard the voice of the living Elohim speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived? 27 Go near and listen to everything that Yehovah our Elohim has to say, and tell useverything that Yehovah our Elohim tells you, and we’ll listen and do it. 28 Yehovah heard the words that you spoke to me, and He told me, “I’ve heard the words that these people have spoken to you. Everything they said is right. 29 If only they would fear Me and obey all My commandments as long as they live, so that they and their children would prosper forever! 30 “Tell the people to return to their tents. 31 But you stand here with Me, and I will give you all the commandments, statutes and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can follow them in the land I am giving them to possess.’ 32 So be careful to do what Yehovah your Elohim has commanded you, you don’t veer off to the right or to the left. 33 You must 'live' the way that Yehovah your Elohim has commanded you, so that you can live, and that it can go well with you, so that you can live, prosper and live long in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

[1] The Ten Commandments are not suggestions, mere “words”. Yeshua made an offer you can’t refuse: If you want to live, keep the Commandments! Matthew 19:16-19; Mark 10:17-22; Luke 18:18-23; Revelation 22:14. This will “get your foot in the door”, but you can do even better.

DEUTERONOMY 6

The Commandments Guarantee Life!

1 These are the commandments, statutes and the ordinances that Yehovah your Elohim commanded me to teach you, so that you would do them in the land you’re about to enter and occupy. 2 As long as you fear Yehovah your Elohim, enough to obey all of His statutes and His Commandments that I’m giving you, your children and grandchildren as long as you live, your days will be prolonged. 3 So listen Israel, and be obedient, so that things will go well for you, and so that your numbers can increase greatly, as Yehovah, the Elohim of your ancestors has promised you, in a land that flows with milk and honey.

4 “Listen, Israel, Yehovah is our Elohim, Yehovah is One! [Enlarged Ayin] & [Enlarged Dalet] 5 You must love Yehovah your Elohim with all your mind, with all your being, and with all your strength. 6 These words that I’m commanding you today must be kept in mind! 7 You must teach them diligently to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 You must bind them as a sign on your handt, and wear them as headbands on your 'forehead'. 9 You should write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 “Then when Yehovah your Elohim brings you into the land that He swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give you, large and wonderful towns that you didn’t have to build, 11 and houses filled with all kinds of things that you didn’t fill and cisterns dug out that you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees that you didn’t plant, and you eat and are full and satisfied, 12 then be careful not to forget Yehovah who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a 'place' of slavery. 13 You must fear Yehovah your Elohim, and serve Him and take your oaths in His name. 14 Never persue other gods, any of the gods of the people who surround you 15 since Yehovah your Elohim who is among you is a jealous Elohim, otherwise the anger of Yehovah your Elohim will be kindled against you, and He will 'wipe' you off the face of the earth.

16 Never test Yehovah your Elohim, as you tested Him in Massah. 17 You must diligently obey the Commandments of Yehovah your Elohim, and His regulations, and His statutes that He has 'given' you. 18 You must do what is right and good in the sight of Yehovah, so things will go well for you, and so that you can enter and take possession of that good land Yehovah swore to your ancestors, 19 by driving out all your enemies from before you, as Yehovah said.

20 In the future when your children ask you, “What is the purpose of the regulations, the statutes and the judgments that Yehovah our Elohim has commanded you?” 21 Tell them, “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but Yehovah brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Then Yehovah inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, and Pharaoh and his whole family. 23 He led us out of there, so that He could bring us here, and give us the land that He had sworn to give our ancestors. 24 Yehovah commanded us to obey all these statutes, and to fear Yehovah our Elohim, always in our best interest and for our survival, as it is today. 25 Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow all of these commandments before Yehovah our Elohim, as He has commanded us.

DEUTERONOMY 7

Israel to Drive out Idolators

1 When Yehovah your Elohim brings you into the land you are entering to possess, and throws out many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, 2 and when Yehovah your Elohim hands them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must completely destroy them. Don’t make any treaties with them and show them no mercy. 3 Don’t intermarry with them. Don’t give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. 4 They’ll turn away your children from following Me to worship other gods. Then the anger of Yehovah will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you. 5 This is what you must do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Ashera poles, and set fire to their carved images, 6 because you are a kadosh people to Yehovah your Elohim. Yehovah your Elohim has chosen you to be His personal possession out of all the nations on the face of the earth. 7 Yehovah didn’t set His affection on you or choose you because you were more numerous than any other nation, since you were the smallest of all nations. 8 Rather, it’s because Yehovah loves you, and is honoring the oath that He swore to your ancestors. That’s why Yehovah has brought you out with a strong hand, and redeemed you from slavery, from the grasp of King Pharaoh of Egypt. 9 So remember that Yehovah your Elohim is the only Elohim, the faithful Elohim. He keeps His covenant with enduring love for a thousand generations, with those who love Him and obey His Commandments. 10 But He repays those who hate Him in person, destroying them. He won’t be slack with anyone who hates Him. He’ll personally repay them. 11 So you must obey the Commandments and the Statutes and the Ordinances that I give you today.

12 “Then if you heed these ordinances and faithfully obey them, Yehovah your Elohim will faithfully keep His covenant with you that He swore to your ancestors. 13 He’ll love you, and bless you, and multiply you. He’ll also bless your children and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, your olive oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flocks in the land that He swore to your ancestors to give you. 14 You’ll be blessed morethan any other people; there won’t be an infertile male or female among you or your livestock. 15 Yehovah will keep you free from every disease. He won’t subject you to any of the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will impose them on anyone who hates you.

16 “You must destroy all the people who Yehovah your Elohim hands you. Have no pity on them, and never worship their gods, because they will snare you. 17 If you think to yourself, “These nations are greater than us. How could we drive them out?” 18 You must not be afraid of them, you must remember what Yehovah your Elohim did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt. 19 You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm that Yehovah your Elohim brought you out with. Yehovah your Elohim will do the same to all the people you are afraid of. 20 Yehovah your Elohim will send hornets against them, until the few hiding from you die. 21 You must not be afraid of them, because Yehovah your Elohim is with you, a great and awesome Elohim. 22 Yehovah your Elohim will drive out these nations before you by little and little, you won’t destroy them at once, otherwise the wild animals would overrun you. 23 But Yehovah your Elohim will hand them over to you, and throw them into hysteria, until they are destroyed. 24 He’ll hand their kings over to you, and you’ll cause their names to vanish from under heaven. No man will be able to stand against you, until you’ve destroyed them. 25 You must burn the carved images of their gods with fire. You must not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, or take any for yourselves, or you’ll be ensnared by it, because it’s an abomination to Yehovah your Elohim. 26 You must not bring an abomination into your house, or you too will be set apart for destruction. You must completely detest and abhor them, because it’s set apart for destruction.

DEUTERONOMY 8

Remember Yehovah

1 You must obey every commandment that I am giving you today, so that you can live, and multiply, and go in and take possession the land that Yehovah swore to give to your ancestors. 2 Remember all the ways that Yehovah your Elohim has led you these forty years in the wilderness. He did this in order to humble you and test you, to determine your 'worthiness', whether you would obey His Commandments or not. 3 He humbled you by allowing you go hungry, and then fed you with manna, something that neither you or your ancestors were familiar with [check how many ways ‘yada’ is translated!], so He could make you understand that people don’t live by bread alone, but by every word originating from the mouth of Yehovah. 4 Your clothing didn’t wear out on you, and your foot didn’t swell these forty years. 5 Keep in mind that Yehovah your Elohim was disciplining you like a man disciplines his son. 6 You must obey the Commandments of Yehovah your Elohim, 'live by' His ways, and to fear Him. 7 Yehovah your Elohim is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams of water, springs, and deep springs flowing thru the valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land where you’ll eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron ore, and from whose hills you can mine copper.

10 Once you have eaten and been satisfied, then thank Yehovah your Elohim for the good land that He has given you. 11 Be careful that you don’t forget Yehovah your Elohim, by not obeying His Commandments, His ordinances and His statutes that I’m giving you today, 12 otherwise, once you’ve eaten and are satisfied, and have built nice houses and lived in them, 13 and once your herds and flocks have grown large and your silver and gold has increased and everything you have has multiplied, 14 then be careful that you don’t become arrogant and forget Yehovah your Elohim, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you thru the vast and dreadful wilderness where there were fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground devoid of water. He brought you water out of solid rock. 16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors had never seen, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end He could cause you to prosper. 17 Otherwise, you might say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember Yehovah your Elohim, because it’s He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, confirming the covenant that He swore to your ancestors, as it is today. 19 But if you ever forget Yehovah your Elohim, and follow other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you today that you’ll surely perish. 20 Like the nations that Yehovah causes to perish before you, you will perish if you don’t obey the voice of Yehovah your Elohim.

DEUTERONOMY 9

Wicked Nations Driven Out

1 Listen, Israel, you’re crossing the Jordan River today. You’ll be driving out nations that are larger and more powerful than you, with large towns that have sky-high walls. 2 The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know all about them. You’ve also heard it said, “Who can stand up to the descendants of Anak?” 3 But be assured today that Yehovah your Elohim will cross over ahead of you like a raging fire; He will devastate and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as Yehovah promised you. 4 Don’t say to yourselves, “Yehovah has brought us here to take possession of this land because we are so righteous.” No, it’s because these nations are so wicked that Yehovah is driving them out before you. 5 You aren’t going into their land due to your righteousness, or because of your integrity, but because of the wickedness of these nations, Yehovah your Elohim is driving them out from before you, so that He can carry out the 'promise' that Yehovah swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob. 6 So understand that Yehovah your Elohim isn’t giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness. You are a 'headstrong' people!

7 Don’t forget how you provoked Yehovah your Elohim to wrath in the wilderness. You have been rebelling against Yehovah from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you arrived here! 8 At Horeb you provoked Yehovah to wrath, and Yehovah was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you. 9 When I went up to the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that Yehovah made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I did not eat food or drink water. 10 Yehovah gave me the two stone tablets written with the finger of Elohim Himself. On them were written all the words that Yehovah spoke with you on the mountain from amid the fire on the day of the congregation. 11 At the end of the forty days and nights, Yehovah gave me the two stone tablets; the tablets of the covenant. 12 Yehovah told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people who you’ve brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned from the way that I commanded them; they’ve made a cast image for themselves.” 13 Yehovah also said to me, “I’ve seen these people, and they are quite a 'headstrong' people! 14 Let me alone, so that I can destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I’ll make you into a nation larger and stronger than they are.” 15 So I turned and came down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 16 Then I saw that you had sinned against Yehovah your Elohim. You had made yourselves a molten calf. You had quickly turned from the way that Yehovah had commanded you. 17 I took the two tablets and threw them from my hands, and smashed them before your eyes. 18 I fell down in the presence of Yehovah, as before for forty days and nights; I went without food and water for forty days and nights; because of all the sin you had committed, by doing what was evil in Yehovah’s sight, and provoking Him to anger. 19 I was afraid of the fierce anger that Yehovah had against because He was about to destroy you. But again Yehovah listened to me. 20 Yehovah was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, so I prayed for Aaron at the same time. 21 I took the sinful 'calf' you had made and burned it. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a brook that flowed down the mountain.

22 You continued to provoke Yehovah to wrath at Taberah, Massahat and Kibroth Hattaavah. 23 When Yehovah sent you from Kadesh Barnea, He said, “Go up and take possess the land I’ve given you,&rdquo. But you rebelled against the command of Yehovah your Elohim. You didn’t believe Him or obey Him. 24 You’ve been in rebellion against Yehovah from the first day that I knew you.

25 “So I fell down before Yehovah those forty days and forty nights that I 'did', because Yehovah had said He would destroy you. 26 I prayed to Yehovah: “Sovereign Elohim, don’t destroy Your people, Your own inheritance. You redeemed them by Your greatness, and You brought out of Egypt with a strong hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of these people, and their wickedness and sin. 28 Otherwise the land that You brought us frpm will say, ‘Because Yehovah wasn’t able to bring them into the land that He promised them, and because He hated them, He brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ 29 Yet they are Your people, Your inheritance that You brought out by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm.”

DEUTERONOMY 10

The Tablets Rewritten

1 At that time Yehovah told me, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself a wooden Ark [chest]. 2 I’ll write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you smashed. Then you will put them in the ark.” 3 So I made the Ark out of acacia wood, and cut two more stone tablets like the first ones, and climbed the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4 He wrote on these tablets the same words as before, the ten Commandments that Yehovah had spoken to you on the mountain from the fire on the day of the congregation, and Yehovah gave them to me. 5 Then I turned back and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the Ark that I had made, and they are still there as Yehovah commanded me.

6 “(The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah. Aaron died there and was buried there, and his son Eleazar succeeded him as priest. 7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with many streams of water.

8 “At that time Yehovah set apart the tribe of Levi, to carry the Ark of the Covenant of Yehovah, to stand before Yehovah to serve Him, and to bless in His name as they do today. 9 That is why Levi has no share or inheritance like his brothers; Yehovah is their inheritance, as Yehovah your Elohim promised him.)

10 “I stayed on the mountain, as I did the first time, forty days and forty nights, and Yehovah listened to me that time also, Yehovah agreed not to destroy you. 11 Yehovah told me, “Get up. Continue on your journey ahead of the people, so that they can enter and take possession of the land I swore to give their ancestors.”

12 “Now, Israel, what does Yehovah your Elohim require of you other than to fear Yehovah your Elohim, to 'live' by all His ways, to love Him, and to serve Yehovah your Elohim with all of your mind and being, 13 and to obey Yehovah’s Commandments and His statutes that I’m giving you today for your own good? 14 The sky, the highest heaven, the earth and everything in it belongs to Yehovah your Elohim! 15 Yet Yehovah was devoted to your ancestors and loved them, and He chose you, their descendants, over all the nations, as it is today. 16 So circumcise your minds, and don’t be 'headstrong' any longer. 17 Yehovah your Elohim is Elohim of elohim, and the Sovereign of sovereigns, the great Elohim, the mighty and the awesome Elohim, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He execute justice for orphans and widows, and loves the resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19 You should also love foreigners, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 Fear Yehovah your Elohim, serve Him, and cling to Him, and take your oaths in His name. 21 He is your praise, and He is your Elohim, who has done these great and awesome 'wonders' for you that you have seen with your own eyes. 22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt , and there were seventy in all, and now Yehovah your Elohim has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

DEUTERONOMY 11

A Blessing, or a Curse

1 You must love Yehovah your Elohim, and always obey His instructions, His statutes, His ordinances, and His Commandments. 2 Keep in mind today that I’m not talking to your children who haven’t experienced the discipline of Yehovah your Elohim—His greatness, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm, 3 and His signs and the things He did within Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to his whole country, 4 and what He did to the Egyptian army, to their horses and their chariots when He caused the water of the Red Sea to engulf them, while they were chasing you, and how Yehovah completely destroyed them, 5 and what He did for you in the wilderness before you arrived here. 6 You saw what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their their families, their tents, and every living thing that belonged to them, within sight of all of Israel. 7 but you have seen all of the amazing things that Yehovah did with your own eyes!

8 “So be careful to obey every commandment that I’m giving you today, so that you can be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are about to cross into and possess, 9 so that you can continue to live in the land that Yehovah swore to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land that flows with milk and honey! 10 The land that you’re entering to take possession of isn’t like the land of Egypt that you left, where you sowed your seeds, and made irrigation channels with your foot for the enclosed gardens. 11 Rather, the land you’re about to enter is a land of hills and valleys, well watered by the rain from heaven. 12 It’s a land that Yehovah your Elohim cares for. Yehovah your Elohim continually watches over it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

13 “So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love Yehovah your Elohim, and unconditionally serve Him in mind and body, 14 then I’ll send rain to your land in 'the right' season, the early rain and the late rain, so that you can gather in your grain and your new wine and your olive oil. 15 I’ll provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You’ll eat and be satisfied. 16 Be careful, or you’ll be deceived and turn away and serve other elohim and worship them. 17 Then Yehovah’s anger will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the sky so that there will be no rain, and the land won’t yield its fruit, and you’ll quickly disappear from this good land that Yehovah is giving you.

18 “So keep these My words of mine in your minds and in your passions, and tie them as a sign on your hands, and wear them on your foreheads. 19 You must teach them to your children. Talk about them as you’re sitting at home and when you’re walking along the road, when you’re lying down and when you’re getting up. 20 You will write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children will be many in the land that Yehovah swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as there are heavens above the earth. 22 If you carefully obey all of these commandments I am giving you to follow, to love Yehovah your Elohim, and 'live' in all His ways, and hold tightly to Him— 23 then Yehovah will drive out all these nations from before you, and you’ll replace nations larger and stronger than you. 24 Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours; from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the 'Mediterranean' Sea. 25 No one will be able to stand against you. Yehovah your Elohim will put fear and dread of you on all the land where you set foot, as He has told you. 26 Today I’m offering you a blessing or a curse, 27 the blessing, if you’ll listen to the Commandments of Yehovah your Elohim that I’m giving you today. 28 or the curse, if you disobey the Commandments of Yehovah your Elohim and you turn away from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known. 29 When Yehovah your Elohim brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessings on Mount Gerizim and the curses on Mount Ebal. 30 These mountains are west of the Jordan River, toward the sunset, near the oak trees of Moreh, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, in the vicinity of Gilgal. 31 You’re about to cross the Jordan River to enter and take possession of the land Yehovah your Elohim is givng you. When you take possession of it and live there, 32 be careful to obey all the statutes and ordinances I’m setting out for you today.

DEUTERONOMY 12

A Place for His Name

1 These are the statutes and the judgments that you must faithfully obey in the land that Yehovah, the Elohim of your ancestors has given you as your own, as long as you live on the earth. 2 You must completely destroy all the worship sites where nations that you’re displacing served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills and under every shade tree. 3 You must tear down their altars, smash their obelisks to pieces, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their names from those places. 4 You must never worship Yehovah your Elohim the way they 'worship'. 5 But you are to seek Yehovah in the place where Yehovah your Elohim chooses from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and gather there. 6 You are to bring there your burnt offerings, your zebakim [sacrifices], your tithes and your 'personal' contributions and offerings you vowed. 7 There you and your households will eat and celebrate everything you’ve 'worked' for, because Yehovah your Elohim has blessed you. 8 Never worship in the way we are doing here today, where everyone is doing as they see fit, 9 since you haven’t come to your place of rest, the property that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you. 10 When you cross over the Jordan River and settle in the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you as your own property, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you live in security, 11 then Yehovah your Elohim will choose the place to have His name reside. That is where you must bring everything that I command you: your burnt offerings and your zebakim, your tithes, your 'personal' contributions, and all the finest offerings you have vowed to Yehovah. 12 You must celebrate before Yehovah your Elohim, you, and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites who are within your gates, since they have no allotment or inheritance of their own. 13 Be sure not to offer your burnt offerings in some place that looks good to you. 14 You must only offer your burnt offerings in the place Yehovah chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you. 15 But you can slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, as much as you want from the blessing of Yehovah your Elohim that He has given to you. Clean and unclean people can eat it as if they were eating a gazelle or a deer. 16 But never eat the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.

17 “You are not allowed to eat the tithe of your grain, or your new wine, or your olive oil, or the firstborn of your herd or flock, or any of your offerings that you vow, including voluntary offerings or your ‘personal’ offerings within your towns. 18 You must eat them in the presence of Yehovah your Elohim at the place where Yehovah your Elohim chooses, you, and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites who are within your towns, and you’ll celebrate before Yehovah your Elohim in ‘everything that you do.’ 19 Be careful never to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land. 20 When Yehovah your Elohim extends your territory as He has promised you, and you have a strong craving for meat, you can eat it whenever you want. 21 If the place where Yehovah your Elohim chooses to put His name is too far away from you, you must slaughter an animal from your herds or flocks that Yehovah has given you. Eat whatever you want within your city gates just as I have commanded you. 22 Eat it as you would a gazelle or a deer: Both clean and unclean people can eat it. 23 But never consume the blood, since the blood is the life, and you must not consume the life with the meat. 24 Never consume blood. Pour it on the ground like water. 25 You must eat 'blood', so that things will go well for you and your descendants, since you will be doing what is right in Yehovah’s sight. 26 But take your kadosh things and any offerings you vowed, and go to the place that Yehovah chooses, 27 Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of Yehovah your Elohim, and the blood of your zebakim is to be poured out on the altar of Yehovah your Elohim, then you can eat the meat. 28 Be sure you obey everything I’m telling you so that things will go well for you and your descendants, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of Yehovah your Elohim.

29 “When Yehovah your Elohim karets [destroys] the nations from before you, where you’re going in to displace them, and you take possession of their land live there, 30 be careful not to be tempted to follow their customs after they have been destroyed from before you. Don’t study their gods, asking, “How did these people worship their gods? We’ll do the same.” 31 You must never do that to Yehovah your Elohim, because every abominable act that Yehovah hates they have done for their gods; they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 Carefully do everything I command you. Never add anything to it or remove anything from it.

DEUTERONOMY 13

False Prophets Will Come

1 When a prophet or a dreamer shows up among you and predicts a sign or wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder that he predicted takes place, and he says, “Let’s follow other gods” (gods you may have never heard of) “and let’s worship them,” 3 You must never listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer, because Yehovah your Elohim is testing you, to see if you love Yehovah your Elohim with all your mind and with all your being. 4 You must 'follow' Yehovah your Elohim, and fear Him, obey His Commandments and listen to His voice; serve Him and cling to Him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached sedition against Yehovah your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from that 'place' of slavery. He tried turning you from the way that Yehovah your Elohim commanded you to 'follow'. You must purge the evil from among you.

6 If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let’s go worship other gods” (gods you may have never heard of 7 any of the gods of the people around you, near or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), 8 you must not tolerate them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. 9 Instead, you must put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone them to death because they were trying to turn you away from Yehovah your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 11 Then all the Israelites will hear about it and be afraid. Then no one among you will ever do such a wicked thing again.

12 If you hear it said about one of the towns that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you to live in, 13 that some lowlifes have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let’s worship other gods” (who you may have never heard of) 14 then you must investigate, and search out witnesses. If it is true, and you can prove that this abominable thing has been 'tolerated' among you, 15 then you must kill the inhabitants of that city by the edge of swords. Completely destroy everyone in it including the livestock with the edge of swords. 16 Then you must collect all its goods into the middle of the city square and burn their city and all their goods as a burnt offering to Yehovah your Elohim. That city must remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt, 17 Nothing set apart for destruction is to be found in your hands, so that Yehovah can turn away from His burning anger and show mercy to you. In his compassion He will make your population increase, as He swore to your ancestors, 18 as long as you listen to the voice of Yehovah your Elohim and obey all of His commandments that I am 'giving' you today, and do what is right in the sight of Yehovah your Elohim.

DEUTERONOMY 14

Clean and Unclean Animals

1 You are the children of Yehovah your Elohim, you must never cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the sake of the dead. 2 You are a kadosh people to Yehovah your Elohim, and Yehovah has chosen you out of all the people on earth to be His treasured possession.

3 You must never eat any abominable thing. 4 These are the animals you can eat: oxen, sheep, goats, 5 deer, gazelles, roebucks, wild goats, ibexes, antelopes and mountain sheep. 6 You can eat any animal that has hoofs completely split into two parts and chews their cud. 7 But some animals only chew their cud, while others only have completely divided hoofs. You must not eat those kinds of animals. They include camels, rabbits and shaphan. While they chew their cud, they don’t have divided hoofs. They are unclean for you. 8 Pigs, because they have a split hoof but they don’t chew cud, are unclean for you. You must not eat their flesh or touch their carcasses.

9 You can eat anything 'living in' the water that has fins and scales, 10 But you must never eat anything that doesn’t have fins and scales; It is unclean for you.

11 You can eat any clean bird. 12 But these are the 'birds' that you should never eat: eagles, bearded vultures, black buzzards, 13 red kites, black kites and any kind of falcon, 14 any kind of raven, 15 ostriches, nighthawks, seagulls, any type of hawks, 16 little owls, great owls, white owls 17 pelicans, ospreys, cormorants, 18 storks, every variety of heron, hoopoes and bats. 19 All the flying insect are also unclean for you. Don’t eat them. 20 You can eat any clean bird.

21 Never eat any creature you find already dead. You can give it to foreigners who live in your towns, and they can eat it. Or you could sell it to foreigners who are visiting. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

22 “You must set aside a tithe of the crop that comes from your field every year. 23 You must eat the tithe of your grain and your new wine, and your olive oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock before Yehovah your Elohim in the place where He chooses to establish His name, so that you’ll learn to always revere Yehovah your Elohim. 24 But if the distance is too far for you to carry ‘the tithe’ to where Yehovah your Elohim chose to establish His name, then Yehovah your Elohim has blessed you. 25 In that case, you should exchange the crop for silver, and take the silver in hand, and go to the place where Yehovah your Elohim has chosen. 26 Spend the silver for whatever you like—cattle, sheep, wine or other alcoholic drinks, whatever you want. You must eat it in the presence of Yehovah your Elohim, and celebrate with your family. 27 Don’t neglect the Levites within your gates, since they have no allotment or inheritance 'of their own'. 28 At the end of every third year you must bring a tithe of your annual produce, and store it up within your city gates. 29 The Levites who have no allotment or inheritance 'of their own', and foreigners, orphans and widows who live in your towns can come to eat and be satisfied. Then Yehovah your Elohim will bless you in whatever work 'you do'.

DEUTERONOMY 15

The Sabbatical Year

1 At the end of every seven years you are to cancel debts. 2 This is how the debts are canceled: every creditor must forgive what they have lent to their neighbor. They must not require payment from their neighbor or relative, because Yehovah’s suspension has been proclaimed. 3 You can require payment from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you. 4 In any case, there shouldn’t be any poor people among you, (because Yehovah will certainly bless you in the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you for an inheritance to own,) 5 if only you obey the voice of Yehovah your Elohim, and are careful to follow all of the commandments I’m giving you today. 6 because Yehovah your Elohim will bless you, as He promised you. You’ll lend to many nations but you won’t borrow; you’ll rule over many nations, but they will never rule over you.

7 If there is a poor person among you, one of your 'fellow Israelites', in any of your 'towns' in your land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you, you must not be unsympathetic or tightfisted toward 'them'. 8 Rather, be openhanded and generously lend them whatever they need. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the sabbatical Year is coming up,” and you eye your 'fellow Israelites', and give them nothing, they might cry to Yehovah against you, and you would be guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to them, without resentfulness when you give to them, because of this Yehovah your Elohim will bless you in everything you work for and in all your 'undertakings'. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. That’s why I’m commanding that you be openhanded toward your needy and poor 'fellow Israelites' in your land.

12 If your 'kinsman', a Hebrew man or woman is sold to you, and serves you [up to] six years, in the seventh year you must set them free. 13 But when you set them free, don’t send them away empty-handed. 14 You must give them generous provisions from your flock, from your threshing floor and from your wine press. Bless them as generously as Yehovah your Elohim has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and Yehovah your Elohim paid your ransom. That’s why I’m giving you this command today. 16 But if he tells you, “I don’t want to leave you,” since he loves you and your family and is doing well with you, 17 then take an awl, and pierce it thru his ear into a door, and he’ll be your servant for 'life'. Do the same for your female servant. 18 Don’t consider it a hardship to set your servants free, since they served you six years and were worth twice as much as hired help, and Yehovah your Elohim will bless you in everything you do.

19 Dedicate to Yehovah your Elohim all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and your flock. Never work with the firstborn of your herd, or shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 Every year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of Yehovah your Elohim in the place that Yehovah chooses. 21 But if it has any 'defect', such as lameness or blindness, or any other serious flaw, you must never offer it as a ze’bak] to Yehovah your Elohim. 22 You should eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean alike can eat it, as you would a gazelle or a deer [ordinary food]. 23 But never consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.

DEUTERONOMY 16

The Pilgrimage Feasts

1 Celebrate the month of Aviv, and do Yehovah your Elohim’s Passover, because during the month of Aviv Yehovah your Elohim brought about your deliverance from Egypt ‘by’ [because of the events of that] night. 2 You must offer the Passover zebak [sacrifice] to Yehovah your Elohim, from the flock or the herd, in the place where Yehovah chooses to establish His name. 3 Don’t eat leavened bread with it. You must eat unleavened bread with it for seven days, the bread of misery, because you left the land of Egypt in a hurry. This is how you can remember the day you left the land of Egypt ‘for the rest’ of your life. 4 No leaven should be seen in your possession within your territory for seven days, and none of the flesh of your offering from the evening of the first day will remain overnight until morning. 5 You must not zebak the Passover within any of the city gates that Yehovah your Elohim is about to give you. 6 You must kill the Passover in the place where Yehovah your Elohim chooses to establish His name, in the evening as the sun is going down, at the Appointed Time [Moed] [the anniversary] of your exodus from Egypt. 7 Roast it and eat it in the place that Yehovah your Elohim chooses. Then you are to return to your tents in the morning. 8 You must eat unleavened bread for seven days [1], and on the seventh day there will be a solemn assembly to Yehovah your Elohim. Don’t do any work then.

9 “You are to count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time you first begin wielding the sickle thru the standing grain. 10 Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks [Pentecost] to Yehovah your Elohim by giving a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings Yehovah your Elohim has given you. 11 Then celebrate before Yehovah your Elohim along with your sons, daughters, male and female slaves, the Levites who live in your towns, foreigners and the orphans and widows who are living among you. Celebrate in the place where Yehovah your Elohim chooses to establish His name. 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes.

13 “You must celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days, after you’ve gathered the produce from your threshing floors and your wine presses. 14 Enjoy yourselves at the Feast with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, as well as the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows living in your 'towns'. 15 You must celebrate Yehovah your Elohim’s Feast for seven days in the place that Yehovah chooses, because Yehovah your Elohim will bless you, and you’ll prosper in all of the efforts that you ‘undertake’. There will be great joy for everyone.

16 “Three times a year all your men must appear before Yehovah your Elohim in the place that He chooses: during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, during the Feast of Weeks and during the Feast of Tabernacles. You should never appear before Yehovah empty-handed. 17 Every man must bring a gift proportionate to the blessings that Yehovah your Elohim has given you.

18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in all the 'towns' that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you, and they will judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 Never corrupt justice. Be impartial. Never take a bribe, because bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and corrupts the words of the righteous. 20 Fight for justice so that you will live and possess the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you.

21 You must never set up an Asherah pole of any kind of tree beside the altar of Yehovah your Elohim that you will make for yourselves. 22 Never set up a sacred pillar, that Yehovah your Elohim hates.

[1] The Dead Seas Scrolls say seven days, in agreement with Leviticus 23:6. The Masoretic texts, the basis of virtually every translation, mistakenly says six days!

DEUTERONOMY 17

How Justice is Served

1 You must never offer Yehovah your Elohim an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, because that is an abomination to Yehovah your Elohim.

2 “If a man or woman among you in one of your villages that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you is found doing evil in the sight of Yehovah your Elohim, by violating His covenant, 3 and has served other gods, and worshiped them—the sun, or the moon or any of the stellar array, contrary to My command 4 and if you’re told or hear about it, then you must carefully investigate it. If it’s true and can be proven that such an abominable thing has been done in Israel, 5 then you must bring the man or woman who has committed this wickedness to the city gates and you must stone 'that person' to death. 6 On the 'testimony' of two or three witnesses a person can be sentenced to death, but no one is to be executed on the testimony of a single witness. 7 The witnesses must be first in handling the execution, and then it’s in the hands of all the other people. You must purge the evil from among you.

8 If a case is too difficult for you to decide—between one kind of homicide and another, between one kind of lawsuit and another, between one kind of assault and another, being matters of controversy within your 'courts', then you must get up and go up to the place that Yehovah your Elohim chooses. 9 You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is serving at the time. Consult them and they will give you the verdict. 10 You must abide by the 'terms' they give you at the place Yehovah chooses. Be sure to do whatever they instruct you to do, 11 acting in accordance with the verdict they give you. Don’t deviate to the right or the left of the decision they disclose to you. 12 The man who acts presumptuously refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there serving Yehovah your Elohim or the judge must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. 13 Then all the people hear about it, and be afraid to act presumptuously again.

14 Once you have entered the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled there, you will say, “Let’s have a king rule over us like all the nations around us,” 15 you will certainly appoint a king over you of Yehovah your Elohim’s choosing. You’ll appoint as king over you one of your 'fellow Israelites', you can’t accept a foreigner over you who is not your countryman. 16 He must never acquire a large numbers of horses or send people back to Egypt to get more horses, because Yehovah has told you, ‘You must never return that way again.’ 17 He must never acquire a lot of wives or he would go astray, and he must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. 18 Then when he is seated on the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself a copy of this Torah on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 He must keep it with him and read it every day of his life, in order to learn to fear Yehovah his Elohim, by carefully obeying all the words of this Torah and these statutes. 20 Then he won’t think he’s better than his fellow Israelites and deviate from the commandments, to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will continue reigning for a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

DEUTERONOMY 18

Provisions for the Levites

1 The Levitical priests and the entire tribe of Levi will be given no realestate in Israel, they’ll eat Yehovah’s fire offerings and His inheritance. 2 They’ll have no 'land' among their 'fellow Israelites'; Yehovah is their inheritance, as He promised them. 3 This is the priests’ share from the people who offer a ze’bak [sacrifice], whether it is an ox or a sheep: they are to give to the priests the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4 Also, give them the firstfruits of your grain, your new wine, and your olive oil, and the first sheared wool from your flock, 5 since Yehovah your Elohim has chosen them and their sons from all your tribes to stand minister in the name of Yehovah forever.

6 If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he has been living, and comes whenever he wants to the place that Yehovah chooses, 7 then he can minister in the name of Yehovah his Elohim, like all the other Levites who stand ready to serve in the presence of Yehovah. 8 They’ll eat equal portions, even tho they receive compensation from the sale of their family estates.

9 Once you enter the land that Yehovah your Elohim gives you, you must never learn to imitate the abominations of those nations. 10 There must never be found among you anyone who passes his son or his daughter thru the fire, anyone who uses divination, anyone who practices witchcraft, a fortuneteller or sorcerer, 11 anyone who cast spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or anyone who calls on the dead. 12 Anyone does these things is an abomination to Yehovah, and because of these abominations Yehovah your Elohim will drive them out before you. 13 You will be blameless before Yehovah your Elohim. 14 The nations you are displacing listen to people who practice witchcraft and divination, but Yehovah your Elohim hasn’t permitted you to do this. 15 Yehovah your Elohim will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your 'fellow Israelites' 16 This is what you asked Yehovah your Elohim for in Horeb on the day of the congregation when you said, “We never want to hear the voice of Yehovah our Elohim, or see this raging fire again, or we will die.” 17 Yehovah told me, “They have spoken well. 18 I’ll raise up for them a prophet like you from among their 'fellow Israelites'. I’ll put My words in his mouth, and he’ll tell them everything I command him. 19 I will hold accountable anyone who refuses to listen to My words that he speaks in My name. 20 But a prophet who dares to say anything in My name that I didn’t command him to say or who speaks in the name of other gods is to be put to death.” 21 You may ask yourselves, “How will we recognize a message that Yehovah hasn’t spoken?” 22 When a prophet speaks in the name of Yehovah, and what he says doesn’t happen or come true, then that prophet just made it up. Never be afraid of him.

DEUTERONOMY 19

Cities of Refuge

1 When Yehovah your Elohim has destroyed the nations whose land Yehovah your Elohim is giving you, and you have driven them out and live in their cities and houses, 2 you are to set aside three citiess for yourselves in the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you to possess. 3 You are to maintain roads to these towns, and divide into three regions the territory that Yehovah your Elohim is granting you as an inheritance, so that anyone who kills someone unintentionally can escape there for refuge. 4 Here is the law for person who unintentionally kills someone he never previously hated and flees to save his life, 5 Suppose two friends go into a forest to cut wood, and one of them swings an axe to cut down a tree, and the iron head slips off the 'handle' and 'hits' his friend and he dies—he can escape to one of these citiess and save his life. 6 otherwise the avenger of blood could pursue the manslayer in the heat of the 'moment’, and overtake him if the distance is too great, and take his life, even tho he didn’t deserve to die, since he had not hated him previously. 7 This is why I’m commanding you to set the three citiess aside for yourselves. 8 If Yehovah your Elohim enlarges your territory as He has sworn to your ancestors, and gives you the whole land He [conditionally] promised your ancestors—[1] 9 if you carefully obey all of these commandments that I am giving you today, to love Yehovah your Elohim, and 'live' by His ways always—then you will be adding three more citiess for yourselves in addition to these three. 10 This way, innocent blood won’t be shed in the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance, and you won’t be guilty of bloodshed.

11 But if someone hates their neighbor, waits in ambush for them, attacks them, strikes them dead, and flees to one of these citiess, 12 then the elders of his city must send for him, take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood so that they can be put to death. 13 You must not 'look' on them with pity. You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood. Then things will go well for you.

14 “Don’t remove your neighbor’s landmark set up in times past, as the inheritance that you’ll receive in the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you to possess.

15 “One witness is insufficient to convict someone of a crime, or any sin they can have committed. A case must be confirmed with the testimony of two or three witnesses. 16 If a false witness accuses someone of a crime, 17 then both of the people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of Yehovah and before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time, 18 and the judges must complete a thoro investigation. If the witness lied, and falsely accused another tribesman 19 then do to them what they had attempted to do to the other tribesman. This is how you’ll purge such evil from among you! 20 The other people will hear about it, and be afraid to commit any such evil among you. 21 See that you show no pity, repay a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

[1] It still hasn’t happened! Should We Move to Israel Now? How Much Prophecy Was Really Fulfilled in 1948?

DEUTERONOMY 20

Going to War

1 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and 'armies' greater than yours, don’t be afraid of them, because Yehovah your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, will be with you. 2 When you are about to engage in battle, a priest must come forward and address the 'army'. 3 He will tell them, “Listen, Israel, today you’re advancing into battle against your enemies. Don’t lose your courage! Don’t be afraid or panic or tremble before them, 4 since Yehovah your Elohim is the One who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies and save you. 5 The officers are to address the army, “If you have built a new house but not dedicated it, you can go home, otherwise you might die in battle and another man would dedicate it. 6 If any of you have planted a vineyard and have not begun to enjoy its fruit, you can return home, otherwise you might die in battle and another man might begin to enjoy the fruit. 7 If you are engaged to a woman but have not married her yet, you can return home, Otherwise, you might die in battle, and someone else would marry her.” 8 The officers should also tell the 'army', “If anyone is afraid or has lost their courage, you can go home, otherwise your brother’s morale might suffer a meltdown too. 9 When the officers have finished speaking to the 'army', they will appoint military commanders to lead them.

10 When you advance on a city to attack it, you must offer it terms of peace. 11 If they accept the terms and open their gates to you, then all the people there will become forced laborers for you and serve you. 12 If they won’t make peace with you but wage war on you, then lay siege to that city. 13 When Yehovah your Elohim hands the city over to you, strike down every man in it with your swords. 14 But take the women and children, the livestock and everything else in the city, including all its goods, as your plunder. You will enjoy your enemies’ goods that Yehovah your Elohim has given you. 15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you but don’t belong to the nations nearby. 16 But in the cities of the nations that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance, don’t save alive anything that breathes, 17 You must completely destroy them—the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as Yehovah your Elohim has commanded you, 18 so that they don’t teach you to commit all the abominations that they’ve done for their gods, and cause you to sin against Yehovah your Elohim.

19 When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it in order to capture it, you must harm any of its fruit trees by wielding an axe against them. You can eat the fruit. You must not cut them down. Are trees in the fields human, to come under siege by you? 20 But the trees that you know are not fruit trees you can cut down in order to construct siegeworks against the city that is waging war with you until it falls.

DEUTERONOMY 21

Unsolved Murders

1 If a murder victim is found lying in the countryside of the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you, and no one knows who killed them, 2 then your elders and judges must go out and measure the distance from the dead person to the neighboring towns. 3 The elders of the city nearest the body are choose a heifer that has never been worked and never worn a yoke 4 and the elders of that town will bring the heifer down to a valley with a continually flowing stream that hasn’t been plowed or planted, and break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 The priests, the descendants of Levi, must come forward, because Yehovah your Elohim has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of Yehovah, and they are to 'render a ruling' in all cases of dispute and assault. 6 All the elders of that city who are nearest to the murder victim must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 7 They will declare, ‘Our hands didn’t shed this blood, and we didn’t 'witness' it. 8 Yehovah, forgive Your people Israel, who You’ve redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood to remain amid Your people Israel. Then the bloodshed will be atoned for. 9 This is how you rid the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when you do what is right in Yehovah’s sight.

10 When you go out to battle against your enemies, and Yehovah your Elohim hands them over to you, and you take them captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and are attracted to her, and want to take her as your wife, 12 then you are to bring her home to your house. She must shave her head, and clip her nails. 13 She must get rid of the clothing she was captured in, and remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother for a full month, then you can go to her and be her husband she will be your wife. 14 But if you aren’t pleased with her, then you must let her go wherever she wants. You must never sell her for silver or treat her as a slave, since you have already dishonored her.

15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other 'unloved', and they’ve both borne him children, if the firstborn son belongs to the 'unloved', 16 then on the day when he wills his possessions to his sons, he can’t treat son of the wife he loves as the firstborn in place of son of the unloved wife, who is the real firstborn. 17 Instead, he must acknowledge son of the wife he doesn’t love as the firstborn by giving that son a double portion of everything he owns, since that son is the very first son he had. The rights of the firstborn belong to him.

18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who won’t obey his father or mother and doesn’t listen to them even after they punish him, 19 then his father and mother must seize him, and bring him out to the elders of the city, to the gateway of his 'hometown'. 20 They must tell to the leaders of the city, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He won’t obey us. He’s a glutton and a drunk.” 21 Then all the men of his city are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you, and all of Israel will hear and fear.

22 “If someone has committed a sin and deserves to be put to death, and is executed, and you hang 'his body' on a tree, 23 his body should not remain on the tree all night, be sure to bury them that same day, because anyone who is hung is accursed by Elohim. You must not defile the land thaty Yehovah your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance.

DEUTERONOMY 22

Various Laws

1 You must not notice your countryman’s ox or sheep straying away and pretend that you don’t notice. Be sure to bring it back to your countryman. 2 If your countryman doesn’t live near you, or if you don’t know him, then you should bring it to your house, and it should remain with you until your countryman comes looking for it. Then give it back. 3 Do the same for their donkey, their clothing, or anything your countryman has lost and you have found. Don’t pretend you didn’t notice them. 4 You must not see your countryman’s donkey or his ox fallen beside the road, and pretend you didn’t notice it. Be sure to help him to lift it up again.

5 A woman must never wear man’s clothing, and a man shouldn’t put on a woman’s clothing, since whoever does these things is an abomination to Yehovah your Elohim.

6 If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, never take her with the chicks. 7 You can take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that so that you can prosper and live long.

8 When you build a new house, make a railing around your flat roof, so that you don’t bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls off of it.

9 “You must never 'intercrop' your vineyard with two kinds of seeds [1], otherwise the seed crop that you’ve sown as well as the entire 'grape harvest' must be forfeited [or banned]. 10 You must never scratch plough with an ox and a donkey yoked together. 11 Never wear mixed fabrics, like wool and linen together.

12 You must make yourselves tzitzits on the four corners of your garment that you cover yourself with.

13 If a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, and then dislikes her, 14 and accuses her of shameful conduct and ruins her reputation, and says, “I married this woman. But when I 'slept' with her I didn’t find any evidence of her virginity,” 15 then the girl’s father and her mother must produce evidence of the young lady’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. 16 The girl’s father will tell the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he has 'turned against' her. 17 Now he has accused her of shameful conduct and said, ‘I didn’t find any evidence of your daughter’s virginity,’ But here’s the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.” Then the girl’s parents must spread out the drape [2] in front of the leaders of the city. 18 Then the elders of that city must take the man and punish him. 19 They’ll fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl’s father, because he ruined the reputation a virgin of Israel. She will remain his wife, and he can never divorce her as long as he lives. 20 But if the charge is true and no evidence of the young woman’s virginity can be found, 21 they will bring the woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city will stone her to death, since she committed deliberate sin in Israel by acting as a whore in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from you.

22 If a man is found lying with a married woman, both the man who lay with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

23 If a young woman who is a virgin is engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, 24 then take them to the gate of that city and stone them to death. The young woman because she didn’t cry out for help, and the man must die because he has violated his neighbor’s wife to be. You must purge the evil from among you. 25 But if the man encounters an engaged woman out in the countryside, and he seizes her and rapes her, then only the man who raped her must die. 26 But don’t do anything to the young woman because she isn’t worthy of death. This is just like a case where a man attacks his neighbor and murders him. 27 The man found the young woman out in the country. Even if she screamed for help, there was no one to rescue her.

28 If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who isn’t engaged, and seizes her and rapes her, when the crime is discovered, 29 then the man who raped her must give fifty shekels of silver to the girl’s father, and she will become his wife because he has raped her; he can never divorce her as long as he lives [comment].

30 A man must never marry his father’s wife; he must never violate his father’s 'marriage bed'.

[1] This appears to be another admonition to never sow fields with more than one variety of crop of the same species (resulting in hybrid seeds as is virtually always done today), tho grapes are virtually always cloned cuttings. The resulting hybridization of the covercrop or other crop would ruin the utility of the seed produced for replanting in future years. The loss of the grape crop may be punitive damage, whether it was to be forfeited or entirely banned from use. It seems very unlikely that the creation of new stable varieties resulting from generations of cross breeding by plant breeders would be part of a ban.

[2] like a blood-stained bed sheet or clothing from the wedding night.

DEUTERONOMY 23

People Excluded from the congregation

1 No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting can enter the congregation of Yehovah. 2 No one of illegitimate birth can enter the congregation of Yehovah. No descendant of his can enter Yehovah’s congregation for ten generations. 3 No Ammonite or Moabite can enter the congregation of Yehovah, and none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation can ever enter the congregation of Yehovah, 4 because they didn’t meet you with 'food' and water on the road as you left Egypt, and because they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor of 'Mesopotamia' to curse you. 5 But Yehovah your Elohim refused to listen to Balaam. On the contrary, Yehovah your Elohim turned the curse into a blessing for you, because Yehovah your Elohim loves you. 6 Never seek their peace or prosperity as long as you live. 7 Never detest the Edomites because they’re your relatives. Never detest the Egyptians because you once were foreigners living in their country. 8 The children born to them in the third generation can enter Yehovah’s congregation.

9 When you go out as an army against your enemies, avoid every evil thing. 10 If there is a man among you who is unclean because of a bodily emission during the night, he must leave the camp and avoid every part of the camp. 11 But when evening approaches, he must bathe in water, and at sundown he can return to the camp. 12 You must also have a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself, 13 and you must carry a spade as part of your equipment. When you go outside to relieve yourself, dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement 'right away'. 14 Since Yehovah your Elohim walks around in your camp to protect you, and to hand over your enemies to you, so your camp must remain kadosh; He must never see anything repulsive among you 'or He will' turn away from you.

15 If a slave takes refuge with you, don’t hand them over to their master. 16 Allow them to stay with you and live among your people wherever they choose, in any of your towns where they choose. Never mistreat them.

17 No Israelite woman should ever become a cult prostitute, and no Israelite man should ever become a cult prostitute. 18 Never bring the wages of a prostite or the wages of a dog [sodomite] into into the house of Yehovah your Elohim to fulfill any vow. These earnings are an abomination to Yehovah your Elohim.

19 Never charge interest on money to your 'fellow Israelite' for food, or anything that can earn interest. 20 You can charge interest to a foreigner, but to your 'fellow Israelite' you must not charge interest, so that Yehovah your Elohim can bless you in everything you do in the land you’re about to enter and possess.

21 If you make a vow to Yehovah your Elohim, you must not postpone paying it, because Yehovah your Elohim will most certainly require it of you, and any delay would cause you to sin. 22 But if you refrain from making vows, you won’t be be guilty of sin. 23 Be sure to do whatever comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed what you promised to Yehovah your Elohim.

24 If you enter your neighbor’s vineyard [Targum: to work], you can eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but never put any in a basket. 25 If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain [Targum: to work], you can pick grain by hand. But never use a sickle to cut your neighbor’s standing grain.

DEUTERONOMY 24

Marriage and Divorce

1 “If a man marries a woman, and she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he can write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her out of his house. 2 If after leaving his house she goes on to become another man’s wife, 3 and if the second husband 'turns against' her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the second husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her first husband who sent her away can not take her back to be his wife, since she has been defiled; because that is an abomination before Yehovah, and you must never bring sin on the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you as your property.

5 “When a man is newly married, he must not be sent out with the army or be assigned any business. He must be free at home for one year to bring happiness to the wife he has married.

6 “No one should take a handmill or an upper millstone as security [for a debt] because that is like taking their life as security.

7 “If someone is caught kidnapping a 'fellow Israelite' and they harm them or sell them, the kidnapper must die, that’s how you remove evil from among you.

8 “Be careful in a case of infectious skin disease to carefully do everything the Levitical priests instruct you to do. You must carefully do what I commanded them. 9 Remember what Yehovah your Elohim did to Miriam, on the road after you left Egypt.

10 “When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, don’t go into their house to collect what he is offering as security. 11 You must wait outside, while the man you’re making the loan to brings the security deposit out to you. 12 If the person is poor, don’t go to sleep with their 'coat' in your possession. 13 Be sure to return the security to him at sunset, so they can sleep in it and bless you, and it will be considered a righteous act in the sight of Yehovah your Elohim.

14 “You must not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether they are a 'fellow Israelite' or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. 15 Pay them their wages every day before sunset since they are poor and 'depending' on it. Otherwise they might cry to Yehovah against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

16 “'Parents' must never be put to death for the sins of their children, and children must never be put to death for the sins of their 'parents'. Each person must be put to death for their own sins.

17 Never deny justice to foreigners and orphans. And never take a widows’ coat as security for a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and Yehovah your Elohim redeemed you from there. So I’m commanding you to do this.

19 “When you’re harvesting grain in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then Yehovah your Elohim can bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, don’t go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for foreigners, orphans and widows. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, don’t go over the vines again. Leave what remains for foreigners, orphans and widows. 22 You should remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That’s why I’m commanding you to do this.

DEUTERONOMY 25

Various Laws

1 “When people have a dispute, they must take it to court and the judges are to resolve the case in favor of the innocent and condemning the guilty, 2 If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge will order them to lie down. Then the judge will have them beaten in his presence with as many stripes as the crime deserves. 3 He can have him beaten forty times, but no more. If they are beaten more than that, your 'fellow Israelites' would consider them to be worthless.

4 “Never muzzle an ox while he is treading out grain.

5 “When brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother must be intimate with her after taking her as his wife. He must do his duty as her brother-in-law. 6 The first son she bears will 'be given' the dead brother’s name, so that his name won’t be blotted out of Israel. 7 “But if the man doesn’t want to marry his brother’s widow, she must go to the elders of the city at the city gate, and say say, “My brother-in-law refuses to continue his brother’s name continue in Israel. He isn’t willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.” 8 Then the elders of his city will summon him and talk to him. And if he stands firm and says, ‘I don’t want to marry her,’ 9 his brother’s widow must go up to him within sight of the elders, and pull his sandal from his foot and spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who refuses to continue his brother’s family line.” 10 In Israel his family will be known as the Family of the Man Missing a Sandal.

11 “If two men are fighting, and the wife of one steps in to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she reaches out her hand grabs his genitals, 12 then you are to cut off her hand. You should not show any mercy.

13 “Don’t carry two sets of weights, heavier ones and a lighter ones [to balance scales]. 14 Don’t have differing dry measuring scoops in your house, a larger one and a smaller one. 15 You must have accurate and honest weights, and accurate and honest dry measuring scoops, to enable you to live long in the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you 16 Anyone who does such things and acts unfairly is an abomination to Yehovah your Elohim.

17 “Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the road when you came out from Egypt, 18 how they met you along the road and attacked all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary. They weren’t afraid of Elohim. 19 So when Yehovah your Elohim has given you rest from all your enemies all around you, in the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you as your own property, you must blot out all memory of the Amalekites from under heaven. Don’t forget!”

DEUTERONOMY 26

Offering Firstfruits & Tithes

1 “When you enter the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you as your property, and you take possession of it and live there, 2 you must take some of the firstfruit of all the land’s produce that you harvest from the land Yehovah your Elohim gives you, and you must put it in a basket and go to the place where Yehovah your Elohim chooses to establish His Name. 3 You will go to the priest who is serving at that time, and tell him, ‘I profess today to Yehovah 'my' Elohim, that I have entered the land that Yehovah swore to our ancestors to give us.’ 4 The priest will take the basket from you and set it down in front of the altar of Yehovah your Elohim. 5 “You should respond by saying in the presence of Yehovah your Elohim: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt few in number and lived there. There he became a great, powerful and populous nation. 6 So the Egyptians treated us cruelly, oppressed us, and forced us to do hard labor. 7 Then we cried to Yehovah, the Elohim of our ancestors, and Yehovah heard our cries and saw our misery, labor and oppression. 8 and Yehovah brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand an outstretched arm, and with great terror and miraculous signs and wonders, 9 and He has brought us to this place, and has given us this land, a land that flows with milk and honey. 10 So now I’ve brought the firstfruit of the ground, that You, Yehovah, have given me.’ You will then set it down before Yehovah your Elohim, and worship before Yehovah your Elohim. 11 Then you, the Levites and the foreigners who live among you can enjoy all the good things that Yehovah your Elohim has given to you and your household.

12 “When you’ve finished paying all the tithes of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you must give it to the Levites, foreigners, orphans and widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. 13 You’ll say before Yehovah your Elohim, “I’ve removed the kadosh things from my house, and given them to the Levites, foreigners, orphans and widows as you commanded me. I haven’t disobeyed or forgotten any of Your commandments. 14 I haven’t eaten any of it while in mourning, or distributed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I’ve obeyed Yehovah my Elohim, I’ve done everything you commanded me. 15 Look down from Your kadosh dwelling, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us as You swore to our ancestors, a land that flows with milk and honey.

16 “Today Yehovah your Elohim commands you to obey these statutes and ordinances. You must be sure to obey them 'resolutely' and with your entire being. 17 You have declared today that Yehovah is your Elohim, and that you will ‘live’ by His ways, and obey His statutes, and His Commandments and His ordinances, and obey Him. 18 And Yehovah has publicly declared today that you are His people, a treasured possession, as He promised, and that you must obey all of His Commandments, 19 and that He will set you high above all the other nations that He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, so that you can be a people kadosh to Yehovah your Elohim, as He promised. [Clark’s comment]

DEUTERONOMY 27

Write the Torah on Stones

1 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Obey all the Commandments that I command you today. 2 On the day when you cross the Jordan River ‘and enter’ the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you, you will set up some large stones, and cover them with plaster, 3 and write all the words of the Torah on them, after you’ve crossed over, so that you can enter the land that Yehovah your Elohim is giving you, a land that flows with milk and honey, as Yehovah, the Elohim of your ancestors, has promised you. 4 Once you’ve crossed the Jordan River, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, just as I’m commanding you today and coat them with plaster. 5 Build Yehovah your Elohim’s altar there of stones; but don’t use any iron tools on them. 6 Use uncut fieldstones to build Yehovah your Elohim’s altar, and offer burnt offerings to Yehovah your Elohim on it. 7 You are to offer fellowship offerings and eat them there, and rejoice before Yehovah your Elohim. 8 And you must write on the stones all the words of this Torah very plainly.

9 “Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all the Israelites, “Be silent and listen, Israel. Today you have become the people of Yehovah your Elohim! 10 You must obey Yehovah your Elohim in this way, by obeying His Commandments and His statutes that I’m giving you today.”

11 That same day Moses commanded the people: 12 Once you’ve crossed the Jordan River, these tribes will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin. 13 These tribes will stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curses: Reuben, Gawd, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.

14 The Levites will proclaim in a loud voice to all the people of Israel: 15 ‘Cursed is the person who makes a carved or cast image, an abomination to Yehovah, the workmanship of an artisan, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people will say, Aw-main.’ 16 ‘Cursed is the person who dishonors their father or mother.” And all the people will say, “Aw-main.” 17 ‘Cursed is the person who removes his neighbor’s boundary marker’ And all the people will say, “Aw-main.” 18 ‘Cursed is the person who misleads a blind person on the road’ And all the people will say, “Aw-main.” 19 ‘Cursed is the person who denies the justice to foreigners, orphans and widows.’ And all the people will say, “Aw-main.” 20 ‘Cursed is the person who has sexual relations with his father’s wife, because he has ‘violated his father’s bed’.” ’And all the people will say, “Aw-main.” 21 ‘Cursed is the person who has sexual relations with an animal.” And all the people will say, “Aw-main.” 22 ‘Cursed is the person who has sexual relations with his sister, whether his father’s or his mother’s daughter.’ And all the people will say, “Aw-main.” 23 ‘Cursed is the person who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people will say, “Aw-main.” 24 ‘Cursed is the person who kills his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people will say, “Aw-main.” 25 ‘Cursed is the person who accepts money to kill an innocent person.’ And all the people will say, “Aw-main.” 26 ‘Cursed is the person who doesn’t uphold the terms of this Torah by carrying them out.’ And all the people will say, “Aw-main.

DEUTERONOMY 28

The (Dual) Demise of Israel

1 Now if you’ll diligently obey Yehovah your Elohim, and carefully obey all of His Commandments that I’m giving you today, then Yehovah your Elohim will set you high above all the nations of the world. 2 And all these blessings will come to you in abundance, if you obey what Yehovah your Elohim says: 3 You’ll be blessed in the city and you’ll be blessed in the country. 4 Your ‘descendants’ will be blessed, as will the harvests of your land, the young of your cattle—the increase of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 5 Your harvest basket and your kneading bowl will be blessed. 6 You’ll be blessed when you come in and you’ll be blessed when you go out. 7 Yehovah will cause your enemies who attack you to surrender defeated [Peshitta] before you. They’ll attack you from one direction but flee from you in seven. 8 Yehovah will send you blessings in your barns, and in everything that you put your hand to. He’ll bless you in the land that Yehovah your Elohim gives you. 9 Yehovah will establish you as His kadosh people, as He has sworn to you, if you obey Yehovah your Elohim’s Commandments and live by His ways. 10 Then all the nations on earth will see that you are called by the name of Yehovah, and stand in awe of you. 11 Yehovah will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body, and in the offspring of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land that Yehovah swore to your ancestors to give you. 12 Yehovah will open for you His good treasury in the sky, to give rain to your land at the right time, and to bless all the work of your hands. You’ll lend to many nations, but you won’t borrow. 13 Yehovah will make you the head, and not the tail, and you’ll always be on top, never at the bottom, if you’ll listen to the Commandments of Yehovah your Elohim, that I command you today, and are careful to obey them. 14 You must not deviate from a word that I command you today, to the right or to the left, in pursuit of other gods to serve them.

15 “But if you don’t obey Yehovah your Elohim and faithfully carry out all of His Commandments and statutes that I’m giving you today, then all of these curses will come about and overwhelm you:

16 “You’ll be cursed in the towns and cursed in the fields. 17 Your grain basket and your kneading bowl will be cursed. 18 The 'offspring' of your body, the 'produce' of your land, the reproduction of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed. 19 You’ll be cursed when you come and cursed when you go. 20 Yehovah will send you curses, confusion and opposition in everything that you undertake until you are destroyed, and quickly perish, because of your evil behavior and your abandoning Me. 21 Yehovah will plague you with diseases until He has exterminated you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 Yehovah will afflict you with wasting disease, fever, inflammation, fiery heat, warfare, blight and mildew that will plague you until you die off. 23 Your sky over your head will be bronze, and the ground below you will be iron. 24 Yehovah will turn the rain of your land to powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you’re destroyed. 25 Yehovah will cause you to be 'defeated by' your enemies, you’ll approach them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you’ll be an example of terror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your corpses will be food for all the birds from the sky and the wild animals in the land, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 Yehovah will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, a festering rash and itching that you can’t be healed of. 28 Yehovah will strike you with madness, blindness and with mental confusion. 29 You’ll grope around at noon like a blind person groping in the dark. You’ll fail in everything you do. You’ll be continuallly oppressed and robbed with no one to save you. 30 You’ll be engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You’ll build a house but be unable to live there, you’ll plant a vineyard but you won’t harvest the fruit. 31 Your ox will be butchered as you watch, but you won’t eat any of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from 'you', and never returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will help you. 32 Your sons and your daughters will be given to foreign people. You’ll ceaselessly strain your eyes looking for them, powerless to lift a hand. 33 Those foreign strangers will eat your land’s produce and everything you’ve labored for, and you will never experience anything but oppression and abuse. 34 You’ll be driven mad by what you 'see'. 35 Yehovah will strike you on the knees and legs with severe boils that you can’t be healed of, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. 36 Yehovah will bring you and the king you elected to a nation that neither you or your ancestors were unfamiliar with, and there you’ll [be forced to] serve strange wood and stone gods. 37 You’ll become an object of horror, ridicule and a joke among all the nations where Yehovah will drive you. 38 You’ll sow lots seeds in the fields but harvest little, because the locusts will destroy it. 39 You’ll plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you won’t drink any wine or harvest any grapes, because worms will eat everything. 40 You’ll have olive trees thruout your country, but there will be no olive oil to rub on your skin, because your olives will drop off. 41 You’ll have sons and daughters, but they won’t remain yours, because they’ll go into captivity. 42 Locusts will swarms over all your trees and the crops of your fields. 43 The aliens among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower. 43 They’ll lend to you, but you won’t lend to them [any longer]. They’ll be the head, but you’ll be the tail.

45 “All these curses will come to you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you wouldn’t obey the voice of Yehovah your Elohim by keeping His Commandments and His statutes that He commanded you. 46 They [these curse] will be a sign and a harbinger to you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you didn’t serve Yehovah your Elohim joyfully and gladly in the time of abundance in every regard, 48 you’ll serve your enemies who Yehovah will send against you, in hunger, in thirst in nakedness, and in deprivation of everything. He’ll put an iron yolk on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 Yehovah will bring a nation against you from afar, from the ends of the earth, as an eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you won’t understand, 50 a nation of fierce looking people who will have no regard for the old or pity for the young. 51 They’ll devour the young of your herds and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They’ll leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, offspring from your herds or the young of your flocks until they’ve exterminated you. 52 They’ll lay siege to all your 'towns', until the high and fortified walls you trust in come down, thruout all your land. They’ll lay siege in every city thruhout your land that Yehovah your Elohim has given you. 53 Then you’ll eat the 'offspring' of your own body, the flesh of your sons and daughters who Yehovah your Elohim has given you during the severe siege as your enemy is suppressing you. 54 The most refined and sensitive men among you will be hostile toward their brothers, the wives they loved and their surviving children. 55 He won’t share with them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating, because he has nothing else left during the blockade and hardship imposed on you in all your 'towns'. 56 The most refined and sensitive women among you—so sensitive and refined that they wouldn’t venture to touch the ground with the soles of their feet will be hostile toward the husbands they loved, toward their sons and toward their daughters. 57 She won’t share the afterbirth from her 'womb' and the children she bears, because she’ll eat them secretly for lack of anything else during the siege, due to the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your towns.

58 If you aren’t careful to obey all the words of this Torah that are written in this book, by fearing this splendid and awesome name, YEHOVAH YOUR ELOHIM, 59 then Yehovah will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants. They will be terrible and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic diseases. 60 He’ll bring all the diseases of Egypt back to you again that you dreaded, and they’ll cling to you, 61 as well as every sickness, and every kind of sickness and plague not written in this Book of the Torah. Yehovah will bring them on you until you are destroyed. 62 You’ll be left few in number, tho you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you didn’t obey the voice of Yehovah your Elohim. 63 Just as Yehovah was pleased to do good for you, and increase your numbers, so it will please Him to ruin and destroy you; and you’ll be deported from the land that you are entering to possess. 64 Yehovah will scatter you into every nation, from the one end of earth to the other. There you’ll be forced to worship foreign gods made of wood and stone that neither you or your ancestors have accepted. 65 In these nations you’ll find no rest, not even a place to rest the sole of your foot, but Yehovah will repay you there with trembling thoughts, failing eyes and a depressing life. 66 Your life will hang in doubt before you. You’ll live in terror day and night, with no assurance of living. 67 In the morning you’ll say, “I wish it were evening!” and in the evening you’ll say, “I wish it were morning!&rdquo—because of the things that will terrify you and because of the things you’ll see. 68 Yehovah will bring you back to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you would never see again, and there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

DEUTERONOMY 29

The Covenant or the Curse

1 These are the words of the covenant that Yehovah commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant He had made with them at Horeb.

2 Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, “You’ve seen everything that Yehovah did with your own eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land. 3 With your own eyes you saw the great trialsand those great signs and amazing 'events'. 4 Yet to this day Yehovah hasn’t given you minds that understand, eyes that see or ears that hear. 5 I led you in the wilderness forty years. During that time your clothes never wore out and the sandals on your feet never wore out; 6 You haven’t eaten bread or drank any wine or liquor, so that you would realize that I am Yehovah your Elohim. 7 Once you reached this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to meet us in battles, but we 'defeated' them. 8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and half of the tribe of Manasseh

9 So preserve the terms of this covenant, and obey them, so that you will prosper in everything that you do. 10 All of you stand today before Yehovah your Elohim, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners within your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 in order to enter the covenant of Yehovah your Elohim, and into His oath, that Yehovah your Elohim is making with you today, 13 so that He can establish you today as His people, and that He can be your Elohim, just as He told you, and as He swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 14 I’m not just making this covenant and this oath with you, but with those [yet unborn] who are not here with us today, as well as with those who stand here with us today in the presence of Yehovah our Elohim,

16 You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came thru other nations on our way here. 17 and you’ve seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver and gold that they kept with them. 18 Make sure there is no man, woman, family or tribe among you today who 'rejects' Yehovah our Elohim, and serves the gods of those nations; make sure no poisonous fruit and wormwood takes root among you. 19 When such a person hears the words of this oath, they might imagine they are blessed, thinking, “I’ll be safe, even tho I 'live' my own way.” They will bring disaster on the well-watered land as well as the dry. 20 Yehovah will never pardon them. Instead, His anger and zeal will burn against that person, and every curse written on this scroll will come down on them. 21 Yehovah will single them out from of all the tribes of Israel for disaster, based on all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Torah. 22 Generations of your children to come and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the plagues of this land and the diseases that Yehovah has afflicted it with, and say, 23 ‘The entire landscape is sulfur and salt, a burning wasteland, nothing planted, nothing sprouting, not even grass grows there. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, that Yehovah overthrew in his anger and wrath. 24 All the nations will ask, “Why has Yehovah done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?” 25 Then people will say, ‘It’s because they abandoned the covenant of Yehovah, the Elohim of their ancestors, that He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 They began to serve other gods, and worship them, gods they didn’t know, gods He never gave them. 27 So the anger of Yehovah set fire to this land, bringing on it every curse described in this book. 28 Yehovah uprooted them from their land in fierce anger and in fury and in great wrath, and thrust them into another land, where they are to this day”. [Enlarged lamed]

29 “The secret things belong to Yehovah our Elohim, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we can follow all the words of this Torah. [Jots]

DEUTERONOMY 30

Conditional Restoration

1 Once all these things have happened to you—the blessings and the curses that I’ve set before you, and you begin to reflect on them in all the nations where Yehovah your Elohim has banished you, 2 and you have returned to Yehovah your Elohim and have listened to and obeyed His voice with unconditional 'resolve' and with all of your being, in accord with everything that I am commanding you and your children today, 3 then Yehovah your Elohim will end your captivity, [not “restore your fortunes”], and have compassion on you, and gather you together again from all the nations where Yehovah your Elohim has scattered you. 4 Even if your exiles are scattered to the remotest areas on earth, Yehovah your Elohim will gather you from there and bring you back. 5 and Yehovah your Elohim will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you’ll take possession of it, and He’ll make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors were. [1] 6 Yehovah your Elohim will circumcise your 'minds', and the minds of your descendants, to love Yehovah your Elohim with all your mind, and with all your being, so that you can survive. 7 Then Yehovah your Elohim will inflict all these curses on your enemies who hate you and have persecuted you. 8 Once again you will listen to and obey Yehovah, and follow all of His Commandments that I’m giving you today. 9 Then Yehovah your Elohim will abundantly prosper your every effort, your many children. the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land; since Yehovah will again delight in your prosperity, just as He delighted over your ancestors, 10 so long as you obey the voice of Yehovah your Elohim, and follow His Commandments and His statutes that are written in this Book of the Torah, and return to Yehovah your Elohim with all your mind, and with all your being.

11 This commandment I’m giving you today isn’t too difficult for you or beyond reach. 12 It isn’t in heaven, so you don’t have to ask, “Who will ascend to heaven to bring it to us so that we can hear it and obey it?” 13 It isn’t on the far side of the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it for us so that we can hear it and obey it?” 14 No, these words are very near you; they’re in your mouth and in your 'thoughts' so that you can obey them.

15 Today I have set before you life and 'prosperity' or death and 'destruction'. 16 So I command you today to love Yehovah your Elohim, to 'live' by His ways, and obey His Commandments, His statutes and His ordinances, so that you can live and multiply, and so that Yehovah your Elohim can bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your 'resolve' is turned, and you fail to listen, and you are led astray, and worship other gods, and serve them, 18 I promise you today that you will certainly be destroyed. You won’t live for long in the land that you’re going to take possession of when you cross the Jordan River. 19 Today, I am summoning Heaven and earth to witness that I have set before you life and death, blessings or curses. Now choose life, so that both you and your descendants will live. 20 Love Yehovah your Elohim by obeying Him, and remaining faithful to Him. This is your way of life for as long as you live. It enables you to live in the land that Yehovah swore to give to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

[1] Population Bomb Takes Out Millennium?

DEUTERONOMY 31

Joshua Succeeds Moses

1 Moses went out and spoke these words to all of Israel. 2 He told them, “I’m one hundred and twenty years old today; I will no longer 'be your leader', and Yehovah has told me, “You will not cross the Jordan River.’ 3 Yehovah your Elohim Himself will cross ahead of you; He’ll destroy these nations as you arrive, and you will replace them. Yehoshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as Yehovah said. 4 Yehovah will do to them what He did to Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and to their lands when He destroyed them. 5 Yehovah will hand them over to you, and you are to do to them everything I’ve commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Don’t tremble or be afraid of them, because Yehovah your Elohim will personally go with you, He’ll never leave you or forsake you.”

7 Moses called to Yehoshua, and told him in the sight of all the Israelites, “Be strong and courageous, because you’ll go with these people into the land that Yehovah has sworn to give their ancestors, and you’ll enable them to take possession of it. 8 Yehovah Himself will go before you. He’ll be with you, He’ll never leave you or forsake you. So don’t be afraid or discouraged.”

9 “Moses wrote down the Torah, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Yehovah, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of debt cancellation, at the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all the Israelites came to appear before Yehovah your Elohim, in the place that He’ll choose, you’ll read this Torah aloud before all of Israel. 12 Gather the people, the men, women and children, and the aliens within your ‘towns’, so that they can hear, and so they can learn, and fear Yehovah your Elohim and carefully obey everything written in this Torah. 13 Their children who don’t know [the Torah], will hear and learn to fear Yehovah your Elohim, as long as you live in the land that you are about to cross the Jordan River to possess.

14 “Yehovah said to Moses, “The time of your death is near, call Yehoshua, and present yourselves in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, so that I can commission him. So Moses and Yehoshua presented themselves in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 15 Yehovah appeared at the Tabernacle in a columnar cloud, and the columnar cloud stood at the entrance of the tent.

16 “Yehovah said to Moses, “You’ll rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon commit prostitution with the foreign gods of the land around them. They’ll abandon Me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 Then My anger will burn against them, and I’ll forsake them, and I’ll hide My face from them, and they’ll be destroyed. Many disasters and predicaments will confront them, so that they’ll say on that day, “Haven’t these disasters 'struck' us because our Elohim isn’t with us?’ 18 I’ll certainly hide My face on that day for all the evil that they have done in turning to other gods. 19 So write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the Israelites, leave it on their 'lips', so that this song will be a witness for Me against the Israelites. 20 When I bring them into a land that flows with milk and honey, that I swore to give to their ancestors, and they’ve eaten and filled themselves, and become 'prosperous', then they’ll turn to other gods, and serve them, and reject Me and break My covenant. 21 Then when many 'disasters' and troubles have happened to them, this song will testify before them as a witness, because it will never be forgotten from the 'lips' of their descendants, because I know their inclinations that are developing today, before I bring them into the land that I swore to give them.” 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the Israelites.

23 “He commissioned Yehoshua son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous, because you’ll bring the Israelites into the land that I swore to them, and I’ll be with you.

24 And when Moses completely finished writing the words of this Torah in a scroll, 25 he commanded the Levites who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Yehovah: 26 “Take this Book of the Torah and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of Yehovah your Elohim where it will remain as a witness against you. 27 I know how rebellious and 'headstrong' you are, while I’m still alive with you today, you’ve been rebellious against Yehovah, and how much more after my death? 28 Gather all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, so that I can speak these words to them 'in person' and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them. 29 For I know that after my death you’ll become completely corrupted, and turn from the path I’ve commanded you, and evil will happen to you in latter days, because you’ll do what is evil in the sight of Yehovah, to provoke Him to anger with the work of your hands.

30 “Moses spoke in the 'hearing' of the entire congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.

DEUTERONOMY 32

The Song of Moses

1 Listen, you heavens, and I’ll speak. Listen, earth, to the words from my mouth.

2 “My teachings will fall like the rain and My words descend like dew, like light rain on tender grass, like showers on the herbs. 3 I’ll proclaim the name of Yehovah, and declare the greatness of our Elohim!

4 “The Rock! His work is perfect. Everything He does is just and fair. A faithful Elohim who does no wrong; He is honorable and reliable. 5 They’ve acted corruptly toward Him, they aren’t His children, they’re defective, they’re a warped and crooked generation. 6 Is this how you repay Yehovah, you foolish and senseless people? Isn’t He your father who has bought you? Didn’t He create you and established you? [Enlarged Hey]

7 “Remember the days of old. Think about all the past generations. Ask your fathers to remind you, your elders, and they will teach you. 8 When the Highest One gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided mankind, He established the boundaries of the nations with respect to the number of the Israelites. 9 But Yehovah’s property is His people. Jacob is His allotted inheritance. 10 He found him [them] in a desolate land, in a wasted howling wilderness. He encircled him. He cared for him. He guarded him as the pupil of His eye. 11 Like an eagle that stirs up her nest, and flutters over her young, He spreads out His wings to catch them and carry them on His pinions. 12 Yehovah alone led him. There was no foreign god with him. 13 He made 'them' ride on the heights of the earth and fed 'them' with fruit from the fields. He nourished 'them' with honey from the rock and oil from flint-like rock, 14 with curds and milk from the herds and flocks, with fattened lambs, and Bashan rams, with goats, and with the finest of the wheat and the blood red wine of grapes.

The End Time “Falling Away”

15 “But Jeshurun [Israel] became fat and rebelled— You’ve grown fat, thick and sleek. Then 'they' abandoned the Elohim who made 'them', and scorned the Rock of 'their' deliverance. 16 They moved Him to jealousy with strange gods; they provoked Him to anger with their abominations. 17 They sacrificed to demons who were not gods, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up lately that your ancestors never dreaded. 18 You abandoned the Rock who fathered you; and forgot the Elohim who gave you birth.

19 “Yehovah saw this and rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters. 20 Then He said: “I’ll hide My face from them; I’ll see what becomes of them since they are stubborn people, children who are unfaithful. 21 They’ve moved Me to jealousy with their so-called gods and provoked Me to anger with their 'idols'. So I’ll make them jealous with those who are not a people; I’ll provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

Israel’s End Time Disaster

26 “I said I would cut them to pieces and erase even the memory of them from human memory, 27 were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, since their adversaries might misunderstand, and say, “Our 'power' has triumphed, Yehovah didn’t cause all this.” 28 They are a nation lacking common sense. There is no discernment in them. 29 If only they were wise enough to understand this and consider their destiny! 30 How could one [of their enemies] chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yehovah had handed them over. 31 Their rock isn’t like our Rock. Even our enemies concede that. 32 Their grapevine is from a vineyard in Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are laced with poison, and their clusters are bitter. 33 Their wine is the venom of dragons, and the 'deadly' poison of cobras. 34 Isn’t this what I’ve laid up in store with Me, sealed up in My vaults? 35 It is My job to avenge. I will repay. In due time their foot will slip. The day of their disaster is near. Their destiny awaits, their doom comes swiftly. 36 For Yehovah will judge His people, and have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their power has vanished and no one is left, whether slave or free. 37 Then He’ll say, “Where are their gods, the rocks they took refuge in? 38 Who ate the fat of their offerings, and drank the wine of their wine offering? ‘Those gods’ should get up and help you! They should be protecting you! 39 See, I am the only Elohim. There are no others. I put to death and I bring to life, I wound and I heal. No one can rescue anyone from My hand. 40 I lift My hand to heaven and swear: As surely as I live forever, 41 I will hone My glittering sword and take justice into My own hands. I’ll deliver vengeance to My adversaries, and pay back those who hate Me. 42 I’ll make My arrows drunk with blood while My sword devours flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired 'leaders' of the enemy.

43 “Celebrate, you nations, with His people, and all the Mssengers will worship Him [DSS] because He’ll avenge the blood of His servants. He’ll pay back His enemies, and make atonement for His land His people.

44 Moses came with 'Joshua' son of Nun and recited all the words of this song where the people could hear him. 45 After Moses had finished reciting all these words to Israel, 46 He told them, “Carefully consider all the words of warning I’ve given you today, that you’ll command your children to obey—every word of these instructions. 47 They aren’t just idle words for you—they are your life. By obeying them you’ll live long in the land that you’re crossing the Jordan River to take possession of.”

48 On that commemorative day Yehovah spoke to Moses, 49 “Go into the Abarim Mountains, to Mount Nebo in Moab, opposite Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I’m giving the Israelites to live in. 50 You will die on the mountain that you climb, and join your ancestors, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and joined his ancestors in death, 51 because you were unfaithful to Me in the presence of the Israelites at the oasis of Meribah Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you didn’t uphold My kadoshness among the Israelites. 52 You’ll see the land at a distance, but you won’t enter the land that I’m giving the descendants of Israel.”

DEUTERONOMY 33

Moses Blesses the Twelve Tribes

1 This is the blessing that Moses the man of Elohim blessed the Israelites with before his death. 2 He said, “Yehovah came from Sinai, and appeared to them from Seir; He shone on them from Mount Paran. He came with ten thousands of kadosh ones. At his right hand was a fiery Torah for them. 3 He certainly loves His people. All His kadosh ones are in His hands. They gather at Your feet to receive of Your instructions. 4 Moses gave us the Torah, a possession for the congregation of Jacob. 5 He was king in Jeshurun [Israel], when the leaders of the people gathered together, along with the tribes of Israel.

6 “May the tribe of Reuben live and not die out, tho his people are few.

7 This is what he said about Judah: “Yehovah, hear the cry of Judah, and bring them to their people. With his hands he contended for them. Help them against their enemies.”

8 “Of Levi he said, “Your Thummim and Urim belong to Your kadosh servant, who You tested at Massah. You contended with them at the 'oasis' of Meribah. 9 They said of their fathers and mothers, ‘We don’t consider them.’ They disregarded their brothers and didn’t acknowledge their own children, but they watched over Your word and guarded Your covenant. http://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/deuteronomy/33.htm">[Commentary] 10 They’ll teach Your ordinances to Jacob, and Your Torah to Israel. They’ll offer incense before You, and whole burnt offering on Your altar. 11 Yehovah, bless 'their' substance. Accept the work of 'their' hands. Smash the hips of those who rise up against 'them', of those who hate 'them', so that they’ll never rise again.”

12 “Of Benjamin he said, “May the beloved of Yehovah live in safety by Him. He shields him all the day long. He dwells between His shoulders.” [1]

13 “Of Joseph he said, “May 'their' land is blessed by Yehovah with the precious dew from heaven above and deep springs below the ground, 14 with bountiful harvests from the sun, and the finest produce the moon can yield; 15 with the finest products from the ancient mountains, and the bounty of the everlasting hills, 16 with the best gifts of the earth and its bounty, and the favor of the one who 'appeared' in the burning bush. May the blessings rest the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of the one who was distinguished [as a prince] among his brothers. 17 They will be as majestic as a firstborn bull, and 'their' horn like the horn of a Monoclonius [?]. With it 'they' will push the people all at once to the ends of the earth. “Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.”

18 “Of Zebulun he said, “Celebrate, Zebulun, in your journeys, and Issachar, in your tents. 19 They’ll invite nations to the mountain. There they’ll offer zebakim [sacrifices] of righteousness. They’ll draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures in the sand.”

20 “Of Gad he said, “The one who enlarges Gad’s territory will be blessed. He lurks like a lioness, tearing off an arm or a head. 21 He chose the best part for himself, because a ruler’s share was assigned there for him. He came with the leaders of the people; he carried out the righteousness of Yehovah, His ordinances with Israel.

22 “Of Dan he said, “Dan is a lion’s cub leaping out of Bashan.”

23 “Of Naphtali he said, “Naphtali, satisfied with favor, full of the blessing of Yehovah, take possession to the west and the south.”

24 “Of Asher he said, “May Asher be the most blessed of the sons; may he be favored by his brothers and dip his foot in olive oil. 25 May our locks will be iron and bronze, and your strength last as long as you 'live'.

26 “There’s no one like the Elohim of Jeshurun, who rides thru the heavens to your aid, and thru the skies in His majesty. 27 The eternal Elohim is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drove out the enemy from before you, and said, ‘Destroy!’

28 So Israel will live securely, the fountain of Jacob secluded in a land of grain and new wine, his skies drip with dew. 29 You are blessed, Israel! Who is like you, a nation saved by Yehovah, the Shield that protects you, and the Sword of your majesty! Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places [places of worship].

[1] Shoulders here apparently means the mountain slopes..

DEUTERONOMY 34

The Death of Moses

1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. Yehovah showed him the entire land, from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, the entire land of Judah as far as the 'Mediterranean' Sea, 3 the Negev and the plain in the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms)—as far as Zoar. 4 Yehovah told him, “This is the land I swore to give Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I said I would give it to their descendants. I’ve let you see it with your own eyes, but you won’t go there.”

5 “So Moses the servant of Yehovah died there in the land of Moab, as Yehovah had 'said'. 6 He buried him in a valley in Moab, near Beth Peorr, but even to this day no 'one' knows where his grave is. 7 Tho Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eyesight was never diminished, and he never became weak. 8 The Israelites mourned for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were over. 9 Yehoshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him, and the Israelites listened to him, and did as Yehovah had commanded Moses.

10 “There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, who Yehovah knew face to face, 11 in all the signs and the wonders that Yehovah sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants, and to his entire land, 12 and for all the mighty 'power' and for all the awesome deeds that Moses performed within sight of all the Israelites.

The Prophets Begin Here