The People Rebel against the LORD

141 And all the company lifteth up and give forth their voice, and the people weep during that night; 2 and all the sons of Israel murmur against Moses, and against Aaron, and all the company say unto them, 'O that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, O that we had died! 3 and why is Jehovah bringing us in unto this land to fall by the sword? our wives and our infants are become a prey; is it not good for us to turn back to Egypt?' 4 And they say one unto another, 'Let us appoint a head, and turn back to Egypt.'

5 And Moses falleth—Aaron also—on their faces, before all the assembly of the company of the sons of Israel. 6 And Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of those spying the land, have rent their garments, 7 and they speak unto all the company of the sons of Israel, saying, 'The land into which we have passed over to spy it, 'is' a very very good land; 8 if Jehovah hath delighted in us, then He hath brought us in unto this land, and hath given it to us, a land which is flowing with milk and honey; 9 only, against Jehovah rebel not ye: and ye, fear not ye the people of the land, for our bread they 'are'; their defence hath turned aside from off them, and Jehovah 'is' with us; fear them not.' 10 And all the company say to stone them with stones, and the honour of Jehovah hath appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the sons of Israel.

11 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Until when doth this people despise Me? and until when do they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have done in its midst? 12 I smite it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make thee become a nation greater and mightier than it.' 13 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, 'Then have the Egyptians heard! for Thou hast brought up with Thy power this people out of their midst, 14 and they have said 'it' unto the inhabitant of this land, they have heard that Thou, Jehovah, 'art' in the midst of this people, that eye to eye Thou art seen—O Jehovah, and Thy cloud is standing over them,—and in a pillar of cloud Thou art going before them by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 'And Thou hast put to death this people as one man, and the nations who have heard Thy fame have spoken, saying, 16 From Jehovah's want of ability to bring in this people unto the land which He hath sworn to them—He doth slaughter them in the wilderness. 17 'And now, let, I pray Thee, the power of my Lord be great, as Thou hast spoken, saying: 18 Jehovah 'is' slow to anger, and of great kindness; bearing away iniquity and transgression, and not entirely acquitting, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on a third 'generation', and on a fourth;— 19 forgive, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Thy kindness, and as Thou hast borne with this people from Egypt, even until now.'

God's Punishment on Israel

20 And Jehovah saith, 'I have forgiven, according to thy word; 21 and yet, I live—and it is filled—the whole earth—'with' the honour of Jehovah; 22 for all the men who are seeing My honour, and My signs, which I have done in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and try Me these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice— 23 they see not the land which I have sworn to their fathers, yea, none of those despising Me see it; 24 and My servant Caleb, because there hath been another spirit with him, and he is fully after Me—I have brought him in unto the land whither he hath entered, and his seed doth possess it. 25 'And the Amalekite and the Canaanite are dwelling in the valley; to-morrow turn ye and journey for yourselves into the wilderness—the way of the Red Sea.' 26 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying, 27 'Until when hath this evil company that which they are murmuring against Me? the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against Me, I have heard; 28 say unto them, I live—an affirmation of Jehovah—if, as ye have spoken in Mine ears—so I do not to you; 29 in this wilderness do your carcases fall, even all your numbered ones, to all your number, from a son of twenty years and upward, who have murmured against Me; 30 ye—ye come not in unto the land which I have lifted up My hand to cause you to tabernacle in it, except Caleb son of Jephunneh, and Joshua son of Nun. 31 'As to your infants—of whom ye have said, A spoil they are become—I have even brought them in, and they have known the land which ye have kicked against; 32 as to you—your carcases do fall in this wilderness, 33 and your sons are evil in the wilderness forty years, and have borne your whoredoms till your carcases are consumed in the wilderness; 34 by the number of the days 'in' which ye spied the land, forty days,—a day for a year, a day for a year—ye do bear your iniquities, forty years, and ye have known my breaking off; 35 I 'am' Jehovah, I have spoken; if I do not this to all this evil company who are meeting against me;—in this wilderness they are consumed, and there they die.'

The Death of the Ten Evil Spies

36 And the men whom Moses hath sent to spy the land, and they turn back and cause all the company to murmur against him, by bringing out an evil account concerning the land, 37 even the men bringing out an evil account of the land die by the plague before Jehovah; 38 and Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, have lived of those men who go to spy out the land.

The Defeat of Israel at Hormah

39 And Moses speaketh these words unto all the sons of Israel, and the people mourn exceedingly, 40 and they rise early in the morning, and go up unto the top of the mountain, saying, 'Here we 'are', and we have come up unto the place which Jehovah hath spoken of, for we have sinned.' 41 And Moses saith, 'Why 'is' this?—ye are transgressing the command of Jehovah, and it doth not prosper; 42 go not up, for Jehovah is not in your midst, and ye are not smitten before your enemies; 43 for the Amalekite and the Canaanite 'are' there before you, and ye have fallen by the sword, because that ye have turned back from after Jehovah, and Jehovah is not with you.' 44 And they presume to go up unto the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and Moses have not departed out of the midst of the camp. 45 And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who are dwelling in that mountain come down and smite them, and beat them down—unto Hormah.

The Number and Duties of the Levites

31 And these 'are' births of Aaron and Moses, in the day of Jehovah's speaking with Moses in mount Sinai. 2 And these 'are' the names of the sons of Aaron: the first-born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; 3 these 'are' the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whose hand he hath consecrated for acting as priest. 4 And Nadab dieth—Abihu also—before Jehovah, in their bringing near strange fire before Jehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai, and sons they had not; and Eleazar—Ithamar also—acteth as priest in the presence of Aaron their father. 5 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 6 'Bring near the tribe of Levi, and thou hast caused it to stand before Aaron the priest, and they have served him, 7 and kept his charge, and the charge of all the company before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle; 8 and they have kept all the vessels of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sons of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle; 9 and thou hast given the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are surely given to him out of the sons of Israel. 10 'And Aaron and his sons thou dost appoint, and they have kept their priesthood, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death.' 11 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 12 'And I, lo, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel instead of every first-born opening a womb among the sons of Israel, and the Levites have been Mine; 13 for Mine 'is' every first-born, in the day of My smiting every first-born in the land of Egypt I have sanctified to Myself every first-born in Israel, from man unto beast; Mine they are; I 'am' Jehovah.'

14 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 'Number the sons of Levi by the house of their fathers, by their families; every male from a son of a month and upward thou dost number them.' 16 And Moses numbereth them according to the command of Jehovah, as he hath been commanded. 17 And these are sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18 And these 'are' the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath, by their families, 'are' Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their families 'are' Mahli and Mushi; these are the families of the Levites, by the house of their fathers. 21 Of Gershon 'is' the family of the Libnite, and the family of the Shimite; these are the families of the Gershonite. 22 Their numbered ones, in number, every male from a son of a month and upward, their numbered ones 'are' seven thousand and five hundred. 23 The families of the Gershonite, behind the tabernacle, do encamp westward. 24 And the prince of a father's house for the Gershonite 'is' Eliasaph son of Lael. 25 And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting 'is' the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the vail at the opening of the tent of meeting, 26 and the hangings of the court, and the vail at the opening of the court, which 'is' by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and its cords, to all its service. 27 And of Kohath 'is' the family of the Amramite, and the family of the Izharite, and the family of the Hebronite, and the family of the Uzzielite; these are families of the Kohathite. 28 In number, all the males, from a son of a month and upward, 'are' eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary. 29 The families of the sons of Kohath encamp by the side of the tabernacle southward. 30 And the prince of a father's house for the families of the Kohathite 'is' Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31 And their charge 'is' the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they serve, and the vail, and all its service. 32 And 'to' the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, 'is' the oversight of the keepers of the charge of the sanctuary. 33 Of Merari 'is' the family of the Mahlite, and the family of the Mushite; these 'are' the families of Merari. 34 And their numbered ones, in number, all the males from a son of a month and upward, 'are' six thousand and two hundred. 35 And the prince of a father's house for the families of Merari 'is' Zuriel son of Abihail; by the side of the tabernacle they encamp northward. 36 And the oversight—the charge of the sons of Merari—'is' the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its vessels, and all its service, 37 and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords. 38 And those encamping before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting, at the east, 'are' Moses and Aaron, and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the sons of Israel, and the stranger who cometh near is put to death. 39 All those numbered of the Levites whom Moses numbered—Aaron also—by the command of Jehovah, by their families, every male from a son of a month and upward, 'are' two and twenty thousand.

The Redemption of the Firstborn

40 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Number every first-born male of the sons of Israel from a son of a month and upward, and take up the number of their names; 41 and thou hast taken the Levites for Me (I 'am' Jehovah), instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of every firstling among the cattle of the sons of Israel.' 42 And Moses numbereth, as Jehovah hath commanded him, all the first-born among the sons of Israel. 43 And all the first-born—male—by the number of names, from a son of a month and upward, of their numbered ones, are two and twenty thousand two hundred and seventy and three. 44 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 45 'Take the Levites instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites have been Mine; I 'am' Jehovah. 46 'And 'from' those ransomed of the two hundred and seventy and three (who are more than the Levites) of the first-born of the sons of Israel, 47 thou hast even taken five shekels a-piece by the poll—by the shekel of the sanctuary thou takest; twenty gerahs the shekel 'is'; 48 and thou hast given the money to Aaron, and to his sons, whereby those over and above are ransomed.' 49 And Moses taketh the ransom money from those over and above those ransomed by the Levites; 50 from the first-born of the sons of Israel he hath taken the money, a thousand and three hundred and sixty and five—by the shekel of the sanctuary; 51 and Moses giveth the money of those ransomed to Aaron, and to his sons, according to the command of Jehovah, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.