Aaron's Rod

171 Then the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel , and get from them a rod for each father's household : twelve e rods , from all their leaders according to their fathers' households . You shall write each name on his rod , 3 and write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi ; for there is one rod for the head of each of their fathers' households . 4 "You shall then deposit them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony , where e I meet with you. 5 "It will come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout . Thus I will lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel , who are grumbling against you." 6 Moses therefore spoke to the sons of Israel , and all their leaders gave him a rod apiece , for each leader according to their fathers' households , twelve e rods , with the rod of Aaron among their rods . 7 So Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the tent of the testimony .

8 Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony ; and behold , the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms , and it bore ripe almonds . 9 Moses then brought out all the rods from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel ; and they looked , and each man took his rod . 10 But the Lord said to Moses , "Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels , that you may put an end to their grumblings against e Me, so that they will not die ." 11 Thus Moses did ; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did . 12 Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses , saying , " Behold , we perish , we are dying , we are all dying ! 13 " Everyone who comes near , who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord , must die . Are we to perish completely ?"

Provision for the Priests and Levites

181 So the Lord said to Aaron , "You and your sons and your father's household with you shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary , and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood . 2 "But bring with you also your brothers , the tribe of Levi , the tribe of your father , that they may be joined with you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony . 3 "And they shall thus attend to your obligation and the obligation of all the tent , but they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar , or both they and you will die . 4 "They shall be joined with you and attend to the obligations of the tent of meeting , for all the service of the tent ; but an outsider may not come near you. 5 "So you shall attend to the obligations of the sanctuary and the obligations of the altar , so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel . 6 "Behold , I Myself have taken your fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel ; they are a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord , to perform the service for the tent of meeting . 7 "But you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and inside e the veil , and you are to perform service . I am giving you the priesthood as a bestowed service , but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death ."

8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron , "Now behold , I Myself have given you charge of My offerings , even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual allotment . 9 "This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire ; every offering of theirs, even every grain offering and every sin offering and every guilt offering , which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons . 10 "As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you. 11 "This also is yours, the offering of their gift , even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel ; I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual allotment . Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 12 " All the best of the fresh oil and all the best of the fresh wine and of the grain , the first fruits of those which they give to the Lord , I give them to you. 13 " The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land , which they bring to the Lord , shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it. 14 " Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. 15 " Every first issue of the womb of all flesh , whether man or animal , which they offer to the Lord , shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem , and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem . 16 "As to their redemption price , from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation , five shekels in silver , according to the shekel of the sanctuary , which is twenty gerahs . 17 "But the firstborn of an ox or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat , you shall not redeem ; they are holy . You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire , for a soothing aroma to the Lord . 18 "Their meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh . 19 " All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord , I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment . It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your descendants with you."

20 Then the Lord said to Aaron , " You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel . 21 "To the sons of Levi , behold , I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance , in return for their service which they perform , the service of the tent of meeting . 22 " The sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again , or they will bear sin and die . 23 "Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting , and they shall bear their iniquity ; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations , and among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance . 24 "For the tithe of the sons of Israel , which they offer as an offering to the Lord , I have given to the Levites for an inheritance ; therefore e I have said concerning them, ' They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel .' " 25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 26 "Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance , then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord , a tithe of the tithe . 27 'Your offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat . 28 'So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from your tithes , which you receive from the sons of Israel ; and from it you shall give the Lord'S offering to Aaron the priest . 29 'Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Lord , from all the best of them, the sacred part from them.' 30 "You shall say to them, 'When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor , and as the product of the wine vat . 31 'You may eat it anywhere e , you and your households , for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting . 32 'You will bear no sin by reason of it when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel , or you will die .' "

The Purification of the Unclean

191 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron , saying , 2 "This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded , saying , 'Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed . 3 'You shall give it to Eleazar the priest , and it shall be brought outside e e the camp and be slaughtered in his presence . 4 'Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times . 5 'Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight ; its hide and its flesh and its blood , with its refuse , shall be burned . 6 'The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer . 7 'The priest shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water , and afterward come into the camp , but the priest shall be unclean until evening . 8 'The one who burns it shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water , and shall be unclean until evening . 9 'Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside e the camp in a clean place , and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity ; it is purification from sin . 10 'The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening ; and it shall be a perpetual statute to the sons of Israel and to the alien who sojourns among them.

11 ' The one who touches the corpse of any person e shall be unclean for seven days . 12 'That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water on the third day and on the seventh day , and then he will be clean ; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day , he will not be clean . 13 ' Anyone who touches a corpse , the body of a man who has died , and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord ; and that person shall be cut off from Israel . Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean ; his uncleanness is still on him. 14 'This is the law when a man dies in a tent : everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean for seven days . 15 'Every open vessel , which has no covering tied down on it, shall be unclean . 16 ' Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave , shall be unclean for seven days . 17 'Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the burnt purification from sin and flowing water shall be added to them in a vessel . 18 'A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water , and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there , and on the one who touched the bone or the one slain or the one dying naturally or the grave . 19 'Then the clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day ; and on the seventh day he shall purify him from uncleanness , and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and shall be clean by evening . 20 'But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself from uncleanness , that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly , because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord ; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean . 21 'So it shall be a perpetual statute for them. And he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes , and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening . 22 ' Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches shall be unclean ; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening .' "

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

30 The apostles gathered together with Jesus ; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught . 31 And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves e to a secluded place and rest a while ." (For there were many people coming and going , and they did not even have time to eat .) 32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves . 33 The people saw them going , and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities , and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus went ashore , He saw a large crowd , and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without e a shepherd ; and He began to teach them many things . 35 When it was already quite late e , His disciples came to Him and said , "This place is desolate and it is already quite late e ; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat ." 37 But He answered them, "You give them something to eat !" And they said to Him, "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat ?" 38 And He said to them, "How many loaves do you have ? Go look !" And when they found out, they said , "Five , and two fish ." 39 And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass . 40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties . 41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish , and looking up toward heaven , He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all . 42 They all ate and were satisfied , 43 and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces , and also of the fish . 44 There were five thousand men who ate the loaves .

Jesus Walks on the Sea

45 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida , while He Himself was sending the crowd away . 46 After bidding them farewell , He left for the mountain to pray . 47 When it was evening , the boat was in the middle of the sea , and He was alone on the land . 48 Seeing them straining at the oars , for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea ; and He intended to pass by them. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea , they supposed that it was a ghost , and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were terrified . But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, " Take courage ; it is I, do not be afraid ." 51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped ; and they were utterly e e astonished , 52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves , but their heart was hardened .

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

53 When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret , and moored to the shore. 54 When they got out of the boat , immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick , to the place they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered villages , or cities , or countryside , they were laying the sick in the market places , and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak ; and as many as touched it were being cured .

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 6:30-56

Commentary on Mark 6:30-44

(Read Mark 6:30-44)

Let not ministers do any thing or teach any thing, but what they are willing should be told to their Lord. Christ notices the frights of some, and the toils of others of his disciples, and provides rest for those that are tired, and refuge for those that are terrified. The people sought the spiritual food of Christ's word, and then he took care that they should not want bodily food. If Christ and his disciples put up with mean things, surely we may. And this miracle shows that Christ came into the world, not only to restore, but to preserve and nourish spiritual life; in him there is enough for all that come. None are sent empty away from Christ but those who come to him full of themselves. Though Christ had bread enough at command, he teaches us not to waste any of God's bounties, remembering how many are in want. We may, some time, need the fragments that we now throw away.

Commentary on Mark 6:45-56

(Read Mark 6:45-56)

The church is often like a ship at sea, tossed with tempests, and not comforted: we may have Christ for us, yet wind and tide against us; but it is a comfort to Christ's disciples in a storm, that their Master is in the heavenly mount, interceding for them. And no difficulties can hinder Christ's appearance for his people, when the set time is come. He silenced their fears, by making himself known to them. Our fears are soon satisfied, if our mistakes are set right, especially our mistakes as to Christ. Let the disciples have their Master with them, and all is well. It is for want of rightly understanding Christ's former works, that we view his present works as if there never were the like before. If Christ's ministers now could cure people's bodily diseases, what multitudes would flock after them! It is sad to think how much more most care about their bodies than about their souls.