Bible Reading Plan – Day 39

₁On the day Moses finished setting up the Tent of the LORD's presence, he anointed and dedicated the Tent and all its equipment, and the altar and all its equipment. ₂Then the clan chiefs who were leaders in the tribes of Israel, the same men who were in charge of the census, ₃brought their offerings to the LORD: six wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. After they had presented them, ₄the LORD said to Moses, ₅“Accept these gifts for use in the work to be done for the Tent; give them to the Levites according to the work they have to do.” ₆So Moses gave the wagons and the oxen to the Levites. ₇He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites, ₈and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites. All their work was to be done under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron. ₉But Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites, because the sacred objects they took care of had to be carried on their shoulders.

₁₀The leaders also brought offerings to celebrate the dedication of the altar. When they were ready to present their gifts at the altar, ₁₁the LORD said to Moses, “Tell them that each day for a period of twelve days one of the leaders is to present his gifts for the dedication of the altar.”

_12-83They presented their offerings in the following order:

The offerings each one brought were identical: one silver bowl weighing 1.5 kilogrammes and one silver basin weighing 800 grammes, by the official standard, both of them full of flour mixed with oil for the grain offering; one gold dish weighing 110 grammes, full of incense; one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old lamb, for the burnt offering; one goat for the sin offering; and two bulls, five rams, five goats, and five one-year-old lambs for the fellowship offering.

_84-88The totals of the offerings brought by the twelve leaders for the dedication of the altar were as follows:

₈₉When Moses went into the Tent to talk with the LORD, he heard the LORD speaking to him from above the lid on the Covenant Box, between the two winged creatures.

₁The LORD said to Moses, ₂“Tell Aaron that when he puts the seven lamps on the lampstand, he should place them so that the light shines towards the front.” ₃Aaron obeyed and placed the lamps facing the front of the lampstand. ₄From top to bottom the lampstand was made of hammered gold, according to the pattern that the LORD had shown Moses.

₅The LORD said to Moses, ₆“Separate the Levites from the rest of the people of Israel and purify them ₇in the following way: sprinkle them with the water of purification and tell them to shave their whole bodies and to wash their clothes. Then they will be ritually clean. ₈Then they are to take a young bull and the required grain offering of flour mixed with olive oil; and you are to take another bull for the sin offering. ₉Then assemble the whole community of Israel and make the Levites stand in front of the Tent of my presence. ₁₀The people of Israel are to place their hands on the heads of the Levites, ₁₁and then Aaron shall dedicate the Levites to me as a special gift from the Israelites, so that they may do my work. ₁₂The Levites shall then put their hands on the heads of the two bulls; one is to be offered as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, in order to perform the ritual of purification for the Levites.

₁₃“Dedicate the Levites as a special gift to me, and put Aaron and his sons in charge of them. ₁₄Separate the Levites in this way from the rest of the Israelites, so that they will belong to me. ₁₅After you have purified and dedicated the Levites, they will be qualified to work in the Tent. ₁₆I have claimed them in the place of all the firstborn sons of the Israelites, and they belong to me alone. ₁₇When I killed all the firstborn in Egypt, I consecrated as my own the eldest son of each Israelite family and the firstborn of every animal. ₁₈I am now taking the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the Israelites, ₁₉and I assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as a gift from the Israelites, to work in the Tent for the people of Israel and to protect the Israelites from the disaster that would strike them if they came too near the Holy Place.”

₂₀So Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel dedicated the Levites, as the LORD commanded Moses. ₂₁The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron dedicated them as a special gift to the LORD. He also performed the ritual of purification for them. ₂₂The people did everything the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites. And so the Levites were qualified to work in the Tent under Aaron and his sons.

₂₃The LORD said to Moses, ₂₄“From the age of 25 each Levite shall perform his duties in the Tent of my presence, ₂₅and at the age of fifty he shall retire. ₂₆After that, he may help his fellow-Levites in performing their duties in the Tent, but he must not perform any service by himself. This is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites.”

₁The LORD spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert in the first month of the second year after the people of Israel had left Egypt. He said, _2-3“On the fourteenth day of this month, beginning at sunset, the people of Israel are to observe the Passover according to all the rules and regulations for it.” ₄So Moses told the people to observe the Passover, ₅and on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month they did so in the Sinai Desert. The people did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

₆But there were some people who were ritually unclean because they had touched a corpse, and they were not able to keep the Passover on that day. They went to Moses and Aaron ₇and said, “We are unclean because we have touched a corpse, but why should we be excluded from presenting the LORD's offering with the rest of the Israelites?”

₈Moses answered, “Wait until I receive instructions from the LORD.”

₉The LORD told Moses ₁₀to say to the people of Israel, “When any of you or your descendants are unclean from touching a corpse or are far away on a journey, but still want to keep the Passover, ₁₁you are permitted to observe it one month later instead, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the second month. Celebrate it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ₁₂Do not leave any of the food until the following morning and do not break any of the animal's bones. Observe the Passover according to all the regulations. ₁₃But anyone who is ritually clean and not away on a journey and who does not observe the Passover, shall no longer be considered one of my people, because he did not present the offering to me at the appointed time. He must suffer the consequences of his sin.

₁₄“If foreigners living among you want to keep the Passover, they must observe it according to all the rules and regulations. The same law applies to everyone, whether native or foreigner.”

_15-16On the day the Tent of the Lord's presence was set up, a cloud came and covered it. At night the cloud looked like fire. ₁₇Whenever the cloud lifted, the people of Israel broke camp, and they set up camp again in the place where the cloud came down. ₁₈The people broke camp at the command of the LORD, and at his command they set up camp. As long as the cloud stayed over the Tent, they stayed in the same camp. ₁₉When the cloud stayed over the Tent for a long time, they obeyed the LORD and did not move on. ₂₀Sometimes the cloud remained over the Tent for only a few days; in any case, they remained in camp or moved, according to the command of the LORD. ₂₁Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning, and they moved on as soon as the cloud lifted. Whenever the cloud lifted, they moved on. ₂₂Whether it was two days, a month, a year, or longer, as long as the cloud remained over the Tent, they did not move on; but when it lifted, they moved. ₂₃They set up camp and broke camp in obedience to the commands which the LORD gave through Moses.

₁The LORD said to Moses, ₂“Make two trumpets of hammered silver to use for calling the people together and for breaking camp. ₃When long blasts are sounded on both trumpets, the whole community is to gather round you at the entrance to the Tent of my presence. ₄But when only one trumpet is sounded, then only the leaders of the clans are to gather round you. ₅When short blasts are sounded, the tribes camped on the east will move out. ₆When short blasts are sounded a second time, the tribes on the south will move out. So short blasts are to be sounded to break camp, ₇but in order to call the community together, long blasts are to be sounded. ₈The trumpets are to be blown by Aaron's sons, the priests.

“The following rule is to be observed for all time to come. ₉When you are at war in your land, defending yourselves against an enemy who has attacked you, sound the signal for battle on these trumpets. I, the LORD your God, will help you and save you from your enemies. ₁₀Also on joyful occasions — at your New Moon Festivals and your other religious festivals — you are to blow the trumpets when you present your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings. Then I will help you. I am the LORD your God.”