The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

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- Chapter 15 -

Then Yahweh told Moses,

“Tell this to the Israelite people, ’When you arrive in the land that I am giving to you,

you must offer to me special sacrifices which will be pleasing to me when the priest burns them on the altar. Some of them may be offerings that will be completely burned on the altar. Some of them may be to indicate that you have made a solemn promise to me. Some of them may be offerings that you yourselves have decided to make. Some of them may be offerings at one of the festivals that you celebrate each year. These offerings may be taken from your herds of cattle or from your flocks of sheep and goats.

When you give these offerings, you must also bring to me a flour offering of about two liters of nice flour mixed with about a liter of olive oil.

When you offer a young ram or goat for the sacrifice that will be completely burned up, or when you offer as a sacrifice of every young lamb, you should prepare a liter of wine to be used as a drink offering.

When you offer a ram to be a sacrifice, you must also bring an offering of about three and four-fifths liters of finely ground flour mixed with about one and one-quarter liters of olive oil.

And also pour on the altar about one and one-fifth liters of wine. While they are being burned, the smell of it will be very pleasing to me.

Sometimes you will offer a young bull to be completely burned on the altar. Sometimes you will offer a sacrifice to indicate that you have made a solemn promise to me. Sometimes you will offer a sacrifice to restore fellowship with me.

When you offer these sacrifices, you must also offer a flour offering of about six and one-half liters of finely ground flour mixed with about two liters of olive oil.

Also pour on the altar two quarts of wine to be an offering. While those special gifts are being burned, the smell from it will be very pleasing to me.

Each time someone offers a bull or a ram or a male lamb or young goat to be a sacrifice, it must be done that way.

You must obey these instructions for each animal that you bring to me for an offering.

All of you people who have been Israelites all of your lives must obey these regulations when you offer sacrifices that will be pleasing to me when they are burned on the altar.

If any foreigners visit you or live among you, if they also want to bring a sacrifice that will be pleasing to me when it is burned on the altar, they must obey these same instructions.

I consider that those who have always been Israelites and those who are foreigners are equal, and so they must all obey the same instructions. All of your descendants must also continue to obey these instructions of mine.

You Israelites and the foreigners who live among you must all obey the same instructions.’”

Yahweh also said to Moses,

“Tell these instructions to the Israelite people, ’When you arrive in the land to which I am taking you,

and you eat the crops that are growing there, you must set some of them aside to be a sacred offering to me, and present them to me.

Each year set aside some of the first grain that you gather after you have threshed it. Bake a loaf of bread from the first flour that you grind and present it before me as a sacred offering.

Every year, you and your descendants must continue to make and present to me a loaf of bread baked with flour from the first part of the grain that you harvest.

Offerings for Unintentional Sins

There may be times when you Israelites do not obey all these instructions that I have given to Moses to tell you, but not because you intended to disobey them.

There may be times when some of your descendants do not obey all these instructions that I have given to Moses to tell to you.

If you or they sin by forgetting to obey these instructions and none of the Israelite people realize that they were doing that, one young bull as an offering for all the people must be brought to the priest. That will be pleasing to me when it is burned on the altar. They must also bring to me a flour offering and an offering of wine, and a male goat, to be sacrificed to remove the guilt of their sin.

By offering these sacrifices, the priest will make atonement for all of you Israelite people. Then, as a result of their bringing to me an offering to be burned on the altar, you will be forgiven, because you sinned without realizing that you were sinning.

You Israelite people, and the foreigners who are living among you, will all be forgiven.

If one person commits a sin without realizing that he was sinning, that person must bring to me a female goat to be an offering to take away that person’s guilt for that sin.

The priest will offer it to be a sacrifice to remove the guilt of that person’s sin, and that person will be forgiven.

You Israelites and all the foreigners who live among you must obey these same instructions.

But those who disobey my commands deliberately, both Israelites and the foreigners who live among you, have sinned against me by doing that. So they must be expelled from your camp.

They have despised my commands and deliberately disobeyed them, so they must be punished for their sin by never being allowed to live among you again.’”

A Sabbath-Breaker Stoned

(Exodus 31:12–17)

One day, while the Israelites were in the wilderness, some of them saw a man who was gathering firewood on the Sabbath day.

Those who saw him doing that brought him to Aaron and Moses and the rest of the Israelite people.

They guarded him carefully, because they did not know what to do to punish him.

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “The man must be executed. All of you must kill him by throwing stones at him outside the camp.”

So they all took the man outside the camp and killed him by throwing stones at him, as Yahweh had commanded Moses that they should do.

The Law of Tassels

Yahweh also said to Moses,

“Tell this to the Israelite people: ’You and all your descendants must twist threads together to make tassels, and then attach them with blue cords to the bottom edges of your clothes.

When you look at the tassels, you will remember all the instructions that I gave to you, and you will obey them. In that way, you will not be unfaithful to me. You will not be like an unfaithful prostitute who does the shameful things that she looks at and desires to do.

Seeing those tassels will help you to remember that you must obey all my commands and that you must be my holy people.

Do not forget that I am Yahweh, your God. I am the one who brought you out of Egypt in order that you might belong to me. I am Yahweh, your God.’”

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you,

and will make an offering by fire to the LORD—a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a free will offering, or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant aroma to the LORD, of the herd, or of the flock—

then he who offers his offering shall offer to the LORD a meal offering of one tenth of an ephah(a) of fine flour mixed with one fourth of a hin

(b)

of oil.

You shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.

“‘For a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenths of an ephah(c) of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil;

and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a pleasant aroma to the LORD.

When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to the LORD,

then he shall offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenths of an ephah(d) of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil;

and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to the LORD.

Thus it shall be done for each bull, for each ram, for each of the male lambs, or of the young goats.

According to the number that you shall prepare, so you shall do to everyone according to their number.

“‘All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to the LORD.

If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to the LORD, as you do, so he shall do.

For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner, a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so the foreigner shall be before the LORD.

One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.’”

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land where I bring you,

then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to the LORD.

Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering. As the wave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall heave it.

Of the first of your dough, you shall give to the LORD a wave offering throughout your generations.

Offerings for Unintentional Sins

“‘When you err, and don’t observe all these commandments which the LORD has spoken to Moses—

even all that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment and onward throughout your generations—

then it shall be, if it was done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma to the LORD, with its meal offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.

The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their error.

All the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, as well as the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them; for with regard to all the people, it was done unwittingly.

“‘If a person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.

The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs when he sins unwittingly before the LORD. He shall make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.

You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them.

“‘But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Because he has despised the LORD’s word, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall be utterly cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.’”

A Sabbath-Breaker Stoned

(Exodus 31:12–17)

While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.

Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.

They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.

The LORD said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.”

All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses.

The Law of Tassels

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes

(e)

on the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe

(f)

of each border a cord of blue.

It shall be to you for a fringe,(g) that you may see it, and remember all the LORD’s commandments, and do them; and that you don’t follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to play the prostitute;

so that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”

Footnotes

(a)15:4 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel

(b)15:4 A hin is about 6.5 liters or 1.7 gallons.

(d)15:9 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel

(e)15:38 or, tassels (Hebrew צִיצִ֛ת)

(f)15:38 or, tassel

(g)15:39 or, tassel