4:22. Take the sum of the sons of Gerson also by their houses and families and kindreds.
4:23. From thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old. Number them all that go in and minister in the tabernacle of the covenant.
4:24. This is the office of the family of the Gersonites:
4:25. To carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the roof of the covenant, the other covering, and the violet covering over all, and the hanging that hangeth in the entry of the tabernacle of the covenant,
4:26. The curtains of the court, and the veil in the entry that is before tabernacle. All things that pertain to the altar, the cords and the vessels of the ministry,
4:27. The sons of Gerson shall carry, by the commandment of Aaron and his sons: and each man shall know to what burden he must be assigned.
4:28. This is the service of the family of the Gersonites in the tabernacle of the covenant, and they shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
4:29. Thou shalt reckon up the sons of Merari also by the families and houses of their fathers,
4:30. From thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old, all that go in to the office of their ministry, and to the service of the covenant of the testimony.
4:31. These are their burdens: They shall carry the boards of the tabernacle and the bars thereof, the pillars and their sockets,
4:32. The pillars also of the court round about, with their sockets and pins and cords. They shall receive by account all the vessels and furniture, and so shall carry them.
4:33. This is the office of the family of the Merarites, and their ministry in the tabernacle of the covenant: and they shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
4:34. So Moses and Aaron and the princes of the synagogue reckoned up the sons of Caath, by their kindreds and the houses of their fathers,
4:35. From thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old, all that go in to the ministry of the tabernacle of the covenant:
4:36. And they were found two thousand seven hundred and fifty.
4:37. This is the number of the people of Caath that go in to the tabernacle of the covenant: these did Moses and Aaron number according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
4:38. The sons of Gerson also were numbered by the kindreds and houses of their fathers,
4:39. From thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old, all that go in to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant:
4:40. And they were found two thousand six hundred and thirty.
4:41. This is the people of the Gersonites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord.
4:42. The sons of Merari also were numbered by the kindreds and houses of their fathers,
4:43. From thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old, all that go in to fulfil the rites of the tabernacle of the covenant:
4:44. And they were found three thousand two hundred.
4:45. This is the number of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron reckoned up according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
4:46. All that were reckoned up of the Levites, and whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel took by name, by the kindreds and houses of their fathers,
4:47. From thirty years old and upward, until fifty years old, that go into the ministry of the tabernacle, and to carry the burdens,
4:48. Were in all eight thousand five hundred and eighty.
4:49. Moses reckoned them up according to the word of the Lord, every one according to their office and burdens, as the Lord had commanded him.
Numbers Chapter 5
The unclean are removed out of the camp: confession of sins, and satisfaction: firstfruits and oblations belonging to the priests: trial of jealousy.
5:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
5:2. Command the children of Israel, that they cast out of the camp every leper, and whosoever hath an issue of seed, or is defiled by the dead:
5:3. Whether it be man or woman, cast ye them out of the camp, lest they defile it when I shall dwell with you,
5:4. And the children of Israel did so, and they cast them forth without the camp, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
5:5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
5:6. Say to the children of Israel: When a man or woman shall have committed any of all the sins that men are wont to commit, and by negligence shall have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and offended,
5:7. They shall confess their sin, and restore the principal itself, and the fifth part over and above, to him against whom they have sinned.
Shall confess... This confession and satisfaction, ordained in the Old Law, was a figure of the sacrament of penance.
5:8. But if there be no one to receive it, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be the priest's, besides the ram that is offered for expiation, to be an atoning sacrifice.
5:9. All the firstfruits also, which the children of Israel offer, belong to the priest:
5:10. And whatsoever is offered into the sanctuary by every one, and is delivered into the hands of the priest, it shall be his.
5:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
5:12. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man whose wife shall have gone astray, and contemning her husband,
5:13. Shall have slept with another man, and her husband cannot discover it, but the adultery is secret, and cannot be proved by witnesses, because she was not found in the adultery:
5:14. If the spirit of jealousy stir up the husband against his wife, who either is defiled, or is charged with false suspicion,
The spirit of jealousy, etc... This ordinance was designed to clear the innocent, and to prevent jealous husbands from doing mischief to their wives: as likewise to give all a horror of adultery, by punishing it in so remarkable a manner.
5:15. He shall bring her to the priest, and shall offer an oblation for her, the tenth part of a measure of barley meal: he shall not pour oil thereon, nor put frankincense upon it: because it is a sacrifice of jealousy, and an oblation searching out adultery.
5:16. The priest therefore shall offer it, and set it before the Lord.
5:17. And he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall cast a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle into it.
5:18. And when the woman shall stand before the Lord, he shall uncover her head, and shall put on her hands the sacrifice of remembrance, and the oblation of jealousy: and he himself shall hold the most bitter waters, whereon he hath heaped curses with execration.
5:19. And he shall adjure her, and shall say: If another man hath not slept with thee, and if thou be not defiled by forsaking thy husband's bed, these most bitter waters, on which I have heaped curses, shall not hurt thee.
5:20. But if thou hast gone aside from thy husband, and art defiled, and hast lain with another man:
5:21. These curses shall light upon thee: The Lord make thee a curse, and an example for all among his people: may he make thy thigh to rot, and may thy belly swell and burst asunder.
5:22. Let the cursed waters enter into thy belly, and may thy womb swell and thy thigh rot. And the woman shall answer, Amen, amen.
5:23. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall wash them out with the most bitter waters, upon which he hath heaped the curses,
5:24. And he shall give them her to drink. And when she hath drunk them up,
5:25. The priest shall take from her hand the sacrifice of jealousy, and shall elevate it before the Lord, and shall put it upon the altar: yet so as first,
5:26. To take a handful of the sacrifice of that which is offered, and burn it upon the altar: and so give the most bitter waters to the woman to drink.
5:27. And when she hath drunk them, if she be defiled, and having despised her husband be guilty of adultery, the malediction shall go through her, and her belly swelling, her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse, and an example to all the people.
5:28. But if she be not defiled, she shall not be hurt, and shall bear children.
5:29. This is the law of jealousy. If a woman hath gone aside from her husband, and be defiled,
5:30. And the husband stirred up by the spirit of jealousy bring her before the Lord, and the priest do to her according to all things that are here written:
5:31. The husband shall be blameless, and she shall bear her iniquity.
Numbers Chapter 6
The law of the Nazarites: the form of blessing the people.
6:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When a man, or woman, shall make a vow to be sanctified, and will consecrate themselves to the Lord:
6:3. They shall abstain from wine, and from every thing that may make a man drunk. They shall not drink vinegar of wine, or of any other drink, nor any thing that is pressed out of the grape: nor shall they eat grapes either fresh or dried.
6:4. All the days that they are consecrated to the Lord by vow: they shall eat nothing that cometh of the vineyard, from the raisin even to the kernel.
6:5. All the time of his separation no razor shall pass over his head, until the day be fulfilled of his consecration to the Lord. He shall be holy, and shall let the hair of his head grow.
6:6. All the time of his consecration he shall not go in to any dead,
6:7. Neither shall he make himself unclean, even for his father, or for his mother, or for his brother, or for his sister, when they die, because the consecration of his God is upon his head.
6:8. All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the Lord.
6:9. But if any man die suddenly before him: the head of his consecration shall be defiled: and he shall shave it forthwith on the same day of his purification, and again on the seventh day.
6:10. And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons to the priest in the entry of the covenant of the testimony.
6:11. And the priest shall offer one for sin, and the other for a holocaust, and shall pray for him, for that he hath sinned by the dead: and he shall sanctify his head that day:
6:12. And shall consecrate to the Lord the days of his separation, offering a lamb of one year for sin: yet so that the former days be made void, because his sanctification was profaned.
6:13. This is the law of consecration. When the days which he had determined by vow shall be expired, he shall bring him to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant,
6:14. And shall offer his oblation to the Lord: one he lamb of a year old without blemish for a holocaust, and one ewe lamb of a year old without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for a victim of peace offering,
6:15. A basket also of unleavened bread, tempered with oil, and wafers without leaven anointed with oil, and the libations of each:
6:16. And the priest shall present them before the Lord, and shall offer both the sin offering and the holocaust.
6:17. But the ram he shall immolate for a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, offering at the same time the basket of unleavened bread, and the libations that are due by custom.
6:18. Then shall the hair of the consecration of the Nazarite, be shaved off before the door of the tabernacle of the covenant: and he shall take his hair, and lay it upon the fire, which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings.
6:19. And shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and he shall deliver them into the hands of the Nazarite, after his head is shaven.
6:20. And receiving them again from him, he shall elevate them in the sight of the Lord: and they being sanctified shall belong to the priest, as the breast, which was commanded to be separated, and the shoulder. After this the Nazarite may drink wine.
6:21. This is the law of the Nazarite, when he hath vowed his oblation to the Lord in the time of his consecration, besides those things which his hand shall find, according to that which he had vowed in his mind, so shall he do for the fulfilling of his sanctification.
6:22. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
6:23. Say to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the children of Israel, and you shall say to them:
6:24. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee.
6:25. The Lord shew his face to thee, and have mercy on thee.
6:26. The Lord turn his countenance to thee, and give thee peace.
6:27. And they shall invoke my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.
Numbers Chapter 7
The offerings of the princes at the dedication of the tabernacle. God speaketh to Moses from the propitiatory.
7:1. And it came to pass in the day that Moses had finished the tabernacle, and set it up, and had anointed and sanctified it with all its vessels, the altar likewise and all the vessels thereof,
7:2. The princes of Israel and the heads of the families, in every tribe, who were the rulers of them who had been numbered, offered
7:3. Their gifts before the Lord, six wagons covered, and twelve oxen. Two princes offered one wagon, and each one an ox, and they offered them before the tabernacle.
7:4. And the Lord said to Moses:
7:5. Receive them from them to serve in the ministry of the tabernacle, and thou shalt deliver them to the Levites according to the order of their ministry.
7:6. Moses therefore receiving the wagons and the oxen, delivered them to the Levites.
7:7. Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gerson, according to their necessity.
7:8. The other four wagons, and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their offices and service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
7:9. But to the sons of Caath he gave no wagons or oxen: because they serve in the sanctuary and carry their burdens upon their own shoulders.
7:10. And the princes offered for the dedication of the altar on the day when it was anointed, their oblation before the altar.
7:11. And the Lord said to Moses: Let each of the princes one day after another offer their gifts for the dedication of the altar.
7:12. The first day Nahasson the son of Aminadab of the tribe of Juda offered his offering:
7:13. And his offering was a silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles according to the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:14. A little mortar of ten sicles of gold full of incense:
7:15. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:16. And a buck goat for sin:
7:17. And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Nahasson the son of Aminadab.
7:18. The second day Nathanael the son of Suar, prince of the tribe of Issachar, made his offering,
7:19. A silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:20. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:21. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:22. And a buck goat for sin:
7:23. And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Nathanael the son of Suar.
7:24. The third day the prince of the sons of Zabulon, Eliab the son of Helon,
7:25. Offered a silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:26. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:27. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:28. And a buck goat for sin:
7:29. And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This is the oblation of Eliab the son of Helon.
7:30. The fourth day the prince of the sons of Ruben, Elisur the son of Sedeur,
7:31. Offered a silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles according to the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:32. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:33. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old, for a holocaust:
7:34. And a buck goat for sin:
7:35. And for victims of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Elisur the son of Sedeur.
7:36. The fifth day the prince of the sons of Simeon, Salamiel the son of Surisaddai,
7:37. Offered a silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles after the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:38. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:39. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:40. And a buck goat for sin:
7:41. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Salamiel the son of Surisaddai.
7:42. The sixth day the prince of the sons of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Duel,
7:43. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:44. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:45. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:46. And a buck goat for sin:
7:47. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Duel.
7:48. The seventh day the prince of the sons of Ephraim, Elisama the son of Ammiud,
7:49. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles according to the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:50. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:51. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:52. And a buck goat for sin:
7:53. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Elisama the son of Ammiud.
7:54. The eighth day the prince of the sons of Manasses, Gamaliel the son of Phadassur,
7:55. Offered a silver dish, weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:56. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:57. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:58. And a buck goat for sin:
7:59. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.
7:60. The ninth day the prince of the sons of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gedeon,
7:61. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:62. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:63. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:64. And a buck goat for sin:
7:65. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gedeon.
7:66. The tenth day the princes of the sons of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammisaddai,
7:67. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:68. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:69. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:70. And a buck goat for sin:
7:71. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammisaddai.
7:72. The eleventh day the prince of the sons of Aser, Phegiel the son of Ochran,
7:73. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:74. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:75. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:76. And a buck goat for sin:
7:77. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Phegiel the son of Ochran.
7:78. The twelfth day the prince of the sons of Nephtali, Ahira the son of Enan,
7:79. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:
7:80. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:
7:81. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a holocaust:
7:82. And a buck goat for sin:
7:83. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five buck goats, five lambs of a year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.
7:84. These were the offerings made by the princes of Israel in the dedication of the altar, in the day wherein it was consecrated. Twelve dishes of silver: twelve silver bowls: twelve little mortars of gold:
7:85. Each dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles of silver, and each bowl seventy sicles: that is, putting all the vessels of silver together, two thousand four hundred sicles, by the weight of the sanctuary.
7:86. Twelve little mortars of gold full of incense, weighing ten sicles apiece, by the weight of the sanctuary: that is, in all a hundred and twenty sicles of gold.
7:87. Twelve oxen out of the herd for a holocaust, twelve rams, twelve lambs of a year old, and their libations: twelve buck goats for sin.
7:88. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, oxen twenty-four, rams sixty, buck goats sixty, lambs of a year old sixty. These things were offered in the dedication of the altar, when it was anointed.
7:89. And when Moses entered into the tabernacle of the covenant, to consult the oracle, he heard the voice of one speaking to him from the propitiatory, that is over the ark between the two cherubims, and from this place he spoke to him.
Numbers Chapter 8
The seven lamps are placed on the golden candlestick, to shine towards the loaves of proposition: the ordination of the Levites: and to what age they shall serve in the tabernacle.
8:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
8:2. Speak to Aaron, and thou shalt say to him: When thou shalt place the seven lamps, let the candlestick be set up on the south side. Give orders therefore that the lamps look over against the north, towards the table of the loaves of proposition, over against that part shall they give light, towards which the candlestick looketh.
8:3. And Aaron did so, and he put the lamps upon the candlestick, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:4. Now this was the work of the candlestick, it was of beaten gold, both the shaft in the middle, and all that came out of both sides of the branches: according to the pattern which the Lord had shewn to Moses, so he made the candlestick.
8:5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
8:6. Take the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, and thou shalt purify them,
8:7. According to this rite: Let them be sprinkled with the water of purification, and let them shave all the hairs of their flesh. And when they shall have washed their garments, and are cleansed,
Let them be sprinkled with the water of purification... This was the holy water mixed with the ashes of the red cow, Num. 19., appointed for purifying all that were unclean. It was a figure of the blood of Christ, applied to our souls by his holy sacraments.
8:8. They shall take an ox of the herd, and for the offering thereof fine flour tempered with oil: and thou shalt take another ox of the herd for a sin offering:
8:9. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the covenant, calling together all the multitude of the children of Israel:
8:10. And when the Levites are before the Lord, the children of Israel shall put their hands upon them:
8:11. And Aaron shall offer the Levites, as a gift in the sight of the Lord from the children of Israel, that they may serve in his ministry.
8:12. The Levites also shall put their hands upon the heads of the oxen, of which thou shalt sacrifice one for sin, and the other for a holocaust to the Lord, to pray for them.
8:13. And thou shalt set the Levites in the sight of Aaron and of his, and shalt consecrate them being offered to the Lord,
8:14. And shalt separate them from the midst of the children of Israel, to be mine.
8:15. And afterwards they shall enter into the tabernacle of the covenant, to serve me. And thus shalt thou purify and consecrate them for an oblation of the Lord: for as a gift they were given me by the children of Israel.
8:16. I have taken them instead of the firstborn that open every womb in Israel,
8:17. For all the firstborn of the children of Israel, both of men and of beasts, are mine. From the day that I slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, have I sanctified them to myself:
8:18. And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel:
8:19. And have delivered them for a gift to Aaron and his sons out of the midst of the people, to serve me for Israel in the tabernacle of the covenant, and to pray for them, lest there should be a plague among the people, if they should presume to approach unto my sanctuary.
8:20. And Moses and Aaron and all the multitude of the children of Israel did with the Levites all that the Lord had commanded Moses,
8:21. And they were purified, and washed their garments. And Aaron lifted them up in the sight of the Lord, and prayed for them,
8:22. That being purified they might go into the tabernacle of the covenant to do their services before Aaron and his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses touching the Levites, so was it done.
8:23. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
8:24. This is the law of the Levites: From twenty-five years old and upwards, they shall go in to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant.
8:25. And when they shall have accomplished the fiftieth year of their age, they shall cease to serve:
8:26. And they shall be the ministers of their brethren in the tabernacle of the covenant, to keep the things that are committed to their care, but not to do the works. Thus shalt thou order the Levites touching their charge.
Numbers Chapter 9
The precept of the pasch is renewed: the unclean and travellers are to observe it the second month: the camp is guided by the pillar of the cloud.
9:1. The Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying:
9:2. Let the children of Israel make the phase in its due time,
Make the phase... That is, keep the paschal solemnity, and eat the paschal lamb.
9:3. The fourteenth day of this month in the evening, according to all the ceremonies and justifications thereof.
9:4. And Moses commanded the children of Israel that they should make the phase.
9:5. And they made it in its proper time: the fourteenth day of the month at evening, in mount Sinai. The children of Israel did according to all things that the Lord had commanded Moses.
9:6. But behold some who were unclean by occasion of the soul of a man, who could not make the phase on that day, coming to Moses and Aaron,
Behold some who were unclean by occasion of the soul of a man, etc... That is, by having touched or come near a dead body, out of which the soul was departed.
9:7. Said to them: We are unclean by occasion of the soul of a man. Why are we kept back that we may not offer in its season the offering to the Lord among the children of Israel?
9:8. And Moses answered them: Stay that I may consult the Lord what he will ordain concerning you.
9:9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
9:10. Say to the children of Israel: The man that shall be unclean by occasion of one that is dead, or shall be in a journey afar off in your nation, let him make the phase to the Lord.
9:11. In the second month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, they shall eat it with unleavened bread and wild lettuce:
9:12. They shall not leave any thing thereof until morning, nor break a bone thereof, they shall observe all the ceremonies of the phase.
9:13. But if any man is clean, and was not on a journey, and did not make the phase, that soul shall be cut off from among his people, because he offered not sacrifice to the Lord in due season: he shall bear his sin.
9:14. The sojourner also and the stranger if they be among you, shall make the phase to the Lord according to the ceremonies and justifications thereof. The same ordinances shall be with you both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.
9:15. Now on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, a cloud covered it. But from the evening there was over the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of fire until the morning.
9:16. So it was always: by day the cloud covered it, and by night as it were the appearance of fire.
9:17. And when the cloud that covered the tabernacle was taken up, then the children of Israel marched forward: and in the place where the cloud stood still, there they camped.
9:18. At the commandment of the Lord they marched, and at his commandment they pitched the tabernacle. All the days that the cloud abode over the tabernacle, they remained in the same place:
9:19. And if it was so that it continued over it a long time, the children of Israel kept the watches of the Lord, and marched not,
9:20. For as many days soever as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle. At the commandment of the Lord they pitched their tents, and at his commandment they took them down.
9:21. If the cloud tarried from evening until morning, and immediately at break of day left the tabernacle, they marched forward: and if it departed after a day and a night, they took down their tents.
9:22. But if it remained over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a longer time, the children of Israel remained in the same place, and marched not: but immediately as soon as it departed, they removed the camp.
9:23. By the word of the Lord they pitched their tents, and by his word they marched: and kept the watches of the Lord according to his commandment by the hand of Moses.
Numbers Chapter 10
The silver trumpets and their use. They march from Sinai.
10:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
10:2. Make thee two trumpets of beaten silver, wherewith thou mayest call together the multitude when the camp is to be removed.
10:3. And when thou shalt sound the trumpets, all the multitude shall gather unto thee to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant.
10:4. If thou sound but once, the princes and the heads of the multitude of Israel shall come to thee.
10:5. But if the sound of the trumpets be longer, and with interruptions, they that are on the east side, shall first go forward.
10:6. And at the second sounding and like noise of the trumpet, they who lie on the south side shall take up their tents. And after this manner shall the rest do, when the trumpets shall sound for a march.
10:7. But when the people is to be gathered together, the sound of the trumpets shall be plain, and they shall not make a broken sound.
10:8. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall sound the trumpets: and this shall be an ordinance for ever in your generations.
10:9. If you go forth to war out of your land against the enemies that fight against you, you shall sound aloud with the trumpets, and there shall be a remembrance of you before the Lord your God, that you may be delivered out of the hands of your enemies.
10:10. If at any time you shall have a banquet, and on your festival days, and on the first days of your months, you shall sound the trumpets over the holocausts, and the sacrifices of peace offerings, that they may be to you for a remembrance of your God. I am the Lord your God.
10:11. The second year, in the second month, the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the covenant.
10:12. And the children of Israel marched by their troops from the desert of Sinai, and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Pharan.
10:13. And the first went forward according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
10:14. The sons of Juda by their troops: whose prince was Nahasson the son of Aminadab.
10:15. In the tribe of the sons of Issachar, the prince was Nathanael the son of Suar.
10:16. In the tribe of Zabulon, the prince was Eliab the son of Helon.
10:17. And the tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gerson and Merari set forward, bearing it.
10:18. And the sons of Ruben also marched, by their troops and ranks, whose prince was Helisur the son of Sedeur.
10:19. And in the tribe of Simeon, the prince was Salamiel the son of Surisaddai.
10:20. And in the tribe of Gad, the prince was Eliasaph the son of Duel.
10:21. Then the Caathites also marched carrying the sanctuary. So long was the tabernacle carried, till they came to the place of setting it up.
10:22. The sons of Ephraim also moved their camp by their troops, in whose army the prince was Elisama the son of Ammiud.
10:23. And in the tribe of the sons of Manasses, the prince was Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.
10:24. And in the tribe of Benjamin, the prince was Abidan the son of Gedeon.
10:25. The last of all the camp marched the sons of Dan by their troops, in whose army the prince was Ahiezer the son of Ammisaddai.
10:26. And in the tribe of the sons of Aser, the prince was Phegiel the son of Ochran.
10:27. And in the tribe of the sons of Nephtali, the prince was Ahira the son of Enan.
10:28. This was the order of the camps, and marches of the children of Israel by their troops, when they set forward.
10:29. And Moses said to Hobab the son of Raguel the Madianite, his kinsman: We are going towards the place which the Lord will give us: come with us, that we may do thee good: for the Lord hath promised good things to Israel.
10:30. But he answered him: I will not go with thee, but I will return to my country, wherein I was born.
10:31. And he said: Do not leave us: for thou knowest in what places we should encamp in the wilderness, and thou shalt be our guide.
10:32. And if thou comest with us, we will give thee what is the best of the riches which the Lord shall deliver to us.
10:33. So they marched from the mount of the Lord three days' journey, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, for three days providing a place for the camp.
10:34. The cloud also of the Lord was over them by day when they marched.
10:35. And when the ark was lifted up, Moses said: Arise, O Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee, flee from before thy face.
10:36. And when it was set down, he said: Return, O Lord, to the multitude of the host of Israel.
Numbers Chapter 11
The people murmur and are punished with fire. God appointeth seventy ancients for assistants to Moses. They prophesy. The people have their fill of flesh, but forthwith many die of the plague.
11:1. In the mean time there arose a murmuring of the people against the Lord, as it were repining at their fatigue. And when the Lord heard it he was angry. And the fire of the Lord being kindled against them, devoured them that were at the uttermost part of the camp.
11:2. And when the people cried to Moses, Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was swallowed up.
11:3. And he called the name of that place, The burning: for that the fire of the Lord had been kindled against them.
The burning... Hebrew, Taberah.
11:4. For a mixt multitude of people, that came up with them, burned with desire, sitting and weeping, the children of Israel also being joined with them, and said: Who shall give us flesh to eat?
A mixt multitude... These were people that came with them out of Egypt, who were not of the race of Israel; who, by their murmuring, drew also the children of Israel to murmur: this should teach us the danger of associating ourselves with the children of Egypt, that is, with the lovers and admirers of this wicked world.
11:5. We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic.
11:6. Our soul is dry, our eyes behold nothing else but manna.
11:7. Now the manna was like coriander seed, of the colour of bdellium.
Bdellium... Bdellium, according to Pliny, 1.21, c. 9. was of the colour of a man's nail, white and bright.
11:8. And the people went about, and gathering it, ground it in a mill, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pot, and made cakes thereof of the taste of bread tempered with oil.
11:9. And when the dew fell in the night upon the camp, the manna also fell with it.
11:10. Now Moses heard the people weeping by their families, every one at the door of his tent. And the wrath of the Lord was exceedingly enkindled: to Moses also the thing seemed insupportable.
11:11. And he said to the Lord: Why hast thou afflicted thy servant? Wherefore do I not find favour before thee? And why hast thou laid the weight of all this people upon me?
11:12. Have I conceived all this multitude, or begotten them, that thou shouldst say to me: Carry them in thy bosom as the nurse is wont to carry the little infant, and bear them into the land, for which thou hast sworn to their fathers?
11:13. Whence should I have flesh to give to so great a multitude? They weep against me, saying: Give us flesh that we may eat.
11:14. I am not able alone to bear all this people, because it is too heavy for me.
11:15. But if it seem unto thee otherwise, I beseech thee to kill me, and let me find grace in thy eyes, that I be not afflicted with so great evils.
11:16. And the Lord said to Moses: Gather unto me seventy men of the ancients of Israel, whom thou knowest to be ancients and masters of the people: and thou shalt bring them to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant, and shalt make them stand there with thee,
Seventy men... This was the first institution of the council or senate, called the Sanhedrin, consisting of seventy or seventy-two senators or counsellors.
11:17. That I may come down and speak with thee: and I will take of thy spirit, and will give to them, that they may bear with thee the burden of the people, and thou mayest not be burthened alone.
11:18. And thou shalt say to the people: Be ye sanctified: to morrow you shall eat flesh: for I have heard you say: Who will give us flesh to eat? It was well with us in Egypt. That the Lord may give you flesh, and you may eat:
11:19. Not for one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, no nor for twenty.
11:20. But even for a month of days, till it come out at your nostrils, and become loathsome to you, because you have cast off the Lord, who is in the midst of you, and have wept before him, saying: Why came we out of Egypt?
11:21. And Moses said: There are six hundred thousand footmen of this people, and sayest thou: I will give them flesh to eat a whole month?
11:22. Shall then a multitude of sheep and oxen be killed, that it may suffice for their food? or shall the fishes of the sea be gathered together to fill them?
11:23. And the Lord answered him: Is the hand of the Lord unable? Thou shalt presently see whether my word shall come to pass or no.
11:24. Moses therefore came, and told the people the words of the Lord, and assembled seventy men of the ancients of Israel, and made them to stand about the tabernacle.
11:25. And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, taking away of the spirit that was in Moses, and giving to the seventy men. And when the spirit had rested on them they prophesied, nor did they cease afterwards.
11:26. Now there remained in the camp two of the men, of whom one was called Eldad, and the other Medad, upon whom the spirit rested; for they also had been enrolled, but were not gone forth to the tabernacle.
11:27. And when they prophesied in the camp, there ran a young man, and told Moses, saying: Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp.
11:28. Forthwith Josue the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, and chosen out of many, said: My lord Moses forbid them.
11:29. But he said: Why hast thou emulation for me? O that all the people might prophesy, and that the Lord would give them his spirit!
11:30. And Moses returned, with the ancients of Israel, into the camp.
11:31. And a wind going out from the Lord, taking quails up beyond the sea brought them, and cast them into the camp for the space of one day's journey, on every side of the camp round about, and they flew in the air two cubits high above the ground.
11:32. The people therefore rising up all that day, and night, and the next day, gathered together of quails, he that did least, ten cores: and they dried them round about the camp.
11:33. As yet the flesh was between their teeth, neither had that kind of meat failed: when behold the wrath of the Lord being provoked against the people, struck them with an exceeding great plague.
11:34. And that place was called, The graves of lust: for there they buried the people that had lusted. And departing from the graves of lust, they came unto Haseroth, and abode there.
The graves of lust... Or, the sepulchres of concupiscence: so called from their irregular desire of flesh. In Hebrew, Kibroth. Hattaavah.
Numbers Chapter 12
Mary and Aaron murmur against Moses, whom God praiseth above other prophets. Mary being struck with leprosy, Aaron confesseth his fault. Moses prayeth for her, and after seven days' separation from the camp, she is restored.
12:1. And Mary and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of his wife the Ethiopian,
Ethiopian... Sephora the wife of Moses was of Madian, which bordered upon the land of Chus or Ethiopia: where note, that the Ethiopia here spoken of is not that of Africa but that of Arabia.
12:2. And they said: Hath the Lord spoken by Moses only? Hath he not also spoken to us in like manner? And when the Lord heard this,
12:3. (For Moses was a man exceeding meek above all men that dwelt upon earth)
Exceeding meek... Moses being the meekest of men, would not contend for himself; therefore, God inspired him to write here his own defence: and the Holy Spirit, whose dictate he wrote, obliged him to declare the truth, though it was so much to his own praise.
12:4. Immediately he spoke to him, and to Aaron and Mary: Come out you three only to the tabernacle of the covenant. And when they were come out,
12:5. The Lord came down in a pillar of the cloud, and stood in the entry of the tabernacle calling to Aaron and Mary. And when they were come,
12:6. He said to them: Hear my words: if there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him in a dream.
12:7. But it is not so with my servant Moses who is most faithful in all my house:
12:8. For I speak to him mouth to mouth: and plainly, and not by riddles and figures doth he see the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak ill of my servant Moses?
12:9. And being angry with them he went away:
12:10. The cloud also that was over the tabernacle departed: and behold Mary appeared white as snow with a leprosy. And when Aaron had looked on her, and saw her all covered with leprosy,
12:11. He said to Moses: I beseech thee, my lord, lay not upon us this sin, which we have foolishly committed:
12:12. Let her not be as one dead, and as an abortive that is cast forth from the mother's womb. Lo, now one half of her flesh is consumed with the leprosy.
12:13. And Moses cried to the Lord, saying O God, I beseech thee heal her.
12:14. And the Lord answered him: If her father had spitten upon her face, ought she not to have been ashamed for seven days at least? Let her be separated seven days without the camp, and afterwards she shall be called again.
12:15. Mary therefore was put out of the camp seven days: and the people moved not from that place until Mary was called again.
Numbers Chapter 13
The twelve spies are sent to view the land. The relation they make of it.
13:1. And the people marched from Haseroth, and pitched their tents in the desert of Pharan.
13:2. And there the Lord spoke to Moses, saying.
13:3. Send men to view the land of Chanaan, which I will give to the children of Israel, one of every tribe, of the rulers.
13:4. Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending from the desert of Pharan, principal men, whose names are these:
13:5. Of the tribe of Ruben, Sammua the son of Zechur.
13:6. Of the tribe of Simeon, Saphat the son of Huri.
13:7. Of the tribe of Juda, Caleb the son of Jephone.
13:8. Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
13:9. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Osee the son of Nun.
13:10. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Phalti the son of Raphu.
13:11. Of the tribe of Zabulon, Geddiel the son of Sodi.
13:12. Of the tribe of Joseph, of the sceptre of Manasses, Gaddi the son of Susi.
13:13. Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
13:14. Of the tribe of Aser, Sthur the son of Michael.
13:15. Of the tribe of Nephtali, Nahabi the son of Vapsi.
13:16. Of the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi.
13:17. These are the names of the men, whom Moses sent to view the land: and he called Osee the son of Nun, Josue.
13:18. And Moses sent them to view the land of Chanaan, and said to them: Go you up by the south side. And when you shall come to the mountains,
13:19. View the land, of what sort it is, and the people that are the inhabitants thereof, whether they be strong or weak: few in number or many:
13:20. The land itself, whether it be good or bad: what manner of cities, walled or without walls:
13:21. The ground, fat or barren, woody or without trees. Be of good courage, and bring us of the fruits of the land. Now it was the time when the firstripe grapes are fit to be eaten.
13:22. And when they were gone up, they viewed the land from the desert of Sin, unto Rohob as you enter into Emath.
13:23. And they went up at the south side, and came to Hebron, where were Achiman and Sisai and Tholmai the sons of Enac. For Hebron was built seven years before Tanis the city of Egypt.
13:24. And forward as far as the torrent of the cluster of grapes, they cut off a branch with its cluster of grapes, which two men carried upon a lever. They took also of the pomegranates and of the figs of that place:
13:25. Which was called Nehelescol, that is to say, the torrent of the cluster of grapes, because from thence the children of Israel had carried a cluster of grapes.
13:26. And they that went to spy out the land returned after forty days, having gone round all the country,
13:27. And came to Moses and Aaron and to all the assembly of the children of Israel to the desert of Pharan, which is in Cades. And speaking to them and to all the multitude, they shewed them the fruits of the land:
13:28. And they related and said: We came into the land to which thou sentest us, which in very deed floweth with milk and honey as may be known by these fruits:
13:29. But it hath very strong inhabitants, and the cities are great and walled. We saw there the race of Enac.
13:30. Amalec dwelleth in the south, the Hethite and the Jebusite and the Amorrhite in the mountains: but the Chanaanite abideth by the sea and near the streams of the Jordan.
13:31. In the mean time Caleb, to still the murmuring of the people that rose against Moses, said: Let us go up and possess the land, for we shall be able to conquer it.
13:32. But the others, that had been with him, said: No, we are not able to go up to this people, because they are stronger than we.
13:33. And they spoke ill of the land, which they had viewed, before the children of Israel, saying: The land which we have viewed, devoureth its inhabitants: the people, that we beheld are of a tall stature.
Spoke ill, etc... These men, who by their misrepresentations of the land of promise, discouraged the Israelites from attempting the conquest of it, were a figure of worldlings, who, by decrying or misrepresenting true devotion, discourage Christians from seeking in earnest and acquiring so great a good, and thereby securing to themselves a happy eternity.
13:34. There we saw certain monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant kind: in comparison of whom, we seemed like locusts.
Numbers Chapter 14
The people murmur. God threateneth to destroy them. He is appeased by Moses, yet so as to exclude the murmurers from entering the promised land. The authors of the sedition are struck dead. The rest going to fight against the will of God are beaten.
14:1. Therefore the whole multitude crying wept that night.
14:2. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying:
14:3. Would God that we had died in Egypt: and would God we may die in this vast wilderness, and that the Lord may not bring us into this land, lest we fall by the sword, and our wives and children be led away captives. Is it not better to return into Egypt?