Chapter 24

1:52. And the children of Israel shall camp every man by his troops and bands and army.

1:53. But the Levites shall pitch their tents round about the tabernacle, lest there come indignation upon the multitude of the children of Israel, and they shall keep watch, and guard the tabernacle of the testimony.

1:54. And the children of Israel did according to all things which the Lord had commanded Moses.

Numbers Chapter 2

The order of the tribes in their camp.

2:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

2:2. All the children of Israel shall camp by their troops, ensigns, and standards, and the houses of their kindreds, round about the tabernacle of the covenant.

2:3. On the east Juda shall pitch his tents by the bands of his army: and the prince of his sons; shall be Nahasson the son of Aminadab.

2:4. And the whole sum of the fighting men of his stock, were seventy-four thousand six hundred.

2:5. Next unto him they of the tribe of Issachar encamped, whose prince was Nathanael, the son of Suar.

2:6. And the whole number of his fighting men were fifty-four thousand four hundred.

2:7. In the tribe of Zabulon the prince was Eliab the son of Helon.

2:8. And all the army of fighting men of his stock, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

2:9. All that were numbered in the camp of Juda, were a hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred: and they by their troops shall march first.

2:10. In the camp of the sons of Ruben, on the south side, the prince shall be Elisur the son of Sedeur:

2:11. And the whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were forty-six thousand five hundred.

2:12. Beside him camped they of the tribe of Simeon: whose prince was Salamiel the son of Surisaddai.

2:13. And the whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

2:14. In the tribe of Gad the prince was Eliasaph the son of Duel.

2:15. And the whole army of his fighting men that were numbered, were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

2:16. All that were reckoned up in the camp of Ruben, were a hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty, by their troops: they shall march in the second place.

2:17. And the tabernacle of the testimony shall be carried by the officers of the Levites and their troops. As it shall be set up, so shall it be taken down. Every one shall march according to their places, and ranks.

2:18. On the west side shall be the camp of the sons of Ephraim, whose prince was Elisama the son of Ammiud.

2:19. The whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were forty thousand five hundred.

2:20. And with them the tribe of the sons of Manasses, whose prince was Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.

2:21. And the whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were thirty-two thousand two hundred.

2:22. In the tribe of the sons of Benjamin the prince was Abidan the son of Gedeon.

2:23. And the whole army of fighting men, that were reckoned up, were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

2:24. All that were numbered in the camp of Ephraim, were a hundred and eight-thousand one hundred by their troops: they shall march in the third place.

2:25. On the north side camped the sons of Dan: whose prince was Ahiezar the son of Ammisaddai.

2:26. The whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

2:27. Beside him they of the tribe of Aser pitched their tents: whose prince was Phegiel the son of Ochran.

2:28. The whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were forty-one thousand five hundred.

2:29. Of the tribe of the sons of Nephtali the prince was Ahira the son of Enan.

2:30. The whole army of his fighting men, were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

2:31. All that were numbered in the camp of Dan, were a hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred: and they shall march last.

2:32. This is the number of the children of Israel, of their army divided according to the houses of their kindreds and their troops, six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

2:33. And the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel: for so the Lord had commanded Moses.

2:34. And the children of Israel did according to all things that the Lord had commanded. They camped by their troops, and marched by the families and houses of their fathers.

Numbers Chapter 3

The Levites are numbered and their offices distinguished. They are taken in the place of the firstborn of the children of Israel.

3:1. These are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the Lord spoke to Moses in mount Sinai.

3:2. And these the names of the sons of Aaron: his firstborn Nadab, then Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.

3:3. These the names of the sons of Aaron the priests that were anointed, and whose hands were filled and consecrated, to do the functions of priesthood.

3:4. Now Nadab and Abiu died, without children, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the desert of Sinai: and Eleazar and Ithamar performed the priestly office in the presence of Aaron their father.

3:5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

3:6. Bring the tribe of Levi, and make them stand in the sight of Aaron the priest to minister to him, and let them watch,

3:7. And observe whatsoever appertaineth to the service of the multitude before the tabernacle of the testimony,

3:8. And let them keep the vessels of the tabernacle, serving in the ministry thereof.

3:9. And thou shalt give the Levites for a gift,

3:10. To Aaron and to his sons, to whom they are delivered by the children of Israel. But thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons over the service of priesthood. The stranger that approacheth to minister, shall be put to death.

3:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

3:12. I have taken the Levites from the children of Israel, for every firstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.

3:13. For every firstborn is mine: since I struck the firstborn in the land of Egypt: I have sanctified to myself whatsoever is firstborn in Israel both of man and beast, they are mine: I am the Lord.

3:14. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying:

3:15. Number the sons of Levi by the houses of their fathers and their families, every male from one month and upward.

3:16. Moses numbered them as the Lord had commanded.

3:17. And there were found sons of Levi by their names, Gerson and Caath Merari.

3:18. The sons of Gerson: Lebni and Semei.

3:19. The sons of Caath: Amram, and Jesaar, Hebron and Oziel:

3:20. The sons of Merari, Moholi and Musi.

3:21. Of Gerson were two families, the Lebnites, and the Semeites:

3:22. Of which were numbered, people of the male sex from one month and upward, seven thousand five hundred.

3:23. These shall pitch behind the tabernacle on the west,

3:24. Under their prince Eliasaph the son of Lael.

3:25. And their charge shall be in the tabernacle of the covenant:

3:26. The tabernacle itself and the cover thereof, the hanging that is drawn before the doors of the tabernacle of the covenant, and the curtains of the court: the hanging also that is hanged in the entry of the court of the tabernacle, and whatsoever belongeth to the rite of the altar, the cords of the tabernacle, and all the furniture thereof.

3:27. Of the kindred of Caath come the families of the Amramites and Jesaarites and Hebronites and Ozielites. These are the families of the Caathites reckoned up by their names:

3:28. All of the male sex from one month and upward, eight thousand six hundred: they shall have the guard of the sanctuary,

3:29. And shall camp on the south side.

3:30. And their prince shall be Elisaphan the son of Oziel:

3:31. And they shall keep the ark, and the table and the candlestick, the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary, wherewith they minister, and the veil, and all the furniture of this kind.

3:32. And the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be over them that watch for the guard of the sanctuary.

3:33. And of Merari are the families of the Moholites, and Musites, reckoned up by their names:

3:34. All of the male kind from one month and upward, six thousand two hundred.

3:35. Their prince Suriel the son of Abihaiel: their shall camp on the north side.

3:36. Under their custody shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars, and the pillars and their sockets, and all things that pertain to this kind of service:

3:37. And the pillars of the court round about with their sockets, and the pins with their cords.

3:38. Before the tabernacle of the covenant, that is to say on the east side shall Moses and Aaron camp, with their sons, having the custody of the sanctuary, in the midst of the children of Israel. What stranger soever cometh unto it, shall be put to death.

3:39. All the Levites, that I Moses and Aaron numbered according to the precept of the Lord, by their f families, of the male kind from one month and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

3:40. And the Lord said to Moses: Number the firstborn of the male sex of the children of Israel, from one month and upward, and thou shalt take the sum of them.

3:41. And thou shalt take the Levites to me for all the firstborn of the children of Israel, I am the Lord: and their cattle for all the firstborn of the cattle of the children of Israel:

3:42. Moses reckoned up, as the Lord had commanded, the firstborn of the children of Israel:

3:43. And the males by their names, from one month and upward, were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

3:44. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

3:45. Take the Levites for the firstborn of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites for their cattle, and the Levites shall be mine. I am the Lord.

3:46. But for the price of the two hundred and seventy-three, of the firstborn of the children of Israel, that exceed the number of the Levites,

3:47. Thou shalt take five sicles for every head, according to the weight of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.

3:48. And thou shalt give the money to Aaron and his sons, the price of them that are above.

3:49. Moses therefore took the money of them that were above, and whom they had redeemed from the Levites,

3:50. For the firstborn of the children of Israel, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary,

3:51. And gave it to Aaron and his sons according to the word that the Lord had commanded him.

Numbers Chapter 4

The age and time of the Levites’ service: their offices and burdens.

4:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, and Aaron, saying:

4:2. Take the sum of the sons of Caath from the midst of the Levites, by their houses and families.

4:3. From thirty years old and upward, to fifty years old, of all that go in to stand and to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant.

4:4. This is the service of the sons of Caath:

4:5. When the camp is; to set forward, Aaron and his sons shall go into the tabernacle of the covenant, and the holy of holies, and shall take down the veil that hangeth before the door, and shall wrap up the ark of the testimony in it,

4:6. And shall cover it again with a cover of violet skins, and shall spread over it a cloth all of violet, and shall put in the bars.

4:7. They shall wrap up also the table of proposition in a cloth of violet, and shall put with it the censers and little mortars, the cups and bowls to pour out the libations: the loaves shall be always on it:

4:8. And they shall spread over it a cloth of scarlet, which again they shall cover with a covering of violet skins, and shall put in the bars.

4:9. They shall take also a cloth of violet wherewith they shall cover the candlestick with the lamps and tongs thereof and the snuffers and all the oil vessels, which are necessary for the dressing of the lamps:

4:10. And over all they shall put a cover of violet skins and put in the bars.

4:11. And they shall wrap up the golden altar also in a cloth of violet, and shall spread over it a cover of violet skins, and put in the bars.

4:12. All the vessels wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, they shall wrap up in a cloth of violet, and shall spread over it a cover of violet skins, and put in the bars.

4:13. They shall cleanse the altar also from the ashes, and shall wrap it up in a purple cloth,

4:14. And shall put it with all the vessels that they use in the ministry thereof, that is to say, firepans, fleshhooks and forks, pothooks and shovels. They shall cover all the vessels of the altar together with a covering of violet skins, and shall put in the bars.

4:15. And when Aaron and his sons have wrapped up the sanctuary and the vessels thereof at the removing of the camp, then shall the sons of Caath enter in to carry the things wrapped up: and they shall not touch the vessels of the sanctuary, lest they die. These are the burdens of the sons of Caath: in the tabernacle of the covenant:

4:16. And over them shall be Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, to whose charge pertaineth the oil to dress the lamps, and the sweet incense, and the sacrifice, that is always offered, and the oil of unction, and whatsoever pertaineth to the service of the tabernacle, and of all the vessels that are in the sanctuary.

4:17. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

4:18. Destroy not the people of Caath from the midst of the Levites:

4:19. But do this to them, that they may live, and not die, by touching the holies of holies. Aaron and his sons shall go in, and they shall appoint every man his work, and shall divide the burdens that every man is to carry.

4:20. Let not others by any curiosity see the things that are in the sanctuary before they be wrapped up, otherwise they shall die.

4:21. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

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: