Numbers 15:18-41

18‘Tell the Israelites this. I am bringing them into the land of Canaan. After they have gone into it, they must obey my rules.

19When they first eat the food from that land, they must give a special offering to the Lord.

20You must give a cake as a special offering from the first of your flour. You must do it as you give your special gift from your threshing floor.

21From the first of your flour, you must give to the Lord a special offering. And your descendants must continue to do that.

22The people might not obey a rule that the Lord told Moses about. But they might not know that they are not obeying a rule.

23It might be any rule that the Lord gave to you by Moses.

24Perhaps somebody does not know that they are not obeying one of my rules. When that happens, they must sacrifice a young bull as a burnt offering. The smell of the smoke from this sacrifice will please the Lord. Also, they must give a grain offering, a drink offering and a male goat as a sin offering.

25Then the priest will make things right with God for all the Israelites. The Lord will forgive them. That is because their sin was a mistake. They have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord. And they have brought their sin offering to the Lord, for their mistake.

26God will forgive all the Israelites and the foreign people who live among you. That is because your sin was a mistake. And also you offered the proper sacrifices to me.

27Also, a person may not know that something is a sin. If he does that thing, he must sacrifice a female goat. The goat must be one year old. It will be a sin offering.

28The priest will bring the gift to the Lord. That is to make things right. Then the Lord will forgive that person who did the sin. The person did not know that he had done a wrong thing.

29The same rule is for the Israelites and for all the foreign people who live among them. That is when it was a mistake.

30But a person might do something that he knows to be wrong. He does it because he wants to do it. That person is as bad as someone who insults the Lord. It does not matter whether he is an Israelite or a foreign person. You must make that person separate from all the people.

31That person thought that the Lord's command was not important. He has not obeyed God's rules. So you must make that person completely separate from the people. He is a guilty person.’

32When the Israelites were in the desert, a man was picking up sticks on the day of rest.

33Some people found him while he was picking up the sticks. They took him to Moses and Aaron and to all the people.

34They were not sure what to do with the man. So they put him by himself in a tent. Men stood at the door of the tent so that he could not leave it.

35The Lord said to Moses, ‘This man must die. All the people must take him outside the camp. They must throw stones at him to kill him.’

36So the people took the man outside the camp. They threw stones at him until he died. That was what the Lord had told Moses to do.

37The Lord said to Moses,

38‘Tell the Israelites that they must put tassels on the corners of their clothes. They must fix the tassels on blue strings. They must do this now and for all future time.

39You will be able to look at the tassels. They will help you to remember all the Lord's rules. Then you can obey them. Then you will not only do what you yourself want to do. You will not turn away from me.

40When you see the tassels, you will remember to obey all my rules. You will be holy for your God.

41I am the Lord your God. I brought you out from Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’