Numbers 9

The Passover

1Thus the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in 1the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2“Now, let the sons of Israel observe the Passover at 2its appointed time. 3On the fourteenth day of this month, 3at twilight, you shall observe it at its appointed time; you shall observe it according to all its statutes and according to all its ordinances.” 4So Moses 4told the sons of Israel to observe the Passover. 55They observed the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; 6according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did. 6But there were some men who were 7unclean because of the 8dead person, so that they could not observe Passover on that day; so 9they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7Those men said to him, “Though we are unclean because of the 10dead person, why are we restrained from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?” 8Moses therefore said to them, “1112Wait, and I will listen to what the Lord will command concerning you.”

9Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a dead 13person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, observe the Passover to the Lord. 11In the second month on the 14fourteenth day at twilight, they shall observe it; they 15shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12They 16shall leave none of it until morning, 17nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute of the Passover they shall observe it. 1318But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet 19neglects to observe the Passover, that 20person shall then be cut off from his people, for he did not present the offering of the Lord at its appointed time. That man 21will bear his sin. 1422If an alien sojourns among you and 23observes the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its ordinance, so he shall do; you shall have 24one statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.’”

The Cloud on the Tabernacle

15Now on 25the day that the tabernacle was erected 26the cloud covered the tabernacle, the 27tent of the testimony, and 28in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle, until morning. 16So it was continuously; 29the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 1730Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. 18At the 31command of the Lord the sons of Israel would set out, and at the 32command of the Lord they would camp; 33as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. 19Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, 34the sons of Israel would keep the Lord’s charge and not set out. 20If 35sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, 36according to the 37command of the Lord they remained camped. Then according to the 38command of the Lord they set out. 21If 39sometimes the cloud 40remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. 22Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but 41when it was lifted, they did set out. 2342At the 43command of the Lord they camped, and at the 44command of the Lord they set out; they kept the Lord’s charge, according to the 45command of the Lord through Moses.