Numbers 9

The Passover

1Now 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 the sons of Israel are to 2celebrate the Passover at 3its appointed time. 3On the fourteenth day of this month, 4at twilight, you shall celebrate it at its appointed time; you shall celebrate it in accordance with all its statutes and all its ordinances.” 4So Moses 5told the sons of Israel to celebrate the Passover. 5And 6they celebrated the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; 7in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did. 6But there were some men who were 8unclean because of contact with a 9dead person, so that they could not celebrate Passover on that day; and 10they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7Those men said to him, “Though we are unclean because of a 11dead person, why are we kept from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?” 8Moses then said to them, “1213Wait, 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 14person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, celebrate the Passover to the Lord. 11In the second month on the 15fourteenth day at twilight, they shall celebrate it; they 16shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12They 17shall not leave any of it until morning, 18nor break a bone of it; they shall celebrate it in accordance with the whole statute of the Passover. 1319But the person who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from celebrating the Passover, that 20person shall then be cut off from his people, because he did not present the offering of the Lord at its appointed time. That person 21will bear the responsibility for his sin. 14And 22if a stranger resides among you and 23celebrates the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and its ordinance, so he shall celebrate it; you shall have 24the 25same statute, both for the stranger and for the native of the land.’”

The Cloud on the Tabernacle

15Now on 26the day that the tabernacle was erected, 27the cloud covered the tabernacle, the 28tent of the testimony, and 29in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle until morning. 16That is how it was continuously; 30the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 1731Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. 18At the 32command of the Lord the sons of Israel would set out, and at the 33command of the Lord they would camp; 34as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. 19Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, 35the sons of Israel would comply with the Lord’s ordinance and not set out. 20If 36sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, 37in accordance with the 38command of the Lord they remained camped. Then in accordance with the 39command of the Lord they set out. 21If 40sometimes the cloud 41remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning they would set 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, 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 42when it was lifted, they did set out. 2343At the 44command of the Lord they camped, and at the 45command of the Lord they set out; they did what the Lord required, in accordance with the 46command of the Lord through Moses.