Numbers 14-16; Psalms 44 - Prayer Tents

The People Rebel

14Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night.H5712H5375H6963H5414H5971H1058H3915 2Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. "If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!" they complained.H1121H3478H3885H4872H175H5712H559H3863H4191H776H4714H3863H4191H4057 3"Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?"H3068H935H776H5307H2719H802H2945H957H2896H7725H4714 4Then they plotted among themselves, "Let's choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!"H559H376H251H5414H7218H7725H4714 5Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel.H4872H175H5307H6440H6440H6951H5712H1121H3478 6Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing.H3091H1121H5126H3612H1121H3312H8446H776H7167H899 7They said to all the people of Israel, "The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land!H559H5712H1121H3478H559H776H5674H8446H3966H3966H2896H776 8And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey.H3068H2654H935H776H5414H776H2100H2461H1706 9Do not rebel against the LORD, and don't be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don't be afraid of them!"H4775H3068H3372H5971H776H3899H6738H5493H3068H3372 10But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle.H5712H559H7275H68H3519H3068H7200H168H4150H1121H3478 11And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?H3068H559H4872H5971H5006H3808H539H226H6213H7130 12I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!"H5221H1698H3423H6213H1419H1471H6099

Moses Intercedes for the People

13But Moses objected. "What will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?" he asked the LORD. "They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people from Egypt.H4872H559H3068H4714H8085H5927H5971H3581H7130 14Now if you destroy them, the Egyptians will send a report to the inhabitants of this land, who have already heard that you live among your people. They know, LORD, that you have appeared to your people face to face and that your pillar of cloud hovers over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.H559H3427H776H8085H3068H7130H5971H3068H7200H5869H5869H6051H5975H1980H6440H3119H5982H6051H5982H784H3915 15Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say,H4191H5971H259H376H1471H8085H8088H559H559 16'The LORD was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.'H3068H1115H3201H935H5971H776H7650H7819H4057 17"Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed. For you said,H3581H136H1431H834H1696H559 18'The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.'H3068H750H639H7227H2617H5375H5771H6588H5352H5352H6485H5771H1H1121H8029H7256 19In keeping with your magnificent, unfailing love, please pardon the sins of this people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt."H5545H5771H5971H1433H2617H5375H5971H4714H2008 20Then the LORD said, "I will pardon them as you have requested.H3068H559H5545H1697 21But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the LORD's glory,H199H2416H776H4390H3519H3068 22not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice.H582H7200H3519H226H6213H4714H4057H5254H853H6235H6471H8085H6963 23They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it.H518H7200H776H7650H1H5006H7200 24But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.H5650H3612H6118H312H7307H310H4390H935H776H935H2233H3423 25Now turn around, and don't go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea."H6003H3669H3427H6010H4279H6437H5265H4057H1870H5488H3220

The Lord Punishes the Israelites

26Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,H3068H1696H4872H175H559 27"How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me.H7451H5712H3885H8085H8519H1121H3478H3885 28Now tell them this: 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say.H559H3808H2416H5002H3068H1696H241H6213 29You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die.H6297H5307H4057H6485H4557H6242H8141H1121H4605H3885 30You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.H518H935H776H3027H5375H7931H3612H1121H3312H3091H1121H5126 31"'You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised.H2945H559H957H935H3045H776H3988 32But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness.H6297H5307H4057 33And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.H1121H7462H4057H705H8141H5375H2184H6297H8552H4057 34"'Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.'H4557H3117H8446H776H705H3117H3117H8141H3117H8141H5375H5771H705H8141H3045H8569 35I, the LORD, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!"H3068H1696H518H3808H6213H2063H7451H5712H3259H4057H8552H4191 36The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the LORD with their bad report—H582H4872H7971H8446H776H7725H5712H3885H3885H3318H1681H776 37were struck dead with a plague before the LORD.H582H582H3318H7451H1681H776H4191H4046H6440H3068 38Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.H3091H1121H5126H3612H1121H3312H1992H582H1980H8446H776H2421 39When Moses reported the LORD's words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief.H4872H1696H1697H1121H3478H5971H56H3966 40Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. "Let's go," they said. "We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us."H7925H1242H5927H7218H2022H559H2009H5927H4725H3068H559H2398 41But Moses said, "Why are you now disobeying the LORD's orders to return to the wilderness? It won't work.H4872H559H5674H6310H3068H6743 42Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the LORD is not with you.H5927H3068H7130H5062H6440H341 43When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The LORD will abandon you because you have abandoned the LORD."H6003H3669H6440H5307H2719H7725H310H3068H3068 44But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the LORD's Covenant left the camp.H6075H5927H2022H7218H727H1285H3068H4872H4185H7130H4264 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them back as far as Hormah.H6003H3381H3669H3427H2022H5221H3807H2767

Laws concerning Offerings

15Then the LORD told Moses,H3068H1696H4872H559 2"Give the following instructions to the people of Israel."When you finally settle in the land I am giving you,H1696H1121H3478H559H935H776H4186H5414 3you will offer special gifts as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. These gifts may take the form of a burnt offering, a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, a voluntary offering, or an offering at any of your annual festivals, and they may be taken from your herds of cattle or your flocks of sheep and goats.H6213H801H3068H5930H2077H6381H5088H5071H4150H6213H5207H7381H3068H1241H6629 4When you present these offerings, you must also give the LORD a grain offering of two quarts of choice flour mixed with one quart of olive oil.H7126H7133H3068H7126H4503H6241H5560H1101H7243H1969H8081 5For each lamb offered as a burnt offering or a special sacrifice, you must also present one quart of wine as a liquid offering.H7243H1969H3196H5262H6213H5930H2077H259H3532 6"If the sacrifice is a ram, give a grain offering of four quarts of choice flour mixed with a third of a gallon of olive oil,H352H6213H4503H8147H6241H5560H1101H7992H1969H8081 7and give a third of a gallon of wine as a liquid offering. This will be a pleasing aroma to the LORD.H5262H7126H7992H1969H3196H5207H7381H3068 8"When you present a young bull as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to the LORD,H6213H1121H1241H5930H2077H6381H5088H8002H3068 9you must also give a grain offering of six quarts of choice flour mixed with two quarts of olive oil,H7126H1241H1121H4503H7969H6241H5560H1101H2677H1969H8081 10and give two quarts of wine as a liquid offering. This will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.H7126H5262H2677H1969H3196H801H5207H7381H3068 11"Each sacrifice of a bull, ram, lamb, or young goat should be prepared in this way.H6213H259H7794H259H352H3532H7716H5795 12Follow these instructions with each offering you present.H4557H6213H3602H6213H259H4557 13All of you native-born Israelites must follow these instructions when you offer a special gift as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.H249H6213H7126H801H5207H7381H3068 14And if any foreigners visit you or live among you and want to present a special gift as a pleasing aroma to the LORD, they must follow these same procedures.H1616H1481H8432H1755H6213H801H5207H7381H3068H6213H6213 15Native-born Israelites and foreigners are equal before the LORD and are subject to the same decrees. This is a permanent law for you, to be observed from generation to generation.H259H2708H6951H1616H1481H2708H5769H1755H1616H6440H3068 16The same instructions and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigners living among you."H259H8451H259H4941H1616H1481 17Then the LORD said to Moses,H3068H1696H4872H559 18"Give the following instructions to the people of Israel."When you arrive in the land where I am taking you,H1696H1121H3478H559H935H776H935 19and you eat the crops that grow there, you must set some aside as a sacred offering to the LORD.H398H3899H776H7311H8641H3068 20Present a cake from the first of the flour you grind, and set it aside as a sacred offering, as you do with the first grain from the threshing floor.H7311H2471H7225H6182H8641H8641H1637H7311 21Throughout the generations to come, you are to present a sacred offering to the LORD each year from the first of your ground flour.H7225H6182H5414H3068H8641H1755 22"But suppose you unintentionally fail to carry out all these commands that the LORD has given you through Moses.H7686H6213H4687H3068H1696H4872 23And suppose your descendants in the future fail to do everything the LORD has commanded through Moses.H3068H6680H3027H4872H3117H3068H6680H1973H1755 24If the mistake was made unintentionally, and the community was unaware of it, the whole community must present a young bull for a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It must be offered along with its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering and with one male goat for a sin offering.H6213H7684H5869H5712H5712H6213H259H1121H1241H6499H5930H5207H7381H3068H4503H5262H4941H259H8163H5795H2403 25With it the priest will purify the whole community of Israel, making them right with the LORD, and they will be forgiven. For it was an unintentional sin, and they have corrected it with their offerings to the LORD—the special gift and the sin offering.H3548H3722H5712H1121H3478H5545H7684H935H7133H801H3068H2403H6440H3068H7684 26The whole community of Israel will be forgiven, including the foreigners living among you, for all the people were involved in the sin.H5545H5712H1121H3478H1616H1481H8432H5971H7684 27"If one individual commits an unintentional sin, the guilty person must bring a one-year-old female goat for a sin offering.H259H5315H2398H7684H7126H5795H1323H8141H2403 28The priest will sacrifice it to purify the guilty person before the LORD, and that person will be forgiven.H3548H3722H5315H7683H2398H7684H6440H3068H3722H5545 29These same instructions apply both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.H259H8451H6213H7684H249H1121H3478H1616H1481H8432 30"But those who brazenly violate the LORD's will, whether native-born Israelites or foreigners, have blasphemed the LORD, and they must be cut off from the community.H5315H6213H7311H3027H249H4480H1616H1442H3068H5315H3772H7130H5971 31Since they have treated the LORD's word with contempt and deliberately disobeyed his command, they must be completely cut off and suffer the punishment for their guilt."H959H1697H3068H6565H4687H5315H3772H3772H5771

Penalty for Breaking the Sabbath

32One day while the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they discovered a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.H1121H3478H4057H4672H376H7197H6086H7676H3117 33The people who found him doing this took him before Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the community.H4672H7197H6086H7126H4872H175H5712 34They held him in custody because they did not know what to do with him.H3240H4929H6567H6213 35Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must be put to death! The whole community must stone him outside the camp."H3068H559H4872H376H4191H4191H5712H7275H68H2351H4264 36So the whole community took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.H5712H3318H2351H4264H7275H68H4191H3068H6680H4872

Tassels on Clothing

37Then the LORD said to Moses,H3068H559H4872H559 38"Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord.H1696H1121H3478H559H6213H6734H3671H899H1755H5414H6734H3671H6616H8504 39When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the LORD instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do.H6734H7200H2142H4687H3068H6213H8446H310H3824H5869H310H2181 40The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God.H2142H6213H4687H1961H6918H430 41I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the LORD your God!"H3068H430H3318H776H4714H430H3068H430

Korah’s Rebellion

16One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben.H7141H1121H3324H1121H6955H1121H3878H1885H48H1121H446H203H1121H6431H1121H7205H3947 2They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly.H6965H6440H4872H582H1121H3478H3967H2572H5387H5712H7148H4150H582H8034 3They united against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has been set apart by the LORD, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of the LORD's people?"H6950H4872H175H559H7227H5712H6918H3068H8432H5375H6951H3068 4When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell face down on the ground.H4872H8085H5307H6440 5Then he said to Korah and his followers, "Tomorrow morning the LORD will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The LORD will allow only those whom he selects to enter his own presence.H1696H7141H5712H559H1242H3068H3045H6918H7126H977H7126 6Korah, you and all your followers must prepare your incense burners.H6213H3947H4289H7141H5712 7Light fires in them tomorrow, and burn incense before the LORD. Then we will see whom the LORD chooses as his holy one. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!"H5414H784H2004H7760H7004H6440H3068H4279H376H3068H977H6918H7227H1121H3878 8Then Moses spoke again to Korah: "Now listen, you Levites!H4872H559H7141H8085H1121H3878 9Does it seem insignificant to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the community of Israel to be near him so you can serve in the LORD's Tabernacle and stand before the people to minister to them?H4592H430H3478H914H5712H3478H7126H5647H5656H4908H3068H5975H6440H5712H8334 10Korah, he has already given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now demanding the priesthood as well?H7126H251H1121H3878H1245H3550 11The LORD is the one you and your followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?"H3651H5712H3259H3068H175H3885H3885 12Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, "We refuse to come before you!H4872H7971H7121H1885H48H1121H446H559H5927 13Isn't it enough that you brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your subjects?H4592H3588H5927H776H2100H2461H1706H4191H4057H8323H8323H8323 14What's more, you haven't brought us into another land flowing with milk and honey. You haven't given us a new homeland with fields and vineyards. Are you trying to fool these men? We will not come."H637H935H776H2100H2461H1706H5414H5159H7704H3754H5365H5869H582H5927 15Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not accept their grain offerings! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of them."H4872H3966H2734H559H3068H6437H4503H5375H259H2543H7489H259 16And Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers must come here tomorrow and present yourselves before the LORD. Aaron will also be here.H4872H559H7141H5712H6440H3068H175H4279 17You and each of your 250 followers must prepare an incense burner and put incense on it, so you can all present them before the LORD. Aaron will also bring his incense burner."H3947H376H4289H5414H7004H7126H6440H3068H376H4289H3967H2572H4289H175H376H4289 18So each of these men prepared an incense burner, lit the fire, and placed incense on it. Then they all stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.H3947H376H4289H5414H784H7760H7004H5975H6607H168H4150H4872H175 19Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all gathered at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to the whole community,H7141H6950H5712H6607H168H4150H3519H3068H7200H5712 20and the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,H3068H1696H4872H175H559 21"Get away from all these people so that I may instantly destroy them!"H914H8432H5712H3615H7281 22But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. "O God," they pleaded, "you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?"H5307H6440H559H410H430H7307H1320H259H376H2398H7107H5712 23And the LORD said to Moses,H3068H1696H4872H559 24"Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."H1696H5712H559H5927H5439H4908H7141H1885H48 25So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel.H4872H6965H3212H1885H48H2205H3478H3212H310 26"Quick!" he told the people. "Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don't touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins."H1696H5712H559H5493H168H7563H582H5060H5595H2403 27So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together with their wives and children and little ones.H5927H4908H7141H1885H48H5439H1885H48H3318H5324H6607H168H802H1121H2945 28And Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things that I have done—for I have not done them on my own.H4872H559H3045H3068H7971H6213H4639H3820 29If these men die a natural death, or if nothing unusual happens, then the LORD has not sent me.H4191H4194H120H6485H6486H120H3068H7971 30But if the LORD does something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have shown contempt for the LORD."H3068H1254H1278H127H6475H6310H1104H3381H2416H7585H3045H582H5006H3068 31He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them.H3615H1696H1697H127H1234 32The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.H776H6605H6310H1104H1004H120H7141H7399 33So they went down alive into the grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished from among the people of Israel.H3381H2416H7585H776H3680H6H8432H6951 34All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. "The earth will swallow us, too!" they cried.H3478H5439H5127H6963H559H776H1104 35Then fire blazed forth from the LORD and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.H3318H784H3068H398H3967H2572H376H7126H7004 36And the LORD said to Moses,H3068H1696H4872H559 37"Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pull all the incense burners from the fire, for they are holy. Also tell him to scatter the burning coals.H559H499H1121H175H3548H7311H4289H996H8316H2219H784H1973H6942 38Take the incense burners of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and hammer the metal into a thin sheet to overlay the altar. Since these burners were used in the LORD's presence, they have become holy. Let them serve as a warning to the people of Israel."H4289H2400H5315H6213H7555H6341H6826H4196H7126H6440H3068H6942H226H1121H3478 39So Eleazar the priest collected the 250 bronze incense burners that had been used by the men who died in the fire, and he hammered them into a thin sheet to overlay the altar.H499H3548H3947H5178H4289H8313H7126H7554H6826H4196 40This would warn the Israelites that no unauthorized person—no one who was not a descendant of Aaron—should ever enter the LORD's presence to burn incense. If anyone did, the same thing would happen to him as happened to Korah and his followers. So the LORD's instructions to Moses were carried out.H2146H1121H3478H834H4616H376H2114H2233H175H7126H6999H7004H6440H3068H7141H5712H3068H1696H3027H4872 41But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the LORD's people!"H4283H5712H1121H3478H3885H4872H175H559H4191H5971H3068 42As the community gathered to protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the LORD appeared.H5712H6950H4872H175H6437H168H4150H6051H3680H3519H3068H7200 43Moses and Aaron came and stood in front of the Tabernacle,H4872H175H935H6440H168H4150 44and the LORD said to Moses,H3068H1696H4872H559 45"Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!" But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground.H7426H8432H5712H3615H7281H5307H6440 46And Moses said to Aaron, "Quick, take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar. Lay incense on it, and carry it out among the people to purify them and make them right with the LORD. The LORD's anger is blazing against them—the plague has already begun."H4872H559H175H3947H4289H5414H784H6440H4196H7760H7004H3212H4120H5712H3722H7110H3318H3068H5063H2490 47Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people. The plague had already begun to strike down the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people.H175H3947H4872H1696H7323H8432H6951H5063H2490H5971H5414H7004H3722H5971 48He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped.H5975H4191H2416H4046H6113 49But 14,700 people died in that plague, in addition to those who had died in the affair involving Korah.H4191H4046H702H6240H505H7651H3967H4191H1697H7141 50Then because the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.H175H7725H4872H6607H168H4150H4046H6113