Numbers 15:1-41
Other Offerings
Here is what the Lord said to Moses. “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are going to enter the land I am giving you as a home. When you do, you will present food offerings to the Lord. The animals must come from your herd or flock. The smell of the offerings will please the Lord. They can be either burnt offerings or sacrifices. They can be either for special promises or for feast offerings. Or they can be for offerings you choose to give. With each of the offerings, the person who brings it must present to the Lord a grain offering. It must be eight cups of the finest flour. It must be mixed with a quart of olive oil. Also prepare a quart of wine as a drink offering. You must present it with each lamb that you bring for the burnt offering or the sacrifice.
“ ‘Prepare a grain offering to present along with a ram. The grain offering must be 16 cups of the finest flour. It must be mixed with two and a half pints of olive oil. You must bring two and a half pints of wine as a drink offering. Offer everything as a smell that pleases the Lord.
“ ‘Suppose you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice. You prepare it to keep a special promise to the Lord. Or you prepare it to present as a friendship offering. Then bring a grain offering with the bull. The grain offering must be 24 cups of the finest flour. It must be mixed with two quarts of olive oil. Also bring two quarts of wine as a drink offering. It will be a food offering. Its smell will please the Lord. Each bull or ram must be prepared in the same way. Each lamb or young goat must also be prepared in that way. Do it for each animal. Do it for as many animals as you prepare.
“ ‘Everyone in Israel must do those things in that way. He must do them when he presents a food offering. The smell of offerings like that pleases the Lord. Everyone must always do what the law requires. It does not matter whether they are an outsider or anyone else living among you. They must do exactly as you do when they present a food offering. The smell of offerings like that pleases the Lord. The community must have the same rules for you and for any outsider living among you. This law will last for all time to come. In the sight of the Lord, the law applies both to you and any outsider. The same laws and rules will apply to you and to any outsider living among you.’ ”
The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites. Say to them, ‘You are going to enter the land I am taking you to. You will eat its food. When you do, present part of it as an offering to the Lord. Present a loaf made from the first flour you grind. Present it as an offering from the threshing floor. You must present the offering to the Lord. You must present it from the first grain you grind. You must do it for all time to come.
Offerings for Sins That Aren’t Committed on Purpose
“ ‘Suppose you as a community fail to keep any of the commands the Lord gave Moses. And suppose you do it without meaning to. That applies to any of the commands the Lord told Moses to give you. And they are in effect from the day the Lord gave them and for all time to come. Suppose the community sins without meaning to. And suppose they do not know they have sinned. Then the whole community must offer a young bull. They must sacrifice it for a burnt offering. Its smell will please the Lord. Along with it, they must offer its required grain offering and drink offering. They must also sacrifice a male goat for a sin offering. With it the priest will pay for the sin of the whole community of Israel. Then they will be forgiven. They did not mean to commit that sin. And they have presented to the Lord a food offering for the wrong thing they did. They have brought a sin offering with it. The Lord will forgive the whole community of Israel and the outsiders living among them. All the people had a part in the sin, even though they did not mean to do it.
“ ‘But suppose just one person sins without meaning to. Then that person must bring a female goat for a sin offering. It must be a year old. With it the priest will pay for the person’s sin in front of the Lord. The priest will do it for the one who did wrong by sinning without meaning to. When the sin is paid for, that person will be forgiven. The same law applies to everyone who sins without meaning to. It does not matter whether they are an Israelite or an outsider.
“ ‘But suppose someone sins on purpose. It does not matter whether they are an Israelite or an outsider. They speak evil things against the Lord. They must be separated from the community of Israel. They have not respected what the Lord has said. They have broken the Lord’s commands. They must certainly be separated from the community. They are still guilty.’ ”
A Man Works on the Sabbath Day
The Israelites were in the desert. One Sabbath day, people saw a man gathering wood. They brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole community. They kept him under guard. It wasn’t clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole community must kill him by throwing stones at him. They must do it outside the camp.” So the people took the man outside the camp. There they killed him by throwing stones at him. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Tassels on Clothes
The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must make tassels on the corners of your clothes. A blue cord must be on each tassel. You must do it for all time to come. You will have the tassels to look at. They will remind you to obey all the Lord’s commands. Then you will be faithful to him. You will not chase after what your own hearts and eyes wish for. You will remember to obey all my commands. And you will be set apart for your God. I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’ ”
Numbers 16:1-35
Korah, Dathan and Abiram
Korah was the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath. Kohath was the son of Levi. Korah and certain men from the tribe of Reuben turned against Moses. The men from Reuben were Dathan, Abiram and On. Dathan and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. On was the son of Peleth. All those men rose up against Moses. And 250 men of Israel joined them. All of them were known as leaders in the community. They had been appointed as members of the ruling body. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron. They said to Moses and Aaron, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy. Every one in it is holy. And the Lord is with them. So why do you put yourselves above the Lord’s people?”
When Moses heard what they said, he fell with his face to the ground. Then he spoke to Korah and all his followers. He said, “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will show who is holy. He’ll bring that person near him. He’ll bring the man he chooses near him. Korah, here’s what you and all your followers must do. Get some shallow cups for burning incense. Tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them. Offer it to the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”
Moses also said to Korah, “Listen, you Levites! The God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the community of Israel. He has brought you near him to work at the Lord’s holy tent. He has given you to the people so that you can serve them. Isn’t all that enough for you? He has already brought you and all the other Levites near him. But now you want to be priests too. You and all your followers have joined together against the Lord. Why are you telling Aaron you aren’t happy with him?”
Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We won’t come! You have brought us up out of a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You have brought us here to kill us in this desert. Isn’t that enough? Now do you also want to act as if you were ruling over us? Besides, you haven’t brought us into a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You haven’t given us fields and vineyards of our own. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No! We won’t come!”
Then Moses became very angry. He said to the Lord, “Don’t accept their offering. I haven’t taken even a donkey from them. In fact, I haven’t done anything wrong to any of them.”
Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers must stand in front of the Lord tomorrow. You must appear there along with Aaron. Each man must get his shallow cup. He must put incense in it. There will be a total of 250 incense cups. Each man must bring his cup to the Lord. You and Aaron must also bring your cups.” So each of them got his cup. He put burning coals and incense in it. All the men came with Moses and Aaron. They stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Korah gathered all his followers together at the entrance to the tent. They opposed Moses and Aaron. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from these people. Then I can put an end to all of them at once.”
But Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground. They cried out, “God, you are the God who gives life and breath to all living things. Will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?”
Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Tell the community, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”
Moses got up. He went to Dathan and Abiram. The elders of Israel followed him. Moses warned the community. He said, “Move away from the tents of these evil men! Don’t touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, the Lord will sweep you away because of all their sins.” So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had already come out. They were standing at the entrances to their tents. Their wives, children and little ones were standing there with them.
Then Moses said, “What is about to happen wasn’t my idea. The Lord has sent me to do everything I’m doing. Here is how you will know I’m telling you the truth. These men won’t die a natural death. Something will happen to them that doesn’t usually happen to people. If what I’m telling you doesn’t happen, then you will know that the Lord hasn’t sent me. But the Lord will make something totally new happen. The ground will open its mouth and swallow them up. It will swallow up everything that belongs to them. They will be buried alive. When that happens, you will know that these men have disrespected the Lord.”
As soon as Moses finished saying all these words, what he had said came true. The ground under them broke open. It opened its mouth. It swallowed up those men. In fact, it swallowed up everyone who lived in their houses. It swallowed all Korah’s men. And it swallowed up everything they owned. They went down into the grave alive. Everything they owned went down with them. The ground closed over them and they died. And so they disappeared from the community. All the Israelites around them heard their cries. They ran away from them. They shouted, “The ground is going to swallow us up too!”
Then the Lord sent down fire. It burned up the 250 men offering the incense.
