Numbers 29:12-40
The Feast of Booths
“ ‘On the 15th day of the seventh month, come together for a special service. Do not do any regular work. Celebrate the Feast of Booths for seven days to honor the Lord. Present a food offering. Its smell will please the Lord. Sacrifice a burnt offering of 13 young bulls and two rams. Also sacrifice 14 male lambs a year old. They must not have any flaws. Present a grain offering along with each of the 13 bulls. It must have 24 cups of the finest flour. Mix it with olive oil. Offer 16 cups along with each of the two rams. Offer eight cups along with each of the 14 lambs. Include a male goat as a sin offering. It is in addition to the regular burnt offering. It is also in addition to its grain offering and drink offering.
“ ‘On the second day sacrifice 12 young bulls and two rams. Also sacrifice 14 male lambs a year old. They must not have any flaws. Present their grain offerings and drink offerings. Present them along with the bulls, rams and lambs. Present them according to the required number. Include a male goat as a sin offering. It is in addition to the regular burnt offering along with its grain offering. It is also in addition to their drink offerings.
“ ‘On the third day sacrifice 11 bulls and two rams. Also sacrifice 14 male lambs a year old. They must not have any flaws. Present their grain offerings and drink offerings. Present them along with the bulls, rams and lambs. Present them according to the required number. Include a male goat as a sin offering. It is in addition to the regular burnt offering. It is also in addition to its grain offering and drink offering.
“ ‘On the fourth day sacrifice ten bulls and two rams. Also sacrifice 14 male lambs a year old. They must not have any flaws. Present their grain offerings and drink offerings. Present them along with the bulls, rams and lambs. Present them according to the required number. Include a male goat as a sin offering. It is in addition to the regular burnt offering. It is also in addition to its grain offering and drink offering.
“ ‘On the fifth day sacrifice nine bulls and two rams. Also sacrifice 14 male lambs a year old. They must not have any flaws. Present their grain offerings and drink offerings. Present them along with the bulls, rams and lambs. Present them according to the required number. Include a male goat as a sin offering. It is in addition to the regular burnt offering. It is also in addition to its grain offering and drink offering.
“ ‘On the sixth day sacrifice eight bulls and two rams. Also sacrifice 14 male lambs a year old. They must not have any flaws. Present their grain offerings and drink offerings. Present them along with the bulls, rams and lambs. Present them according to the required number. Include a male goat as a sin offering. It is in addition to the regular burnt offering. It is also in addition to its grain offering and drink offering.
“ ‘On the seventh day sacrifice seven bulls and two rams. Also sacrifice 14 male lambs a year old. They must not have any flaws. Present their grain offerings and drink offerings. Present them along with the bulls, rams and lambs. Present them according to the required number. Include a male goat as a sin offering. It is in addition to the regular burnt offering. It is also in addition to its grain offering and drink offering.
“ ‘On the eighth day come together for a closing sacred service. Do not do any regular work. Present a food offering. Its smell will please the Lord. Sacrifice a burnt offering of one bull and one ram. Also sacrifice seven male lambs a year old. They must not have any flaws. Present their grain offerings and drink offerings. Present them along with the bull, the ram and the lambs. Present them according to the required number. Include a male goat as a sin offering. It is in addition to the regular burnt offering. It is also in addition to its grain offering and drink offering.
“ ‘Here are the offerings you must present to the Lord at your appointed feasts. They are burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and friendship offerings. They are in addition to the offerings you bring to keep a special promise you make to the Lord. They are also in addition to the offerings you choose to give.’ ”
Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him.
Numbers 30:1-16
Special Promises
Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of Israel. He said, “Here is what the Lord commands. Suppose a man makes a special promise to the Lord. Or suppose he gives his word to do something. Then he must keep his promise. He must do everything he said he would do.
“Suppose a young woman is still living in her father’s house. She makes a special promise to the Lord. Or she gives her word to do something. Suppose her father hears about her promise. And he doesn’t say anything to her about it. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. But suppose her father doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised or agreed to do. The Lord will set her free. He’ll do it because her father hasn’t allowed her to keep her promises.
“Suppose she gets married after she makes a special promise. Or she gets married after agreeing to do something without thinking it through. Suppose her husband hears about what she did. And he doesn’t say anything to her about it. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. But suppose her husband doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised. She doesn’t have to do what she agreed to do without thinking it through. The Lord will set her free.
“Suppose a widow makes a special promise. Or suppose she gives her word to do something. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. The same rules apply to a woman who has been divorced.
“Suppose a woman living with her husband makes a special promise. Or she gives her word to do something. Suppose her husband hears about what she did. He doesn’t say anything to her about it. And he doesn’t try to stop her from keeping her promises. Then she must keep all of them. She must do what she agreed to do. But suppose her husband doesn’t allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn’t have to do what she promised. She doesn’t have to do what she agreed to do. Her husband has kept her from doing what she said she would do. The Lord will set her free. Her husband can let her keep any special promise she makes. Or he can refuse to let her keep it. Suppose she gives her word not to eat anything. Then her husband can let her keep her promise. Or he can refuse to let her keep it. But suppose day after day her husband doesn’t say anything to her about what she did. Then he lets her keep all her promises. He lets her do everything she agreed to do. That’s because he didn’t say anything to her when he heard about what she had done. But suppose some time after he hears about her promises he doesn’t let her keep them. Then she will be guilty. But he will bear the consequences for her guilt.”
These are the rules the Lord gave Moses about a man and his wife. And these are the rules the Lord gave about a father and his young daughter still living at home.
Numbers 31:1-24
The Lord Punishes the Midianites
The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Pay the Midianites back for what they did to the Israelites. After that, you will join the members of your family who have already died.”
So Moses said to the people, “Prepare some of your men for battle. They must go to war against Midian. They will carry out the Lord’s plan to punish Midian. Send 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel into battle.” So Moses prepared 12,000 men for battle. There were 1,000 from each tribe. They came from the families of Israel. Moses sent them into battle. He sent 1,000 from each tribe. Phinehas the priest went along with them. Phinehas was the son of Eleazar. Phinehas took some things from the sacred tent with him. He also took the trumpets. The trumpet blasts would tell the people what to do and when to do it.
They fought against Midian, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. They killed every man. Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba were among the men they killed. Those men were the five kings of Midian. The Israelites also killed Balaam with their swords. Balaam was the son of Beor. The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children. They took for themselves all the herds, flocks and goods. They burned down all the towns where the Midianites lived. They also burned all their camps. They carried off everything they had taken. That included the people and the animals. They brought back to Israel’s camp the prisoners and everything else they had taken. They took them to Moses and to Eleazar the priest. They brought them to the whole community. Israel was camped on the plains of Moab. They were by the Jordan River across from Jericho.
Moses and Eleazar the priest went to meet them outside the camp. So did all the leaders of the community. Moses was angry with the officers of the army who had returned from the battle. Some of them were the commanders of thousands of men. Others were the commanders of hundreds.
“Have you let all the women remain alive?” Moses asked them. “The women followed Balaam’s advice. They caused the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord. The people worshiped the god named Baal that was worshiped at Peor. So a plague struck them. Kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man. But save for yourselves every woman who has never slept with a man.
“Anyone who has killed a person must stay outside the camp for seven days. And anyone who has touched a person who was killed must do the same thing. On the third and seventh days you must make yourselves pure. You must also make your prisoners pure. Make all your clothes pure and ‘clean.’ Everything made out of leather, goat hair or wood must be made pure and ‘clean.’ ”
Then Eleazar the priest spoke to the soldiers who had gone into battle. He said, “Here is what the law the Lord gave Moses requires. All your gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin and lead must be put through fire. So must everything else that doesn’t burn up. Then those things will be ‘clean.’ But they must also be made pure with the special water. In fact, everything that won’t burn up must be put through that water. On the seventh day wash your clothes. And you will be ‘clean.’ Then you can come into the camp.”
