Numbers 9

Passover Regulations

9:1¹ The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out² of the land of Egypt:

9:2 “The Israelites are to observe³ the Passover⁴ at its appointed time.⁵ 9:3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight,⁶ you are to observe it at its appointed time; you must keep⁷ it in accordance with all its statutes and all its customs.”⁸ 9:4 So Moses instructed⁹ the Israelites to observe¹⁰ the Passover. 9:5 And they observed the Passover¹¹ on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight in the wilderness of Sinai; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.

9:6 It happened that some men¹² who were ceremonially defiled¹³ by the dead body of a man¹⁴ could not keep¹⁵ the Passover on that day, so they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. 9:7 And those men said to him, “We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?” 9:8 So Moses said to them, “Remain¹⁶ here and I will hear¹⁷ what the Lord will command concerning you.”

9:9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 9:10 “Tell the Israelites, ‘If any¹⁸ of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may¹⁹ observe the Passover to the Lord. 9:11 They may observe it on the fourteenth day of the second month²⁰ at twilight; they are to eat it with bread made without yeast and with bitter herbs. 9:12 They must not leave any of it until morning, nor break any of its bones; they must observe it in accordance with every statute of the Passover.

9:13 But²¹ the man who is ceremonially clean, and was not on a journey, and fails²² to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people.²³ Because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time, that man must bear his sin.²⁴ 9:14 If a resident foreigner lives²⁵ among you and wants to keep²⁶ the Passover to the Lord, he must do so according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its custom. You must have²⁷ the same²⁸ statute for the resident foreigner²⁹ and for the one who was born in the land.’”

The Leading of the Lord

9:15³⁰ On³¹ the day that the tabernacle was set up,³² the cloud³³ covered the tabernacle – the tent of the testimony³⁴ – and from evening until morning there was³⁵ a fiery appearance³⁶ over the tabernacle. 9:16 This is the way it used to be continually: The cloud would cover it by day,³⁷ and there was a fiery appearance by night. 9:17 Whenever the cloud was taken up³⁸ from the tabernacle, then after that the Israelites would begin their journey; and in whatever place³⁹ the cloud settled, there the Israelites would make camp. 9:18 At the commandment⁴⁰ of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as⁴¹ the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp. 9:19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle many days, then the Israelites obeyed the instructions⁴² of the Lord and did not journey.

9:20 When⁴³ the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days,⁴⁴ they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment,⁴⁵ and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey. 9:21 And when⁴⁶ the cloud remained only⁴⁷ from evening until morning, when the cloud was taken up⁴⁸ the following morning, then they traveled on. Whether by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up they traveled. 9:22 Whether it was for two days, or a month, or a year,⁴⁹ that the cloud prolonged its stay⁵⁰ over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling;⁵¹ but when it was taken up, they traveled on. 9:23 At the commandment of the Lord they camped, and at the commandment of the Lord they traveled on; they kept the instructions of the Lord according to the commandment of the Lord, by the authority⁵² of Moses.

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