The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

36and those who were numbered by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

  37These were the ones who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who might serve in the tabernacle of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

  38And those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families and by their fathers’ house,

  39from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting—

  40those who were numbered by their families, by their fathers’ house, were two thousand six hundred and thirty.

  41mThese are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all who might serve in the tabernacle of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD.

  42Those of the families of the sons of Merari who were numbered, by their families, by their fathers’ 9house,

  43from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service for work in the tabernacle of meeting—

  44those who were numbered by their families were three thousand two hundred.

  45These are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered naccording to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

  46All who were onumbered of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ houses,

  47pfrom thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tabernacle of meeting—

  48those who were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

  49According to the commandment of the LORD they were numbered by the hand of Moses, qeach according to his service and according to his task; thus were they numbered by him, ras the LORD commanded Moses.

  Numbers 5

  Ceremonially Unclean Persons Isolated

  (cf. Lev. 15:1–33)

  1And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

  2“Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every aleper, everyone who has a bdischarge, and whoever becomes cdefiled 1by a corpse.

  3“You shall put out both male and female; you shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps din the midst of which I dwell.”

  4And the children of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the LORD spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.

  Confession and Restitution

  (Lev. 6:1–7)

  5Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

  6“Speak to the children of Israel: e‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit in unfaithfulness against the LORD, and that person is guilty,

  7f‘then he shall confess the sin which he has committed. He shall make restitution for his trespass gin full, plus one-fifth of it, and give it to the one he has wronged.

  8‘But if the man has no 2relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for the wrong must go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to hthe ram of the atonement with which atonement is made for him.

  9‘Every ioffering3 of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be jhis.

  10‘And every man’s 4holy things shall be his; whatever any man gives the priest shall be khis.’ ”

  Concerning Unfaithful Wives

  11And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

  12“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him,

  13‘and a man llies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she mcaught—

  14‘if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes njealous of his wife, who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, although she has not defiled herself—

  15‘then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. He shall obring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for pbringing iniquity to remembrance.

  16‘And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD.

  17‘The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.

  18‘Then the priest shall stand the woman before the qLORD, uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse.

  19‘And the priest shall put her under oath, and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be free from this bitter water that brings a curse.

  20“But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you”—

  21‘then the priest shall rput the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman—s“the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh 5rot and your belly swell;

  22“and may this water that causes the curse tgo into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot.” uThen the woman shall say, “Amen, so be it.”

  23‘Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water.

  24‘And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter.

  25v‘Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, shall wwave the offering before the LORD, and bring it to the altar;

  26‘and the priest shall take a handful of the offering, xas its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.

  27‘When he has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water that brings a ycurse will enter her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh will rot, and the woman zwill become a curse among her people.

  28‘But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive children.

  29‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, agoes astray and defiles herself,

  30‘or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife; then he shall stand the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute all this law upon her.

  31‘Then the man shall be free from 6iniquity, but that woman bshall bear her 7guilt.’ ”

  Numbers 6

  The Law of the Nazirite

  1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

  2“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When either a man or woman 1consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, ato separate himself to the LORD,

  3b‘he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.

  4‘All the days of his 2separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin.

  5‘All the days of the vow of his separation no crazor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

  6‘All the days that he separates himself to the LORD dhe shall not go near a dead body.

  7e‘He shall not 3make himself unclean even for his f
ather or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head.

  8f‘All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the LORD.

  9‘And if anyone dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall gshave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.

  10‘Then hon the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting;

  11‘and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned in regard to the corpse; and he shall sanctify his head that same day.

  12‘He shall consecrate to the LORD the days of his separation, and bring a male lamb in its first year ias a trespass offering; but the former days shall be 4lost, because his separation was defiled.

  13‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: jWhen the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

  14‘And he shall present his offering to the LORD: one male lamb in its first year without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish kas a sin offering, one ram without blemish las a peace offering,

  15‘a basket of unleavened bread, mcakes of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers nanointed with oil, and their grain offering with their odrink offerings.

  16‘Then the priest shall bring them before the LORD and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering;

  17‘and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering.

  18p‘Then the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering.

  19‘And the priest shall take the qboiled shoulder of the ram, one runleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and sput them upon the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair,

  20‘and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD; tthey are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.’

  21“This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the LORD the offering for his separation, and besides that, whatever else his hand is able to provide; according to the vow which he takes, so he must do according to the law of his separation.”

  The Priestly Blessing

  22And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

  23“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:

  24“The LORD ubless you and vkeep you;

  25The LORD wmake His face shine upon you,

  And xbe gracious to you;

  26y The LORD 5lift up His countenance upon you,

  And zgive you peace.” ’

  27a“So they shall 6put My name on the children of Israel, and bI will bless them.”

  Numbers 7

  Offerings of the Leaders

  1Now it came to pass, when Moses had finished asetting up the tabernacle, that he banointed it and consecrated it and all its furnishings, and the altar and all its utensils; so he anointed them and consecrated them.

  2Then cthe leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses, who were the leaders of the tribes 1and over those who were numbered, made an offering.

  3And they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox; and they presented them before the tabernacle.

  4Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

  5“Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the work of the tabernacle of meeting; and you shall give them to the Levites, to every man according to his service.”

  6So Moses took the carts and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites.

  7Two carts and four oxen dhe gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service;

  8eand four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the 2authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

  9But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because theirs was fthe service of the holy things, gwhich they carried on their shoulders.

  10Now the leaders offered hthe dedication offering for the altar when it was anointed; so the leaders offered their offering before the altar.

  11For the LORD said to Moses, “They shall offer their offering, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.”

  12And the one who offered his offering on the first day was iNahshon the son of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah.

  13His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to jthe shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a kgrain offering;

  14one gold pan of ten shekels, full of lincense;

  15mone young bull, one ram, and one male lamb nin its first year, as a burnt offering;

  16one kid of the goats as a osin offering;

  17and for pthe sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

  18On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering.

  19For his offering he offered one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;

  20one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense;

  21one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering;

  22one kid of the goats as a sin offering;

  23and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

  24On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, leader of the children of Zebulun, presented an offering.

  25His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;

  26one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense;

  27one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering;

  28one kid of the goats as a sin offering;

  29and for the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

  30On the fourth day qElizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the children of Reuben, presented an offering.

  31His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;

  32one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense;

  33one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering;

  34one kid of the goats as a sin offering;

  35and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

  36On the fifth day rShelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, leader of the children of Simeon, presented an offering.

  37His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;

  38one
gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense;

  39one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering;

  40one kid of the goats as a sin offering;

  41and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

  42On the sixth day sEliasaph the son of 3Deuel, leader of the children of Gad, presented an offering.

  43His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;

  44one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense;

  45one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as ta burnt offering;

  46one kid of the goats as a sin offering;

  47and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

  48On the seventh day uElishama the son of Ammihud, leader of the children of Ephraim, presented an offering.

  49His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;

  50one gold pan of ten shekels, full of incense;

  51one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb in its first year, as a burnt offering;

  52one kid of the goats as a sin offering;

  53and as the sacrifice of peace offerings: two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

  54On the eighth day vGamaliel the son of Pedahzur, leader of the children of Manasseh, presented an offering.

  55His offering was one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering;