KWS — KodeshWay Scriptures

Bereshit

Chapter 1

1In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and Elohim’s Ruach was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3Elohim said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4Elohim saw the light, and saw that it was good. Elohim divided the light from the darkness. 5Elohim called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6Elohim said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7Elohim made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8Elohim called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. 9Elohim said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so. 10Elohim called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. Elohim saw that it was good. 11Elohim said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so. 12The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and Elohim saw that it was good. 13There was evening and there was morning, a third day. 14Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years; 15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so. 16Elohim made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. 17Elohim set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, 18and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. Elohim saw that it was good. 19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. 20Elohim said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21Elohim created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. Elohim saw that it was good. 22Elohim blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 24Elohim said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so. 25Elohim made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. Elohim saw that it was good. 26Elohim said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27Elohim created man in his own image. In Elohim’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 28Elohim blessed them. Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29Elohim said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. 30To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so. 31Elohim saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Chapter 2

1The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished. 2On the seventh day Elohim finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3Elohim blessed the seventh day, and made it kodesh, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done. 4This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that YHWH Elohim made the earth and the heavens. 5No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for YHWH Elohim had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, 6but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7YHWH Elohim formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8YHWH Elohim planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9Out of the ground YHWH Elohim made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. 11The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. 13The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Chidekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15YHWH Elohim took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 16YHWH Elohim commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” 18YHWH Elohim said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19Out of the ground YHWH Elohim formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21YHWH Elohim caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22YHWH Elohim made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” 24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. 25The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.

Chapter 3

1Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which YHWH Elohim had made. He said to the woman, “Has Elohim really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. Elohim has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’” 4The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, 5for Elohim knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like Elohim, knowing good and evil.” 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. 7Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. 8They heard YHWH Elohim’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of YHWH Elohim amongst the trees of the garden. 9YHWH Elohim called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11Elohim said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13YHWH Elohim said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14YHWH Elohim said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” 16To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. You will bear children in pain. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labour all the days of your life. 18It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. 19You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.” 20The man called his wife Chava because she would be the mother of all the living. 21YHWH Elohim made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. 22YHWH Elohim said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” 23Therefore YHWH Elohim sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Chapter 4

1The man knew Chava his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Kayin, and said, “I have gotten a man with YHWH’s help.” 2Again she gave birth, to Kayin’s brother Hevel. Hevel was a keeper of sheep, but Kayin was a tiller of the ground. 3As time passed, Kayin brought an offering to YHWH from the fruit of the ground. 4Hevel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. YHWH respected Hevel and his offering, 5but he didn’t respect Kayin and his offering. Kayin was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. 6YHWH said to Kayin, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? 7If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” 8Kayin said to Hevel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Kayin rose up against Hevel, his brother, and killed him. 9YHWH said to Kayin, “Where is Hevel, your brother?” He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10YHWH said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. 11Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth.” 13Kayin said to YHWH, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14Behold, you have driven me out today from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. Whoever finds me will kill me.” 15YHWH said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Kayin, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” YHWH appointed a sign for Kayin, so that anyone finding him would not strike him. 16Kayin left YHWH’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17Kayin knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Chanoch. He built a city, and named the city after the name of his son, Chanoch. 18Irad was born to Chanoch. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lemech. 19Lemech took two wives: the name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Tzilah. 20Adah gave birth to Yaval, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21His brother’s name was Yuval, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe. 22Tzilah also gave birth to Tuval Kayin, the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron. Tuval Kayin’s sister was Naamah. 23Lemech said to his wives, “Adah and Tzilah, hear my voice. You wives of Lemech, listen to my speech, for I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me. 24If Kayin will be avenged seven times, truly Lemech seventy-seven times.” 25Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Shet, saying, “for Elohim has given me another child instead of Hevel, for Kayin killed him.” 26A son was also born to Shet, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on YHWH’s name.

Chapter 5

1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that Elohim created man, he made him in Elohim’s likeness. 2He created them male and female, and blessed them. On the day they were created, he named them Adam. 3Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Shet. 4The days of Adam after he became the father of Shet were eight hundred years, and he became the father of other sons and daughters. 5All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, then he died. 6Shet lived one hundred and five years, then became the father of Enosh. 7Shet lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 8All of the days of Shet were nine hundred and twelve years, then he died. 9Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. 10Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 11All of the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, then he died. 12Kenan lived seventy years, then became the father of Mahalal'el. 13Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalal'el eight hundred and forty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters 14and all of the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, then he died. 15Mahalal'el lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Yered. 16Mahalal'el lived after he became the father of Yered eight hundred and thirty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 17All of the days of Mahalal'el were eight hundred and ninety-five years, then he died. 18Yered lived one hundred and sixty-two years, then became the father of Chanoch. 19Yered lived after he became the father of Chanoch eight hundred years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 20All of the days of Yered were nine hundred and sixty-two years, then he died. 21Chanoch lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Metushelach. 22After Metushelach’s birth, Chanoch walked with Elohim for three hundred years, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 23All the days of Chanoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24Chanoch walked with Elohim, and he was not found, for Elohim took him. 25Metushelach lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, then became the father of Lemech. 26Metushelach lived after he became the father of Lemech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 27All the days of Metushelach were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, then he died. 28Lemech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, then became the father of a son. 29He named him Noach, saying, “This one will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, caused by the ground which YHWH has cursed.” 30Lemech lived after he became the father of Noach five hundred and ninety-five years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. 31All the days of Lemech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, then he died. 32Noach was five hundred years old, then Noach became the father of Shem, Cham, and Yefet.

Chapter 6

1When men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 2Elohim’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives. 3YHWH said, “My Ruach will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred and twenty years.” 4The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when Elohim’s sons came in to men’s daughters and had children with them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. 5YHWH saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil. 6YHWH was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. 7YHWH said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground—man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky—for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8But Noach found favour in YHWH’s eyes. 9This is the history of the generations of Noach: Noach was a righteous man, blameless amongst the people of his time. Noach walked with Elohim. 10Noach became the father of three sons: Shem, Cham, and Yefet. 11The earth was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence. 12Elohim saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13Elohim said to Noach, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth. 14Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch. 15This is how you shall make it. The length of the ship shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16You shall make a roof in the ship, and you shall finish it to a cubit upward. You shall set the door of the ship in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels. 17I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die. 18But I will establish my Brit with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ship, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort will come to you, to keep them alive. 21Take with you some of all food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself; and it will be for food for you, and for them.” 22Thus Noach did. He did all that Elohim commanded him.

Chapter 7

1YHWH said to Noach, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation. 2You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female. 3Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth. 4In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.” 5Noach did everything that YHWH commanded him. 6Noach was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. 7Noach went into the ship with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, because of the floodwaters. 8Clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground 9went by pairs to Noach into the ship, male and female, as Elohim commanded Noach. 10After the seven days, the floodwaters came on the earth. 11In the six hundredth year of Noach’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the sky’s windows opened. 12It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13In the same day Noach, and Shem, Cham, and Yefet—the sons of Noach—and Noach’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ship— 14they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15Pairs from all flesh with the breath of life in them went into the ship to Noach. 16Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as Elohim commanded him; then YHWH shut him in. 17The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ship, and it was lifted up above the earth. 18The waters rose, and increased greatly on the earth; and the ship floated on the surface of the waters. 19The waters rose very high on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered. 20The waters rose fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. 21All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22All on the dry land, in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 23Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noach was left, and those who were with him in the ship. 24The waters flooded the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Chapter 8

1Elohim remembered Noach, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and Elohim made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided. 2The deep’s fountains and the sky’s windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained. 3The waters continually receded from the earth. After the end of one hundred and fifty days the waters receded. 4The ship rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat’s mountains. 5The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. 6At the end of forty days, Noach opened the window of the ship which he had made, 7and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8He himself sent out a dove to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground, 9but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned into the ship to him, for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put out his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship. 10He waited yet another seven days; and again he sent the dove out of the ship. 11The dove came back to him at evening and, behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noach knew that the waters were abated from the earth. 12He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him any more. 13In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noach removed the covering of the ship, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15Elohim spoke to Noach, saying, 16“Go out of the ship, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.” 18Noach went out, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. 19Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship. 20Noach built an altar to YHWH, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21YHWH smelled the pleasant aroma. YHWH said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done. 22While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”

Chapter 9

1Elohim blessed Noach and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth. 2The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that moves along the ground, and all the fish of the sea, are delivered into your hand. 3Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As I gave you the green herb, I have given everything to you. 4But flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you shall not eat. 5I will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. 6Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for Elohim made man in his own image. 7Be fruitful and multiply. Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.” 8Elohim spoke to Noach and to his sons with him, saying, 9“As for me, behold, I establish my Brit with you, and with your offspring after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ship, even every animal of the earth. 11I will establish my Brit with you: All flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12Elohim said, “This is the token of the Brit which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a Brit between me and the earth. 14When I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, 15I will remember my Brit, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting Brit between Elohim and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17Elohim said to Noach, “This is the token of the Brit which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” 18The sons of Noach who went out from the ship were Shem, Cham, and Yefet. Cham is the father of Kna'an. 19These three were the sons of Noach, and from these the whole earth was populated. 20Noach began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard. 21He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent. 22Cham, the father of Kna'an, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23Shem and Yefet took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness. 24Noach awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25He said, “Kna'an is cursed. He will be a servant of servants to his brothers.” 26He said, “Blessed be YHWH, the Elohim of Shem. Let Kna'an be his servant. 27May Elohim enlarge Yefet. Let him dwell in the tents of Shem. Let Kna'an be his servant.” 28Noach lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 29All the days of Noach were nine hundred and fifty years, and then he died.

Chapter 10

1Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noach and of Shem, Cham, and Yefet. Sons were born to them after the flood. 2The sons of Yefet were: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Yavan, Tuval, Meshekh, and Tiras. 3The sons of Gomer were: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4The sons of Yavan were: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5Of these were the islands of the nations divided in their lands, everyone after his language, after their families, in their nations. 6The sons of Cham were: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Kna'an. 7The sons of Cush were: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were: Sheva and Dedan. 8Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9He was a mighty hunter before YHWH. Therefore it is said, “like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before YHWH”. 10The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shin'ar. 11Out of that land he went into Assyria, and built Ninveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12and Resen between Ninveh and the great city Calah. 13Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14Pathrusim, Casluhim (which the Pelishtim descended from), and Kaftorim. 15Kna'an became the father of Tzidon (his firstborn), Heth, 16the Yevusim, the Emorim, the Girgashim, 17the Chivim, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Kna'anim were spread abroad. 19The border of the Kna'anim was from Tzidon—as you go towards Gerar—to Gaza—as you go towards Sodom, Amorah, Admah, and Zeboiim—to Lasha. 20These are the sons of Cham, after their families, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations. 21Children were also born to Shem (the elder brother of Yefet), the father of all the children of Ever. 22The sons of Shem were: Elam, Asshur, Arpakhshad, Lud, and Aram. 23The sons of Aram were: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24Arpakhshad became the father of Shelach. Shelach became the father of Ever. 25To Ever were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. His brother’s name was Yoktan. 26Yoktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Yerach, 27Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28Obal, Abimael, Sheva, 29Ofir, Havilah, and Yovav. All these were the sons of Yoktan. 30Their dwelling extended from Mesha, as you go towards Sephar, the mountain of the east. 31These are the sons of Shem, by their families, according to their languages, lands, and nations. 32These are the families of the sons of Noach, by their generations, according to their nations. The nations divided from these in the earth after the flood.

Chapter 11

1The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. 2As they travelled east, they found a plain in the land of Shin'ar, and they lived there. 3They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.” 5YHWH came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. 6YHWH said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. 7Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8So YHWH scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there YHWH confused the language of all the earth. From there, YHWH scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth. 10This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpakhshad two years after the flood. 11Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpakhshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 12Arpakhshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelach. 13Arpakhshad lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Shelach, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 14Shelach lived thirty years, and became the father of Ever. 15Shelach lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Ever, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 16Ever lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg. 17Ever lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 18Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Re'u. 19Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Re'u, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 20Re'u lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. 21Re'u lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 22Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nachor. 23Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nachor, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 24Nachor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terach. 25Nachor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he became the father of Terach, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 26Terach lived seventy years, and became the father of Avram, Nachor, and Charan. 27Now this is the history of the generations of Terach. Terach became the father of Avram, Nachor, and Charan. Charan became the father of Lot. 28Charan died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees, while his father Terach was still alive. 29Avram and Nachor married wives. The name of Avram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nachor’s wife was Milkah, the daughter of Charan, who was also the father of Iscah. 30Sarai was barren. She had no child. 31Terach took Avram his son, Lot the son of Charan, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Avram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Kna'an. They came to Charan and lived there. 32The days of Terach were two hundred and five years. Terach died in Charan.

Chapter 12

1Now YHWH said to Avram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” 4So Avram went, as YHWH had told him. Lot went with him. Avram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Charan. 5Avram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Charan, and they went to go into the land of Kna'an. They entered into the land of Kna'an. 6Avram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time, Kna'anim were in the land. 7YHWH appeared to Avram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to YHWH, who had appeared to him. 8He left from there to go to the mountain on the east of Beit El and pitched his tent, having Beit El on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to YHWH and called on YHWH’s name. 9Avram travelled, still going on towards the South. 10There was a famine in the land. Avram went down into Mitzrayim to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11When he had come near to enter Mitzrayim, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at. 12It will happen that when the Mitzrim see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me, but they will save you alive. 13Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you.” 14When Avram had come into Mitzrayim, some Mitzrim saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16He dealt well with Avram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17YHWH afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Avram’s wife. 18Pharaoh called Avram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.” 20Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they escorted him away with his wife and all that he had.

Chapter 13

1Avram went up out of Mitzrayim—he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him—into the South. 2Avram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3He went on his journeys from the South as far as Beit El, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beit El and Ai, 4to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Avram called on YHWH’s name. 5Lot also, who went with Avram, had flocks, herds, and tents. 6The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together; for their possessions were so great that they couldn’t live together. 7There was strife between the herdsmen of Avram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Kna'anim and the Perizim lived in the land at that time. 8Avram said to Lot, “Please, let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are relatives. 9Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left.” 10Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before YHWH destroyed Sodom and Amorah, like the garden of YHWH, like the land of Mitzrayim, as you go to Zoar. 11So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot travelled east, and they separated themselves from one another. 12Avram lived in the land of Kna'an, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against YHWH. 14YHWH said to Avram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15for I will give all the land which you see to you and to your offspring forever. 16I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring may also be counted. 17Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its width; for I will give it to you.” 18Avram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to YHWH.

Chapter 14

1In the days of Amraphel, king of Shin'ar; Arioch, king of Ellasar; Kedorla'omer, king of Elam; and Tidal, king of Goiim, 2they made war with Bera, king of Sodom; Birsha, king of Amorah; Shinab, king of Admah; Shemeber, king of Zeboiim; and the king of Bela (also called Zoar). 3All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (also called the Salt Sea). 4They served Kedorla'omer for twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5In the fourteenth year Kedorla'omer and the kings who were with him came and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Cham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6and the Chorim in their Har Se'ir, to El Paran, which is by the wilderness. 7They returned, and came to En Mishpat (also called Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekim, and also the Emorim, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. 8The king of Sodom, and the king of Amorah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim 9against Kedorla'omer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shin'ar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. 10Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Amorah fled, and some fell there. Those who remained fled to the hills. 11They took all the goods of Sodom and Amorah, and all their food, and went their way. 12They took Lot, Avram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. 13One who had escaped came and told Avram, the Ivri. At that time, he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Emori, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. They were allies of Avram. 14When Avram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led out his three hundred and eighteen trained men, born in his house, and pursued as far as Dan. 15He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Dameshek. 16He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot and his goods, and the women also, and the other people. 17The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Kedorla'omer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18Malki-Tzedek king of Shalem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of Elohim Elyon. 19He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Avram of Elohim Elyon, possessor of heaven and earth. 20Blessed be Elohim Elyon, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Avram gave him a tenth of all. 21The king of Sodom said to Avram, “Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself.” 22Avram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to YHWH, Elohim Elyon, possessor of heaven and earth, 23that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Avram rich.’ 24I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”

Chapter 15

1After these things YHWH’s word came to Avram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Avram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” 2Avram said, “Adonai YHWH, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eli'ezer of Dameshek?” 3Avram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.” 4Behold, YHWH’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.” 5YHWH brought him outside, and said, “Look now towards the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Avram, “So your offspring will be.” 6He believed in YHWH, who credited it to him for righteousness. 7He said to Avram, “I am YHWH who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.” 8He said, “Adonai YHWH, how will I know that I will inherit it?” 9He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds. 11The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Avram drove them away. 12When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Avram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. 13He said to Avram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. 14I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth; 15but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. 16In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Emori is not yet full.” 17It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18In that day YHWH made a Brit with Avram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Mitzrayim to the great river, the river Euphrates: 19the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20the Chitim, the Perizim, the Rephaim, 21the Emorim, the Kna'anim, the Girgashim, and the Yevusim.”

Chapter 16

1Now Sarai, Avram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Mitzri, whose name was Hagar. 2Sarai said to Avram, “See now, YHWH has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Avram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3Sarai, Avram’s wife, took Hagar the Mitzri, her servant, after Avram had lived ten years in the land of Kna'an, and gave her to Avram her husband to be his wife. 4He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 5Sarai said to Avram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, she despised me. May YHWH judge between me and you.” 6But Avram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face. 7YHWH’s malak found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur. 8He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where did you come from? Where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.” 9YHWH’s malak said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.” 10YHWH’s malak said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.” 11YHWH’s malak said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Yishmael, because YHWH has heard your affliction. 12He will be like a wild donkey amongst men. His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. He will live opposed to all of his brothers.” 13She called the name of YHWH who spoke to her, “You are a Elohim who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?” 14Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15Hagar bore a son for Avram. Avram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Yishmael. 16Avram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Yishmael to Avram.

Chapter 17

1When Avram was ninety-nine years old, YHWH appeared to Avram and said to him, “I am Elohim El Shaddai. Walk before me and be blameless. 2I will make my Brit between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3Avram fell on his face. Elohim talked with him, saying, 4“As for me, behold, my Brit is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 5Your name will no more be called Avram, but your name will be Avraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. 7I will establish my Brit between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting Brit, to be a Elohim to you and to your offspring after you. 8I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are travelling, all the land of Kna'an, for an everlasting possession. I will be their Elohim.” 9Elohim said to Avraham, “As for you, you shall keep my Brit, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10This is my Brit, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male amongst you shall be circumcised. 11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the Brit between me and you. 12He who is eight days old shall be circumcised amongst you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. 13He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My Brit shall be in your flesh for an everlasting Brit. 14The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my Brit.” 15Elohim said to Avraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. 16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.” 17Then Avraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” 18Avraham said to Elohim, “Oh that Yishmael might live before you!” 19Elohim said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Yitzhak. I will establish my Brit with him for an everlasting Brit for his offspring after him. 20As for Yishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21But I will establish my Brit with Yitzhak, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 22When he finished talking with him, Elohim went up from Avraham. 23Avraham took Yishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money: every male amongst the men of Avraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as Elohim had said to him. 24Avraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25Yishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26In the same day both Avraham and Yishmael, his son, were circumcised. 27All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Chapter 18

1YHWH appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, 3and said, “My Adonai, if now I have found favour in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant. 4Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5I will get a piece of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant.” They said, “Very well, do as you have said.” 6Avraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three seahs of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” 7Avraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it. 8He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate. 9They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” He said, “There, in the tent.” 10He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. 11Now Avraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my adonai being old also?” 13YHWH said to Avraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child when I am old?’ 14Is anything too hard for YHWH? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes around, and Sarah will have a son.” 15Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” 16The men rose up from there, and looked towards Sodom. Avraham went with them to see them on their way. 17YHWH said, “Will I hide from Avraham what I do, 18since Avraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 19For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of YHWH, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that YHWH may bring on Avraham that which he has spoken of him.” 20YHWH said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Amorah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, 21I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.” 22The men turned from there, and went towards Sodom, but Avraham stood yet before YHWH. 23Avraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26YHWH said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27Avraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to Adonai, although I am dust and ashes. 28What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?” He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29He spoke to him yet again, and said, “What if there are forty found there?” He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.” 30He said, “Oh don’t let Adonai be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?” He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31He said, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to Adonai. What if there are twenty found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.” 32He said, “Oh don’t let Adonai be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.” 33YHWH went his way as soon as he had finished communing with Avraham, and Avraham returned to his place.

Chapter 19

1The two malakim came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth, 2and he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.” 3He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. 5They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.” 6Lot went out to them through the door, and shut the door after himself. 7He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly. 8See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.” 9They said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them!” They pressed hard on the man Lot, and came near to break the door. 10But the men reached out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 11They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door. 12The men said to Lot, “Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place: 13for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown so great before YHWH that YHWH has sent us to destroy it.” 14Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for YHWH will destroy the city!” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. 15When the morning came, then the malakim hurried Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.” 16But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, YHWH being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city. 17It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!” 18Lot said to them, “Oh, not so, my adonai. 19See now, your servant has found favour in your sight, and you have magnified your chesed, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can’t escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. 20See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn’t it a little one?), and my soul will live.” 21He said to him, “Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22Hurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24Then YHWH rained on Sodom and on Amorah sulphur and fire from YHWH out of the sky. 25He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. 26But Lot’s wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 27Avraham went up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before YHWH. 28He looked towards Sodom and Amorah, and towards all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. 29When Elohim destroyed the cities of the plain, Elohim remembered Avraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. 30Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth. 32Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” 33They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” 35They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up. 36Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father. 37The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moavim to this day. 38The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

Chapter 20

1Avraham travelled from there towards the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar. 2Avraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Avimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3But Elohim came to Avimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man’s wife.” 4Now Avimelech had not come near her. He said, “Adonai, will you kill even a righteous nation? 5Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister’? She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.” 6Elohim said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her. 7Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.” 8Avimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. 9Then Avimelech called Avraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!” 10Avimelech said to Avraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?” 11Avraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of Elohim is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’ 12Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13When Elohim caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’” 14Avimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Avraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. 15Avimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you.” 16To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated.” 17Avraham prayed to Elohim. So Elohim healed Avimelech, his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. 18For YHWH had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Avimelech, because of Sarah, Avraham’s wife.

Chapter 21

1YHWH visited Sarah as he had said, and YHWH did to Sarah as he had spoken. 2Sarah conceived, and bore Avraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which Elohim had spoken to him. 3Avraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Yitzhak. 4Avraham circumcised his son, Yitzhak, when he was eight days old, as Elohim had commanded him. 5Avraham was one hundred years old when his son, Yitzhak, was born to him. 6Sarah said, “Elohim has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 7She said, “Who would have said to Avraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.” 8The child grew and was weaned. Avraham made a great feast on the day that Yitzhak was weaned. 9Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Mitzri, whom she had borne to Avraham, mocking. 10Therefore she said to Avraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Yitzhak.” 11The thing was very grievous in Avraham’s sight on account of his son. 12Elohim said to Avraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be named through Yitzhak. 13I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child.” 14Avraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a container of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Be'er Sheva. 15The water in the container was spent, and she put the child under one of the shrubs. 16She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. 17Elohim heard the voice of the boy. The malak of Elohim called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For Elohim has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand. For I will make him a great nation.” 19Elohim opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the container with water, and gave the boy a drink. 20Elohim was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and as he grew up, he became an archer. 21He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother got a wife for him out of the land of Mitzrayim. 22At that time, Avimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Avraham, saying, “Elohim is with you in all that you do. 23Now, therefore, swear to me here by Elohim that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.” 24Avraham said, “I will swear.” 25Avraham complained to Avimelech because of a water well, which Avimelech’s servants had violently taken away. 26Avimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this thing. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t hear of it until today.” 27Avraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Avimelech. Those two made a Brit. 28Avraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29Avimelech said to Avraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs, which you have set by themselves, mean?” 30He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.” 31Therefore he called that place Be'er Sheva, because they both swore an oath there. 32So they made a Brit at Be'er Sheva. Avimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Pelishtim. 33Avraham planted a tamarisk tree in Be'er Sheva, and there he called on the name of YHWH, the Everlasting Elohim. 34Avraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Pelishtim many days.

Chapter 22

1After these things, Elohim tested Avraham, and said to him, “Avraham!” He said, “Here I am.” 2He said, “Now take your son, your only son, Yitzhak, whom you love, and go into the land of Moriyah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.” 3Avraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey; and took two of his young men with him, and Yitzhak his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which Elohim had told him. 4On the third day Avraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off. 5Avraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and come back to you.” 6Avraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Yitzhak his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together. 7Yitzhak spoke to Avraham his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8Avraham said, “Elohim will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together. 9They came to the place which Elohim had told him of. Avraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Yitzhak his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood. 10Avraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son. 11YHWH’s malak called to him out of the sky, and said, “Avraham, Avraham!” He said, “Here I am.” 12He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear Elohim, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13Avraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Avraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14Avraham called the name of that place “YHWH Yireh”. As it is said to this day, “On YHWH’s mountain, it will be provided.” 15YHWH’s malak called to Avraham a second time out of the sky, 16and said, “‘I have sworn by myself,’ says YHWH, ‘because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies. 18All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed my voice.’” 19So Avraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Be'er Sheva. Avraham lived at Be'er Sheva. 20After these things, Avraham was told, “Behold, Milkah, she also has borne children to your brother Nachor: 21Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemu'el the father of Aram, 22Chesed, Chazo, Pildash, Yidlaf, and Betuel.” 23Betuel became the father of Rivkah. These eight Milkah bore to Nachor, Avraham’s brother. 24His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Ma'akah.

Chapter 23

1Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah’s life. 2Sarah died in Kiryat Arba (also called Hebron), in the land of Kna'an. Avraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. 3Avraham rose up from before his dead and spoke to the children of Heth, saying, 4“I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5The children of Heth answered Avraham, saying to him, 6“Hear us, my adonai. You are a prince of Elohim amongst us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.” 7Avraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the children of Heth. 8He talked with them, saying, “If you agree that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Efron the son of Zohar, 9that he may sell me the cave of Makhpela, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him sell it to me amongst you as a possession for a burial place.” 10Now Efron was sitting in the middle of the children of Heth. Efron the Chitti answered Avraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, 11“No, my adonai, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12Avraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. 13He spoke to Efron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, “But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.” 14Efron answered Avraham, saying to him, 15“My Adonai, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.” 16Avraham listened to Efron. Avraham weighed to Efron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard. 17So the field of Efron, which was in Makhpela, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded 18to Avraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19After this, Avraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Makhpela before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Kna'an. 20The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Avraham by the children of Heth as a possession for a burial place.

Chapter 24

1Avraham was old, and well advanced in age. YHWH had blessed Avraham in all things. 2Avraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh. 3I will make you swear by YHWH, the Elohim of heaven and the Elohim of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Kna'anim, amongst whom I live. 4But you shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Yitzhak.” 5The servant said to him, “What if the woman isn’t willing to follow me to this land? Must I bring your son again to the land you came from?” 6Avraham said to him, “Beware that you don’t bring my son there again. 7YHWH, the Elohim of heaven—who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, ‘I will give this land to your offspring—he will send his malak before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8If the woman isn’t willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this oath to me. Only you shall not bring my son there again.” 9The servant put his hand under the thigh of Avraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. 10The servant took ten of his master’s camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master’s with him. He arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nachor. 11He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water. 12He said, “YHWH, the Elohim of my master Avraham, please give me success today, and show kindness to my master Avraham. 13Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. The daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, ‘Please let down your pitcher, that I may drink,’ then she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink,’—let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Yitzhak. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” 15Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rivkah came out, who was born to Betuel the son of Milkah, the wife of Nachor, Avraham’s brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin. No man had known her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17The servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please give me a drink, a little water from your pitcher.” 18She said, “Drink, my adonai.” She hurried, and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him a drink. 19When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will also draw for your camels, until they have finished drinking.” 20She hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw, and drew for all his camels. 21The man looked steadfastly at her, remaining silent, to know whether YHWH had made his journey prosperous or not. 22As the camels had finished drinking, the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, 23and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father’s house for us to stay?” 24She said to him, “I am the daughter of Betuel the son of Milkah, whom she bore to Nachor.” 25She said moreover to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge in.” 26The man bowed his head, and worshipped YHWH. 27He said, “Blessed be YHWH, the Elohim of my master Avraham, who has not forsaken his chesed and his truth towards my master. As for me, YHWH has led me on the way to the house of my master’s relatives.” 28The young lady ran, and told her mother’s house about these words. 29Rivkah had a brother, and his name was Lavan. Lavan ran out to the man, to the spring. 30When he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rivkah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he came to the man. Behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. 31He said, “Come in, you blessed of YHWH. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.” 32The man came into the house, and he unloaded the camels. He gave straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told my message.” Lavan said, “Speak on.” 34He said, “I am Avraham’s servant. 35YHWH has blessed my master greatly. He has become great. YHWH has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36Sarah, my master’s wife, bore a son to my master when she was old. He has given all that he has to him. 37My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Kna'anim, in whose land I live, 38but you shall go to my father’s house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’ 39I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not follow me?’ 40He said to me, ‘YHWH, before whom I walk, will send his malak with you, and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my relatives, and of my father’s house. 41Then you will be clear from my oath, when you come to my relatives. If they don’t give her to you, you shall be clear from my oath.’ 42I came today to the spring, and said, ‘YHWH, the Elohim of my master Avraham, if now you do prosper my way which I go— 43behold, I am standing by this spring of water. Let it happen, that the maiden who comes out to draw, to whom I will say, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,” 44then she tells me, “Drink, and I will also draw for your camels,”—let her be the woman whom YHWH has appointed for my master’s son.’ 45Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rivkah came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. She went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ 46She hurried and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels a drink. 47I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Betuel, Nachor’s son, whom Milkah bore to him.’ I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands. 48I bowed my head, and worshipped YHWH, and blessed YHWH, the Elohim of my master Avraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter for his son. 49Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.” 50Then Lavan and Betuel answered, “The thing proceeds from YHWH. We can’t speak to you bad or good. 51Behold, Rivkah is before you. Take her, and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as YHWH has spoken.” 52When Avraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth to YHWH. 53The servant brought out jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rivkah. He also gave precious things to her brother and her mother. 54They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. They rose up in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.” 55Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young lady stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she will go.” 56He said to them, “Don’t hinder me, since YHWH has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.” 57They said, “We will call the young lady, and ask her.” 58They called Rivkah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.” 59They sent away Rivkah, their sister, with her nurse, Avraham’s servant, and his men. 60They blessed Rivkah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your offspring possess the gate of those who hate them.” 61Rivkah arose with her ladies. They rode on the camels, and followed the man. The servant took Rivkah, and went his way. 62Yitzhak came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he lived in the land of the South. 63Yitzhak went out to meditate in the field at the evening. He lifted up his eyes and looked. Behold, there were camels coming. 64Rivkah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Yitzhak, she got off the camel. 65She said to the servant, “Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” She took her veil, and covered herself. 66The servant told Yitzhak all the things that he had done. 67Yitzhak brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rivkah, and she became his wife. He loved her. So Yitzhak was comforted after his mother’s death.

Chapter 25

1Avraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. 2She bore him Zimran, Yokshan, Medan, Midyan, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3Yokshan became the father of Sheva, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4The sons of Midyan were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5Avraham gave all that he had to Yitzhak, 6but Avraham gave gifts to the sons of Avraham’s concubines. While he still lived, he sent them away from Yitzhak his son, eastward, to the east country. 7These are the days of the years of Avraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. 8Avraham gave up his spirit, and died at a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9Yitzhak and Yishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Makhpela, in the field of Efron, the son of Zohar the Chitti, which is near Mamre, 10the field which Avraham purchased from the children of Heth. Avraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife. 11After the death of Avraham, Elohim blessed Yitzhak, his son. Yitzhak lived by Beer Lahai Roi. 12Now this is the history of the generations of Yishmael, Avraham’s son, whom Hagar the Mitzri, Sarah’s servant, bore to Avraham. 13These are the names of the sons of Yishmael, by their names, according to the order of their birth: the firstborn of Yishmael, Nevayot, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Yetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16These are the sons of Yishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments: twelve princes, according to their nations. 17These are the years of the life of Yishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years. He gave up his spirit and died, and was gathered to his people. 18They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Mitzrayim, as you go towards Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives. 19This is the history of the generations of Yitzhak, Avraham’s son. Avraham became the father of Yitzhak. 20Yitzhak was forty years old when he took Rivkah, the daughter of Betuel the Arami of Paddan Aram, the sister of Lavan the Arami, to be his wife. 21Yitzhak entreated YHWH for his wife, because she was barren. YHWH was entreated by him, and Rivkah his wife conceived. 22The children struggled together within her. She said, “If it is like this, why do I live?” She went to enquire of YHWH. 23YHWH said to her, “Two nations are in your womb. Two peoples will be separated from your body. The one people will be stronger than the other people. The elder will serve the younger.” 24When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esav. 26After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esav’s heel. He was named Yaakov. Yitzhak was sixty years old when she bore them. 27The boys grew. Esav was a skilful hunter, a man of the field. Yaakov was a quiet man, living in tents. 28Now Yitzhak loved Esav, because he ate his venison. Rivkah loved Yaakov. 29Yaakov boiled stew. Esav came in from the field, and he was famished. 30Esav said to Yaakov, “Please feed me with some of that red stew, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. 31Yaakov said, “First, sell me your birthright.” 32Esav said, “Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?” 33Yaakov said, “Swear to me first.” He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Yaakov. 34Yaakov gave Esav bread and lentil stew. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esav despised his birthright.

Chapter 26

1There was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that was in the days of Avraham. Yitzhak went to Avimelech king of the Pelishtim, to Gerar. 2YHWH appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Mitzrayim. Live in the land I will tell you about. 3Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Avraham your father. 4I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and will give all these lands to your offspring. In your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed, 5because Avraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my mitzvot, my statutes, and my laws.” 6Yitzhak lived in Gerar. 7The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife”, lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rivkah, because she is beautiful to look at.” 8When he had been there a long time, Avimelech king of the Pelishtim looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Yitzhak was caressing Rivkah, his wife. 9Avimelech called Yitzhak, and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Yitzhak said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10Avimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 11Avimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.” 12Yitzhak sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. YHWH blessed him. 13The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great. 14He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Pelishtim envied him. 15Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Avraham his father, the Pelishtim had stopped, and filled with earth. 16Avimelech said to Yitzhak, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.” 17Yitzhak departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there. 18Yitzhak dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Avraham his father, for the Pelishtim had stopped them after the death of Avraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19Yitzhak’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of flowing water. 20The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Yitzhak’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. 21They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. So he called its name Sitnah. 22He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. So he called it Rehoboth. He said, “For now YHWH has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” 23He went up from there to Be'er Sheva. 24YHWH appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the Elohim of Avraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your offspring for my servant Avraham’s sake.” 25He built an altar there, and called on YHWH’s name, and pitched his tent there. There Yitzhak’s servants dug a well. 26Then Avimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army. 27Yitzhak said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?” 28They said, “We saw plainly that YHWH was with you. We said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let’s make a Brit with you, 29that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.’ You are now the blessed of YHWH.” 30He made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31They rose up some time in the morning, and swore an oath to one another. Yitzhak sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32The same day, Yitzhak’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” 33He called it “Shibah”. Therefore the name of the city is “Be'er Sheva” to this day. 34When Esav was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Chitti, and Basemath, the daughter of Eilon the Chitti. 35They grieved Yitzhak’s and Rivkah’s spirits.

Chapter 27

1When Yitzhak was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esav his elder son, and said to him, “My son?” He said to him, “Here I am.” 2He said, “See now, I am old. I don’t know the day of my death. 3Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and get me venison. 4Make me savoury food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.” 5Rivkah heard when Yitzhak spoke to Esav his son. Esav went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. 6Rivkah spoke to Yaakov her son, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speak to Esav your brother, saying, 7‘Bring me venison, and make me savoury food, that I may eat, and bless you before YHWH before my death.’ 8Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. 9Go now to the flock and get me two good young goats from there. I will make them savoury food for your father, such as he loves. 10You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” 11Yaakov said to Rivkah his mother, “Behold, Esav my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing.” 13His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me.” 14He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savoury food, such as his father loved. 15Rivkah took the good clothes of Esav, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Yaakov, her younger son. 16She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck. 17She gave the savoury food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Yaakov. 18He came to his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19Yaakov said to his father, “I am Esav your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.” 20Yitzhak said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He said, “Because YHWH your Elohim gave me success.” 21Yitzhak said to Yaakov, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esav or not.” 22Yaakov went near to Yitzhak his father. He felt him, and said, “The voice is Yaakov’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esav.” 23He didn’t recognise him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esav’s hands. So he blessed him. 24He said, “Are you really my son Esav?” He said, “I am.” 25He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless you.” He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank. 26His father Yitzhak said to him, “Come near now, and kiss me, my son.” 27He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, “Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which YHWH has blessed. 28Elohim give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine. 29Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be Adonai over your brothers. Let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you.” 30As soon as Yitzhak had finished blessing Yaakov, and Yaakov had just gone out from the presence of Yitzhak his father, Esav his brother came in from his hunting. 31He also made savoury food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that your soul may bless me.” 32Yitzhak his father said to him, “Who are you?” He said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esav.” 33Yitzhak trembled violently, and said, “Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed.” 34When Esav heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, my father.” 35He said, “Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing.” 36He said, “Isn’t he rightly named Yaakov? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing.” He said, “Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?” 37Yitzhak answered Esav, “Behold, I have made him your adonai, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants. I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then will I do for you, my son?” 38Esav said to his father, “Do you have just one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father.” Esav lifted up his voice, and wept. 39Yitzhak his father answered him, “Behold, your dwelling will be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of the sky from above. 40You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, that you will shake his yoke from off your neck.” 41Esav hated Yaakov because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esav said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Yaakov.” 42The words of Esav, her elder son, were told to Rivkah. She sent and called Yaakov, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esav comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 43Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Lavan, my brother, in Charan. 44Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away— 45until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?” 46Rivkah said to Yitzhak, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Yaakov takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”

Chapter 28

1Yitzhak called Yaakov, blessed him, and commanded him, “You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Kna'an. 2Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Betuel your mother’s father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Lavan, your mother’s brother. 3May Elohim El Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples, 4and give you the blessing of Avraham, to you and to your offspring with you, that you may inherit the land where you travel, which Elohim gave to Avraham.” 5Yitzhak sent Yaakov away. He went to Paddan Aram to Lavan, son of Betuel the Arami, the brother of Rivkah, Yaakov’s and Esav’s mother. 6Now Esav saw that Yitzhak had blessed Yaakov and sent him away to Paddan Aram, to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, “You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Kna'an;” 7and that Yaakov obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan Aram. 8Esav saw that the daughters of Kna'an didn’t please Yitzhak, his father. 9So Esav went to Yishmael, and took, in addition to the wives that he had, Machalat the daughter of Yishmael, Avraham’s son, the sister of Nevayot, to be his wife. 10Yaakov went out from Be'er Sheva, and went towards Charan. 11He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12He dreamt and saw a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the malakim of Elohim were ascending and descending on it. 13Behold, YHWH stood above it, and said, “I am YHWH, the Elohim of Avraham your father, and the Elohim of Yitzhak. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your offspring. 14Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed. 15Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.” 16Yaakov awakened out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely YHWH is in this place, and I didn’t know it.” 17He was afraid, and said, “How awesome this place is! This is none other than Elohim’s house, and this is the gate of heaven.” 18Yaakov rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on its top. 19He called the name of that place Beit El, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20Yaakov vowed a vow, saying, “If Elohim will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, 21so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and YHWH will be my Elohim, 22then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be Elohim’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.”

Chapter 29

1Then Yaakov went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. 2He looked, and saw a well in the field, and saw three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well’s mouth was large. 3There all the flocks were gathered. They rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone back on the well’s mouth in its place. 4Yaakov said to them, “My relatives, where are you from?” They said, “We are from Charan.” 5He said to them, “Do you know Lavan, the son of Nachor?” They said, “We know him.” 6He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep.” 7He said, “Behold, it is still the middle of the day, not time to gather the livestock together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.” 8They said, “We can’t, until all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well’s mouth. Then we will water the sheep.” 9While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them. 10When Yaakov saw Rachel the daughter of Lavan, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Lavan, his mother’s brother, Yaakov went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Lavan his mother’s brother. 11Yaakov kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. 12Yaakov told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, and that he was Rivkah’s son. She ran and told her father. 13When Lavan heard the news of Yaakov, his sister’s son, he ran to meet Yaakov, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Yaakov told Lavan all these things. 14Lavan said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” Yaakov stayed with him for a month. 15Lavan said to Yaakov, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?” 16Lavan had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and attractive. 18Yaakov loved Rachel. He said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.” 19Lavan said, “It is better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” 20Yaakov served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her. 21Yaakov said to Lavan, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.” 22Lavan gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 23In the evening, he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to Yaakov. He went in to her. 24Lavan gave Zilpah his servant to his daughter Leah for a servant. 25In the morning, behold, it was Leah! He said to Lavan, “What is this you have done to me? Didn’t I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26Lavan said, “It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27Fulfil the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me for seven more years.” 28Yaakov did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife. 29Lavan gave Bilhah, his servant, to his daughter Rachel to be her servant. 30He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him seven more years. 31YHWH saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuven. For she said, “Because YHWH has looked at my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” 33She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, “Because YHWH has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also.” She named him Shimon. 34She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. 35She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, “This time I will praise YHWH.” Therefore she named him Yehudah. Then she stopped bearing.

Chapter 30

1When Rachel saw that she bore Yaakov no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Yaakov, “Give me children, or else I will die.” 2Yaakov’s anger burnt against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in Elohim’s place, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3She said, “Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.” 4She gave him Bilhah her servant as wife, and Yaakov went in to her. 5Bilhah conceived, and bore Yaakov a son. 6Rachel said, “Elohim has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. 7Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, conceived again, and bore Yaakov a second son. 8Rachel said, “I have wrestled with my sister with mighty wrestlings, and have prevailed.” She named him Naftali. 9When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her servant, and gave her to Yaakov as a wife. 10Zilpah, Leah’s servant, bore Yaakov a son. 11Leah said, “How fortunate!” She named him Gad. 12Zilpah, Leah’s servant, bore Yaakov a second son. 13Leah said, “Happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy.” She named him Asher. 14Reuven went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15Leah said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes, also?” Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.” 16Yaakov came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” He lay with her that night. 17Elohim listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Yaakov a fifth son. 18Leah said, “Elohim has given me my hire, because I gave my servant to my husband.” She named him Yissachar. 19Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Yaakov. 20Leah said, “Elohim has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons.” She named him Zevulun. 21Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah. 22Elohim remembered Rachel, and Elohim listened to her, and opened her womb. 23She conceived, bore a son, and said, “Elohim has taken away my reproach.” 24She named him Yosef, saying, “May YHWH add another son to me.” 25When Rachel had borne Yosef, Yaakov said to Lavan, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country. 26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you.” 27Lavan said to him, “If now I have found favour in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that YHWH has blessed me for your sake.” 28He said, “Appoint me your wages, and I will give it.” 29Yaakov said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me. 30For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. YHWH has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?” 31Lavan said, “What shall I give you?” Yaakov said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it. 32I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one amongst the sheep, and the spotted and speckled amongst the goats. This will be my hire. 33So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted amongst the goats, and black amongst the sheep, that might be with me, will be considered stolen.” 34Lavan said, “Behold, let it be according to your word.” 35That day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones amongst the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. 36He set three days’ journey between himself and Yaakov, and Yaakov fed the rest of Lavan’s flocks. 37Yaakov took to himself rods of fresh poplar, almond, and plane tree, peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. 38He set the rods which he had peeled opposite the flocks in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. They conceived when they came to drink. 39The flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks produced streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40Yaakov separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks towards the streaked and all the black in Lavan’s flock. He put his own droves apart, and didn’t put them into Lavan’s flock. 41Whenever the stronger of the flock conceived, Yaakov laid the rods in front of the eyes of the flock in the watering troughs, that they might conceive amongst the rods; 42but when the flock were feeble, he didn’t put them in. So the feebler were Lavan’s, and the stronger Yaakov’s. 43The man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Chapter 31

1Yaakov heard Lavan’s sons’ words, saying, “Yaakov has taken away all that was our father’s. He has obtained all this wealth from that which was our father’s.” 2Yaakov saw the expression on Lavan’s face, and, behold, it was not towards him as before. 3YHWH said to Yaakov, “Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” 4Yaakov sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock, 5and said to them, “I see the expression on your father’s face, that it is not towards me as before; but the Elohim of my father has been with me. 6You know that I have served your father with all of my strength. 7Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but Elohim didn’t allow him to hurt me. 8If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore speckled. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore streaked. 9Thus Elohim has taken away your father’s livestock, and given them to me. 10During mating season, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which leapt on the flock were streaked, speckled, and grizzled. 11The malak of Elohim said to me in the dream, ‘Yaakov,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ 12He said, ‘Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have seen all that Lavan does to you. 13I am the Elohim of Beit El, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth.’” 14Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? 15Aren’t we considered as foreigners by him? For he has sold us, and has also used up our money. 16For all the riches which Elohim has taken away from our father are ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever Elohim has said to you, do.” 17Then Yaakov rose up, and set his sons and his wives on the camels, 18and he took away all his livestock, and all his possessions which he had gathered, including the livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to Yitzhak his father, to the land of Kna'an. 19Now Lavan had gone to shear his sheep; and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father’s. 20Yaakov deceived Lavan the Arami, in that he didn’t tell him that he was running away. 21So he fled with all that he had. He rose up, passed over the River, and set his face towards the mountain of Gilead. 22Lavan was told on the third day that Yaakov had fled. 23He took his relatives with him, and pursued him seven days’ journey. He overtook him in the mountain of Gilead. 24Elohim came to Lavan the Arami in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Be careful that you don’t speak to Yaakov either good or bad.” 25Lavan caught up with Yaakov. Now Yaakov had pitched his tent in the mountain, and Lavan with his relatives encamped in the mountain of Gilead. 26Lavan said to Yaakov, “What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn’t tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp; 28and didn’t allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. 29It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the Elohim of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t speak to Yaakov either good or bad.’ 30Now, you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father’s house, but why have you stolen my gods?” 31Yaakov answered Lavan, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Lest you should take your daughters from me by force.’ 32Anyone you find your gods with shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it.” For Yaakov didn’t know that Rachel had stolen them. 33Lavan went into Yaakov’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two female servants; but he didn’t find them. He went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent. 34Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Lavan felt around all the tent, but didn’t find them. 35She said to her father, “Don’t let my adonai be angry that I can’t rise up before you; for I’m having my period.” He searched, but didn’t find the teraphim. 36Yaakov was angry, and argued with Lavan. Yaakov answered Lavan, “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two. 38“These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks. 39That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42Unless the Elohim of my father, the Elohim of Avraham, and the fear of Yitzhak, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. Elohim has seen my affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked you last night.” 43Lavan answered Yaakov, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine! What can I do today to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne? 44Now come, let’s make a Brit, you and I. Let it be for a witness between me and you.” 45Yaakov took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. 46Yaakov said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there by the heap. 47Lavan called it Yegar Sahadutha, but Yaakov called it Galeed. 48Lavan said, “This heap is witness between me and you today.” Therefore it was named Galeed 49and Mitzpah, for he said, “YHWH watch between me and you, when we are absent one from another. 50If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, no man is with us; behold, Elohim is witness between me and you.” 51Lavan said to Yaakov, “See this heap, and see the pillar, which I have set between me and you. 52May this heap be a witness, and the pillar be a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. 53The Elohim of Avraham, and the Elohim of Nachor, the Elohim of their father, judge between us.” Then Yaakov swore by the fear of his father, Yitzhak. 54Yaakov offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain. 55Early in the morning, Lavan rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Lavan departed and returned to his place.

Chapter 32

1Yaakov went on his way, and the malakim of Elohim met him. 2When he saw them, Yaakov said, “This is Elohim’s army.” He called the name of that place Machanayim. 3Yaakov sent messengers in front of him to Esav, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. 4He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall tell my adonai, Esav: ‘This is what your servant, Yaakov, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Lavan, and stayed until now. 5I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my adonai, that I may find favour in your sight.’” 6The messengers returned to Yaakov, saying, “We came to your brother Esav. He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7Then Yaakov was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, along with the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies. 8He said, “If Esav comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape.” 9Yaakov said, “Elohim of my father Avraham, and Elohim of my father Yitzhak, YHWH, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’ 10I am not worthy of the least of all the chasadim, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I crossed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. 11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esav; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me and the mothers with the children. 12You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many.’” 13He stayed there that night, and took from that which he had with him a present for Esav, his brother: 14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 16He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.” 17He commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esav, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?’ 18Then you shall say, ‘They are your servant, Yaakov’s. It is a present sent to my adonai, Esav. Behold, he also is behind us.’” 19He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is how you shall speak to Esav, when you find him. 20You shall say, ‘Not only that, but behold, your servant, Yaakov, is behind us.’” For, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” 21So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp. 22He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Yabok. 23He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. 24Yaakov was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. 25When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, the man touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Yaakov’s thigh was strained as he wrestled. 26The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Yaakov said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.” 27He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Yaakov”. 28He said, “Your name will no longer be called Yaakov, but Yisrael; for you have fought with Elohim and with men, and have prevailed.” 29Yaakov asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” So he blessed him there. 30Yaakov called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, “I have seen Elohim face to face, and my life is preserved.” 31The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh. 32Therefore the children of Yisrael don’t eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Yaakov’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Chapter 33

1Yaakov lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esav was coming, and with him four hundred men. He divided the children between Leah, Rachel, and the two servants. 2He put the servants and their children in front, Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Yosef at the rear. 3He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. 4Esav ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept. 5He lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, “Who are these with you?” He said, “The children whom Elohim has graciously given your servant.” 6Then the servants came near with their children, and they bowed themselves. 7Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves. After them, Yosef came near with Rachel, and they bowed themselves. 8Esav said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” Yaakov said, “To find favour in the sight of my adonai.” 9Esav said, “I have enough, my brother; let that which you have be yours.” 10Yaakov said, “Please, no, if I have now found favour in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, because I have seen your face, as one sees the face of Elohim, and you were pleased with me. 11Please take the gift that I brought to you, because Elohim has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” He urged him, and he took it. 12Esav said, “Let’s take our journey, and let’s go, and I will go before you.” 13Yaakov said to him, “My Adonai knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young, and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die. 14Please let my adonai pass over before his servant, and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the livestock that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my adonai to Seir.” 15Esav said, “Let me now leave with you some of the people who are with me.” He said, “Why? Let me find favour in the sight of my adonai.” 16So Esav returned that day on his way to Seir. 17Yaakov travelled to Succoth, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. 18Yaakov came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Kna'an, when he came from Paddan Aram; and encamped before the city. 19He bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. 20He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Yisrael.

Chapter 34

1Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Yaakov, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2Shechem the son of Hamor the Chivi, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her. 3His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Yaakov, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady. 4Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, “Get me this young lady as a wife.” 5Now Yaakov heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Yaakov held his peace until they came. 6Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Yaakov to talk with him. 7The sons of Yaakov came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Yisrael in lying with Yaakov’s daughter, a thing that ought not to be done. 8Hamor talked with them, saying, “The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it.” 11Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favour in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give. 12Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife.” 13The sons of Yaakov answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit when they spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister, 14and said to them, “We can’t do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us. 15Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised, 16then will we give our daughters to you; and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our sister, and we will be gone.” 18Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19The young man didn’t wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Yaakov’s daughter, and he was honoured above all the house of his father. 20Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying, 21“These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters to us for wives, and let’s give them our daughters. 22Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male amongst us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. 23Won’t their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let’s give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us.” 24All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. 25On the third day, when they were sore, two of Yaakov’s sons, Shimon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males. 26They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. 27Yaakov’s sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field, 29and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house. 30Yaakov said to Shimon and Levi, “You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, amongst the Kna'anim and the Perizim. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house.” 31They said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?”

Chapter 35

1Elohim said to Yaakov, “Arise, go up to Beit El, and live there. Make there an altar to Elohim, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esav your brother.” 2Then Yaakov said to his household, and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are amongst you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. 3Let’s arise, and go up to Beit El. I will make there an altar to Elohim, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me on the way which I went.” 4They gave to Yaakov all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Yaakov hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. 5They travelled, and a terror of Elohim was on the cities that were around them, and they didn’t pursue the sons of Yaakov. 6So Yaakov came to Luz (that is, Beit El), which is in the land of Kna'an, he and all the people who were with him. 7He built an altar there, and called the place El Beit El; because there Elohim was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother. 8Devorah, Rivkah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Beit El under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth. 9Elohim appeared to Yaakov again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him. 10Elohim said to him, “Your name is Yaakov. Your name shall not be Yaakov any more, but your name will be Yisrael.” He named him Yisrael. 11Elohim said to him, “I am Elohim El Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body. 12The land which I gave to Avraham and Yitzhak, I will give it to you, and to your offspring after you I will give the land.” 13Elohim went up from him in the place where he spoke with him. 14Yaakov set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. 15Yaakov called the name of the place where Elohim spoke with him “Beit El”. 16They travelled from Beit El. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labour. 17When she was in hard labour, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for now you will have another son.” 18As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Benoni, but his father named him Binyamin. 19Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath (also called Beit Lechem). 20Yaakov set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. 21Yisrael travelled, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 22While Yisrael lived in that land, Reuven went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Yisrael heard of it. Now the sons of Yaakov were twelve. 23The sons of Leah: Reuven (Yaakov’s firstborn), Shimon, Levi, Yehudah, Yissachar, and Zevulun. 24The sons of Rachel: Yosef and Binyamin. 25The sons of Bilhah (Rachel’s servant): Dan and Naftali. 26The sons of Zilpah (Leah’s servant): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Yaakov, who were born to him in Paddan Aram. 27Yaakov came to Yitzhak his father, to Mamre, to Kiryat Arba (which is Hebron), where Avraham and Yitzhak lived as foreigners. 28The days of Yitzhak were one hundred and eighty years. 29Yitzhak gave up the spirit and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esav and Yaakov, his sons, buried him.

Chapter 36

1Now this is the history of the generations of Esav (that is, Edom). 2Esav took his wives from the daughters of Kna'an: Adah the daughter of Eilon, the Chitti; and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Tziv'on, the Chivi; 3and Basemath, Yishmael’s daughter, sister of Nevayot. 4Adah bore to Esav Elifaz. Basemath bore Re'u'el. 5Oholibamah bore Ye'ush, Ya'lam, and Korach. These are the sons of Esav, who were born to him in the land of Kna'an. 6Esav took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his livestock, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Kna'an, and went into a land away from his brother Yaakov. 7For their substance was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their travels couldn’t bear them because of their livestock. 8Esav lived in the hill country of Seir. Esav is Edom. 9This is the history of the generations of Esav the father of the Edomim in the hill country of Seir: 10these are the names of Esav’s sons: Elifaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esav; and Re'u'el, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esav. 11The sons of Elifaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Ga'tam, and Kenaz. 12Timna was concubine to Elifaz, Esav’s son; and she bore to Elifaz Amalek. These are the descendants of Adah, Esav’s wife. 13These are the sons of Re'u'el: Nahath, Zerach, Shamah, and Mizah. These were the descendants of Basemath, Esav’s wife. 14These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Tziv'on, Esav’s wife: she bore to Esav Ye'ush, Ya'lam, and Korach. 15These are the chiefs of the sons of Esav: the sons of Elifaz the firstborn of Esav: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, 16chief Korach, chief Ga'tam, chief Amalek. These are the chiefs who came of Elifaz in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Adah. 17These are the sons of Re'u'el, Esav’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerach, chief Shamah, chief Mizah. These are the chiefs who came of Re'u'el in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Basemath, Esav’s wife. 18These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esav’s wife: chief Ye'ush, chief Ya'lam, chief Korach. These are the chiefs who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esav’s wife. 19These are the sons of Esav (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs. 20These are the sons of Seir the Chori, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shoval, Tziv'on, Anah, 21Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs who came of the Chorim, the children of Seir in the land of Edom. 22The children of Lotan were Hori and Heiman. Lotan’s sister was Timna. 23These are the children of Shoval: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24These are the children of Tziv'on: Ayah and Anah. This is Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he fed the donkeys of Tziv'on his father. 25These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. 26These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Yitran, and Cheran. 27These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. 28These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 29These are the chiefs who came of the Chorim: chief Lotan, chief Shoval, chief Tziv'on, chief Anah, 30chief Dishon, chief Ezer, and chief Dishan. These are the chiefs who came of the Chorim, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir. 31These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Yisrael. 32Bela, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah. 33Bela died, and Yovav, the son of Zerach of Botzra, reigned in his place. 34Yovav died, and Chusham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35Chusham died, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who struck Midyan in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith. 36Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. 37Samlah died, and Sha'ul of Rehoboth by the river, reigned in his place. 38Sha'ul died, and Ba'al Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 39Ba'al Hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. The name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetav'el, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahav. 40These are the names of the chiefs who came from Esav, according to their families, after their places, and by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Yetet, 41chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, 42chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mivtzar, 43chief Magdi'el, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esav, the father of the Edomim.

Chapter 37

1Yaakov lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Kna'an. 2This is the history of the generations of Yaakov. Yosef, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Yosef brought an evil report of them to their father. 3Now Yisrael loved Yosef more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a tunic of many colours. 4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him. 5Yosef dreamt a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. 6He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamt: 7for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. 9He dreamt yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamt yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” 10He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamt? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the earth before you?” 11His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind. 12His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13Yisrael said to Yosef, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.” 14He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.” 17The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dotan.’” Yosef went after his brothers, and found them in Dotan. 18They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. 20Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.” 21Reuven heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” 22Reuven said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. 23When Yosef came to his brothers, they stripped Yosef of his tunic, the tunic of many colours that was on him; 24and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it. 25They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Yishmaelim coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Mitzrayim. 26Yehudah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27Come, and let’s sell him to the Yishmaelim, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. 28Midyanim who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Yosef out of the pit, and sold Yosef to the Yishmaelim for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants brought Yosef into Mitzrayim. 29Reuven returned to the pit, and saw that Yosef wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes. 30He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?” 31They took Yosef’s tunic, and killed a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32They took the tunic of many colours, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, and see if it is your son’s tunic or not.” 33He recognised it, and said, “It is my son’s tunic. An evil animal has devoured him. Yosef is without doubt torn in pieces.” 34Yaakov tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him. 36The Midyanim sold him into Mitzrayim to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.

Chapter 38

1At that time, Yehudah went down from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullami, whose name was Hirah. 2There, Yehudah saw the daughter of a certain Kna'ani man named Shu'a. He took her, and went in to her. 3She conceived, and bore a son; and he named him Er. 4She conceived again, and bore a son; and she named him Onan. 5She yet again bore a son, and named him Shelach. He was at Chezib when she bore him. 6Yehudah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7Er, Yehudah’s firstborn, was wicked in YHWH’s sight. So YHWH killed him. 8Yehudah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” 9Onan knew that the offspring wouldn’t be his; and when he went in to his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother. 10The thing which he did was evil in YHWH’s sight, and he killed him also. 11Then Yehudah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, until Shelach, my son, is grown up;” for he said, “Lest he also die, like his brothers.” Tamar went and lived in her father’s house. 12After many days, Shu'a’s daughter, the wife of Yehudah, died. Yehudah was comforted, and went up to his sheep shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullami. 13Tamar was told, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14She took off the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Einayim, which is on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelach was grown up, and she wasn’t given to him as a wife. 15When Yehudah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16He turned to her by the way, and said, “Please come, let me come in to you,” for he didn’t know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 17He said, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” She said, “Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?” 18He said, “What pledge will I give you?” She said, “Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him. 19She arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20Yehudah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, the Adullami, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he didn’t find her. 21Then he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the prostitute, that was at Einayim by the road?” They said, “There has been no prostitute here.” 22He returned to Yehudah, and said, “I haven’t found her; and also the men of the place said, ‘There has been no prostitute here.’” 23Yehudah said, “Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this young goat, and you haven’t found her.” 24About three months later, Yehudah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute. Moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution.” Yehudah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burnt.” 25When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I am with child by the man who owns these.” She also said, “Please discern whose these are—the signet, and the cords, and the staff.” 26Yehudah acknowledged them, and said, “She is more righteous than I, because I didn’t give her to Shelach, my son.” He knew her again no more. 27In the time of her travail, behold, twins were in her womb. 28When she travailed, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This came out first.” 29As he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out, and she said, “Why have you made a breach for yourself?” Therefore his name was called Peretz. 30Afterward his brother came out, who had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerach.

Chapter 39

1Yosef was brought down to Mitzrayim. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Mitzri, bought him from the hand of the Yishmaelim that had brought him down there. 2YHWH was with Yosef, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Mitzri. 3His master saw that YHWH was with him, and that YHWH made all that he did prosper in his hand. 4Yosef found favour in his sight. He ministered to him, and Potiphar made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. 5From the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, YHWH blessed the Mitzri’s house for Yosef’s sake. YHWH’s blessing was on all that he had, in the house and in the field. 6He left all that he had in Yosef’s hand. He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate. Yosef was well-built and handsome. 7After these things, his master’s wife set her eyes on Yosef; and she said, “Lie with me.” 8But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. 9No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against Elohim?” 10As she spoke to Yosef day by day, he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. 11About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. 12She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside. 13When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside, 14she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, “Behold, he has brought a Ivri in to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. 15When he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.” 16She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. 17She spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Ivri servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me, 18and as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.” 19When his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” his wrath was kindled. 20Yosef’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody. 21But YHWH was with Yosef, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22The keeper of the prison committed to Yosef’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it. 23The keeper of the prison didn’t look after anything that was under his hand, because YHWH was with him; and that which he did, YHWH made it prosper.

Chapter 40

1After these things, the butler of the king of Mitzrayim and his baker offended their Adonai, the king of Mitzrayim. 2Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cup bearer and the chief baker. 3He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Yosef was bound. 4The captain of the guard assigned them to Yosef, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days. 5They both dreamt a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup bearer and the baker of the king of Mitzrayim, who were bound in the prison. 6Yosef came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and saw that they were sad. 7He asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?” 8They said to him, “We have dreamt a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.” Yosef said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to Elohim? Please tell it to me.” 9The chief cup bearer told his dream to Yosef, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, a vine was in front of me, 10and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. 11Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” 12Yosef said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cup bearer. 14But remember me when it is well with you. Please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. 15For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Ivrim, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.” 16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Yosef, “I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head. 17In the uppermost basket there were all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.” 18Yosef answered, “This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days. 19Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you, and will hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from off you.” 20On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cup bearer and the head of the chief baker amongst his servants. 21He restored the chief cup bearer to his position again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; 22but he hanged the chief baker, as Yosef had interpreted to them. 23Yet the chief cup bearer didn’t remember Yosef, but forgot him.

Chapter 41

1At the end of two full years, Pharaoh dreamt, and behold, he stood by the river. 2Behold, seven cattle came up out of the river. They were sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass. 3Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river. 4The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke. 5He slept and dreamt a second time; and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good. 6Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. 7The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8In the morning, his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Mitzrayim’s magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh. 9Then the chief cup bearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my faults today. 10Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, with the chief baker. 11We dreamt a dream in one night, he and I. Each man dreamt according to the interpretation of his dream. 12There was with us there a young man, a Ivri, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. He interpreted to each man according to his dream. 13As he interpreted to us, so it was. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.” 14Then Pharaoh sent and called Yosef, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh. 15Pharaoh said to Yosef, “I have dreamt a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16Yosef answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. Elohim will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” 17Pharaoh spoke to Yosef, “In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river; 18and behold, seven fat and sleek cattle came up out of the river. They fed in the marsh grass; 19and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Mitzrayim for ugliness. 20The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle; 21and when they had eaten them up, it couldn’t be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke. 22I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good; 23and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. 24The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.” 25Yosef said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What Elohim is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. 26The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one. 27The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine. 28That is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. Elohim has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29Behold, seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Mitzrayim are coming. 30Seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Mitzrayim. The famine will consume the land, 31and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous. 32The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by Elohim, and Elohim will shortly bring it to pass. 33“Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Mitzrayim. 34Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Mitzrayim’s produce in the seven plenteous years. 35Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and store grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. 36The food will be to supply the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Mitzrayim; so that the land will not perish through the famine.” 37The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. 38Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Ruach Elohim?” 39Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Because Elohim has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you. 40You shall be over my house. All my people will be ruled according to your word. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” 41Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Mitzrayim.” 42Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Yosef’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. 43He made him ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Mitzrayim. 44Pharaoh said to Yosef, “I am Pharaoh. Without you, no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Mitzrayim.” 45Pharaoh called Yosef’s name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Yosef went out over the land of Mitzrayim. 46Yosef was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim. Yosef went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Mitzrayim. 47In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. 48He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Mitzrayim, and laid up the food in the cities. He stored food in each city from the fields around that city. 49Yosef laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. 50To Yosef were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. 51Yosef called the name of the firstborn Menashe, “For”, he said, “Elohim has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” 52The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For Elohim has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” 53The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Mitzrayim, came to an end. 54The seven years of famine began to come, just as Yosef had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Mitzrayim there was bread. 55When all the land of Mitzrayim was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Mitzrim, “Go to Yosef. What he says to you, do.” 56The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Yosef opened all the store houses, and sold to the Mitzrim. The famine was severe in the land of Mitzrayim. 57All countries came into Mitzrayim, to Yosef, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

Chapter 42

1Now Yaakov saw that there was grain in Mitzrayim, and Yaakov said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Mitzrayim. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.” 3Yosef’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Mitzrayim. 4But Yaakov didn’t send Binyamin, Yosef’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.” 5The sons of Yisrael came to buy amongst those who came, for the famine was in the land of Kna'an. 6Yosef was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Yosef’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. 7Yosef saw his brothers, and he recognised them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?” They said, “From the land of Kna'an, to buy food.” 8Yosef recognised his brothers, but they didn’t recognise him. 9Yosef remembered the dreams which he dreamt about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.” 10They said to him, “No, my adonai, but your servants have come to buy food. 11We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.” 12He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!” 13They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Kna'an; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.” 14Yosef said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ 15By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here. 16Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” 17He put them all together into custody for three days. 18Yosef said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear Elohim. 19If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. 20Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.” They did so. 21They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.” 22Reuven answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘Don’t sin against the child,’ and you wouldn’t listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.” 23They didn’t know that Yosef understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. 24He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Shimon from amongst them, and bound him before their eyes. 25Then Yosef gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore each man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them. 26They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there. 27As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. 28He said to his brothers, “My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack!” Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that Elohim has done to us?” 29They came to Yaakov their father, to the land of Kna'an, and told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30“The man, Adonai of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. 31We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies. 32We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Kna'an.’ 33The man, Adonai of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way. 34Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’” 35As they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36Yaakov, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Yosef is no more, Shimon is no more, and you want to take Binyamin away. All these things are against me.” 37Reuven spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.” 38He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

Chapter 43

1The famine was severe in the land. 2When they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Mitzrayim, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.” 3Yehudah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food; 5but if you don’t send him, we won’t go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” 6Yisrael said, “Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?” 7They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8Yehudah said to Yisrael, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we’ll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones. 9I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever; 10for if we hadn’t delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.” 11Their father, Yisrael, said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; 12and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. 13Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man. 14May Elohim El Shaddai give you chesed before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Binyamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” 15The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Binyamin; and got up, went down to Mitzrayim, and stood before Yosef. 16When Yosef saw Binyamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon.” 17The man did as Yosef commanded, and the man brought the men to Yosef’s house. 18The men were afraid, because they were brought to Yosef’s house; and they said, “Because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time, we’re brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” 19They came near to the steward of Yosef’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, 20and said, “Oh, my adonai, we indeed came down the first time to buy food. 21When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand. 22We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in our sacks.” 23He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your Elohim, and the Elohim of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” He brought Shimon out to them. 24The man brought the men into Yosef’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. 25They prepared the present for Yosef’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there. 26When Yosef came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to the earth before him. 27He asked them of their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?” 28They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed down humbly. 29He lifted up his eyes, and saw Binyamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” He said, “Elohim be gracious to you, my son.” 30Yosef hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there. 31He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.” 32They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Mitzrim who ate with him by themselves, because the Mitzrim don’t eat with the Ivrim, for that is an abomination to the Mitzrim. 33They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marvelled with one another. 34He sent portions to them from before him, but Binyamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.

Chapter 44

1He commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in his sack’s mouth. 2Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, with his grain money.” He did according to the word that Yosef had spoken. 3As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. 4When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Yosef said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why have you rewarded evil for good? 5Isn’t this that from which my adonai drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.’” 6He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them. 7They said to him, “Why does my adonai speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! 8Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Kna'an. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your adonai’s house? 9With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my adonai’s slaves.” 10He said, “Now also let it be according to your words. He with whom it is found will be my slave; and you will be blameless.” 11Then they hurried, and each man took his sack down to the ground, and each man opened his sack. 12He searched, beginning with the oldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Binyamin’s sack. 13Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city. 14Yehudah and his brothers came to Yosef’s house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him. 15Yosef said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed do divination?” 16Yehudah said, “What will we tell my adonai? What will we speak? How will we clear ourselves? Elohim has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my adonai’s slaves, both we and he also in whose hand the cup is found.” 17He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.” 18Then Yehudah came near to him, and said, “Oh, my adonai, please let your servant speak a word in my adonai’s ears, and don’t let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. 19My Adonai asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ 20We said to my adonai, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.’ 21You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22We said to my adonai, ‘The boy can’t leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.’ 24When we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my adonai. 25Our father said, ‘Go again and buy us a little food.’ 26We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces;” and I haven’t seen him since. 29If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’ 30Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy’s life; 31it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the grey hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol. 32For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’ 33Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, my adonai’s slave; and let the boy go up with his brothers. 34For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn’t with me?—lest I see the evil that will come on my father.”

Chapter 45

1Then Yosef couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he called out, “Cause everyone to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Yosef made himself known to his brothers. 2He wept aloud. The Mitzrim heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3Yosef said to his brothers, “I am Yosef! Does my father still live?” His brothers couldn’t answer him; for they were terrified at his presence. 4Yosef said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” They came near. He said, “I am Yosef, your brother, whom you sold into Mitzrayim. 5Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for Elohim sent me before you to preserve life. 6For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be no ploughing and no harvest. 7Elohim sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. 8So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but Elohim, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, Adonai of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Mitzrayim. 9Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘This is what your son Yosef says, “Elohim has made me Adonai of all Mitzrayim. Come down to me. Don’t wait. 10You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11There I will provide for you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’ 12Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Binyamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13You shall tell my father of all my glory in Mitzrayim, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here.” 14He fell on his brother Binyamin’s neck and wept, and Binyamin wept on his neck. 15He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him. 16The report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Yosef’s brothers have come.” It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. 17Pharaoh said to Yosef, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Kna'an. 18Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Mitzrayim, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ 19Now you are commanded to do this: Take wagons out of the land of Mitzrayim for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20Also, don’t concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all the land of Mitzrayim is yours.” 21The sons of Yisrael did so. Yosef gave them wagons, according to the mitzvah of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Binyamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. 23He sent the following to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Mitzrayim, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way. 24So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, “See that you don’t quarrel on the way.” 25They went up out of Mitzrayim, and came into the land of Kna'an, to Yaakov their father. 26They told him, saying, “Yosef is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Mitzrayim.” His heart fainted, for he didn’t believe them. 27They told him all the words of Yosef, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Yosef had sent to carry him, the spirit of Yaakov, their father, revived. 28Yisrael said, “It is enough. Yosef my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Chapter 46

1Yisrael travelled with all that he had, and came to Be'er Sheva, and offered sacrifices to the Elohim of his father, Yitzhak. 2Elohim spoke to Yisrael in the visions of the night, and said, “Yaakov, Yaakov!” He said, “Here I am.” 3He said, “I am Elohim, the Elohim of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Mitzrayim, for there I will make of you a great nation. 4I will go down with you into Mitzrayim. I will also surely bring you up again. Yosef’s hand will close your eyes.” 5Yaakov rose up from Be'er Sheva, and the sons of Yisrael carried Yaakov, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Kna'an, and came into Mitzrayim—Yaakov, and all his offspring with him, 7his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and he brought all his offspring with him into Mitzrayim. 8These are the names of the children of Yisrael, who came into Mitzrayim, Yaakov and his sons: Reuven, Yaakov’s firstborn. 9The sons of Reuven: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi. 10The sons of Shimon: Yemu'el, Yamin, Ohad, Yakhin, Zohar, and Sha'ul the son of a Kna'ani woman. 11The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kehat, and Merari. 12The sons of Yehudah: Er, Onan, Shelach, Peretz, and Zerach; but Er and Onan died in the land of Kna'an. The sons of Peretz were Hezron and Hamul. 13The sons of Yissachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. 14The sons of Zevulun: Sered, Eilon, and Yachle'el. 15These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Yaakov in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three. 16The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17The sons of Asher: Yimnah, Ishvah, Yishvi, Beri'ah, and Serach their sister. The sons of Beri'ah: Chever and Malki'el. 18These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Lavan gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Yaakov, even sixteen souls. 19The sons of Rachel, Yaakov’s wife: Yosef and Binyamin. 20To Yosef in the land of Mitzrayim were born Menashe and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. 21The sons of Binyamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Na'aman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Yaakov: all the souls were fourteen. 23The son of Dan: Chushim. 24The sons of Naftali: Yachtze'el, Guni, Yetzer, and Shillem. 25These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Lavan gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Yaakov: all the souls were seven. 26All the souls who came with Yaakov into Mitzrayim, who were his direct offspring, in addition to Yaakov’s sons’ wives, all the souls were sixty-six. 27The sons of Yosef, who were born to him in Mitzrayim, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Yaakov, who came into Mitzrayim, were seventy. 28Yaakov sent Yehudah before him to Yosef, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29Yosef prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Yisrael, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 30Yisrael said to Yosef, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.” 31Yosef said to his brothers, and to his father’s house, “I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, ‘My brothers, and my father’s house, who were in the land of Kna'an, have come to me. 32These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’ 33It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Mitzrim.”

Chapter 47

1Then Yosef went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Kna'an; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.” 2From amongst his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. 3Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.” 4They also said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Kna'an. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5Pharaoh spoke to Yosef, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6The land of Mitzrayim is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men amongst them, then put them in charge of my livestock.” 7Yosef brought in Yaakov, his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Yaakov blessed Pharaoh. 8Pharaoh said to Yaakov, “How old are you?” 9Yaakov said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” 10Yaakov blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11Yosef placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Mitzrayim, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12Yosef provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with bread, according to the sizes of their families. 13There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Mitzrayim and the land of Kna'an fainted by reason of the famine. 14Yosef gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Mitzrayim, and in the land of Kna'an, for the grain which they bought: and Yosef brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15When the money was all spent in the land of Mitzrayim, and in the land of Kna'an, all the Mitzrim came to Yosef, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.” 16Yosef said, “Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17They brought their livestock to Yosef, and Yosef gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year. 18When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my adonai how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my adonai’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my adonai, but our bodies, and our lands. 19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won’t be desolate.” 20So Yosef bought all the land of Mitzrayim for Pharaoh, for every man of the Mitzrim sold his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh’s. 21As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Mitzrayim even to the other end of it. 22Only he didn’t buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn’t sell their land. 23Then Yosef said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.” 25They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favour in the sight of my adonai, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.” 26Yosef made it a statute concerning the land of Mitzrayim to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn’t become Pharaoh’s. 27Yisrael lived in the land of Mitzrayim, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly. 28Yaakov lived in the land of Mitzrayim seventeen years. So the days of Yaakov, the years of his life, were one hundred and forty-seven years. 29The time came near that Yisrael must die, and he called his son Yosef, and said to him, “If now I have found favour in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Mitzrayim, 30but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Mitzrayim, and bury me in their burying place.” Yosef said, “I will do as you have said.” 31Yisrael said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Yisrael bowed himself on the bed’s head.

Chapter 48

1After these things, someone said to Yosef, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Menashe and Ephraim. 2Someone told Yaakov, and said, “Behold, your son Yosef comes to you,” and Yisrael strengthened himself, and sat on the bed. 3Yaakov said to Yosef, “Elohim El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Kna'an, and blessed me, 4and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’ 5Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Mitzrayim before I came to you into Mitzrayim, are mine; Ephraim and Menashe, even as Reuven and Shimon, will be mine. 6Your offspring, whom you become the father of after them, will be yours. They will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Kna'an on the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (also called Beit Lechem).” 8Yisrael saw Yosef’s sons, and said, “Who are these?” 9Yosef said to his father, “They are my sons, whom Elohim has given me here.” He said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.” 10Now the eyes of Yisrael were dim for age, so that he couldn’t see well. Yosef brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. 11Yisrael said to Yosef, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and behold, Elohim has let me see your offspring also.” 12Yosef brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13Yosef took them both, Ephraim in his right hand towards Yisrael’s left hand, and Menashe in his left hand towards Yisrael’s right hand, and brought them near to him. 14Yisrael stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Menashe’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Menashe was the firstborn. 15He blessed Yosef, and said, “The Elohim before whom my fathers Avraham and Yitzhak walked, the Elohim who has fed me all my life long to this day, 16the malak who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Avraham and Yitzhak. Let them grow into a multitude upon the earth.” 17When Yosef saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Menashe’s head. 18Yosef said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” 19His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.” 20He blessed them that day, saying, “Yisrael will bless in your name, saying, ‘Elohim make you as Ephraim and as Menashe’” He set Ephraim before Menashe. 21Yisrael said to Yosef, “Behold, I am dying, but Elohim will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Emori with my sword and with my bow.”

Chapter 49

1Yaakov called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come. 2Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Yaakov. Listen to Yisrael, your father. 3“Reuven, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in dignity, and excelling in power. 4Boiling over like water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch. 5“Shimon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence. 6My soul, don’t come into their council. My glory, don’t be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung cattle. 7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Yaakov, and scatter them in Yisrael. 8“Yehudah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father’s sons will bow down before you. 9Yehudah is a lion’s cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up? 10The sceptre will not depart from Yehudah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. The obedience of the peoples will be to him. 11Binding his foal to the vine, his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 12His eyes will be red with wine, his teeth white with milk. 13“Zevulun will dwell at the haven of the sea. He will be for a haven of ships. His border will be on Tzidon. 14“Yissachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags. 15He saw a resting place, that it was good, the land, that it was pleasant. He bows his shoulder to the burden, and becomes a servant doing forced labour. 16“Dan will judge his people, as one of the tribes of Yisrael. 17Dan will be a serpent on the trail, an adder in the path, that bites the horse’s heels, so that his rider falls backward. 18I have waited for your salvation, YHWH. 19“A troop will press on Gad, but he will press on their heel. 20“Asher’s food will be rich. He will produce royal dainties. 21“Naftali is a doe set free, who bears beautiful fawns. 22“Yosef is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a spring. His branches run over the wall. 23The archers have severely grieved him, shot at him, and persecuted him: 24But his bow remained strong. The arms of his hands were made strong, by the hands of the Mighty One of Yaakov, (from there is the shepherd, the stone of Yisrael), 25even by the Elohim of your father, who will help you, by the El Shaddai, who will bless you, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. 26The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my ancestors, above the boundaries of the ancient hills. They will be on the head of Yosef, on the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers. 27“Binyamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the plunder.” 28All these are the twelve tribes of Yisrael, and this is what their father spoke to them, and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his own blessing. 29He instructed them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Efron the Chitti, 30in the cave that is in the field of Makhpela, which is before Mamre, in the land of Kna'an, which Avraham bought with the field from Efron the Chitti as a burial place. 31There they buried Avraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Yitzhak and Rivkah, his wife, and there I buried Leah: 32the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.” 33When Yaakov finished charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, breathed his last breath, and was gathered to his people.

Chapter 50

1Yosef fell on his father’s face, wept on him, and kissed him. 2Yosef commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Yisrael. 3Forty days were used for him, for that is how many days it takes to embalm. The Mitzrim wept for Yisrael for seventy days. 4When the days of weeping for him were past, Yosef spoke to Pharaoh’s staff, saying, “If now I have found favour in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Kna'an.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.’” 6Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear.” 7Yosef went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Mitzrayim, 8all the house of Yosef, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. 9Both chariots and horsemen went up with him. It was a very great company. 10They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and severe lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days. 11When the inhabitants of the land, the Kna'anim, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Mitzrim.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. 12His sons did to him just as he commanded them, 13for his sons carried him into the land of Kna'an, and buried him in the cave of the field of Makhpela, which Avraham bought with the field, as a possession for a burial site, from Efron the Chitti, near Mamre. 14Yosef returned into Mitzrayim—he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. 15When Yosef’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Yosef will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all the evil which we did to him.” 16They sent a message to Yosef, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, 17‘You shall tell Yosef, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the Elohim of your father.” Yosef wept when they spoke to him. 18His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19Yosef said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of Elohim? 20As for you, you meant evil against me, but Elohim meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today. 21Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them. 22Yosef lived in Mitzrayim, he, and his father’s house. Yosef lived one hundred and ten years. 23Yosef saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Menashe, were born on Yosef’s knees. 24Yosef said to his brothers, “I am dying, but Elohim will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov.” 25Yosef took an oath from the children of Yisrael, saying, “Elohim will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26So Yosef died, being one hundred and ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Mitzrayim.

Shemot

Chapter 1

1Now these are the names of the sons of Yisrael, who came into Mitzrayim (every man and his household came with Yaakov): 2Reuven, Shimon, Levi, and Yehudah, 3Yissachar, Zevulun, and Binyamin, 4Dan and Naftali, Gad and Asher. 5All the souls who came out of Yaakov’s body were seventy souls, and Yosef was in Mitzrayim already. 6Yosef died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation. 7The children of Yisrael were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8Now there arose a new king over Mitzrayim, who didn’t know Yosef. 9He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Yisrael are more and mightier than we. 10Come, let’s deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies and fight against us, and escape out of the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. 12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They started to dread the children of Yisrael. 13The Mitzrim ruthlessly made the children of Yisrael serve, 14and they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve. 15The king of Mitzrayim spoke to the Ivri midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, 16and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Ivri women, and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17But the midwives feared Elohim, and didn’t do what the king of Mitzrayim commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive. 18The king of Mitzrayim called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and saved the boys alive?” 19The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Ivri women aren’t like the Mitzri women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20Elohim dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. 21Because the midwives feared Elohim, he gave them families. 22Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

Chapter 2

1A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife. 2The woman conceived and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. 4His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him. 5Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket amongst the reeds, and sent her servant to get it. 6She opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Ivrim’ children.” 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Ivri women, that she may nurse the child for you?” 8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” The young woman went and called the child’s mother. 9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” The woman took the child, and nursed it. 10The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moshe, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.” 11In those days, when Moshe had grown up, he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. He saw an Mitzri striking a Ivri, one of his brothers. 12He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Mitzri, and hid him in the sand. 13He went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Ivrim were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?” 14He said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Mitzri?” Moshe was afraid, and said, “Surely this thing is known.” 15Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moshe. But Moshe fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midyan, and he sat down by a well. 16Now the priest of Midyan had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moshe stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 18When they came to Re'u'el, their father, he said, “How is it that you have returned so early today?” 19They said, “An Mitzri delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.” 20He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” 21Moshe was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moshe Tziporah, his daughter. 22She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land.” 23In the course of those many days, the king of Mitzrayim died, and the children of Yisrael sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to Elohim because of the bondage. 24Elohim heard their groaning, and Elohim remembered his Brit with Avraham, with Yitzhak, and with Yaakov. 25Elohim saw the children of Yisrael, and Elohim understood.

Chapter 3

1Now Moshe was keeping the flock of Yithro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midyan, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to Elohim’s mountain, to Chorev. 2YHWH’s malak appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burnt with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3Moshe said, “I will go now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” 4When YHWH saw that he came over to see, Elohim called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moshe! Moshe!” He said, “Here I am.” 5He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is kodesh ground.” 6Moreover he said, “I am the Elohim of your father, the Elohim of Avraham, the Elohim of Yitzhak, and the Elohim of Yaakov.” Moshe hid his face because he was afraid to look at Elohim. 7YHWH said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Mitzrayim, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Mitzrim, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Kna'ani, the Chitti, the Emori, the Perizi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi. 9Now, behold, the cry of the children of Yisrael has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Mitzrim oppress them. 10Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Yisrael, out of Mitzrayim.” 11Moshe said to Elohim, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Yisrael out of Mitzrayim?” 12He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Mitzrayim, you shall serve Elohim on this mountain.” 13Moshe said to Elohim, “Behold, when I come to the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?” 14Elohim said to Moshe, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Yisrael this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15Elohim said moreover to Moshe, “You shall tell the children of Yisrael this, ‘YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Avraham, the Elohim of Yitzhak, and the Elohim of Yaakov, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. 16Go and gather the elders of Yisrael together, and tell them, ‘YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Avraham, of Yitzhak, and of Yaakov, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Mitzrayim. 17I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Mitzrayim to the land of the Kna'ani, the Chitti, the Emori, the Perizi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18They will listen to your voice. You shall come, you and the elders of Yisrael, to the king of Mitzrayim, and you shall tell him, ‘YHWH, the Elohim of the Ivrim, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to YHWH, our Elohim.’ 19I know that the king of Mitzrayim won’t give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. 20I will reach out my hand and strike Mitzrayim with all my wonders which I will do amongst them, and after that he will let you go. 21I will give this people favour in the sight of the Mitzrim, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. 22But every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing. You shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Mitzrim.”

Chapter 4

1Moshe answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘YHWH has not appeared to you.’” 2YHWH said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” 3He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moshe ran away from it. 4YHWH said to Moshe, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.” He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand. 5“This is so that they may believe that YHWH, the Elohim of their fathers, the Elohim of Avraham, the Elohim of Yitzhak, and the Elohim of Yaakov, has appeared to you.” 6YHWH said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. 7He said, “Put your hand inside your cloak again.” He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh. 8“It will happen, if they will not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.” 10Moshe said to YHWH, “O Adonai, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” 11YHWH said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, YHWH? 12Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.” 13Moshe said, “Oh, Adonai, please send someone else.” 14YHWH’s anger burnt against Moshe, and he said, “What about Aharon, your brother, the Levi'i? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. 16He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as Elohim. 17You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.” 18Moshe went and returned to Yithro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Mitzrayim, and see whether they are still alive.” Yithro said to Moshe, “Go in peace.” 19YHWH said to Moshe in Midyan, “Go, return into Mitzrayim; for all the men who sought your life are dead.” 20Moshe took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Mitzrayim. Moshe took Elohim’s rod in his hand. 21YHWH said to Moshe, “When you go back into Mitzrayim, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. 22You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘YHWH says, Yisrael is my son, my firstborn, 23and I have said to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’” 24On the way at a lodging place, YHWH met Moshe and wanted to kill him. 25Then Tziporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26So he let him alone. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision. 27YHWH said to Aharon, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moshe.” He went, and met him on Elohim’s mountain, and kissed him. 28Moshe told Aharon all YHWH’s words with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him. 29Moshe and Aharon went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Yisrael. 30Aharon spoke all the words which YHWH had spoken to Moshe, and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31The people believed, and when they heard that YHWH had visited the children of Yisrael, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

Chapter 5

1Afterward Moshe and Aharon came, and said to Pharaoh, “This is what YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, says, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2Pharaoh said, “Who is YHWH, that I should listen to his voice to let Yisrael go? I don’t know YHWH, and moreover I will not let Yisrael go.” 3They said, “The Elohim of the Ivrim has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to YHWH, our Elohim, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword.” 4The king of Mitzrayim said to them, “Why do you, Moshe and Aharon, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!” 5Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.” 6The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 7“You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8You shall require from them the number of the bricks which they made before. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to our Elohim.’ 9Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labour in it. Don’t let them pay any attention to lying words.” 10The taskmasters of the people went out with their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw. 11Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.’” 12So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Mitzrayim to gather stubble for straw. 13The taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfil your work quota daily, as when there was straw!” 14The officers of the children of Yisrael, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?” 15Then the officers of the children of Yisrael came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? 16No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17But Pharaoh said, “You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to YHWH.’ 18Go therefore now, and work; for no straw shall be given to you; yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!” 19The officers of the children of Yisrael saw that they were in trouble when it was said, “You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!” 20They met Moshe and Aharon, who stood along the way, as they came out from Pharaoh. 21They said to them, “May YHWH look at you and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!” 22Moshe returned to YHWH, and said, “Adonai, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? 23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people. You have not rescued your people at all!”

Chapter 6

1YHWH said to Moshe, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.” 2Elohim spoke to Moshe, and said to him, “I am YHWH. 3I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov, as Elohim El Shaddai; but by my name YHWH I was not known to them. 4I have also established my Brit with them, to give them the land of Kna'an, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens. 5Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Yisrael, whom the Mitzrim keep in bondage, and I have remembered my Brit. 6Therefore tell the children of Yisrael, ‘I am YHWH, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Mitzrim, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgements. 7I will take you to myself for a people. I will be your Elohim; and you shall know that I am YHWH your Elohim, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Mitzrim. 8I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am YHWH.’” 9Moshe spoke so to the children of Yisrael, but they didn’t listen to Moshe for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. 10YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 11“Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim, that he let the children of Yisrael go out of his land.” 12Moshe spoke before YHWH, saying, “Behold, the children of Yisrael haven’t listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, when I have uncircumcised lips?” 13YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, and gave them a command to the children of Yisrael, and to Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim, to bring the children of Yisrael out of the land of Mitzrayim. 14These are the heads of their fathers’ houses. The sons of Reuven the firstborn of Yisrael: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi; these are the families of Reuven. 15The sons of Shimon: Yemu'el, and Yamin, and Ohad, and Yakhin, and Zohar, and Sha'ul the son of a Kna'ani woman; these are the families of Shimon. 16These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kehat, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven years. 17The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shim'i, according to their families. 18The sons of Kehat: Amram, and Yitzhar, and Hebron, and Uzi'el; and the years of the life of Kehat were one hundred and thirty-three years. 19The sons of Merari: Machli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levi'im according to their generations. 20Amram took Yocheved his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aharon and Moshe. The years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven years. 21The sons of Yitzhar: Korach, and Nepheg, and Zikhri. 22The sons of Uzi'el: Misha'el, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23Aharon took Elisheba, the daughter of Aminadav, the sister of Nachshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadav and Avihu, El'azar and Itamar. 24The sons of Korach: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korachim. 25El'azar Aharon’s son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Pinchas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levi'im according to their families. 26These are that Aharon and Moshe to whom YHWH said, “Bring out the children of Yisrael from the land of Mitzrayim according to their armies.” 27These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim, to bring out the children of Yisrael from Mitzrayim. These are that Moshe and Aharon. 28On the day when YHWH spoke to Moshe in the land of Mitzrayim, 29YHWH said to Moshe, “I am YHWH. Tell Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim all that I tell you.” 30Moshe said before YHWH, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?”

Chapter 7

1YHWH said to Moshe, “Behold, I have made you as Elohim to Pharaoh; and Aharon your brother shall be your prophet. 2You shall speak all that I command you; and Aharon your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Yisrael go out of his land. 3I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Mitzrayim. 4But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Mitzrayim, and bring out my armies, my people the children of Yisrael, out of the land of Mitzrayim by great judgements. 5The Mitzrim shall know that I am YHWH when I stretch out my hand on Mitzrayim, and bring the children of Yisrael out from amongst them.” 6Moshe and Aharon did so. As YHWH commanded them, so they did. 7Moshe was eighty years old, and Aharon eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh. 8YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 9“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aharon, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’” 10Moshe and Aharon went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as YHWH had commanded. Aharon cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Mitzrayim, did the same thing with their enchantments. 12For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents; but Aharon’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as YHWH had spoken. 14YHWH said to Moshe, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand. 16You shall tell him, ‘YHWH, the Elohim of the Ivrim, has sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. Behold, until now you haven’t listened.” 17YHWH says, “In this you shall know that I am YHWH. Behold: I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18The fish that are in the river will die and the river will become foul. The Mitzrim will loathe to drink water from the river.”’” 19YHWH said to Moshe, “Tell Aharon, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Mitzrayim, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood. There will be blood throughout all the land of Mitzrayim, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” 20Moshe and Aharon did so, as YHWH commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21The fish that were in the river died. The river became foul. The Mitzrim couldn’t drink water from the river. The blood was throughout all the land of Mitzrayim. 22The magicians of Mitzrayim did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as YHWH had spoken. 23Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart. 24All the Mitzrim dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink the river water. 25Seven days were fulfilled, after YHWH had struck the river.

Chapter 8

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what YHWH says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs. 3The river will swarm with frogs, which will go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. 4The frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.”’” 5YHWH said to Moshe, “Tell Aharon, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Mitzrayim.’” 6Aharon stretched out his hand over the waters of Mitzrayim; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Mitzrayim. 7The magicians did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Mitzrayim. 8Then Pharaoh called for Moshe and Aharon, and said, “Entreat YHWH, that he take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to YHWH.” 9Moshe said to Pharaoh, “I give you the honour of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only.” 10Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” Moshe said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like YHWH our Elohim. 11The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.” 12Moshe and Aharon went out from Pharaoh, and Moshe cried to YHWH concerning the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh. 13YHWH did according to the word of Moshe, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. 14They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn’t listen to them, as YHWH had spoken. 16YHWH said to Moshe, “Tell Aharon, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Mitzrayim.’” 17They did so; and Aharon stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Mitzrayim. 18The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on man, and on animal. 19Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is Elohim’s finger;” but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as YHWH had spoken. 20YHWH said to Moshe, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what YHWH says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Mitzrim shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground they are on. 22I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end you may know that I am YHWH on the earth. 23I will put a division between my people and your people. This sign shall happen by tomorrow.”’” 24YHWH did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses. In all the land of Mitzrayim the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. 25Pharaoh called for Moshe and for Aharon, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your Elohim in the land!” 26Moshe said, “It isn’t appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Mitzrim to YHWH our Elohim. Behold, if we sacrifice the abomination of the Mitzrim before their eyes, won’t they stone us? 27We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to YHWH our Elohim, as he shall command us.” 28Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to YHWH your Elohim in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.” 29Moshe said, “Behold, I am going out from you. I will pray to YHWH that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don’t let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to YHWH.” 30Moshe went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to YHWH. 31YHWH did according to the word of Moshe, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. 32Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he didn’t let the people go.

Chapter 9

1Then YHWH said to Moshe, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what YHWH, the Elohim of the Ivrim, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still, 3behold, YHWH’s hand is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence. 4YHWH will make a distinction between the livestock of Yisrael and the livestock of Mitzrayim; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Yisrael.”’” 5YHWH appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow YHWH shall do this thing in the land.” 6YHWH did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Mitzrayim died, but of the livestock of the children of Yisrael, not one died. 7Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the B'nei Yisrael dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn’t let the people go. 8YHWH said to Moshe and to Aharon, “Take handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moshe sprinkle it towards the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. 9It shall become small dust over all the land of Mitzrayim, and shall be boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Mitzrayim.” 10They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moshe sprinkled it up towards the sky; and it became boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal. 11The magicians couldn’t stand before Moshe because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Mitzrim. 12YHWH hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn’t listen to them, as YHWH had spoken to Moshe. 13YHWH said to Moshe, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what YHWH, the Elohim of the Ivrim, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15For now I would have stretched out my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth; 16but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth, 17because you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go. 18Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Mitzrayim since the day it was founded even until now. 19Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. The hail will come down on every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn’t brought home, and they will die.”’” 20Those who feared YHWH’s word amongst the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses. 21Whoever didn’t respect YHWH’s word left his servants and his livestock in the field. 22YHWH said to Moshe, “Stretch out your hand towards the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Mitzrayim, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Mitzrayim.” 23Moshe stretched out his rod towards the heavens, and YHWH sent thunder and hail; and lightning flashed down to the earth. YHWH rained hail on the land of Mitzrayim. 24So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Mitzrayim since it became a nation. 25The hail struck throughout all the land of Mitzrayim all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Yisrael were, there was no hail. 27Pharaoh sent and called for Moshe and Aharon, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. YHWH is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 28Pray to YHWH; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29Moshe said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to YHWH. The thunders shall cease, and there will not be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is YHWH’s. 30But as for you and your servants, I know that you don’t yet fear YHWH Elohim.” 31The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley had ripened and the flax was blooming. 32But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up. 33Moshe went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to YHWH; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. 34When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Yisrael go, just as YHWH had spoken through Moshe.

Chapter 10

1YHWH said to Moshe, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs amongst them; 2and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Mitzrayim, and my signs which I have done amongst them; that you may know that I am YHWH.” 3Moshe and Aharon went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what YHWH, the Elohim of the Ivrim, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 4Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. 6Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Mitzrim, as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh. 7Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve YHWH, their Elohim. Don’t you yet know that Mitzrayim is destroyed?” 8Moshe and Aharon were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve YHWH your Elohim; but who are those who will go?” 9Moshe said, “We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds; for we must hold a feast to YHWH.” 10He said to them, “YHWH be with you if I let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces. 11Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve YHWH; for that is what you desire!” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. 12YHWH said to Moshe, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Mitzrayim for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Mitzrayim, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.” 13Moshe stretched out his rod over the land of Mitzrayim, and YHWH brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14The locusts went up over all the land of Mitzrayim, and rested in all the borders of Mitzrayim. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, nor will there ever be again. 15For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Mitzrayim. 16Then Pharaoh called for Moshe and Aharon in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against YHWH your Elohim, and against you. 17Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to YHWH your Elohim, that he may also take away from me this death.” 18Moshe went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to YHWH. 19YHWH sent an exceedingly strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Yam Suf. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Mitzrayim. 20But YHWH hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Yisrael go. 21YHWH said to Moshe, “Stretch out your hand towards the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Mitzrayim, even darkness which may be felt.” 22Moshe stretched out his hand towards the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Mitzrayim for three days. 23They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Yisrael had light in their dwellings. 24Pharaoh called to Moshe, and said, “Go, serve YHWH. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you.” 25Moshe said, “You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to YHWH our Elohim. 26Our livestock also shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for of it we must take to serve YHWH our Elohim; and we don’t know with what we must serve YHWH, until we come there.” 27But YHWH hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let them go. 28Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!” 29Moshe said, “You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more.”

Chapter 11

1YHWH said to Moshe, “I will bring yet one more plague on Pharaoh, and on Mitzrayim; afterwards he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will surely thrust you out altogether. 2Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man ask of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.” 3YHWH gave the people favour in the sight of the Mitzrim. Moreover, the man Moshe was very great in the land of Mitzrayim, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people. 4Moshe said, “This is what YHWH says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the middle of Mitzrayim, 5and all the firstborn in the land of Mitzrayim shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the mill, and all the firstborn of livestock. 6There will be a great cry throughout all the land of Mitzrayim, such as there has not been, nor will be any more. 7But against any of the children of Yisrael a dog won’t even bark or move its tongue, against man or animal, that you may know that YHWH makes a distinction between the Mitzrim and Yisrael. 8All these servants of yours will come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, “Get out, with all the people who follow you;” and after that I will go out.’” He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. 9YHWH said to Moshe, “Pharaoh won’t listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Mitzrayim.” 10Moshe and Aharon did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but YHWH hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Yisrael go out of his land.

Chapter 12

1YHWH spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Mitzrayim, saying, 2“This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. 3Speak to all the congregation of Yisrael, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; 4and if the household is too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbour next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls. You shall make your count for the lamb according to what everyone can eat. 5Your lamb shall be without defect, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Yisrael shall kill it at evening. 7They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it. 8They shall eat the meat in that night, roasted with fire, with unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. 9Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts. 10You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. 11This is how you shall eat it: with your belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is YHWH’s Pesach. 12For I will go through the land of Mitzrayim in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Mitzrayim, both man and animal. I will execute judgements against all the gods of Mitzrayim. I am YHWH. 13The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Mitzrayim. 14This day shall be a memorial for you. You shall keep it as a feast to YHWH. You shall keep it as a feast throughout your generations by an ordinance forever. 15“‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Yisrael. 16In the first day there shall be to you a kodesh convocation, and in the seventh day a kodesh convocation; no kind of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, only that may be done by you. 17You shall observe the Chag HaMatzot; for in this same day I have brought your armies out of the land of Mitzrayim. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever. 18In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening. 19There shall be no yeast found in your houses for seven days, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Yisrael, whether he is a foreigner, or one who is born in the land. 20You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.’” 21Then Moshe called for all the elders of Yisrael, and said to them, “Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Pesach. 22You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23For YHWH will pass through to strike the Mitzrim; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two door posts, YHWH will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. 24You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. 25It shall happen when you have come to the land which YHWH will give you, as he has promised, that you shall keep this service. 26It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of YHWH’s Pesach, who passed over the houses of the children of Yisrael in Mitzrayim, when he struck the Mitzrim, and spared our houses.’” The people bowed their heads and worshipped. 28The children of Yisrael went and did so; as YHWH had commanded Moshe and Aharon, so they did. 29At midnight, YHWH struck all the firstborn in the land of Mitzrayim, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. 30Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Mitzrim; and there was a great cry in Mitzrayim, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. 31He called for Moshe and Aharon by night, and said, “Rise up, get out from amongst my people, both you and the children of Yisrael; and go, serve YHWH, as you have said! 32Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!” 33The Mitzrim were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We are all dead men.” 34The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. 35The children of Yisrael did according to the word of Moshe; and they asked of the Mitzrim jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing. 36YHWH gave the people favour in the sight of the Mitzrim, so that they let them have what they asked. They plundered the Mitzrim. 37The children of Yisrael travelled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, in addition to children. 38A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock. 39They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought out of Mitzrayim; for it wasn’t leavened, because they were thrust out of Mitzrayim, and couldn’t wait, and they had not prepared any food for themselves. 40Now the time that the children of Yisrael lived in Mitzrayim was four hundred and thirty years. 41At the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the day, all of YHWH’s armies went out from the land of Mitzrayim. 42It is a night to be much observed to YHWH for bringing them out from the land of Mitzrayim. This is that night of YHWH, to be much observed by all the children of Yisrael throughout their generations. 43YHWH said to Moshe and Aharon, “This is the ordinance of the Pesach. No foreigner shall eat of it, 44but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it. 45A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it. 46It must be eaten in one house. You shall not carry any of the meat outside of the house. Do not break any of its bones. 47All the congregation of Yisrael shall keep it. 48When a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, and would like to keep the Pesach to YHWH, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it. He shall be as one who is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner amongst you.” 50All the children of Yisrael did so. As YHWH commanded Moshe and Aharon, so they did. 51That same day, YHWH brought the children of Yisrael out of the land of Mitzrayim by their armies.

Chapter 13

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Sanctify to me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb amongst the children of Yisrael, both of man and of animal. It is mine.” 3Moshe said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out of Mitzrayim, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand YHWH brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4Today you go out in the month Aviv. 5It shall be, when YHWH brings you into the land of the Kna'ani, and the Chitti, and the Emori, and the Chivi, and the Yevusi, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. 6Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to YHWH. 7Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you. No yeast shall be seen with you, within all your borders. 8You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which YHWH did for me when I came out of Mitzrayim.’ 9It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that YHWH’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand YHWH has brought you out of Mitzrayim. 10You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. 11“It shall be, when YHWH brings you into the land of the Kna'ani, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and will give it to you, 12that you shall set apart to YHWH all that opens the womb, and every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have. The males shall be YHWH’s. 13Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of man amongst your sons. 14It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand YHWH brought us out from Mitzrayim, from the house of bondage. 15When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, YHWH killed all the firstborn in the land of Mitzrayim, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of livestock. Therefore I sacrifice to YHWH all that opens the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16It shall be for a sign on your hand, and for symbols between your eyes; for by strength of hand YHWH brought us out of Mitzrayim.” 17When Pharaoh had let the people go, Elohim didn’t lead them by the way of the land of the Pelishtim, although that was near; for Elohim said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Mitzrayim”; 18but Elohim led the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Yam Suf; and the children of Yisrael went up armed out of the land of Mitzrayim. 19Moshe took the bones of Yosef with him, for he had made the children of Yisrael swear, saying, “Elohim will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you.” 20They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. 21YHWH went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night: 22the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn’t depart from before the people.

Chapter 14

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Ba'al Tzefon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea. 3Pharaoh will say of the children of Yisrael, ‘They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.’ 4I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honour over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Mitzrim shall know that I am YHWH.” They did so. 5The king of Mitzrayim was told that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Yisrael go from serving us?” 6He prepared his chariot, and took his army with him; 7and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Mitzrayim, with captains over all of them. 8YHWH hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim, and he pursued the children of Yisrael; for the children of Yisrael went out with a high hand. 9The Mitzrim pursued them. All the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Ba'al Tzefon. 10When Pharaoh came near, the children of Yisrael lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Mitzrim were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Yisrael cried out to YHWH. 11They said to Moshe, “Because there were no graves in Mitzrayim, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us out of Mitzrayim? 12Isn’t this the word that we spoke to you in Mitzrayim, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve the Mitzrim’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Mitzrim than to die in the wilderness.” 13Moshe said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of YHWH, which he will work for you today; for you will never again see the Mitzrim whom you have seen today. 14YHWH will fight for you, and you shall be still.” 15YHWH said to Moshe, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Yisrael, that they go forward. 16Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. Then the children of Yisrael shall go into the middle of the sea on dry ground. 17Behold, I myself will harden the hearts of the Mitzrim, and they will go in after them. I will get myself honour over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen. 18The Mitzrim shall know that I am YHWH when I have gotten myself honour over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.” 19The malak of Elohim, who went before the camp of Yisrael, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. 20It came between the camp of Mitzrayim and the camp of Yisrael. There was the cloud and the darkness, yet it gave light by night. One didn’t come near the other all night. 21Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea, and YHWH caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22The children of Yisrael went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23The Mitzrim pursued, and went in after them into the middle of the sea: all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24In the morning watch, YHWH looked out on the Mitzri army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Mitzri army. 25He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Mitzrim said, “Let’s flee from the face of Yisrael, for YHWH fights for them against the Mitzrim!” 26YHWH said to Moshe, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Mitzrim, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” 27Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Mitzrim fled against it. YHWH overthrew the Mitzrim in the middle of the sea. 28The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh’s army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them. 29But the children of Yisrael walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30Thus YHWH saved Yisrael that day out of the hand of the Mitzrim; and Yisrael saw the Mitzrim dead on the seashore. 31Yisrael saw the great work which YHWH did to the Mitzrim, and the people feared YHWH; and they believed in YHWH and in his servant Moshe.

Chapter 15

1Then Moshe and the children of Yisrael sang this song to YHWH, and said, “I will sing to YHWH, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea. 2YHWH is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my Elohim, and I will praise him; my father’s Elohim, and I will exalt him. 3YHWH is a man of war. YHWH is his name. 4He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea. His chosen captains are sunk in the Yam Suf. 5The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone. 6Your right hand, YHWH, is glorious in power. Your right hand, YHWH, dashes the enemy in pieces. 7In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you. You send out your wrath. It consumes them as stubble. 8With the blast of your nostrils, the waters were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. 9The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the plunder. My desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword. My hand will destroy them.’ 10You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11Who is like you, YHWH, amongst the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 12You stretched out your right hand. The earth swallowed them. 13“You, in your chesed, have led the people that you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your kodesh habitation. 14The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. 15Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Kna'an have melted away. 16Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone, until your people pass over, YHWH, until the people you have purchased pass over. 17You will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, YHWH, which you have made for yourself to dwell in: the Mishkan, Adonai, which your hands have established. 18YHWH will reign forever and ever.” 19For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and YHWH brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the children of Yisrael walked on dry land in the middle of the sea. 20Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aharon, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances. 21Miriam answered them, “Sing to YHWH, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.” 22Moshe led Yisrael onward from the Yam Suf, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. 23When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore its name was called Marah. 24The people murmured against Moshe, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25Then he cried to YHWH. YHWH showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them. 26He said, “If you will diligently listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his mitzvot, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Mitzrim; for I am YHWH who heals you.” 27They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. They encamped there by the waters.

Chapter 16

1They took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Yisrael came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Mitzrayim. 2The whole congregation of the children of Yisrael murmured against Moshe and against Aharon in the wilderness; 3and the children of Yisrael said to them, “We wish that we had died by YHWH’s hand in the land of Mitzrayim, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4Then YHWH said to Moshe, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6Moshe and Aharon said to all the children of Yisrael, “At evening, you shall know that YHWH has brought you out from the land of Mitzrayim. 7In the morning, you shall see YHWH’s kavod; because he hears your murmurings against YHWH. Who are we, that you murmur against us?” 8Moshe said, “Now YHWH will give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you, because YHWH hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against YHWH.” 9Moshe said to Aharon, “Tell all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, ‘Come close to YHWH, for he has heard your murmurings.’” 10As Aharon spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Yisrael, they looked towards the wilderness, and behold, YHWH’s kavod appeared in the cloud. 11YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 12“I have heard the murmurings of the children of Yisrael. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am YHWH your Elohim.’” 13In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp. 14When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground. 15When the children of Yisrael saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moshe said to them, “It is the bread which YHWH has given you to eat. 16This is the thing which YHWH has commanded: ‘Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, you shall take it, every man for those who are in his tent.’” 17The children of Yisrael did so, and some gathered more, some less. 18When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They each gathered according to his eating. 19Moshe said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.” 20Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moshe, but some of them left of it until the morning, so it bred worms and became foul; and Moshe was angry with them. 21They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted. 22On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moshe. 23He said to them, “This is that which YHWH has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a kodesh Shabbat to YHWH. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’” 24They laid it up until the morning, as Moshe ordered, and it didn’t become foul, and there were no worms in it. 25Moshe said, “Eat that today, for today is a Shabbat to YHWH. Today you shall not find it in the field. 26Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Shabbat. In it there shall be none.” 27On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28YHWH said to Moshe, “How long do you refuse to keep my mitzvot and my laws? 29Behold, because YHWH has given you the Shabbat, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30So the people rested on the seventh day. 31The house of Yisrael called its name “Manna”, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. 32Moshe said, “This is the thing which YHWH has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim.’” 33Moshe said to Aharon, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before YHWH, to be kept throughout your generations.” 34As YHWH commanded Moshe, so Aharon laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. 35The children of Yisrael ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Kna'an. 36Now an omer is one tenth of an ephah.

Chapter 17

1All the congregation of the children of Yisrael travelled from the wilderness of Sin, starting according to YHWH’s mitzvah, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2Therefore the people quarrelled with Moshe, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moshe said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test YHWH?” 3The people were thirsty for water there; so the people murmured against Moshe, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Mitzrayim, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” 4Moshe cried to YHWH, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5YHWH said to Moshe, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Yisrael with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Chorev. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moshe did so in the sight of the elders of Yisrael. 7He called the name of the place Masah, and Merivah, because the children of Yisrael quarrelled, and because they tested YHWH, saying, “Is YHWH amongst us, or not?” 8Then Amalek came and fought with Yisrael in Rephidim. 9Moshe said to Yehoshua, “Choose men for us, and go out to fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with Elohim’s rod in my hand.” 10So Yehoshua did as Moshe had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moshe, Aharon, and Chur went up to the top of the hill. 11When Moshe held up his hand, Yisrael prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12But Moshe’s hands were heavy; so they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aharon and Chur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset. 13Yehoshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14YHWH said to Moshe, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Yehoshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.” 15Moshe built an altar, and called its name “YHWH Nissi”. 16He said, “YHWH has sworn: ‘YHWH will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”

Chapter 18

1Now Yithro, the priest of Midyan, Moshe’s father-in-law, heard of all that Elohim had done for Moshe and for Yisrael his people, how YHWH had brought Yisrael out of Mitzrayim. 2Yithro, Moshe’s father-in-law, received Tziporah, Moshe’s wife, after he had sent her away, 3and her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom, for Moshe said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land”. 4The name of the other was Eli'ezer, for he said, “My father’s Elohim was my help and delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword.” 5Yithro, Moshe’s father-in-law, came with Moshe’s sons and his wife to Moshe into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the Mountain of Elohim. 6He said to Moshe, “I, your father-in-law Yithro, have come to you with your wife, and her two sons with her.” 7Moshe went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent. 8Moshe told his father-in-law all that YHWH had done to Pharaoh and to the Mitzrim for Yisrael’s sake, all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how YHWH delivered them. 9Yithro rejoiced for all the goodness which YHWH had done to Yisrael, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Mitzrim. 10Yithro said, “Blessed be YHWH, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Mitzrim, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Mitzrim. 11Now I know that YHWH is greater than all gods because of the way that they treated people arrogantly.” 12Yithro, Moshe’s father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for Elohim. Aharon came with all the elders of Yisrael, to eat bread with Moshe’s father-in-law before Elohim. 13On the next day, Moshe sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moshe from the morning to the evening. 14When Moshe’s father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, “What is this thing that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning to evening?” 15Moshe said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to enquire of Elohim. 16When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbour, and I make them know the statutes of Elohim, and his laws.” 17Moshe’s father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. 18You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it yourself alone. 19Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and Elohim be with you. You represent the people before Elohim, and bring the causes to Elohim. 20You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. 21Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear Elohim: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you. 23If you will do this thing, and Elohim commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.” 24So Moshe listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. 25Moshe chose able men out of all Yisrael, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard cases to Moshe, but every small matter they judged themselves. 27Moshe let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.

Chapter 19

1In the third month after the children of Yisrael had gone out of the land of Mitzrayim, on that same day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2When they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Yisrael encamped before the mountain. 3Moshe went up to Elohim, and YHWH called to him out of the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall tell the house of Yaakov, and tell the children of Yisrael: 4‘You have seen what I did to the Mitzrim, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself. 5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Brit, then you shall be my own possession from amongst all peoples; for all the earth is mine; 6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a kodesh nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Yisrael.” 7Moshe came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which YHWH commanded him. 8All the people answered together, and said, “All that YHWH has spoken we will do.” Moshe reported the words of the people to YHWH. 9YHWH said to Moshe, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” Moshe told the words of the people to YHWH. 10YHWH said to Moshe, “Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, 11and be ready for the third day; for on the third day YHWH will come down in the sight of all the people on Har Sinai. 12You shall set bounds to the people all around, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t go up onto the mountain, or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain shall be surely put to death. 13No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether it is animal or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14Moshe went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. 15He said to the people, “Be ready by the third day. Don’t have sexual relations with a woman.” 16On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17Moshe led the people out of the camp to meet Elohim; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain. 18All of Har Sinai smoked, because YHWH descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. 19When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moshe spoke, and Elohim answered him by a voice. 20YHWH came down on Har Sinai, to the top of the mountain. YHWH called Moshe to the top of the mountain, and Moshe went up. 21YHWH said to Moshe, “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to YHWH to gaze, and many of them perish. 22Let the priests also, who come near to YHWH, sanctify themselves, lest YHWH break out on them.” 23Moshe said to YHWH, “The people can’t come up to Har Sinai, for you warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain, and sanctify it.’” 24YHWH said to him, “Go down! You shall bring Aharon up with you, but don’t let the priests and the people break through to come up to YHWH, lest he break out against them.” 25So Moshe went down to the people, and told them.

Chapter 20

1Elohim spoke all these words, saying, 2“I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, out of the house of bondage. 3“You shall have no other gods before me. 4“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, YHWH your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6and showing chesed to thousands of those who love me and keep my mitzvot. 7“You shall not misuse the name of YHWH your Elohim, for YHWH will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name. 8“Remember the Shabbat day, to keep it kodesh. 9You shall labour six days, and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Shabbat to YHWH your Elohim. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; 11for in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore YHWH blessed the Shabbat day, and made it kodesh. 12“Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you. 13“You shall not murder. 14“You shall not commit adultery. 15“You shall not steal. 16“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour. 17“You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour’s.” 18All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance. 19They said to Moshe, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let Elohim speak with us, lest we die.” 20Moshe said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for Elohim has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won’t sin.” 21The people stayed at a distance, and Moshe came near to the thick darkness where Elohim was. 22YHWH said to Moshe, “This is what you shall tell the children of Yisrael: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23You shall most certainly not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves to be alongside me. 24You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you. 25If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it. 26You shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.’

Chapter 21

1“Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them: 2“If you buy a Ivri servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. 3If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. 5But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’ 6then his master shall bring him to Elohim, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. 7“If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. 8If she doesn’t please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. 9If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter. 10If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights. 11If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money. 12“One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death, 13but not if it is unintentional, but Elohim allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee. 14If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbour to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. 15“Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. 16“Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. 17“Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. 18“If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed; 19if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed. 20“If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished. 21Notwithstanding, if his servant gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for the servant is his property. 22“If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow. 23But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise. 26“If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. 27If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake. 28“If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible. 29But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and this has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death. 30If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed. 31Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgement it shall be done to him. 32If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned. 33“If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it, 34the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his. 35“If one man’s bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal. 36Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.

Chapter 22

1“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. 2If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him. 3If the sun has risen on him, he is guilty of bloodshed. He shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double. 5“If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten by letting his animal loose, and it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field, and from the best of his own vineyard. 6“If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution. 7“If a man delivers to his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. 8If the thief isn’t found, then the master of the house shall come near to Elohim, to find out whether or not he has put his hand on his neighbour’s goods. 9For every matter of trespass, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind of lost thing, about which one says, ‘This is mine,’ the cause of both parties shall come before Elohim. He whom Elohim condemns shall pay double to his neighbour. 10“If a man delivers to his neighbour a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it; 11the oath of YHWH shall be between them both, he has not put his hand on his neighbour’s goods; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. 12But if it is stolen from him, the one who stole shall make restitution to its owner. 13If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn. 14“If a man borrows anything of his neighbour’s, and it is injured, or dies, its owner not being with it, he shall surely make restitution. 15If its owner is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease. 16“If a man entices a virgin who isn’t pledged to be married, and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife. 17If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. 18“You shall not allow a sorceress to live. 19“Whoever has sex with an animal shall surely be put to death. 20“He who sacrifices to any god, except to YHWH only, shall be utterly destroyed. 21“You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Mitzrayim. 22“You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child. 23If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry; 24and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. 25“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor. You shall not charge him interest. 26If you take your neighbour’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, 27for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious. 28“You shall not blaspheme Elohim, nor curse a ruler of your people. 29“You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. “You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me. 30You shall do likewise with your cattle and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days, then on the eighth day you shall give it to me. 31“You shall be kodesh men to me, therefore you shall not eat any meat that is torn by animals in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs.

Chapter 23

1“You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. 2“You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice. 3You shall not favour a poor man in his cause. 4“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him. You shall surely help him with it. 6“You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7“Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked. 8“You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous. 9“You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Mitzrayim. 10“For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, 11but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In the same way, you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove. 12“Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant, and the alien may be refreshed. 13“Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of your mouth. 14“You shall observe a feast to me three times a year. 15You shall observe the Chag HaMatzot. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Aviv (for in it you came out of Mitzrayim), and no one shall appear before me empty. 16And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labours, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labours out of the field. 17Three times in the year all your males shall appear before Adonai YHWH. 18“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning. 19You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of YHWH your Elohim. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. 20“Behold, I send an malak before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. 22But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. 23For my malak shall go before you, and bring you in to the Emori, the Chitti, the Perizi, the Kna'ani, the Chivi, and the Yevusi; and I will cut them off. 24You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. 25You shall serve YHWH your Elohim, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from amongst you. 26No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfil the number of your days. 27I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Chivi, the Kna'ani, and the Chitti, from before you. 29I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. 30Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. 31I will set your border from the Yam Suf even to the sea of the Pelishtim, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32You shall make no Brit with them, nor with their gods. 33They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Chapter 24

1He said to Moshe, “Come up to YHWH, you, and Aharon, Nadav, and Avihu, and seventy of the elders of Yisrael; and worship from a distance. 2Moshe alone shall come near to YHWH, but they shall not come near. The people shall not go up with him.” 3Moshe came and told the people all YHWH’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which YHWH has spoken will we do.” 4Moshe wrote all YHWH’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Yisrael. 5He sent young men of the children of Yisrael, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to YHWH. 6Moshe took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7He took the book of the Brit and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “We will do all that YHWH has said, and be obedient.” 8Moshe took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the Brit, which YHWH has made with you concerning all these words.” 9Then Moshe, Aharon, Nadav, Avihu, and seventy of the elders of Yisrael went up. 10They saw the Elohim of Yisrael. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness. 11He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Yisrael. They saw Elohim, and ate and drank. 12YHWH said to Moshe, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.” 13Moshe rose up with Yehoshua, his servant, and Moshe went up onto Elohim’s Mountain. 14He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aharon and Chur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.” 15Moshe went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16YHWH’s kavod settled on Har Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moshe out of the middle of the cloud. 17The appearance of YHWH’s kavod was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Yisrael. 18Moshe entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moshe was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Chapter 25

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take my offering. 3This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, bronze, 4blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, 5rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, 6oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, 7onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. 8Let them make me a Mishkan, that I may dwell amongst them. 9According to all that I show you, the pattern of the Mishkan, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it. 10“They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. 11You shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall overlay it inside and outside, and you shall make a gold moulding around it. 12You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. 13You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. 15The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it. 16You shall put the Brit which I shall give you into the ark. 17You shall make a chesed seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width. 18You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the chesed seat. 19Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim on its two ends of one piece with the chesed seat. 20The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the chesed seat with their wings, with their faces towards one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be towards the chesed seat. 21You shall put the chesed seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Brit that I will give you. 22There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the chesed seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the Aron HaBrit, all that I command you for the children of Yisrael. 23“You shall make a table of acacia wood. Its length shall be two cubits, and its width a cubit, and its height one and a half cubits. 24You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a gold moulding around it. 25You shall make a rim of a hand width around it. You shall make a golden moulding on its rim around it. 26You shall make four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet. 27The rings shall be close to the rim, for places for the poles to carry the table. 28You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them. 29You shall make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls with which to pour out offerings. You shall make them of pure gold. 30You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me always. 31“You shall make a lamp stand of pure gold. The lamp stand shall be made of hammered work. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. 32There shall be six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lamp stand out of its one side, and three branches of the lamp stand out of its other side; 33three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower; and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower, so for the six branches going out of the lamp stand; 34and in the lamp stand four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; 35and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the lamp stand. 36Their buds and their branches shall be of one piece with it, all of it one beaten work of pure gold. 37You shall make its lamps seven, and they shall light its lamps to give light to the space in front of it. 38Its snuffers and its snuff dishes shall be of pure gold. 39It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these accessories. 40See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.

Chapter 26

1“Moreover you shall make the Mishkan with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. You shall make them with the work of a skilful workman. 2The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits: all the curtains shall have one measure. 3Five curtains shall be coupled together to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. 4You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling, and you shall do likewise on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second coupling. 5You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that is in the second coupling. The loops shall be opposite one another. 6You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains to one another with the clasps. The Mishkan shall be a unit. 7“You shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the Mishkan. You shall make eleven curtains. 8The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits: the eleven curtains shall have one measure. 9You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shall double over the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tent. 10You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outermost in the coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is outermost in the second coupling. 11You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. 12The overhanging part that remains of the curtains of the tent—the half curtain that remains—shall hang over the back of the Mishkan. 13The cubit on the one side and the cubit on the other side, of that which remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the Mishkan on this side and on that side, to cover it. 14You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above. 15“You shall make the boards for the Mishkan of acacia wood, standing upright. 16Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board. 17There shall be two tenons in each board, joined to one another: thus you shall make for all the boards of the Mishkan. 18You shall make twenty boards for the Mishkan, for the south side southward. 19You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. 20For the second side of the Mishkan, on the north side, twenty boards, 21and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 22For the far side of the Mishkan westward you shall make six boards. 23You shall make two boards for the corners of the Mishkan in the far side. 24They shall be double beneath, and in the same way they shall be whole to its top to one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. 25There shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 26“You shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the Mishkan, 27and five bars for the boards of the other side of the Mishkan, and five bars for the boards of the side of the Mishkan, for the far side westward. 28The middle bar in the middle of the boards shall pass through from end to end. 29You shall overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars. You shall overlay the bars with gold. 30You shall set up the Mishkan according to the way that it was shown to you on the mountain. 31“You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. It shall be the work of a skilful workman. 32You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. 33You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the Aron HaBrit in there within the veil. The veil shall separate the kodesh place from the most kodesh for you. 34You shall put the chesed seat on the Aron HaBrit in the most kodesh place. 35You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lamp stand opposite the table on the side of the Mishkan towards the south. You shall put the table on the north side. 36“You shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer. 37You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold. You shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.

Chapter 27

1“You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits wide. The altar shall be square. Its height shall be three cubits. 2You shall make its horns on its four corners. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. You shall overlay it with bronze. 3You shall make its pots to take away its ashes; and its shovels, its basins, its meat hooks, and its fire pans. You shall make all its vessels of bronze. 4You shall make a grating for it of network of bronze. On the net you shall make four bronze rings in its four corners. 5You shall put it under the ledge around the altar beneath, that the net may reach halfway up the altar. 6You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. 7Its poles shall be put into the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it. 8You shall make it hollow with planks. They shall make it as it has been shown you on the mountain. 9“You shall make the court of the Mishkan: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side. 10Its pillars shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. 11Likewise for the length of the north side, there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and its pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. 12For the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. 13The width of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. 14The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 15For the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 16For the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four. 17All the pillars of the court around shall be filleted with silver; their hooks of silver, and their sockets of bronze. 18The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, of fine twined linen, and their sockets of bronze. 19All the instruments of the Mishkan in all its service, and all its pins, and all the pins of the court, shall be of bronze. 20“You shall command the children of Yisrael, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. 21In the Ohel Mo'ed, outside the veil which is before the Brit, Aharon and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before YHWH: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Yisrael.

Chapter 28

1“Bring Aharon your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from amongst the children of Yisrael, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office: Aharon, with Nadav, Avihu, El'azar, and Itamar, Aharon’s sons. 2You shall make kodesh garments for Aharon your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3You shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aharon’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. 4These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a fitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. They shall make kodesh garments for Aharon your brother and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. 5They shall use the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen. 6“They shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skilful workman. 7It shall have two shoulder straps joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together. 8The skilfully woven band, which is on it, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. 9You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Yisrael. 10Six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, in the order of their birth. 11With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Yisrael. You shall make them to be enclosed in settings of gold. 12You shall put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Yisrael. Aharon shall bear their names before YHWH on his two shoulders for a memorial. 13You shall make settings of gold, 14and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them like cords of braided work. You shall put the braided chains on the settings. 15“You shall make a breastplate of judgement, the work of the skilful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, you shall make it. 16It shall be square and folded double; a span shall be its length, and a span its width. 17You shall set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and beryl shall be the first row; 18and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 19and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20and the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be enclosed in gold in their settings. 21The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Yisrael, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes. 22You shall make on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. 23You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 24You shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. 25The other two ends of the two braided chains you shall put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in its forepart. 26You shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which is towards the side of the ephod inward. 27You shall make two rings of gold, and shall put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in its forepart, close by its coupling, above the skilfully woven band of the ephod. 28They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skilfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not swing out from the ephod. 29Aharon shall bear the names of the children of Yisrael in the breastplate of judgement on his heart, when he goes in to the kodesh place, for a memorial before YHWH continually. 30You shall put in the breastplate of judgement the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aharon’s heart, when he goes in before YHWH. Aharon shall bear the judgement of the children of Yisrael on his heart before YHWH continually. 31“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32It shall have a hole for the head in the middle of it. It shall have a binding of woven work around its hole, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn. 33On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem; with bells of gold between and around them: 34a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35It shall be on Aharon to minister: and its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the kodesh place before YHWH, and when he comes out, that he not die. 36“You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO THE YHWH.’ 37You shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be on the sash. It shall be on the front of the sash. 38It shall be on Aharon’s forehead, and Aharon shall bear the iniquity of the kodesh things, which the children of Yisrael shall make kodesh in all their kodesh gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before YHWH. 39You shall weave the tunic with fine linen. You shall make a turban of fine linen. You shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer. 40“You shall make tunics for Aharon’s sons. You shall make sashes for them. You shall make headbands for them, for glory and for beauty. 41You shall put them on Aharon your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. 42You shall make them linen pants to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the waist even to the thighs. 43They shall be on Aharon and on his sons, when they go in to the Ohel Mo'ed, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the kodesh place, that they don’t bear iniquity, and die. This shall be a statute forever to him and to his offspring after him.

Chapter 29

1“This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them kodesh, to minister to me in the priest’s office: take one young bull and two rams without defect, 2unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3You shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams. 4You shall bring Aharon and his sons to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, and shall wash them with water. 5You shall take the garments, and put on Aharon the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and clothe him with the skilfully woven band of the ephod. 6You shall set the turban on his head, and put the kodesh crown on the turban. 7Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him. 8You shall bring his sons, and put tunics on them. 9You shall clothe them with belts, Aharon and his sons, and bind headbands on them. They shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. You shall consecrate Aharon and his sons. 10“You shall bring the bull before the Ohel Mo'ed; and Aharon and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11You shall kill the bull before YHWH at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 12You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. 13You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14But the meat of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp. It is a sin offering. 15“You shall also take the one ram, and Aharon and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 16You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar. 17You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head. 18You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to YHWH; it is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to YHWH. 19“You shall take the other ram, and Aharon and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aharon, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot; and sprinkle the blood around on the altar. 21You shall take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aharon, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be made kodesh, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. 22Also you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), 23and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before YHWH. 24You shall put all of this in Aharon’s hands, and in his sons’ hands, and shall wave them for a wave offering before YHWH. 25You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma before YHWH: it is an offering made by fire to YHWH. 26“You shall take the breast of Aharon’s ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before YHWH. It shall be your portion. 27You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved, and which is raised up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aharon, and of that which is for his sons. 28It shall be for Aharon and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Yisrael; for it is a wave offering. It shall be a wave offering from the children of Yisrael of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to YHWH. 29“The kodesh garments of Aharon shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them. 30Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the Ohel Mo'ed to minister in the kodesh place. 31“You shall take the ram of consecration and boil its meat in a kodesh place. 32Aharon and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 33They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them; but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are kodesh. 34If anything of the meat of the consecration, or of the bread, remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is kodesh. 35“You shall do so to Aharon and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them seven days. 36Every day you shall offer the bull of sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it. You shall anoint it, to sanctify it. 37Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and the altar shall be most kodesh. Whatever touches the altar shall be kodesh. 38“Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. 39The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at evening; 40and with the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning and according to its drink offering, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to YHWH. 42It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed before YHWH, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you. 43There I will meet with the children of Yisrael; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory. 44I will sanctify the Ohel Mo'ed and the altar. I will also sanctify Aharon and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45I will dwell amongst the children of Yisrael, and will be their Elohim. 46They shall know that I am YHWH their Elohim, who brought them out of the land of Mitzrayim, that I might dwell amongst them: I am YHWH their Elohim.

Chapter 30

1“You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood. 2Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold moulding around it. 4You shall make two golden rings for it under its moulding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it. 5You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6You shall put it before the veil that is by the Aron HaBrit, before the chesed seat that is over the Brit, where I will meet with you. 7Aharon shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it. 8When Aharon lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before YHWH throughout your generations. 9You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it. 10Aharon shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most kodesh to YHWH.” 11YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 12“When you take a census of the children of Yisrael, according to those who are counted amongst them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to YHWH when you count them, that there be no plague amongst them when you count them. 13They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the Mishkan (the shekel is twenty gerahs); half a shekel for an offering to YHWH. 14Everyone who passes over to those who are counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to YHWH. 15The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of YHWH, to make atonement for your souls. 16You shall take the atonement money from the children of Yisrael, and shall appoint it for the service of the Ohel Mo'ed; that it may be a memorial for the children of Yisrael before YHWH, to make atonement for your souls.” 17YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 18“You shall also make a basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Ohel Mo'ed and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19Aharon and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it. 20When they go into the Ohel Mo'ed, they shall wash with water, that they don’t die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to YHWH. 21So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die. This shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations.” 22Moreover YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 23“Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty; 24and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the Mishkan; and a hin of olive oil. 25You shall make it into a kodesh anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a kodesh anointing oil. 26You shall use it to anoint the Ohel Mo'ed, the Aron HaBrit, 27the table and all its articles, the lamp stand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base. 29You shall sanctify them, that they may be most kodesh. Whatever touches them shall be kodesh. 30You shall anoint Aharon and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. 31You shall speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘This shall be a kodesh anointing oil to me throughout your generations. 32It shall not be poured on man’s flesh, and do not make any like it, according to its composition. It is kodesh. It shall be kodesh to you. 33Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’” 34YHWH said to Moshe, “Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, onycha, and galbanum: sweet spices with pure frankincense. There shall be an equal weight of each. 35You shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and kodesh. 36You shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the Brit in the Ohel Mo'ed, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most kodesh. 37You shall not make this incense, according to its composition, for yourselves: it shall be to you kodesh for YHWH. 38Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.”

Chapter 31

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Behold, I have called by name Betzalel the son of Uri, the son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehudah. 3I have filled him with the Ruach Elohim, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship, 4to devise skilful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, 5and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship. 6Behold, I myself have appointed with him Oholi'av, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7the Ohel Mo'ed, the Aron HaBrit, the chesed seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent, 8the table and its vessels, the pure lamp stand with all its vessels, the altar of incense, 9the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base, 10the finely worked garments—the kodesh garments for Aharon the priest, the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office— 11the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the kodesh place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.” 12YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 13“Speak also to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘Most certainly you shall keep my Shabbats; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am YHWH who sanctifies you. 14You shall keep the Shabbat therefore, for it is kodesh to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from amongst his people. 15Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Shabbat of solemn rest, kodesh to YHWH. Whoever does any work on the Shabbat day shall surely be put to death. 16Therefore the children of Yisrael shall keep the Shabbat, to observe the Shabbat throughout their generations, for a perpetual Brit. 17It is a sign between me and the children of Yisrael forever; for in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.’” 18When he finished speaking with him on Har Sinai, he gave Moshe the two tablets of the Brit, stone tablets, written with Elohim’s finger.

Chapter 32

1When the people saw that Moshe delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aharon, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moshe, the man who brought us up out of the land of Mitzrayim, we don’t know what has become of him.” 2Aharon said to them, “Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aharon. 4He received what they handed him, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a moulded calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, Yisrael, which brought you up out of the land of Mitzrayim.” 5When Aharon saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aharon made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to YHWH.” 6They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. 7YHWH spoke to Moshe, “Go, get down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Mitzrayim, have corrupted themselves! 8They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a moulded calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Yisrael, which brought you up out of the land of Mitzrayim.’” 9YHWH said to Moshe, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. 10Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.” 11Moshe begged YHWH his Elohim, and said, “YHWH, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Mitzrayim with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should the Mitzrim talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath, and turn away from this evil against your people. 13Remember Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yisrael, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14So YHWH turned away from the evil which he said he would do to his people. 15Moshe turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the Brit in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other. 16The tablets were the work of Elohim, and the writing was the writing of Elohim, engraved on the tablets. 17When Yehoshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moshe, “There is the noise of war in the camp.” 18He said, “It isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory. It is not the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear.” 19As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moshe’s anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain. 20He took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Yisrael drink it. 21Moshe said to Aharon, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?” 22Aharon said, “Don’t let the anger of my adonai grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23For they said to me, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us. As for this Moshe, the man who brought us up out of the land of Mitzrayim, we don’t know what has become of him.’ 24I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off.’ So they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” 25When Moshe saw that the people were out of control, (for Aharon had let them lose control, causing derision amongst their enemies), 26then Moshe stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on YHWH’s side, come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27He said to them, “YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, says, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.’” 28The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moshe. About three thousand men fell of the people that day. 29Moshe said, “Consecrate yourselves today to YHWH, for every man was against his son and against his brother, that he may give you a blessing today.” 30On the next day, Moshe said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to YHWH. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.” 31Moshe returned to YHWH, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. 32Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.” 33YHWH said to Moshe, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. 34Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my malak shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35YHWH struck the people, because of what they did with the calf, which Aharon made.

Chapter 33

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people that you have brought up out of the land of Mitzrayim, to the land of which I swore to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ 2I will send an malak before you; and I will drive out the Kna'ani, the Emori, and the Chitti, and the Perizi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi. 3Go to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up amongst you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way.” 4When the people heard this evil news, they mourned; and no one put on his jewellery. 5YHWH had said to Moshe, “Tell the children of Yisrael, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up amongst you for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore now take off your jewellery from you, that I may know what to do to you.’” 6The children of Yisrael stripped themselves of their jewellery from Har Chorev onward. 7Now Moshe used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it “The Ohel Mo'ed.” Everyone who sought YHWH went out to the Ohel Mo'ed, which was outside the camp. 8When Moshe went out to the Tent, all the people rose up, and stood, everyone at their tent door, and watched Moshe, until he had gone into the Tent. 9When Moshe entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, stood at the door of the Tent, and YHWH spoke with Moshe. 10All the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent, and all the people rose up and worshipped, everyone at their tent door. 11YHWH spoke to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but his servant Yehoshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn’t depart from the Tent. 12Moshe said to YHWH, “Behold, you tell me, ‘Bring up this people;’ and you haven’t let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favour in my sight.’ 13Now therefore, if I have found favour in your sight, please show me your way, now, that I may know you, so that I may find favour in your sight; and consider that this nation is your people.” 14He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15Moshe said to him, “If your presence doesn’t go with me, don’t carry us up from here. 16For how would people know that I have found favour in your sight, I and your people? Isn’t it that you go with us, so that we are separated, I and your people, from all the people who are on the surface of the earth?” 17YHWH said to Moshe, “I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favour in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18Moshe said, “Please show me your glory.” 19He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim YHWH’s name before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show chesed on whom I will show chesed.” 20He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.” 21YHWH also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

Chapter 34

1YHWH said to Moshe, “Chisel two stone tablets like the first. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Har Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3No one shall come up with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Do not let the flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.” 4He chiselled two tablets of stone like the first; then Moshe rose up early in the morning, and went up to Har Sinai, as YHWH had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets. 5YHWH descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed YHWH’s name. 6YHWH passed by before him, and proclaimed, “YHWH! YHWH, a merciful and gracious Elohim, slow to anger, and abundant in chesed and truth, 7keeping chesed for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.” 8Moshe hurried and bowed his head towards the earth, and worshipped. 9He said, “If now I have found favour in your sight, Adonai, please let Adonai go amongst us, even though this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” 10He said, “Behold, I make a Brit: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people amongst whom you are shall see the work of YHWH; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you. 11Observe that which I command you today. Behold, I will drive out before you the Emori, the Kna'ani, the Chitti, the Perizi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi. 12Be careful, lest you make a Brit with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare amongst you; 13but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherah poles; 14for you shall worship no other god; for YHWH, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous Elohim. 15“Don’t make a Brit with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice; 16and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods. 17“You shall make no cast idols for yourselves. 18“You shall keep the Chag HaMatzot. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Aviv; for in the month Aviv you came out of Mitzrayim. 19“All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb. If you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before me empty. 21“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in ploughing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22“You shall observe the Chag HaShavuot with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of harvest at the year’s end. 23Three times in the year all your males shall appear before Adonai YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael. 24For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before YHWH, your Elohim, three times in the year. 25“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The sacrifice of the feast of the Pesach shall not be left to the morning. 26“You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of YHWH your Elohim. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” 27YHWH said to Moshe, “Write these words; for in accordance with these words I have made a Brit with you and with Yisrael.” 28He was there with YHWH forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the Brit, the Aseret HaDibrot. 29When Moshe came down from Har Sinai with the two tablets of the Brit in Moshe’s hand, when he came down from the mountain, Moshe didn’t know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. 30When Aharon and all the children of Yisrael saw Moshe, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come near him. 31Moshe called to them, and Aharon and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moshe spoke to them. 32Afterward all the children of Yisrael came near, and he gave them all the mitzvot that YHWH had spoken with him on Har Sinai. 33When Moshe was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34But when Moshe went in before YHWH to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Yisrael that which he was commanded. 35The children of Yisrael saw Moshe’s face, that the skin of Moshe’s face shone; so Moshe put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Chapter 35

1Moshe assembled all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, and said to them, “These are the words which YHWH has commanded, that you should do them. 2‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a kodesh day for you, a Shabbat of solemn rest to YHWH: whoever does any work in it shall be put to death. 3You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Shabbat day.’” 4Moshe spoke to all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, saying, “This is the thing which YHWH commanded, saying, 5‘Take from amongst you an offering to YHWH. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as YHWH’s offering: gold, silver, bronze, 6blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, 7rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, 8oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, 9onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. 10“‘Let every wise-hearted man amongst you come, and make all that YHWH has commanded: 11the Mishkan, its outer covering, its roof, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; 12the ark, and its poles, the chesed seat, the veil of the screen; 13the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the show bread; 14the lamp stand also for the light, with its vessels, its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door, at the door of the Mishkan; 16the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its vessels, the basin and its base; 17the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18the pins of the Mishkan, the pins of the court, and their cords; 19the finely worked garments for ministering in the kodesh place—the kodesh garments for Aharon the priest, and the garments of his sons—to minister in the priest’s office.’” 20All the congregation of the children of Yisrael departed from the presence of Moshe. 21They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought YHWH’s offering for the work of the Ohel Mo'ed, and for all of its service, and for the kodesh garments. 22They came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, earrings, signet rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an offering of gold to YHWH. 23Everyone with whom was found blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and sea cow hides, brought them. 24Everyone who offered an offering of silver and bronze brought YHWH’s offering; and everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. 25All the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun: the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen. 26All the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats’ hair. 27The rulers brought the onyx stones and the stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate; 28with the spice and the oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 29The children of Yisrael brought a free will offering to YHWH; every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which YHWH had commanded to be made by Moshe. 30Moshe said to the children of Yisrael, “Behold, YHWH has called by name Betzalel the son of Uri, the son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehudah. 31He has filled him with the Ruach Elohim, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship; 32and to make skilful works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, 33in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skilful workmanship. 34He has put in his heart that he may teach, both he and Oholi'av, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35He has filled them with wisdom of heart to work all kinds of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skilful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any workmanship, and of those who make skilful works.

Chapter 36

1“Betzalel and Oholi'av shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom YHWH has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work for the service of the Mishkan, according to all that YHWH has commanded.” 2Moshe called Betzalel and Oholi'av, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart YHWH had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it. 3They received from Moshe all the offering which the children of Yisrael had brought for the work of the service of the Mishkan, with which to make it. They kept bringing free will offerings to him every morning. 4All the wise men, who performed all the work of the Mishkan, each came from his work which he did. 5They spoke to Moshe, saying, “The people have brought much more than enough for the service of the work which YHWH commanded to make.” 6Moshe gave a mitzvah, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make anything else for the offering for the Mishkan.” So the people were restrained from bringing. 7For the stuff they had was sufficient to do all the work, and too much. 8All the wise-hearted men amongst those who did the work made the Mishkan with ten curtains of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet. They made them with cherubim, the work of a skilful workman. 9The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains had one measure. 10He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11He made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling. Likewise he made in the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second coupling. 12He made fifty loops in the one curtain, and he made fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that was in the second coupling. The loops were opposite to one another. 13He made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps: so the Mishkan was a unit. 14He made curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the Mishkan. He made them eleven curtains. 15The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits the width of each curtain. The eleven curtains had one measure. 16He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. 17He made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the coupling, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which was outermost in the second coupling. 18He made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together, that it might be a unit. 19He made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above. 20He made the boards for the Mishkan of acacia wood, standing up. 21Ten cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the width of each board. 22Each board had two tenons, joined to one another. He made all the boards of the Mishkan this way. 23He made the boards for the Mishkan, twenty boards for the south side southward. 24He made forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. 25For the second side of the Mishkan, on the north side, he made twenty boards 26and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. 27For the far part of the Mishkan westward he made six boards. 28He made two boards for the corners of the Mishkan in the far part. 29They were double beneath, and in the same way they were all the way to its top to one ring. He did this to both of them in the two corners. 30There were eight boards and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets—under every board two sockets. 31He made bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the Mishkan, 32and five bars for the boards of the other side of the Mishkan, and five bars for the boards of the Mishkan for the hinder part westward. 33He made the middle bar to pass through in the middle of the boards from the one end to the other. 34He overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold as places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold. 35He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. He made it the work of a skilful workman. 36He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold. He cast four sockets of silver for them. 37He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer; 38and the five pillars of it with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold, and their five sockets were of bronze.

Chapter 37

1Betzalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. 2He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a moulding of gold for it around it. 3He cast four rings of gold for it in its four feet—two rings on its one side, and two rings on its other side. 4He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 5He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. 6He made a chesed seat of pure gold. Its length was two and a half cubits, and a cubit and a half its width. 7He made two cherubim of gold. He made them of beaten work, at the two ends of the chesed seat: 8one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. He made the cherubim of one piece with the chesed seat at its two ends. 9The cherubim spread out their wings above, covering the chesed seat with their wings, with their faces towards one another. The faces of the cherubim were towards the chesed seat. 10He made the table of acacia wood. Its length was two cubits, and its width was a cubit, and its height was a cubit and a half. 11He overlaid it with pure gold, and made a gold moulding around it. 12He made a border of a hand’s width around it, and made a golden moulding on its border around it. 13He cast four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that were on its four feet. 14The rings were close by the border, the places for the poles to carry the table. 15He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table. 16He made the vessels which were on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its bowls, and its pitchers with which to pour out, of pure gold. 17He made the lamp stand of pure gold. He made the lamp stand of beaten work. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers were of one piece with it. 18There were six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lamp stand out of its one side, and three branches of the lamp stand out of its other side: 19three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower, and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower; so for the six branches going out of the lamp stand. 20In the lamp stand were four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; 21and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of it. 22Their buds and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole thing was one beaten work of pure gold. 23He made its seven lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, of pure gold. 24He made it of a talent of pure gold, with all its vessels. 25He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. It was square: its length was a cubit, and its width a cubit. Its height was two cubits. Its horns were of one piece with it. 26He overlaid it with pure gold: its top, its sides around it, and its horns. He made a gold moulding around it. 27He made two golden rings for it under its moulding crown, on its two ribs, on its two sides, for places for poles with which to carry it. 28He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. 29He made the kodesh anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, after the art of the perfumer.

Chapter 38

1He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. It was square. Its length was five cubits, its width was five cubits, and its height was three cubits. 2He made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. 3He made all the vessels of the altar: the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its vessels of bronze. 4He made for the altar a grating of a network of bronze, under the ledge around it beneath, reaching halfway up. 5He cast four rings for the four corners of bronze grating, to be places for the poles. 6He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bronze. 7He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks. 8He made the basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, out of the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 9He made the court: for the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, one hundred cubits; 10their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 11For the north side one hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of bronze; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. 12For the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. 13For the east side eastward fifty cubits, 14the hangings for the one side were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three; 15and so for the other side: on this hand and that hand by the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 16All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen. 17The sockets for the pillars were of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. Their capitals were overlaid with silver. All the pillars of the court had silver bands. 18The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height along the width was five cubits, like the hangings of the court. 19Their pillars were four, and their sockets four, of bronze; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals, and their fillets, of silver. 20All the pins of the Mishkan, and around the court, were of bronze. 21These are the amounts of materials used for the Mishkan, even the Mishkan of the Testimony, as they were counted, according to the mitzvah of Moshe, for the service of the Levi'im, by the hand of Itamar, the son of Aharon the priest. 22Betzalel the son of Uri, the son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehudah, made all that YHWH commanded Moshe. 23With him was Oholi'av, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skilful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen. 24All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the Mishkan, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan. 25The silver of those who were counted of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand and seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan: 26a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, for everyone who passed over to those who were counted, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. 27The one hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the Mishkan and the sockets of the veil: one hundred sockets for the one hundred talents, one talent per socket. 28From the one thousand and seven hundred and seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them. 29The bronze of the offering was seventy talents and two thousand and four hundred shekels. 30With this he made the sockets to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, all the vessels of the altar, 31the sockets around the court, the sockets of the gate of the court, all the pins of the Mishkan, and all the pins around the court.

Chapter 39

1Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely worked garments for ministering in the kodesh place, and made the kodesh garments for Aharon, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 2He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. 3They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in with the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen, the work of the skilful workman. 4They made shoulder straps for it, joined together. It was joined together at the two ends. 5The skilfully woven band that was on it, with which to fasten it on, was of the same piece, like its work: of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 6They worked the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold, engraved with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Yisrael. 7He put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Yisrael, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 8He made the breastplate, the work of a skilful workman, like the work of the ephod: of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. 9It was square. They made the breastplate double. Its length was a span, and its width a span, being double. 10They set in it four rows of stones. A row of ruby, topaz, and beryl was the first row; 11and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 12and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold settings. 14The stones were according to the names of the children of Yisrael, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, for the twelve tribes. 15They made on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. 16They made two settings of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 17They put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. 18The other two ends of the two braided chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, in its front. 19They made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which was towards the side of the ephod inward. 20They made two more rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in its front, close by its coupling, above the skilfully woven band of the ephod. 21They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be on the skilfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not come loose from the ephod, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 22He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. 23The opening of the robe in the middle of it was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around its opening, that it should not be torn. 24They made on the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet, and twined linen. 25They made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates around the skirts of the robe, between the pomegranates; 26a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, around the skirts of the robe, to minister in, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 27They made the tunics of fine linen of woven work for Aharon and for his sons, 28the turban of fine linen, the linen headbands of fine linen, the linen trousers of fine twined linen, 29the sash of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 30They made the plate of the kodesh crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engravings of a signet: “HOLY TO THE YHWH”. 31They tied to it a lace of blue, to fasten it on the turban above, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 32Thus all the work of the Mishkan of the Ohel Mo'ed was finished. The children of Yisrael did according to all that YHWH commanded Moshe; so they did. 33They brought the Mishkan to Moshe: the tent, with all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, 34the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, the covering of sea cow hides, the veil of the screen, 35the Aron HaBrit with its poles, the chesed seat, 36the table, all its vessels, the show bread, 37the pure lamp stand, its lamps, even the lamps to be set in order, all its vessels, the oil for the light, 38the golden altar, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door of the Tent, 39the bronze altar, its grating of bronze, its poles, all of its vessels, the basin and its base, 40the hangings of the court, its pillars, its sockets, the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, its pins, and all the instruments of the service of the Mishkan, for the Ohel Mo'ed, 41the finely worked garments for ministering in the kodesh place, the kodesh garments for Aharon the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office. 42According to all that YHWH commanded Moshe, so the children of Yisrael did all the work. 43Moshe saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as YHWH had commanded. They had done so; and Moshe blessed them.

Chapter 40

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“On the first day of the first month you shall raise up the Mishkan of the Ohel Mo'ed. 3You shall put the Aron HaBrit in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. 4You shall bring in the table, and set in order the things that are on it. You shall bring in the lamp stand, and light its lamps. 5You shall set the golden altar for incense before the Aron HaBrit, and put the screen of the door to the Mishkan. 6“You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the Mishkan of the Ohel Mo'ed. 7You shall set the basin between the Ohel Mo'ed and the altar, and shall put water therein. 8You shall set up the court around it, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court. 9“You shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the Mishkan and all that is in it, and shall make it kodesh, and all its furniture, and it will be kodesh. 10You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and sanctify the altar, and the altar will be most kodesh. 11You shall anoint the basin and its base, and sanctify it. 12“You shall bring Aharon and his sons to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, and shall wash them with water. 13You shall put on Aharon the kodesh garments; and you shall anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. 14You shall bring his sons, and put tunics on them. 15You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. Their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.” 16Moshe did so. According to all that YHWH commanded him, so he did. 17In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the Mishkan was raised up. 18Moshe raised up the Mishkan, and laid its sockets, and set up its boards, and put in its bars, and raised up its pillars. 19He spread the covering over the tent, and put the roof of the Mishkan above on it, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 20He took and put the Brit into the ark, and set the poles on the ark, and put the chesed seat above on the ark. 21He brought the ark into the Mishkan, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the Aron HaBrit, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 22He put the table in the Ohel Mo'ed, on the north side of the Mishkan, outside of the veil. 23He set the bread in order on it before YHWH, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 24He put the lamp stand in the Ohel Mo'ed, opposite the table, on the south side of the Mishkan. 25He lit the lamps before YHWH, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 26He put the golden altar in the Ohel Mo'ed before the veil; 27and he burnt incense of sweet spices on it, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 28He put up the screen of the door to the Mishkan. 29He set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the Mishkan of the Ohel Mo'ed, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 30He set the basin between the Ohel Mo'ed and the altar, and put water therein, with which to wash. 31Moshe, Aharon, and his sons washed their hands and their feet there. 32When they went into the Ohel Mo'ed, and when they came near to the altar, they washed, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 33He raised up the court around the Mishkan and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moshe finished the work. 34Then the cloud covered the Ohel Mo'ed, and YHWH’s kavod filled the Mishkan. 35Moshe wasn’t able to enter into the Ohel Mo'ed, because the cloud stayed on it, and YHWH’s kavod filled the Mishkan. 36When the cloud was taken up from over the Mishkan, the children of Yisrael went onward, throughout all their journeys; 37but if the cloud wasn’t taken up, then they didn’t travel until the day that it was taken up. 38For the cloud of YHWH was on the Mishkan by day, and there was fire in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Yisrael, throughout all their journeys.

Vayikra

Chapter 1

1YHWH called to Moshe, and spoke to him from the Ohel Mo'ed, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘When anyone of you offers an offering to YHWH, you shall offer your offering of the livestock, from the herd and from the flock. 3“‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without defect. He shall offer it at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, that he may be accepted before YHWH. 4He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 5He shall kill the bull before YHWH. Aharon’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 6He shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. 7The sons of Aharon the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay wood in order on the fire; 8and Aharon’s sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar; 9but he shall wash its innards and its legs with water. The priest shall burn all of it on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 10“‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without defect. 11He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before YHWH. Aharon’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 12He shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. The priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar, 13but the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 14“‘If his offering to YHWH is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall offer his offering from turtledoves or of young pigeons. 15The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar; 16and he shall take away its crop and its feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes. 17He shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart. The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH.

Chapter 2

1“‘When anyone offers an offering of a meal offering to YHWH, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it. 2He shall bring it to Aharon’s sons, the priests. He shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense, and the priest shall burn its memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 3That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aharon’s and his sons’. It is a most kodesh part of the offerings of YHWH made by fire. 4“‘When you offer an offering of a meal offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. 5If your offering is a meal offering made on a griddle, it shall be of unleavened fine flour, mixed with oil. 6You shall cut it in pieces, and pour oil on it. It is a meal offering. 7If your offering is a meal offering of the pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8You shall bring the meal offering that is made of these things to YHWH. It shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar. 9The priest shall take from the meal offering its memorial, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 10That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aharon’s and his sons’. It is a most kodesh part of the offerings of YHWH made by fire. 11“‘No meal offering which you shall offer to YHWH shall be made with yeast; for you shall burn no yeast, nor any honey, as an offering made by fire to YHWH. 12As an offering of first fruits you shall offer them to YHWH, but they shall not rise up as a pleasant aroma on the altar. 13Every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt. You shall not allow the salt of the Brit of your Elohim to be lacking from your meal offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt. 14“‘If you offer a meal offering of first fruits to YHWH, you shall offer for the meal offering of your first fruits fresh heads of grain parched with fire and crushed. 15You shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it. It is a meal offering. 16The priest shall burn as its memorial part of its crushed grain and part of its oil, along with all its frankincense. It is an offering made by fire to YHWH.

Chapter 3

1“‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before YHWH. 2He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. Aharon’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar. 3He shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to YHWH. The fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, 4and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. 5Aharon’s sons shall burn it on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 6“‘If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to YHWH is from the flock, either male or female, he shall offer it without defect. 7If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before YHWH; 8and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the Ohel Mo'ed. Aharon’s sons shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 9He shall offer from the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to YHWH; its fat, the entire tail fat, he shall take away close to the backbone; and the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, 10and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. 11The priest shall burn it on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to YHWH. 12“‘If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before YHWH. 13He shall lay his hand on its head, and kill it before the Ohel Mo'ed; and the sons of Aharon shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 14He shall offer from it as his offering, an offering made by fire to YHWH; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, 15and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. 16The priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma; all the fat is YHWH’s. 17“‘It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.’”

Chapter 4

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which YHWH has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them, 3if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without defect to YHWH for a sin offering. 4He shall bring the bull to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed before YHWH; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and kill the bull before YHWH. 5The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Ohel Mo'ed. 6The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before YHWH, before the veil of the Mishkan. 7The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before YHWH, which is in the Ohel Mo'ed; and he shall pour out the rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 8He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering from it: the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, 9and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall remove, 10as it is removed from the bull of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. 11He shall carry the bull’s skin, all its meat, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung 12—all the rest of the bull—outside of the camp to a clean place where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. It shall be burnt where the ashes are poured out. 13“‘If the whole congregation of Yisrael sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which YHWH has commanded not to be done, and are guilty; 14when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Ohel Mo'ed. 15The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before YHWH; and the bull shall be killed before YHWH. 16The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull to the Ohel Mo'ed. 17The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before YHWH, before the veil. 18He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before YHWH, that is in the Ohel Mo'ed; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 19All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar. 20He shall do this with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so he shall do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. 21He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burnt the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly. 22“‘When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which YHWH his Elohim has commanded not to be done, and is guilty, 23if his sin in which he has sinned is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without defect. 24He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before YHWH. It is a sin offering. 25The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven. 27“‘If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which YHWH has commanded not to be done, and is guilty, 28if his sin which he has sinned is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has sinned. 29He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. 30The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 31All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma to YHWH; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven. 32“‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect. 33He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 35He shall remove all its fat, like the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of YHWH made by fire. The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.

Chapter 5

1“‘If anyone sins, in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, he being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he doesn’t report it, then he shall bear his iniquity. 2“‘Or if anyone touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and it is hidden from him, and he is unclean, then he shall be guilty. 3“‘Or if he touches the uncleanness of man, whatever his uncleanness is with which he is unclean, and it is hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty. 4“‘Or if anyone swears rashly with his lips to do evil or to do good—whatever it is that a man might utter rashly with an oath, and it is hidden from him—when he knows of it, then he will be guilty of one of these. 5It shall be, when he is guilty of one of these, he shall confess that in which he has sinned; 6and he shall bring his trespass offering to YHWH for his sin which he has sinned: a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin. 7“‘If he can’t afford a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to YHWH; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. 8He shall bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one which is for the sin offering. He shall wring off its head from its neck, but shall not sever it completely. 9He shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. 10He shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has sinned, and he shall be forgiven. 11“‘But if he can’t afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for that in which he has sinned, one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, and he shall not put any frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, on the offerings of YHWH made by fire. It is a sin offering. 13The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned in any of these things, and he will be forgiven; and the rest shall be the priest’s, as the meal offering.’” 14YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 15“If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly regarding YHWH’s kodesh things, then he shall bring his trespass offering to YHWH: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, for a trespass offering. 16He shall make restitution for that which he has done wrong regarding the kodesh thing, and shall add a fifth part to it, and give it to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and he will be forgiven. 17“If anyone sins, doing any of the things which YHWH has commanded not to be done, though he didn’t know it, he is still guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. 18He shall bring a ram without defect from of the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning the thing in which he sinned and didn’t know it, and he will be forgiven. 19It is a trespass offering. He is certainly guilty before YHWH.”

Chapter 6

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against YHWH, and deals falsely with his neighbour in a matter of deposit, or of bargain, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbour, 3or has found that which was lost, and lied about it, and swearing to a lie—in any of these things that a man sins in his actions— 4then it shall be, if he has sinned, and is guilty, he shall restore that which he took by robbery, or the thing which he has gotten by oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing which he found, 5or any thing about which he has sworn falsely: he shall restore it in full, and shall add a fifth part more to it. He shall return it to him to whom it belongs in the day of his being found guilty. 6He shall bring his trespass offering to YHWH: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest. 7The priest shall make atonement for him before YHWH, and he will be forgiven concerning whatever he does to become guilty.” 8YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 9“Command Aharon and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning; and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 10The priest shall put on his linen garment, and he shall put on his linen trousers upon his body; and he shall remove the ashes from where the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. 11He shall take off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 12The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning. He shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out. 14“‘This is the law of the meal offering: the sons of Aharon shall offer it before YHWH, before the altar. 15He shall take from there his handful of the fine flour of the meal offering, and of its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the meal offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma, as its memorial portion, to YHWH. 16That which is left of it Aharon and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten without yeast in a kodesh place. They shall eat it in the court of the Ohel Mo'ed. 17It shall not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most kodesh, as are the sin offering and the trespass offering. 18Every male amongst the children of Aharon shall eat of it, as their portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of YHWH made by fire. Whoever touches them shall be kodesh.’” 19YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 20“This is the offering of Aharon and of his sons, which they shall offer to YHWH in the day when he is anointed: one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening. 21It shall be made with oil in a griddle. When it is soaked, you shall bring it in. You shall offer the meal offering in baked pieces for a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 22The anointed priest that will be in his place from amongst his sons shall offer it. By a statute forever, it shall be wholly burnt to YHWH. 23Every meal offering of a priest shall be wholly burnt. It shall not be eaten.” 24YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 25“Speak to Aharon and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before YHWH. It is most kodesh. 26The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a kodesh place, in the court of the Ohel Mo'ed. 27Whatever shall touch its flesh shall be kodesh. When there is any of its blood sprinkled on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled in a kodesh place. 28But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken; and if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it shall be scoured, and rinsed in water. 29Every male amongst the priests shall eat of it. It is most kodesh. 30No sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the Ohel Mo'ed to make atonement in the Kodesh Place, shall be eaten. It shall be burnt with fire.

Chapter 7

1“‘This is the law of the trespass offering: It is most kodesh. 2In the place where they kill the burnt offering, he shall kill the trespass offering; and its blood he shall sprinkle around on the altar. 3He shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards, 4and he shall take away the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys; 5and the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to YHWH: it is a trespass offering. 6Every male amongst the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a kodesh place. It is most kodesh. 7“‘As is the sin offering, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with them shall have it. 8The priest who offers any man’s burnt offering shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered. 9Every meal offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is prepared in the pan and on the griddle, shall be the priest’s who offers it. 10Every meal offering, mixed with oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aharon, one as well as another. 11“‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to YHWH: 12If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mixed with oil. 13He shall offer his offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving with cakes of leavened bread. 14Of it he shall offer one out of each offering for a heave offering to YHWH. It shall be the priest’s who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings. 15The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. 16“‘But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a free will offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice. On the next day what remains of it shall be eaten, 17but what remains of the meat of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire. 18If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted, and it shall not be credited to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats any of it will bear his iniquity. 19“‘The meat that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burnt with fire. As for the meat, everyone who is clean may eat it; 20but the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to YHWH, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people. 21When anyone touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats some of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to YHWH, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’” 22YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 23“Speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘You shall eat no fat, of bull, or sheep, or goat. 24The fat of that which dies of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of animals, may be used for any other service, but you shall in no way eat of it. 25For whoever eats the fat of the animal which men offer as an offering made by fire to YHWH, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off from his people. 26You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings. 27Whoever it is who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’” 28YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 29“Speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to YHWH shall bring his offering to YHWH out of the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30With his own hands he shall bring the offerings of YHWH made by fire. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before YHWH. 31The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aharon’s and his sons’. 32The right thigh you shall give to the priest for a heave offering out of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. 33He amongst the sons of Aharon who offers the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for a portion. 34For the waved breast and the heaved thigh I have taken from the children of Yisrael out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aharon the priest and to his sons as their portion forever from the children of Yisrael.’” 35This is the consecrated portion of Aharon, and the consecrated portion of his sons, out of the offerings of YHWH made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister to YHWH in the priest’s office; 36which YHWH commanded to be given them of the children of Yisrael, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion forever throughout their generations. 37This is the law of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecration, and the sacrifice of peace offerings 38which YHWH commanded Moshe in Har Sinai in the day that he commanded the children of Yisrael to offer their offerings to YHWH, in the wilderness of Sinai.

Chapter 8

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Take Aharon and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread; 3and assemble all the congregation at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed.” 4Moshe did as YHWH commanded him; and the congregation was assembled at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 5Moshe said to the congregation, “This is the thing which YHWH has commanded to be done.” 6Moshe brought Aharon and his sons, and washed them with water. 7He put the tunic on him, tied the sash on him, clothed him with the robe, put the ephod on him, and he tied the skilfully woven band of the ephod on him and fastened it to him with it. 8He placed the breastplate on him. He put the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate. 9He set the turban on his head. He set the golden plate, the kodesh crown, on the front of the turban, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 10Moshe took the anointing oil, and anointed the Mishkan and all that was in it, and sanctified them. 11He sprinkled it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its base, to sanctify them. 12He poured some of the anointing oil on Aharon’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him. 13Moshe brought Aharon’s sons, and clothed them with tunics, and tied sashes on them, and put headbands on them, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 14He brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aharon and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15He killed it; and Moshe took the blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it. 16He took all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moshe burnt it on the altar. 17But the bull, and its skin, and its meat, and its dung, he burnt with fire outside the camp, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 18He presented the ram of the burnt offering. Aharon and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19He killed it; and Moshe sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 20He cut the ram into its pieces; and Moshe burnt the head, and the pieces, and the fat. 21He washed the innards and the legs with water; and Moshe burnt the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma. It was an offering made by fire to YHWH, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 22He presented the other ram, the ram of consecration. Aharon and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23He killed it; and Moshe took some of its blood, and put it on the tip of Aharon’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot. 24He brought Aharon’s sons; and Moshe put some of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and Moshe sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 25He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat that was on the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh; 26and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before YHWH, he took one unleavened cake, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat and on the right thigh. 27He put all these in Aharon’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before YHWH. 28Moshe took them from their hands, and burnt them on the altar on the burnt offering. They were a consecration offering for a pleasant aroma. It was an offering made by fire to YHWH. 29Moshe took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before YHWH. It was Moshe’s portion of the ram of consecration, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 30Moshe took some of the anointing oil, and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aharon, on his garments, and on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him, and sanctified Aharon, his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. 31Moshe said to Aharon and to his sons, “Boil the meat at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aharon and his sons shall eat it.’ 32What remains of the meat and of the bread you shall burn with fire. 33You shall not go out from the door of the Ohel Mo'ed for seven days, until the days of your consecration are fulfilled: for he shall consecrate you seven days. 34What has been done today, so YHWH has commanded to do, to make atonement for you. 35You shall stay at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed day and night seven days, and keep YHWH’s command, that you don’t die: for so I am commanded.” 36Aharon and his sons did all the things which YHWH commanded by Moshe.

Chapter 9

1On the eighth day, Moshe called Aharon and his sons, and the elders of Yisrael; 2and he said to Aharon, “Take a calf from the herd for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without defect, and offer them before YHWH. 3You shall speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without defect, for a burnt offering; 4and a bull and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before YHWH; and a meal offering mixed with oil: for today YHWH appears to you.’” 5They brought what Moshe commanded before the Ohel Mo'ed. All the congregation came near and stood before YHWH. 6Moshe said, “This is the thing which YHWH commanded that you should do; and YHWH’s kavod shall appear to you.” 7Moshe said to Aharon, “Draw near to the altar, and offer your sin offering, and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself, and for the people; and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as YHWH commanded.” 8So Aharon came near to the altar, and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9The sons of Aharon presented the blood to him; and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar; 10but the fat, and the kidneys, and the cover from the liver of the sin offering, he burnt upon the altar, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 11The meat and the skin he burnt with fire outside the camp. 12He killed the burnt offering; and Aharon’s sons delivered the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar. 13They delivered the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head. He burnt them upon the altar. 14He washed the innards and the legs, and burnt them on the burnt offering on the altar. 15He presented the people’s offering, and took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people, and killed it, and offered it for sin, like the first. 16He presented the burnt offering, and offered it according to the ordinance. 17He presented the meal offering, and filled his hand from there, and burnt it upon the altar, in addition to the burnt offering of the morning. 18He also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people. Aharon’s sons delivered to him the blood, which he sprinkled around on the altar; 19and the fat of the bull and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the innards, and the kidneys, and the cover of the liver; 20and they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burnt the fat on the altar. 21Aharon waved the breasts and the right thigh for a wave offering before YHWH, as Moshe commanded. 22Aharon lifted up his hands towards the people, and blessed them; and he came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings. 23Moshe and Aharon went into the Ohel Mo'ed, and came out, and blessed the people; and YHWH’s kavod appeared to all the people. 24Fire came out from before YHWH, and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

Chapter 10

1Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before YHWH, which he had not commanded them. 2Fire came out from before YHWH, and devoured them, and they died before YHWH. 3Then Moshe said to Aharon, “This is what YHWH spoke of, saying, ‘I will show myself kodesh to those who come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” Aharon held his peace. 4Moshe called Misha'el and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzi'el the uncle of Aharon, and said to them, “Draw near, carry your brothers from before the Mishkan out of the camp.” 5So they came near, and carried them in their tunics out of the camp, as Moshe had said. 6Moshe said to Aharon, and to El'azar and to Itamar, his sons, “Don’t let the hair of your heads go loose, and don’t tear your clothes, so that you don’t die, and so that he will not be angry with all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Yisrael, bewail the burning which YHWH has kindled. 7You shall not go out from the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, lest you die; for the anointing oil of YHWH is on you.” They did according to the word of Moshe. 8Then YHWH said to Aharon, 9“You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink whenever you go into the Ohel Mo'ed, or you will die. This shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10You are to make a distinction between the kodesh and the common, and between the unclean and the clean. 11You are to teach the children of Yisrael all the statutes which YHWH has spoken to them by Moshe.” 12Moshe spoke to Aharon, and to El'azar and to Itamar, his sons who were left, “Take the meal offering that remains of the offerings of YHWH made by fire, and eat it without yeast beside the altar; for it is most kodesh; 13and you shall eat it in a kodesh place, because it is your portion, and your sons’ portion, of the offerings of YHWH made by fire; for so I am commanded. 14The waved breast and the heaved thigh you shall eat in a clean place, you, and your sons, and your daughters with you: for they are given as your portion, and your sons’ portion, out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the children of Yisrael. 15They shall bring the heaved thigh and the waved breast with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before YHWH. It shall be yours, and your sons’ with you, as a portion forever, as YHWH has commanded.” 16Moshe diligently enquired about the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt. He was angry with El'azar and with Itamar, the sons of Aharon who were left, saying, 17“Why haven’t you eaten the sin offering in the place of the Mishkan, since it is most kodesh, and he has given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before YHWH? 18Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the Mishkan. You certainly should have eaten it in the Mishkan, as I commanded.” 19Aharon spoke to Moshe, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before YHWH; and such things as these have happened to me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been pleasing in YHWH’s sight?” 20When Moshe heard that, it was pleasing in his sight.

Chapter 11

1YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying to them, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘These are the living things which you may eat amongst all the animals that are on the earth. 3Whatever parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and chews the cud amongst the animals, that you may eat. 4“‘Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those who part the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, is unclean to you. 5The hyrax, because it chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, is unclean to you. 6The hare, because it chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, is unclean to you. 7The pig, because it has a split hoof, and is cloven-footed, but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8You shall not eat their meat. You shall not touch their carcasses. They are unclean to you. 9“‘You may eat of all these that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, that you may eat. 10All that don’t have fins and scales in the seas and rivers, all that move in the waters, and all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are an abomination to you, 11and you shall detest them. You shall not eat of their meat, and you shall detest their carcasses. 12Whatever has no fins nor scales in the waters is an abomination to you. 13“‘You shall detest these amongst the birds; they shall not be eaten because they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, 14the red kite, any kind of black kite, 15any kind of raven, 16the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 17the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, 18the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, 19the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. 20“‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination to you. 21Yet you may eat these: of all winged creeping things that go on all fours, which have long, jointed legs for hopping on the earth. 22Even of these you may eat: any kind of locust, any kind of katydid, any kind of cricket, and any kind of grasshopper. 23But all winged creeping things which have four feet are an abomination to you. 24“‘By these you will become unclean: whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. 25Whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. 26“‘Every animal which has a split hoof that isn’t completely divided, or doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. 27Whatever goes on its paws, amongst all animals that go on all fours, they are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. 28He who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you. 29“‘These are they which are unclean to you amongst the creeping things that creep on the earth: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, 30the gecko, and the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink, and the chameleon. 31These are they which are unclean to you amongst all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. 32Anything they fall on when they are dead shall be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, with which any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening. Then it will be clean. 33Every earthen vessel into which any of them falls and all that is in it shall be unclean. You shall break it. 34All food which may be eaten which is soaked in water shall be unclean. All drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. 35Everything whereupon part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. 36Nevertheless a spring or a cistern in which water is gathered shall be clean, but that which touches their carcass shall be unclean. 37If part of their carcass falls on any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean. 38But if water is put on the seed, and part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you. 39“‘If any animal of which you may eat dies, he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening. 40He who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. 41“‘Every creeping thing that creeps on the earth is an abomination. It shall not be eaten. 42Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination. 43You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps. You shall not make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by them. 44For I am YHWH your Elohim. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be kodesh; for I am kodesh. You shall not defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth. 45For I am YHWH who brought you up out of the land of Mitzrayim, to be your Elohim. You shall therefore be kodesh, for I am kodesh. 46“‘This is the law of the animal, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, 47to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.’”

Chapter 12

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her monthly period she shall be unclean. 3In the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4She shall continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any kodesh thing, nor come into the Mishkan, until the days of her purifying are completed. 5But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her period; and she shall continue in the blood of purification sixty-six days. 6“‘When the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, a year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove, for a sin offering. 7He shall offer it before YHWH, and make atonement for her; then she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. “‘This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female. 8If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons: the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’”

Chapter 13

1YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 2“When a man shall have a swelling in his body’s skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aharon the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. 3The priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body. If the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of leprosy; so the priest shall examine him and pronounce him unclean. 4If the bright spot is white in the skin of his body, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and its hair hasn’t turned white, then the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days. 5The priest shall examine him on the seventh day. Behold, if in his eyes the plague is arrested and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days. 6The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day. Behold, if the plague has faded and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is a scab. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean. 7But if the scab spreads on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again. 8The priest shall examine him; and behold, if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy. 9“When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought to the priest; 10and the priest shall examine him. Behold, if there is a white swelling in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11it is a chronic leprosy in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not isolate him, for he is already unclean. 12“If the leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the infected person from his head even to his feet, as far as it appears to the priest, 13then the priest shall examine him. Behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean of the plague. It has all turned white: he is clean. 14But whenever raw flesh appears in him, he shall be unclean. 15The priest shall examine the raw flesh, and pronounce him unclean: the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy. 16Or if the raw flesh turns again, and is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest. 17The priest shall examine him. Behold, if the plague has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean of the plague. He is clean. 18“When the body has a boil on its skin, and it has healed, 19and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling, or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest. 20The priest shall examine it. Behold, if its appearance is deeper than the skin, and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. It has broken out in the boil. 21But if the priest examines it, and behold, there are no white hairs in it, and it isn’t deeper than the skin, but is dim, then the priest shall isolate him seven days. 22If it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a plague. 23But if the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn’t spread, it is the scar from the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 24“Or when the body has a burn from fire on its skin, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white, or white, 25then the priest shall examine it; and behold, if the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and its appearance is deeper than the skin, it is leprosy. It has broken out in the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. 26But if the priest examines it, and behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot, and it isn’t deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days. 27The priest shall examine him on the seventh day. If it has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. 28If the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn’t spread in the skin, but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar from the burn. 29“When a man or woman has a plague on the head or on the beard, 30then the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if its appearance is deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch. It is leprosy of the head or of the beard. 31If the priest examines the plague of itching, and behold, its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the person infected with itching seven days. 32On the seventh day the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the appearance of the itch isn’t deeper than the skin, 33then he shall be shaved, but he shall not shave the itch. Then the priest shall isolate the one who has the itch seven more days. 34On the seventh day, the priest shall examine the itch; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread in the skin, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, 36then the priest shall examine him; and behold, if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest shall not look for the yellow hair; he is unclean. 37But if in his eyes the itch is arrested and black hair has grown in it, then the itch is healed. He is clean. The priest shall pronounce him clean. 38“When a man or a woman has bright spots in the skin of the body, even white bright spots, 39then the priest shall examine them. Behold, if the bright spots on the skin of their body are a dull white, it is a harmless rash. It has broken out in the skin. He is clean. 40“If a man’s hair has fallen from his head, he is bald. He is clean. 41If his hair has fallen off from the front part of his head, his forehead is bald. He is clean. 42But if a reddish-white plague is in the bald head or the bald forehead, it is leprosy breaking out in his bald head or his bald forehead. 43Then the priest shall examine him. Behold, if the swelling of the plague is reddish-white in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the body, 44he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean. His plague is on his head. 45“The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. His dwelling shall be outside of the camp. 47“The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it is a woollen garment, or a linen garment; 48whether it is in warp or woof; of linen or of wool; whether in leather, or in anything made of leather; 49if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the leather, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything made of leather; it is the plague of leprosy, and shall be shown to the priest. 50The priest shall examine the plague, and isolate the plague seven days. 51He shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever use the skin is used for, the plague is a destructive mildew. It is unclean. 52He shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, in which the plague is, for it is a destructive mildew. It shall be burnt in the fire. 53“If the priest examines it, and behold, the plague hasn’t spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin; 54then the priest shall command that they wash the thing that the plague is in, and he shall isolate it seven more days. 55Then the priest shall examine it, after the plague is washed; and behold, if the plague hasn’t changed its colour, and the plague hasn’t spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire. It is a mildewed spot, whether the bareness is inside or outside. 56If the priest looks, and behold, the plague has faded after it is washed, then he shall tear it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof; 57and if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn what the plague is in with fire. 58The garment, either the warp, or the woof, or whatever thing of skin it is, which you shall wash, if the plague has departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and it will be clean.” 59This is the law of the plague of mildew in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or in anything of skin, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.

Chapter 14

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest, 3and the priest shall go out of the camp. The priest shall examine him. Behold, if the plague of leprosy is healed in the leper, 4then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. 5The priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. 6As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. 7He shall sprinkle on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field. 8“He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days. 9It shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water. Then he shall be clean. 10“On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without defect, one ewe lamb a year old without defect, three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with oil, and one log of oil. 11The priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed, and those things, before YHWH, at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 12“The priest shall take one of the male lambs, and offer him for a trespass offering, with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before YHWH. 13He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the Mishkan; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most kodesh. 14The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 15The priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. 16The priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before YHWH. 17The priest shall put some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering. 18The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before YHWH. 19“The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering; 20then the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean. 21“If he is poor, and can’t afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil; 22and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. 23“On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, before YHWH. 24The priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before YHWH. 25He shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 26The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand; 27and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before YHWH. 28Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering. 29The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before YHWH. 30He shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, which ever he is able to afford, 31of the kind he is able to afford, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before YHWH.” 32This is the law for him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to afford the sacrifice for his cleansing. 33YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 34“When you have come into the land of Kna'an, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession, 35then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, ‘There seems to me to be some sort of plague in the house.’ 36The priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes in to examine the plague, that all that is in the house not be made unclean. Afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house. 37He shall examine the plague; and behold, if the plague is in the walls of the house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, and it appears to be deeper than the wall, 38then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days. 39The priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the plague has spread in the walls of the house, 40then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the plague, and cast them into an unclean place outside of the city. 41He shall cause the inside of the house to be scraped all over. They shall pour out the mortar that they scraped off outside of the city into an unclean place. 42They shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house. 43“If the plague comes again, and breaks out in the house after he has taken out the stones, and after he has scraped the house, and after it was plastered, 44then the priest shall come in and look; and behold, if the plague has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew in the house. It is unclean. 45He shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house’s mortar. He shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place. 46“Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening. 47He who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes; and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes. 48“If the priest shall come in, and examine it, and behold, the plague hasn’t spread in the house, after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. 49To cleanse the house he shall take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop. 50He shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. 51He shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52He shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, with the living bird, with the cedar wood, with the hyssop, and with the scarlet; 53but he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field. So shall he make atonement for the house; and it shall be clean.” 54This is the law for any plague of leprosy, and for an itch, 55and for the destructive mildew of a garment, and for a house, 56and for a swelling, and for a scab, and for a bright spot; 57to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.

Chapter 15

1YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean. 3This shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body has stopped from his discharge, it is his uncleanness. 4“‘Every bed on which he who has the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything he sits on shall be unclean. 5Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 6He who sits on anything on which the man who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 7“‘He who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 8“‘If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 9“‘Whatever saddle he who has the discharge rides on shall be unclean. 10Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. He who carries those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 11“‘Whomever he who has the discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 12“‘The earthen vessel, which he who has the discharge touches, shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water. 13“‘When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean. 14“‘On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before YHWH to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, and give them to the priest. 15The priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him before YHWH for his discharge. 16“‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening. 17Every garment and every skin which the semen is on shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening. 18If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening. 19“‘If a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days. Whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. 20“‘Everything that she lies on in her impurity shall be unclean. Everything also that she sits on shall be unclean. 21Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 22Whoever touches anything that she sits on shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 23If it is on the bed, or on anything she sits on, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until the evening. 24“‘If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on shall be unclean. 25“‘If a woman has a discharge of her blood many days not in the time of her period, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her period, all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness shall be as in the days of her period. She is unclean. 26Every bed she lies on all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her period. Everything she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her period. 27Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 28“‘But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 30The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before YHWH for the uncleanness of her discharge. 31“‘Thus you shall separate the children of Yisrael from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness when they defile my Mishkan that is amongst them.’” 32This is the law of him who has a discharge, and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean by it; 33and of her who has her period, and of a man or woman who has a discharge, and of him who lies with her who is unclean.

Chapter 16

1YHWH spoke to Moshe after the death of the two sons of Aharon, when they came near before YHWH, and died; 2and YHWH said to Moshe, “Tell Aharon your brother not to come at just any time into the Most Kodesh Place within the veil, before the chesed seat which is on the ark; lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud on the chesed seat. 3“Aharon shall come into the Mishkan with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4He shall put on the kodesh linen tunic. He shall have the linen trousers on his body, and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be clothed with the linen turban. They are the kodesh garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and put them on. 5He shall take from the congregation of the children of Yisrael two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6“Aharon shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7He shall take the two goats, and set them before YHWH at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 8Aharon shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for YHWH, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9Aharon shall present the goat on which the lot fell for YHWH, and offer him for a sin offering. 10But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before YHWH, to make atonement for him, to send him away as the scapegoat into the wilderness. 11“Aharon shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. 12He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before YHWH, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil. 13He shall put the incense on the fire before YHWH, that the cloud of the incense may cover the chesed seat that is on the Brit, so that he will not die. 14He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the chesed seat on the east; and before the chesed seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 15“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the chesed seat and before the chesed seat. 16He shall make atonement for the Kodesh Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Yisrael, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Ohel Mo'ed that dwells with them in the middle of their uncleanness. 17No one shall be in the Ohel Mo'ed when he enters to make atonement in the Kodesh Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Yisrael. 18“He shall go out to the altar that is before YHWH and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull’s blood, and some of the goat’s blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar. 19He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it kodesh from the uncleanness of the children of Yisrael. 20“When he has finished atoning for the Kodesh Place, the Ohel Mo'ed, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21Aharon shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Yisrael, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is ready. 22The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. 23“Aharon shall come into the Ohel Mo'ed, and shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Kodesh Place, and shall leave them there. 24Then he shall bathe himself in water in a kodesh place, put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26“He who lets the goat go as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. 27The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Kodesh Place, shall be carried outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire. 28He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. 29“It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no kind of work, whether native-born or a stranger who lives as a foreigner amongst you; 30for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you. You shall be clean from all your sins before YHWH. 31It is a Shabbat of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father’s place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the kodesh garments. 33Then he shall make atonement for the Kodesh Mishkan; and he shall make atonement for the Ohel Mo'ed and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34“This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Yisrael once in the year because of all their sins.” It was done as YHWH commanded Moshe.

Chapter 17

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to Aharon, and to his sons, and to all the children of Yisrael, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which YHWH has commanded: 3Whatever man there is of the house of Yisrael who kills a bull, or lamb, or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, 4and hasn’t brought it to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed to offer it as an offering to YHWH before YHWH’s Mishkan: blood shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood. That man shall be cut off from amongst his people. 5This is to the end that the children of Yisrael may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to YHWH, to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to YHWH. 6The priest shall sprinkle the blood on YHWH’s altar at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, and burn the fat for a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 7They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’ 8“You shall say to them, ‘Any man there is of the house of Yisrael, or of the strangers who live as foreigners amongst them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9and doesn’t bring it to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed to sacrifice it to YHWH, that man shall be cut off from his people. 10“‘Any man of the house of Yisrael, or of the strangers who live as foreigners amongst them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from amongst his people. 11For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life. 12Therefore I have said to the children of Yisrael, “No person amongst you may eat blood, nor may any stranger who lives as a foreigner amongst you eat blood.” 13“‘Whatever man there is of the children of Yisrael, or of the strangers who live as foreigners amongst them, who takes in hunting any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust. 14For as to the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life. Therefore I said to the children of Yisrael, “You shall not eat the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.” 15“‘Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. Then he shall be clean. 16But if he doesn’t wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.’”

Chapter 18

1YHWH said to Moshe, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and say to them, ‘I am YHWH your Elohim. 3You shall not do as they do in the land of Mitzrayim, where you lived. You shall not do as they do in the land of Kna'an, where I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes. 4You shall do my ordinances. You shall keep my statutes and walk in them. I am YHWH your Elohim. 5You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am YHWH. 6“‘None of you shall approach any close relatives, to uncover their nakedness: I am YHWH. 7“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, nor the nakedness of your mother: she is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness. 8“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife. It is your father’s nakedness. 9“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or born abroad. 10“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter, or of your daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness; for theirs is your own nakedness. 11“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, conceived by your father, since she is your sister. 12“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister. She is your father’s near kinswoman. 13“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s near kinswoman. 14“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife. She is your aunt. 15“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness. 16“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife. It is your brother’s nakedness. 17“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter. You shall not take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near kinswomen. It is wickedness. 18“‘You shall not take a wife in addition to her sister, to be a rival, to uncover her nakedness, while her sister is still alive. 19“‘You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness. 20“‘You shall not lie carnally with your neighbour’s wife, and defile yourself with her. 21“‘You shall not give any of your children as a sacrifice to Molekh. You shall not profane the name of your Elohim. I am YHWH. 22“‘You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. That is detestable. 23“‘You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it. No woman may give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion. 24“‘Don’t defile yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled. 25The land was defiled. Therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out her inhabitants. 26You therefore shall keep my statutes and my ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the native-born, nor the stranger who lives as a foreigner amongst you 27(for the men of the land that were before you had done all these abominations, and the land became defiled), 28that the land not vomit you out also, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29“‘For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from amongst their people. 30Therefore you shall keep my requirements, that you do not practise any of these abominable customs which were practised before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them. I am YHWH your Elohim.’”

Chapter 19

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘You shall be kodesh; for I, YHWH your Elohim, am kodesh. 3“‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Shabbats. I am YHWH your Elohim. 4“‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am YHWH your Elohim. 5“‘When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to YHWH, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. If anything remains until the third day, it shall be burnt with fire. 7If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted; 8but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the kodesh thing of YHWH, and that soul shall be cut off from his people. 9“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am YHWH your Elohim. 11“‘You shall not steal. “‘You shall not lie. “‘You shall not deceive one another. 12“‘You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your Elohim. I am YHWH. 13“‘You shall not oppress your neighbour, nor rob him. “‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14“‘You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your Elohim. I am YHWH. 15“‘You shall do no injustice in judgement. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favouritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbour in righteousness. 16“‘You shall not go around as a slanderer amongst your people. “‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbour. I am YHWH. 17“‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. 18“‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am YHWH. 19“‘You shall keep my statutes. “‘You shall not cross-breed different kinds of animals. “‘You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; “‘Don’t wear a garment made of two kinds of material. 20“‘If a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave girl, pledged to be married to another man, and not ransomed or given her freedom; they shall be punished. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 21He shall bring his trespass offering to YHWH, to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, even a ram for a trespass offering. 22The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before YHWH for his sin which he has committed; and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him. 23“‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. For three years it shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten. 24But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be kodesh, for giving praise to YHWH. 25In the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, that it may yield its increase to you. I am YHWH your Elohim. 26“‘You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it. You shall not use enchantments, nor practise sorcery. 27“‘You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your head or clip off the edge of your beard. 28“‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am YHWH. 29“‘Don’t profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness. 30“‘You shall keep my Shabbats, and reverence my Mishkan; I am YHWH. 31“‘Don’t turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am YHWH your Elohim. 32“‘You shall rise up before the grey head and honour the face of the elderly; and you shall fear your Elohim. I am YHWH. 33“‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born amongst you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Mitzrayim. I am YHWH your Elohim. 35“‘You shall do no unrighteousness in judgement, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity. 36You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim. 37“‘You shall observe all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them. I am YHWH.’”

Chapter 20

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Moreover, you shall tell the children of Yisrael, ‘Anyone of the children of Yisrael, or of the strangers who live as foreigners in Yisrael, who gives any of his offspring to Molekh shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone that person with stones. 3I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from amongst his people, because he has given of his offspring to Molekh, to defile my Mishkan, and to profane my kodesh name. 4If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person when he gives of his offspring to Molekh, and don’t put him to death, 5then I will set my face against that man and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who play the prostitute after him to play the prostitute with Molekh, from amongst their people. 6“‘The person that turns to those who are mediums and wizards, to play the prostitute after them, I will even set my face against that person, and will cut him off from amongst his people. 7“‘Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be kodesh; for I am YHWH your Elohim. 8You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am YHWH who sanctifies you. 9“‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon himself. 10“‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11“‘The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon themselves. 12“‘If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed a perversion. Their blood shall be upon themselves. 13“‘If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon themselves. 14“‘If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burnt with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness amongst you. 15“‘If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; and you shall kill the animal. 16“‘If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. 17“‘If a man takes his sister—his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter—and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a shameful thing. They shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his iniquity. 18“‘If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness, he has made her fountain naked, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from amongst their people. 19“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, nor of your father’s sister, for he has made his close relative naked. They shall bear their iniquity. 20If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin. They shall die childless. 21“‘If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is an impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless. 22“‘You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. 23You shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. 24But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am YHWH your Elohim, who has separated you from the peoples. 25“‘You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean. You shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you. 26You shall be kodesh to me, for I, YHWH, am kodesh, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine. 27“‘A man or a woman that is a medium or is a wizard shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones. Their blood shall be upon themselves.’”

Chapter 21

1YHWH said to Moshe, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aharon, and say to them, ‘A priest shall not defile himself for the dead amongst his people, 2except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother, 3and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. 4He shall not defile himself, being a chief man amongst his people, to profane himself. 5“‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh. 6They shall be kodesh to their Elohim, and not profane the name of their Elohim, for they offer the offerings of YHWH made by fire, the bread of their Elohim. Therefore they shall be kodesh. 7“‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is kodesh to his Elohim. 8Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your Elohim. He shall be kodesh to you, for I YHWH, who sanctify you, am kodesh. 9“‘The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father. She shall be burnt with fire. 10“‘He who is the high priest amongst his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, or tear his clothes. 11He must not go in to any dead body, or defile himself for his father or for his mother. 12He shall not go out of the Mishkan, nor profane the Mishkan of his Elohim; for the crown of the anointing oil of his Elohim is upon him. I am YHWH. 13“‘He shall take a wife in her virginity. 14He shall not marry a widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute. He shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife. 15He shall not profane his offspring amongst his people, for I am YHWH who sanctifies him.’” 16YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 17“Say to Aharon, ‘None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his Elohim. 18For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity, 19or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand, 20or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles. 21No man of the offspring of Aharon the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings of YHWH made by fire. Since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his Elohim. 22He shall eat the bread of his Elohim, both of the most kodesh, and of the kodesh. 23He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a defect; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am YHWH who sanctifies them.’” 24So Moshe spoke to Aharon, and to his sons, and to all the children of Yisrael.

Chapter 22

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Tell Aharon and his sons to separate themselves from the kodesh things of the children of Yisrael, which they make kodesh to me, and that they not profane my kodesh name. I am YHWH. 3“Tell them, ‘If anyone of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the kodesh things which the children of Yisrael make kodesh to YHWH, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from before me. I am YHWH. 4“‘Whoever of the offspring of Aharon is a leper or has a discharge shall not eat of the kodesh things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man who has a seminal emission, 5or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he may be made unclean, or a man from whom he may become unclean, whatever uncleanness he has— 6the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the kodesh things unless he bathes his body in water. 7When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the kodesh things, because it is his bread. 8He shall not eat that which dies of itself or is torn by animals, defiling himself by it. I am YHWH. 9“‘They shall therefore follow my mitzvah, lest they bear sin for it and die in it, if they profane it. I am YHWH who sanctifies them. 10“‘No stranger shall eat of the kodesh thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the kodesh thing. 11But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and those who are born in his house shall eat of his bread. 12If a priest’s daughter is married to an outsider, she shall not eat of the heave offering of the kodesh things. 13But if a priest’s daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s bread; but no stranger shall eat any of it. 14“‘If a man eats something kodesh unwittingly, then he shall add the fifth part of its value to it, and shall give the kodesh thing to the priest. 15The priests shall not profane the kodesh things of the children of Yisrael, which they offer to YHWH, 16and so cause them to bear the iniquity that brings guilt when they eat their kodesh things; for I am YHWH who sanctifies them.’” 17YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 18“Speak to Aharon, and to his sons, and to all the children of Yisrael, and say to them, ‘Whoever is of the house of Yisrael, or of the foreigners in Yisrael, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their free will offerings, which they offer to YHWH for a burnt offering: 19that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without defect, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats. 20But you shall not offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you. 21Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to YHWH to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect. 22You shall not offer what is blind, is injured, is maimed, has a wart, is festering, or has a running sore to YHWH, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to YHWH. 23Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a free will offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. 24You must not offer to YHWH that which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut. You must not do this in your land. 25You must not offer any of these as the bread of your Elohim from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is in them. There is a defect in them. They shall not be accepted for you.’” 26YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 27“When a bull, a sheep, or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother. From the eighth day on it shall be accepted for the offering of an offering made by fire to YHWH. 28Whether it is a cow or ewe, you shall not kill it and its young both in one day. 29“When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to YHWH, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the morning. I am YHWH. 31“Therefore you shall keep my mitzvot, and do them. I am YHWH. 32You shall not profane my kodesh name, but I will be made kodesh amongst the children of Yisrael. I am YHWH who makes you kodesh, 33who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, to be your Elohim. I am YHWH.”

Chapter 23

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘The set feasts of YHWH, which you shall proclaim to be kodesh convocations, even these are my set feasts. 3“‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Shabbat of solemn rest, a kodesh convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Shabbat to YHWH in all your dwellings. 4“‘These are the set feasts of YHWH, even kodesh convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season. 5In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is YHWH’s Pesach. 6On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Chag HaMatzot to YHWH. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7In the first day you shall have a kodesh convocation. You shall do no regular work. 8But you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH seven days. In the seventh day is a kodesh convocation. You shall do no regular work.’” 9YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 10“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11He shall wave the sheaf before YHWH, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Shabbat the priest shall wave it. 12On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without defect a year old for a burnt offering to YHWH. 13The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to YHWH for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. 14You must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your Elohim. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 15“‘You shall count from the next day after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Shabbats shall be completed. 16The next day after the seventh Shabbat you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to YHWH. 17You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to YHWH. 18You shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to YHWH, with their meal offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to YHWH. 19You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before YHWH, with the two lambs. They shall be kodesh to YHWH for the priest. 21You shall make proclamation on the same day that there shall be a kodesh convocation to you. You shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. 22“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not wholly reap into the corners of your field. You must not gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am YHWH your Elohim.’” 23YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 24“Speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a solemn rest for you, a memorial of Yom Teruah, a kodesh convocation. 25You shall do no regular work. You shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH.’” 26YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 27“However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Yom Kippur. It shall be a kodesh convocation to you. You shall afflict yourselves and you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH. 28You shall do no kind of work in that same day, for it is a Yom Kippur, to make atonement for you before YHWH your Elohim. 29For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30Whoever does any kind of work in that same day, I will destroy that person from amongst his people. 31You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32It shall be a Shabbat of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Shabbat.” 33YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 34“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Chag HaSukkot for seven days to YHWH. 35On the first day shall be a kodesh convocation. You shall do no regular work. 36Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH. On the eighth day shall be a kodesh convocation to you. You shall offer an offering made by fire to YHWH. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work. 37“‘These are the appointed feasts of YHWH which you shall proclaim to be kodesh convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to YHWH, a burnt offering, a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day— 38in addition to the Shabbats of YHWH, and in addition to your gifts, and in addition to all your vows, and in addition to all your free will offerings, which you give to YHWH. 39“‘So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of YHWH seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40You shall take on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim seven days. 41You shall keep it as a feast to YHWH seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations. You shall keep it in the seventh month. 42You shall dwell in temporary shelters for seven days. All who are native-born in Yisrael shall dwell in temporary shelters, 43that your generations may know that I made the children of Yisrael to dwell in temporary shelters when I brought them out of the land of Mitzrayim. I am YHWH your Elohim.’” 44So Moshe declared to the children of Yisrael the appointed feasts of YHWH.

Chapter 24

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Command the children of Yisrael, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. 3Outside of the veil of the Testimony, in the Ohel Mo'ed, Aharon shall keep it in order from evening to morning before YHWH continually. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 4He shall keep in order the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand before YHWH continually. 5“You shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenths of an ephah shall be in one cake. 6You shall set them in two rows, six on a row, on the pure gold table before YHWH. 7You shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire to YHWH. 8Every Shabbat day he shall set it in order before YHWH continually. It is an everlasting Brit on the behalf of the children of Yisrael. 9It shall be for Aharon and his sons. They shall eat it in a kodesh place; for it is most kodesh to him of the offerings of YHWH made by fire by a perpetual statute.” 10The son of an Yisra'eli woman, whose father was an Mitzri, went out amongst the children of Yisrael; and the son of the Yisra'eli woman and a man of Yisrael strove together in the camp. 11The son of the Yisra'eli woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moshe. His mother’s name was Shelomit, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12They put him in custody until YHWH’s will should be declared to them. 13YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 14“Bring him who cursed out of the camp; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15You shall speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘Whoever curses his Elohim shall bear his sin. 16He who blasphemes YHWH’s name, he shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native-born shall be put to death when he blasphemes the Name. 17“‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death. 18He who strikes an animal mortally shall make it good, life for life. 19If anyone injures his neighbour, it shall be done to him as he has done: 20fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. It shall be done to him as he has injured someone. 21He who kills an animal shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death. 22You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born; for I am YHWH your Elohim.’” 23Moshe spoke to the children of Yisrael; and they brought him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. The children of Yisrael did as YHWH commanded Moshe.

Chapter 25

1YHWH said to Moshe on Har Sinai, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Shabbat to YHWH. 3You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in its fruits; 4but in the seventh year there shall be a Shabbat of solemn rest for the land, a Shabbat to YHWH. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6The Shabbat of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you. 7For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food. 8“‘You shall count off seven Shabbats of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Shabbats of years, even forty-nine years. 9Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Yom Kippur you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10You shall make the fiftieth year kodesh, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines. 12For it is a jubilee; it shall be kodesh to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field. 13“‘In this Year of Yovel each of you shall return to his property. 14“‘If you sell anything to your neighbour, or buy from your neighbour, you shall not wrong one another. 15According to the number of years after the Yovel you shall buy from your neighbour. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you. 16According to the length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you. 17You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your Elohim; for I am YHWH your Elohim. 18“‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety. 19The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;” 21then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years. 22You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store. 23“‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me. 24In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land. 25“‘If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold. 26If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27then let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property. 28But if he isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Yovel. In the Yovel it shall be released, and he shall return to his property. 29“‘If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. 30If it isn’t redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Yovel. 31But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be accounted for with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Yovel. 32“‘Nevertheless, in the cities of the Levi'im, the Levi'im may redeem the houses in the cities of their possession at any time. 33The Levi'im may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Yovel; for the houses of the cities of the Levi'im are their possession amongst the children of Yisrael. 34But the field of the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession. 35“‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself amongst you, then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident. 36Take no interest from him or profit; but fear your Elohim, that your brother may live amongst you. 37You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, to give you the land of Kna'an, and to be your Elohim. 39“‘If your brother has grown poor amongst you, and sells himself to you, you shall not make him to serve as a slave. 40As a hired servant, and as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Yovel. 41Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers. 42For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Mitzrayim. They shall not be sold as slaves. 43You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your Elohim. 44“‘As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. 45Moreover, of the children of the aliens who live amongst you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property. 46You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession. Of them you may take your slaves forever, but over your brothers the children of Yisrael you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness. 47“‘If an alien or temporary resident with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living amongst you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, 48after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him; 49or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself. 50He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Yovel. The price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; he shall be with him according to the time of a hired servant. 51If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. 52If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption. 53As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him. He shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight. 54If he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Yovel: he and his children with him. 55For to me the children of Yisrael are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Mitzrayim. I am YHWH your Elohim.

Chapter 26

1“‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up a carved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am YHWH your Elohim. 2“‘You shall keep my Shabbats, and have reverence for my Mishkan. I am YHWH. 3“‘If you walk in my statutes and keep my mitzvot, and do them, 4then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5Your threshing shall continue until the vintage, and the vintage shall continue until the sowing time. You shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. 6“‘I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one will make you afraid. I will remove evil animals out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. 7You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9“‘I will have respect for you, make you fruitful, multiply you, and will establish my Brit with you. 10You shall eat old supplies long kept, and you shall move out the old because of the new. 11I will set my tent amongst you, and my soul won’t abhor you. 12I will walk amongst you, and will be your Elohim, and you will be my people. 13I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, that you should not be their slaves. I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you walk upright. 14“‘But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these mitzvot, 15and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my mitzvot, but break my Brit, 16I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away. You will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it. 17I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you. 18“‘If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. 19I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron, and your soil like bronze. 20Your strength will be spent in vain; for your land won’t yield its increase, neither will the trees of the land yield their fruit. 21“‘If you walk contrary to me, and won’t listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins. 22I will send the wild animals amongst you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number. Your roads will become desolate. 23“‘If by these things you won’t be turned back to me, but will walk contrary to me, 24then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins. 25I will bring a sword upon you that will execute the vengeance of the Brit. You will be gathered together within your cities, and I will send the pestilence amongst you. You will be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight. You shall eat, and not be satisfied. 27“‘If you in spite of this won’t listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28then I will walk contrary to you in wrath. I will also chastise you seven times for your sins. 29You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters. 30I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you. 31I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation. I will not take delight in the sweet fragrance of your offerings. 32I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it will be astonished at it. 33I will scatter you amongst the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. 34Then the land will enjoy its Shabbats as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land. Even then the land will rest and enjoy its Shabbats. 35As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it didn’t have in your Shabbats when you lived on it. 36“‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues. 37They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues. You will have no power to stand before your enemies. 38You will perish amongst the nations. The land of your enemies will eat you up. 39Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers they shall pine away with them. 40“‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that because they walked contrary to me, 41I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity, 42then I will remember my Brit with Yaakov, my Brit with Yitzhak, and also my Brit with Avraham; and I will remember the land. 43The land also will be left by them, and will enjoy its Shabbats while it lies desolate without them; and they will accept the punishment of their iniquity because they rejected my ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly and to break my Brit with them; for I am YHWH their Elohim. 45But I will for their sake remember the Brit of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Mitzrayim in the sight of the nations, that I might be their Elohim. I am YHWH.’” 46These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws, which YHWH made between him and the children of Yisrael in Har Sinai by Moshe.

Chapter 27

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and say to them, ‘When a man consecrates a person to YHWH in a vow, according to your valuation, 3your valuation of a male from twenty years old to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the Mishkan. 4If she is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5If the person is from five years old to twenty years old, then your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 6If the person is from a month old to five years old, then your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if he is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 8But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall assign a value to him. The priest shall assign a value according to his ability to pay. 9“‘If it is an animal of which men offer an offering to YHWH, all that any man gives of such to YHWH becomes kodesh. 10He shall not alter it, nor exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good. If he shall at all exchange animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be kodesh. 11If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to YHWH, then he shall set the animal before the priest; 12and the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall be. 13But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation. 14“‘When a man dedicates his house to be kodesh to YHWH, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad. As the priest evaluates it, so it shall stand. 15If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his. 16“‘If a man dedicates to YHWH part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. The sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17If he dedicates his field from the Year of Yovel, according to your valuation it shall stand. 18But if he dedicates his field after the Yovel, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Yovel; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation. 19If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his. 20If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more; 21but the field, when it goes out in the Yovel, shall be kodesh to YHWH, as a devoted field. It shall be owned by the priests. 22“‘If he dedicates a field to YHWH which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession, 23then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Yovel; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a kodesh thing to YHWH. 24In the Year of Yovel the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the Mishkan: twenty gerahs to the shekel. 26“‘However the firstborn amongst animals, which belongs to YHWH as a firstborn, no man may dedicate, whether an ox or a sheep. It is YHWH’s. 27If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it; or if it isn’t redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation. 28“‘Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man devotes to YHWH of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed. Everything that is permanently devoted is most kodesh to YHWH. 29“‘No one devoted to destruction, who shall be devoted from amongst men, shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death. 30“‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is YHWH’s. It is kodesh to YHWH. 31If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it. 32All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be kodesh to YHWH. 33He shall not examine whether it is good or bad, neither shall he exchange it. If he exchanges it at all, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be kodesh. It shall not be redeemed.’” 34These are the mitzvot which YHWH commanded Moshe for the children of Yisrael on Har Sinai.

Bamidbar

Chapter 1

1YHWH spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Ohel Mo'ed, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Mitzrayim, saying, 2“Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, every male, one by one, 3from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Yisrael. You and Aharon shall count them by their divisions. 4With you there shall be a man of every tribe, each one head of his fathers’ house. 5These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: Of Reuven: Elitzur the son of Shedei'ur. 6Of Shimon: Shelumi'el the son of Tzurishaddai. 7Of Yehudah: Nachshon the son of Aminadav. 8Of Yissachar: Netan'el the son of Tzu'ar. 9Of Zevulun: Eliav the son of Helon. 10Of the children of Yosef: of Ephraim: Elishama the son of Amihud; of Menashe: Gamaliel the son of Pedahtzur. 11Of Binyamin: Abidan the son of Gid'oni. 12Of Dan: Achi'ezer the son of Ami-Shaddai. 13Of Asher: Pagi'el the son of Okhran. 14Of Gad: Elyasaf the son of Deuel. 15Of Naftali: Achira the son of Enan.” 16These are those who were called of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Yisrael. 17Moshe and Aharon took these men who are mentioned by name. 18They assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their ancestry by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, one by one. 19As YHWH commanded Moshe, so he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai. 20The children of Reuven, Yisrael’s firstborn, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 21those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Reuven, were forty-six thousand and five hundred. 22Of the children of Shimon, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, those who were counted of it, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 23those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Shimon, were fifty-nine thousand and three hundred. 24Of the children of Gad, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 25those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty-five thousand and six hundred and fifty. 26Of the children of Yehudah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 27those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Yehudah, were seventy-four thousand and six hundred. 28Of the children of Yissachar, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 29those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Yissachar, were fifty-four thousand and four hundred. 30Of the children of Zevulun, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 31those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Zevulun, were fifty-seven thousand and four hundred. 32Of the children of Yosef: of the children of Ephraim, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 33those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred. 34Of the children of Menashe, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 35those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Menashe, were thirty-two thousand and two hundred. 36Of the children of Binyamin, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 37those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Binyamin, were thirty-five thousand and four hundred. 38Of the children of Dan, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 39those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Dan, were sixty-two thousand and seven hundred. 40Of the children of Asher, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 41those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Asher, were forty-one thousand and five hundred. 42Of the children of Naftali, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war: 43those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Naftali, were fifty-three thousand and four hundred. 44These are those who were counted, whom Moshe and Aharon counted, and the twelve men who were princes of Yisrael, each one for his fathers’ house. 45So all those who were counted of the children of Yisrael by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war in Yisrael— 46all those who were counted were six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 47But the Levi'im after the tribe of their fathers were not counted amongst them. 48For YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 49“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not count, neither shall you take a census of them amongst the children of Yisrael; 50but appoint the Levi'im over the Mishkan of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the Mishkan and all its furnishings; and they shall take care of it, and shall encamp around it. 51When the Mishkan is to move, the Levi'im shall take it down; and when the Mishkan is to be set up, the Levi'im shall set it up. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death. 52The children of Yisrael shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their divisions. 53But the Levi'im shall encamp around the Mishkan of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Yisrael. The Levi'im shall be responsible for the Mishkan of the Testimony.” 54Thus the children of Yisrael did. According to all that YHWH commanded Moshe, so they did.

Chapter 2

1YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 2“The children of Yisrael shall encamp every man by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall encamp around the Ohel Mo'ed at a distance from it. 3“Those who encamp on the east side towards the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Yehudah, according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Yehudah shall be Nachshon the son of Aminadav. 4His division, and those who were counted of them, were seventy-four thousand and six hundred. 5“Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Yissachar. The prince of the children of Yissachar shall be Netan'el the son of Tzu'ar. 6His division, and those who were counted of it, were fifty-four thousand and four hundred. 7“The tribe of Zevulun: the prince of the children of Zevulun shall be Eliav the son of Helon. 8His division, and those who were counted of it, were fifty-seven thousand and four hundred. 9“All who were counted of the camp of Yehudah were one hundred and eighty-six thousand and four hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out first. 10“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuven according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Reuven shall be Elitzur the son of Shedei'ur. 11His division, and those who were counted of it, were forty-six thousand and five hundred. 12“Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Shimon. The prince of the children of Shimon shall be Shelumi'el the son of Tzurishaddai. 13His division, and those who were counted of them, were fifty-nine thousand and three hundred. 14“The tribe of Gad: the prince of the children of Gad shall be Elyasaf the son of Re'u'el. 15His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty-five thousand and six hundred and fifty. 16“All who were counted of the camp of Reuven were one hundred and fifty-one thousand and four hundred and fifty, according to their armies. They shall set out second. 17“Then the Ohel Mo'ed shall set out, with the camp of the Levi'im in the middle of the camps. As they encamp, so shall they set out, every man in his place, by their standards. 18“On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Amihud. 19His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty thousand and five hundred. 20“Next to him shall be the tribe of Menashe. The prince of the children of Menashe shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahtzur. 21His division, and those who were counted of them, were thirty-two thousand and two hundred. 22“The tribe of Binyamin: the prince of the children of Binyamin shall be Abidan the son of Gid'oni. 23His army, and those who were counted of them, were thirty-five thousand and four hundred. 24“All who were counted of the camp of Ephraim were one hundred and eight thousand and one hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out third. 25“On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Dan shall be Achi'ezer the son of Ami-Shaddai. 26His division, and those who were counted of them, were sixty-two thousand and seven hundred. 27“Those who encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher. The prince of the children of Asher shall be Pagi'el the son of Okhran. 28His division, and those who were counted of them, were forty-one thousand and five hundred. 29“The tribe of Naftali: the prince of the children of Naftali shall be Achira the son of Enan. 30His division, and those who were counted of them, were fifty-three thousand and four hundred. 31“All who were counted of the camp of Dan were one hundred and fifty-seven thousand and six hundred. They shall set out last by their standards.” 32These are those who were counted of the children of Yisrael by their fathers’ houses. All who were counted of the camps according to their armies were six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 33But the Levi'im were not counted amongst the children of Yisrael, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 34Thus the children of Yisrael did. According to all that YHWH commanded Moshe, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, everyone by their families, according to their fathers’ houses.

Chapter 3

1Now this is the history of the generations of Aharon and Moshe in the day that YHWH spoke with Moshe in Har Sinai. 2These are the names of the sons of Aharon: Nadav the firstborn, and Avihu, El'azar, and Itamar. 3These are the names of the sons of Aharon, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. 4Nadav and Avihu died before YHWH when they offered strange fire before YHWH in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. El'azar and Itamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aharon their father. 5YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 6“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aharon the priest, that they may minister to him. 7They shall keep his requirements, and the requirements of the whole congregation before the Ohel Mo'ed, to do the service of the Mishkan. 8They shall keep all the furnishings of the Ohel Mo'ed, and the obligations of the children of Yisrael, to do the service of the Mishkan. 9You shall give the Levi'im to Aharon and to his sons. They are wholly given to him on the behalf of the children of Yisrael. 10You shall appoint Aharon and his sons, and they shall keep their priesthood, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.” 11YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 12“Behold, I have taken the Levi'im from amongst the children of Yisrael instead of all the firstborn who open the womb amongst the children of Yisrael; and the Levi'im shall be mine, 13for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Mitzrayim I made kodesh to me all the firstborn in Yisrael, both man and animal. They shall be mine. I am YHWH.” 14YHWH spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15“Count the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families. You shall count every male from a month old and upward.” 16Moshe counted them according to YHWH’s word, as he was commanded. 17These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kehat, and Merari. 18These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shim'i. 19The sons of Kehat by their families: Amram, Yitzhar, Hebron, and Uzi'el. 20The sons of Merari by their families: Machli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levi'im according to their fathers’ houses. 21Of Gershon was the family of the Livnim, and the family of the Shim'im. These are the families of the Gershonim. 22Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, even those who were counted of them were seven thousand and five hundred. 23The families of the Gershonim shall encamp behind the Mishkan westward. 24Elyasaf the son of Lael shall be the prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonim. 25The duty of the sons of Gershon in the Ohel Mo'ed shall be the Mishkan, the tent, its covering, the screen for the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, 26the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is by the Mishkan and around the altar, and its cords for all of its service. 27Of Kehat was the family of the Amramim, the family of the Yitzharim, the family of the Chevronim, and the family of the Uzi'elim. These are the families of the Kehatim. 28According to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand and six hundred keeping the requirements of the Mishkan. 29The families of the sons of Kehat shall encamp on the south side of the Mishkan. 30The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kehatim shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzi'el. 31Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the Mishkan with which they minister, the screen, and all its service. 32El'azar the son of Aharon the priest shall be prince of the princes of the Levi'im, with the oversight of those who keep the requirements of the Mishkan. 33Of Merari was the family of the Machlim and the family of the Mushites. These are the families of Merari. 34Those who were counted of them, according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred. 35The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Avichayil. They shall encamp on the north side of the Mishkan. 36The appointed duty of the sons of Merari shall be the Mishkan’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its instruments, all its service, 37the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, and their cords. 38Those who encamp before the Mishkan eastward, in front of the Ohel Mo'ed towards the sunrise, shall be Moshe, with Aharon and his sons, keeping the requirements of the Mishkan for the duty of the children of Yisrael. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. 39All who were counted of the Levi'im, whom Moshe and Aharon counted at the mitzvah of YHWH, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand. 40YHWH said to Moshe, “Count all the firstborn males of the children of Yisrael from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. 41You shall take the Levi'im for me—I am YHWH—instead of all the firstborn amongst the children of Yisrael; and the livestock of the Levi'im instead of all the firstborn amongst the livestock of the children of Yisrael.” 42Moshe counted, as YHWH commanded him, all the firstborn amongst the children of Yisrael. 43All the firstborn males according to the number of names from a month old and upward, of those who were counted of them, were twenty-two thousand and two hundred and seventy-three. 44YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 45“Take the Levi'im instead of all the firstborn amongst the children of Yisrael, and the livestock of the Levi'im instead of their livestock; and the Levi'im shall be mine. I am YHWH. 46For the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the firstborn of the children of Yisrael who exceed the number of the Levi'im, 47you shall take five shekels apiece for each one; according to the shekel of the Mishkan you shall take them (the shekel is twenty gerahs); 48and you shall give the money, with which their remainder is redeemed, to Aharon and to his sons.” 49Moshe took the redemption money from those who exceeded the number of those who were redeemed by the Levi'im; 50from the firstborn of the children of Yisrael he took the money, one thousand and three hundred and sixty-five shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan; 51and Moshe gave the redemption money to Aharon and to his sons, according to YHWH’s word, as YHWH commanded Moshe.

Chapter 4

1YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 2“Take a census of the sons of Kehat from amongst the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, 3from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service to do the work in the Ohel Mo'ed. 4“This is the service of the sons of Kehat in the Ohel Mo'ed, regarding the most kodesh things. 5When the camp moves forward, Aharon shall go in with his sons; and they shall take down the veil of the screen, cover the Aron HaEdut with it, 6put a covering of sealskin on it, spread a blue cloth over it, and put in its poles. 7“On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it. 8They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles. 9“They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand of the light, its lamps, its snuffers, its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it. 10They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame. 11“On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles. 12“They shall take all the vessels of ministry with which they minister in the Mishkan, and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame. 13“They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it. 14They shall put on it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the meat hooks, the shovels, and the basins—all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles. 15“When Aharon and his sons have finished covering the Mishkan and all the furniture of the Mishkan, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kehat shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the Mishkan, lest they die. The sons of Kehat shall carry these things belonging to the Ohel Mo'ed. 16“The duty of El'azar the son of Aharon the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the Mishkan, and of all that is in it, the Mishkan, and its furnishings.” 17YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 18“Don’t cut off the tribe of the families of the Kehatim from amongst the Levi'im; 19but do this to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most kodesh things: Aharon and his sons shall go in and appoint everyone to his service and to his burden; 20but they shall not go in to see the Mishkan even for a moment, lest they die.” 21YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 22“Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families; 23you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old: all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Ohel Mo'ed. 24“This is the service of the families of the Gershonim, in serving and in bearing burdens: 25they shall carry the curtains of the Mishkan and the Ohel Mo'ed, its covering, the covering of sealskin that is on it, the screen for the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, 26the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the gate of the court which is by the Mishkan and around the altar, their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. They shall serve in there. 27At the mitzvah of Aharon and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonim, in all their burden and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities. 28This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonim in the Ohel Mo'ed. Their duty shall be under the hand of Itamar the son of Aharon the priest. 29“As for the sons of Merari, you shall count them by their families, by their fathers’ houses; 30you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Ohel Mo'ed. 31This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Ohel Mo'ed: the Mishkan’s boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, 32the pillars of the court around it, their sockets, their pins, their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service. You shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden to them by name. 33This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service in the Ohel Mo'ed, under the hand of Itamar the son of Aharon the priest.” 34Moshe and Aharon and the princes of the congregation counted the sons of the Kehatim by their families, and by their fathers’ houses, 35from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service for work in the Ohel Mo'ed. 36Those who were counted of them by their families were two thousand and seven hundred and fifty. 37These are those who were counted of the families of the Kehatim, all who served in the Ohel Mo'ed, whom Moshe and Aharon counted according to the mitzvah of YHWH by Moshe. 38Those who were counted of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by their fathers’ houses, 39from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Ohel Mo'ed, 40even those who were counted of them, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty. 41These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Ohel Mo'ed, whom Moshe and Aharon counted according to the mitzvah of YHWH. 42Those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, 43from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old—everyone who entered into the service for work in the Ohel Mo'ed, 44even those who were counted of them by their families, were three thousand and two hundred. 45These are those who were counted of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moshe and Aharon counted according to the mitzvah of YHWH by Moshe. 46All those who were counted of the Levi'im whom Moshe and Aharon and the princes of Yisrael counted, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, 47from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the Ohel Mo'ed, 48even those who were counted of them, were eight thousand and five hundred and eighty. 49According to the mitzvah of YHWH they were counted by Moshe, everyone according to his service and according to his burden. Thus they were counted by him, as YHWH commanded Moshe.

Chapter 5

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Command the children of Yisrael that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by a corpse. 3You shall put both male and female outside of the camp so that they don’t defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.” 4The children of Yisrael did so, and put them outside of the camp; as YHWH spoke to Moshe, so the children of Yisrael did. 5YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 6“Speak to the children of Yisrael: ‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against YHWH, and that soul is guilty, 7then he shall confess his sin which he has done; and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty. 8But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made to YHWH shall be the priest’s, in addition to the ram of the atonement, by which atonement shall be made for him. 9Every heave offering of all the kodesh things of the children of Yisrael, which they present to the priest, shall be his. 10Every man’s kodesh things shall be his; whatever any man gives the priest, it shall be his.’” 11YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 12“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and this is kept concealed, and she is defiled, there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act; 14and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she isn’t defiled; 15then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: one tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. 16The priest shall bring her near, and set her before YHWH. 17The priest shall take kodesh water in an earthen vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the Mishkan and put it into the water. 18The priest shall set the woman before YHWH, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19The priest shall cause her to take an oath and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 20But if you have gone astray, being under your husband’s authority, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband—” 21then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “May YHWH make you a curse and an oath amongst your people, when YHWH allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; 22and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.” The woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.” 23“‘The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall wipe them into the water of bitterness. 24He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. 25The priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal offering before YHWH, and bring it to the altar. 26The priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse amongst her people. 28If the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive offspring. 29“‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and is defiled, 30or when the spirit of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before YHWH, and the priest shall execute on her all this law. 31The man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.’”

Chapter 6

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them: ‘When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to YHWH, 3he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. 4All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins. 5“‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come on his head, until the days are fulfilled in which he separates himself to YHWH. He shall be kodesh. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. 6“‘All the days that he separates himself to YHWH he shall not go near a dead body. 7He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to Elohim is on his head. 8All the days of his separation he is kodesh to YHWH. 9“‘If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it. 10On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 11The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head kodesh that same day. 12He shall separate to YHWH the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled. 13“‘This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, 14and he shall offer his offering to YHWH: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering, one ram without defect for peace offerings, 15a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil with their meal offering and their drink offerings. 16The priest shall present them before YHWH, and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to YHWH, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering and its drink offering. 18The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the head of his separation; 20and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before YHWH. They are kodesh for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine. 21“‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows and of his offering to YHWH for his separation, in addition to that which he is able to afford. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation.’” 22YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 23“Speak to Aharon and to his sons, saying, ‘This is how you shall bless the children of Yisrael.’ You shall tell them, 24‘YHWH bless you, and keep you. 25YHWH make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. 26YHWH lift up his face towards you, and give you peace.’ 27“So they shall put my name on the children of Yisrael; and I will bless them.”

Chapter 7

1On the day that Moshe had finished setting up the Mishkan, and had anointed it and sanctified it with all its furniture, and the altar with all its vessels, and had anointed and sanctified them; 2the princes of Yisrael, the heads of their fathers’ houses, gave offerings. These were the princes of the tribes. These are they who were over those who were counted; 3and they brought their offering before YHWH, six covered wagons and twelve oxen; a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox. They presented them before the Mishkan. 4YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 5“Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the service of the Ohel Mo'ed; and you shall give them to the Levi'im, to every man according to his service.” 6Moshe took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levi'im. 7He gave two wagons and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, according to their service. 8He gave four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Itamar the son of Aharon the priest. 9But to the sons of Kehat he gave none, because the service of the Mishkan belonged to them; they carried it on their shoulders. 10The princes gave offerings for the dedication of the altar in the day that it was anointed. The princes gave their offerings before the altar. 11YHWH said to Moshe, “They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedication of the altar.” 12He who offered his offering the first day was Nachshon the son of Aminadav, of the tribe of Yehudah, 13and his offering was: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 14one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 15one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 16one male goat for a sin offering; 17and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nachshon the son of Aminadav. 18On the second day Netan'el the son of Tzu'ar, prince of Yissachar, gave his offering. 19He offered for his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 20one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 21one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 22one male goat for a sin offering; 23and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Netan'el the son of Tzu'ar. 24On the third day Eliav the son of Helon, prince of the children of Zevulun, 25gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 26one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 27one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 28one male goat for a sin offering; 29and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliav the son of Helon. 30On the fourth day Elitzur the son of Shedei'ur, prince of the children of Reuven, 31gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 32one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 33one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 34one male goat for a sin offering; 35and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elitzur the son of Shedei'ur. 36On the fifth day Shelumi'el the son of Tzurishaddai, prince of the children of Shimon, 37gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 38one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 39one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 40one male goat for a sin offering; 41and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old: this was the offering of Shelumi'el the son of Tzurishaddai. 42On the sixth day, Elyasaf the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad, 43gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 44one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 45one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 46one male goat for a sin offering; 47and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elyasaf the son of Deuel. 48On the seventh day Elishama the son of Amihud, prince of the children of Ephraim, 49gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 50one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 51one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 52one male goat for a sin offering; 53and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Amihud. 54On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahtzur, prince of the children of Menashe, 55gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 56one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 57one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 58one male goat for a sin offering; 59and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahtzur. 60On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gid'oni, prince of the children of Binyamin, 61gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 62one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 63one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 64one male goat for a sin offering; 65and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gid'oni. 66On the tenth day Achi'ezer the son of Ami-Shaddai, prince of the children of Dan, 67gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 68one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 69one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 70one male goat for a sin offering; 71and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Achi'ezer the son of Ami-Shaddai. 72On the eleventh day Pagi'el the son of Okhran, prince of the children of Asher, 73gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 74one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 75one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 76one male goat for a sin offering; 77and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagi'el the son of Okhran. 78On the twelfth day Achira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naftali, 79gave his offering: one silver platter, the weight of which was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering; 80one golden ladle of ten shekels, full of incense; 81one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 82one male goat for a sin offering; 83and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Achira the son of Enan. 84This was the dedication offering of the altar, on the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Yisrael: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden ladles; 85each silver platter weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, and each bowl seventy; all the silver of the vessels two thousand and four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the Mishkan; 86the twelve golden ladles, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, according to the shekel of the Mishkan; all the gold of the ladles weighed one hundred and twenty shekels; 87all the cattle for the burnt offering twelve bulls, the rams twelve, the male lambs a year old twelve, and their meal offering; and twelve male goats for a sin offering; 88and all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings: twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty male lambs a year old. This was the dedication offering of the altar, after it was anointed. 89When Moshe went into the Ohel Mo'ed to speak with YHWH, he heard his voice speaking to him from above the chesed seat that was on the Aron HaEdut, from between the two cherubim; and he spoke to him.

Chapter 8

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to Aharon, and tell him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lamp stand.’” 3Aharon did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lamp stand, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 4This was the workmanship of the lamp stand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work. He made the lamp stand according to the pattern which YHWH had shown Moshe. 5YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 6“Take the Levi'im from amongst the children of Yisrael, and cleanse them. 7You shall do this to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. 8Then let them take a young bull and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering. 9You shall present the Levi'im before the Ohel Mo'ed. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Yisrael. 10You shall present the Levi'im before YHWH. The children of Yisrael shall lay their hands on the Levi'im, 11and Aharon shall offer the Levi'im before YHWH for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Yisrael, that it may be theirs to do the service of YHWH. 12“The Levi'im shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to YHWH, to make atonement for the Levi'im. 13You shall set the Levi'im before Aharon and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to YHWH. 14Thus you shall separate the Levi'im from amongst the children of Yisrael, and the Levi'im shall be mine. 15“After that, the Levi'im shall go in to do the service of the Ohel Mo'ed. You shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. 16For they are wholly given to me from amongst the children of Yisrael; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Yisrael, I have taken them to me. 17For all the firstborn amongst the children of Yisrael are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Mitzrayim, I sanctified them for myself. 18I have taken the Levi'im instead of all the firstborn amongst the children of Yisrael. 19I have given the Levi'im as a gift to Aharon and to his sons from amongst the children of Yisrael, to do the service of the children of Yisrael in the Ohel Mo'ed, and to make atonement for the children of Yisrael, so that there will be no plague amongst the children of Yisrael when the children of Yisrael come near to the Mishkan.” 20Moshe, and Aharon, and all the congregation of the children of Yisrael did so to the Levi'im. According to all that YHWH commanded Moshe concerning the Levi'im, so the children of Yisrael did to them. 21The Levi'im purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aharon offered them for a wave offering before YHWH and Aharon made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22After that, the Levi'im went in to do their service in the Ohel Mo'ed before Aharon and before his sons: as YHWH had commanded Moshe concerning the Levi'im, so they did to them. 23YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 24“This is what is assigned to the Levi'im: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Ohel Mo'ed; 25and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from doing the work, and shall serve no more, 26but shall assist their brothers in the Ohel Mo'ed, to perform the duty, and shall perform no service. This is how you shall have the Levi'im do their duties.”

Chapter 9

1YHWH spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Mitzrayim, saying, 2“Let the children of Yisrael keep the Pesach in its appointed season. 3On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it in its appointed season. You shall keep it according to all its statutes and according to all its ordinances.” 4Moshe told the children of Yisrael that they should keep the Pesach. 5They kept the Pesach in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that YHWH commanded Moshe, so the children of Yisrael did. 6There were certain men who were unclean because of the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the Pesach on that day, and they came before Moshe and Aharon on that day. 7Those men said to him, “We are unclean because of the dead body of a man. Why are we kept back, that we may not offer the offering of YHWH in its appointed season amongst the children of Yisrael?” 8Moshe answered them, “Wait, that I may hear what YHWH will command concerning you.” 9YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 10“Say to the children of Yisrael, ‘If any man of you or of your generations is unclean by reason of a dead body, or is on a journey far away, he shall still keep the Pesach to YHWH. 11In the second month, on the fourteenth day at evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it. According to all the statute of the Pesach they shall keep it. 13But the man who is clean, and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Pesach, that soul shall be cut off from his people. Because he didn’t offer the offering of YHWH in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. 14“‘If a foreigner lives amongst you and desires to keep the Pesach to YHWH, then he shall do so according to the statute of the Pesach, and according to its ordinance. You shall have one statute, both for the foreigner and for him who is born in the land.’” 15On the day that the Mishkan was raised up, the cloud covered the Mishkan, even the Tent of the Testimony. At evening it was over the Mishkan, as it were the appearance of fire, until morning. 16So it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night. 17Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, then after that the children of Yisrael travelled; and in the place where the cloud remained, there the children of Yisrael encamped. 18At the mitzvah of YHWH, the children of Yisrael travelled, and at the mitzvah of YHWH they encamped. As long as the cloud remained on the Mishkan they remained encamped. 19When the cloud stayed on the Mishkan many days, then the children of Yisrael kept YHWH’s command, and didn’t travel. 20Sometimes the cloud was a few days on the Mishkan; then according to the mitzvah of YHWH they remained encamped, and according to the mitzvah of YHWH they travelled. 21Sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they travelled; or by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they travelled. 22Whether it was two days, or a month, or a year that the cloud stayed on the Mishkan, remaining on it, the children of Yisrael remained encamped, and didn’t travel; but when it was taken up, they travelled. 23At the mitzvah of YHWH they encamped, and at the mitzvah of YHWH they travelled. They kept YHWH’s command, at the mitzvah of YHWH by Moshe.

Chapter 10

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Make two trumpets of silver. You shall make them of beaten work. You shall use them for the calling of the congregation and for the journeying of the camps. 3When they blow them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 4If they blow just one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Yisrael, shall gather themselves to you. 5When you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall go forward. 6When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall go forward. They shall blow an alarm for their journeys. 7But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm. 8“The sons of Aharon, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. This shall be to you for a statute forever throughout your generations. 9When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets. Then you will be remembered before YHWH your Elohim, and you will be saved from your enemies. 10“Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your Elohim. I am YHWH your Elohim.” 11In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the Mishkan of the Brit. 12The children of Yisrael went forward on their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud stayed in the wilderness of Paran. 13They first went forward according to the mitzvah of YHWH by Moshe. 14First, the standard of the camp of the children of Yehudah went forward according to their armies. Nachshon the son of Aminadav was over his army. 15Netan'el the son of Tzu'ar was over the army of the tribe of the children of Yissachar. 16Eliav the son of Helon was over the army of the tribe of the children of Zevulun. 17The Mishkan was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who bore the Mishkan, went forward. 18The standard of the camp of Reuven went forward according to their armies. Elitzur the son of Shedei'ur was over his army. 19Shelumi'el the son of Tzurishaddai was over the army of the tribe of the children of Shimon. 20Elyasaf the son of Deuel was over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad. 21The Kehatim set forward, bearing the Mishkan. The others set up the Mishkan before they arrived. 22The standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies. Elishama the son of Amihud was over his army. 23Gamaliel the son of Pedahtzur was over the army of the tribe of the children of Menashe. 24Abidan the son of Gid'oni was over the army of the tribe of the children of Binyamin. 25The standard of the camp of the children of Dan, which was the rear guard of all the camps, set forward according to their armies. Achi'ezer the son of Ami-Shaddai was over his army. 26Pagi'el the son of Okhran was over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher. 27Achira the son of Enan was over the army of the tribe of the children of Naftali. 28Thus were the travels of the children of Yisrael according to their armies; and they went forward. 29Moshe said to Chovav, the son of Re'u'el the Midyani, Moshe’s father-in-law, “We are journeying to the place of which YHWH said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well; for YHWH has spoken good concerning Yisrael.” 30He said to him, “I will not go; but I will depart to my own land, and to my relatives.” 31Moshe said, “Don’t leave us, please; because you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. 32It shall be, if you go with us—yes, it shall be—that whatever good YHWH does to us, we will do the same to you.” 33They set forward from the Mount of YHWH three days’ journey. The Aron YHWH’s Brit went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them. 34The cloud of YHWH was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp. 35When the ark went forward, Moshe said, “Rise up, YHWH, and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!” 36When it rested, he said, “Return, YHWH, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Yisrael.”

Chapter 11

1The people were complaining in the ears of YHWH. When YHWH heard it, his anger burnt; and YHWH’s fire burnt amongst them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2The people cried to Moshe; and Moshe prayed to YHWH, and the fire abated. 3The name of that place was called Taberah, because YHWH’s fire burnt amongst them. 4The mixed multitude that was amongst them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Yisrael also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5We remember the fish, which we ate in Mitzrayim for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; 6but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.” 7The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium. 8The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. 9When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it. 10Moshe heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and YHWH’s anger burnt greatly; and Moshe was displeased. 11Moshe said to YHWH, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favour in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers’? 13Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. 15If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favour in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.” 16YHWH said to Moshe, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Yisrael, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Ohel Mo'ed, that they may stand there with you. 17I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Ruach which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone. 18“Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of YHWH, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Mitzrayim.” Therefore YHWH will give you meat, and you will eat. 19You will not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected YHWH who is amongst you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Mitzrayim?”’” 21Moshe said, “The people, amongst whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’ 22Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?” 23YHWH said to Moshe, “Has YHWH’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.” 24Moshe went out, and told the people YHWH’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent. 25YHWH came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Ruach that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Ruach rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. 26But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Meidad; and the Ruach rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. 27A young man ran, and told Moshe, and said, “Eldad and Meidad are prophesying in the camp!” 28Yehoshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moshe, one of his chosen men, answered, “My Adonai Moshe, forbid them!” 29Moshe said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all YHWH’s people were prophets, that YHWH would put his Ruach on them!” 30Moshe went into the camp, he and the elders of Yisrael. 31A wind from YHWH went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth. 32The people rose up all that day, and all of that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them all out for themselves around the camp. 33While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, YHWH’s anger burnt against the people, and YHWH struck the people with a very great plague. 34The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted. 35From Kibroth Hattaavah the people travelled to Chatzerot; and they stayed at Chatzerot.

Chapter 12

1Miriam and Aharon spoke against Moshe because of the Kushi woman whom he had married; for he had married a Kushi woman. 2They said, “Has YHWH indeed spoken only with Moshe? Hasn’t he spoken also with us?” And YHWH heard it. 3Now the man Moshe was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth. 4YHWH spoke suddenly to Moshe, to Aharon, and to Miriam, “You three come out to the Ohel Mo'ed!” The three of them came out. 5YHWH came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aharon and Miriam; and they both came forward. 6He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet amongst you, I, YHWH, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. 7My servant Moshe is not so. He is faithful in all my house. 8With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see YHWH’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moshe?” 9YHWH’s anger burnt against them; and he departed. 10The cloud departed from over the Tent; and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. Aharon looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. 11Aharon said to Moshe, “Oh, my adonai, please don’t count this sin against us, in which we have done foolishly, and in which we have sinned. 12Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” 13Moshe cried to YHWH, saying, “Heal her, Elohim, I beg you!” 14YHWH said to Moshe, “If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.” 15Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days, and the people didn’t travel until Miriam was brought in again. 16Afterward the people travelled from Chatzerot, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

Chapter 13

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Send men, that they may spy out the land of Kna'an, which I give to the children of Yisrael. Of every tribe of their fathers, you shall send a man, every one a prince amongst them.” 3Moshe sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the mitzvah of YHWH. All of them were men who were heads of the children of Yisrael. 4These were their names: Of the tribe of Reuven, Shamu'a the son of Zakur. 5Of the tribe of Shimon, Shaphat the son of Hori. 6Of the tribe of Yehudah, Calev the son of Yefuneh. 7Of the tribe of Yissachar, Yig'al the son of Yosef. 8Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun. 9Of the tribe of Binyamin, Palti the son of Raphu. 10Of the tribe of Zevulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. 11Of the tribe of Yosef, of the tribe of Menashe, Gaddi the son of Susi. 12Of the tribe of Dan, Ami'el the son of Gemalli. 13Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Mikha'el. 14Of the tribe of Naftali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. 15Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16These are the names of the men who Moshe sent to spy out the land. Moshe called Hoshea the son of Nun Yehoshua. 17Moshe sent them to spy out the land of Kna'an, and said to them, “Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country. 18See the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many; 19and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; 20and what the land is, whether it is fertile or poor, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be courageous, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes. 21So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Tzin to Rechov, to the entrance of Chamat. 22They went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Mitzrayim.) 23They came to the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Yisrael cut down from there. 25They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. 26They went and came to Moshe, to Aharon, and to all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land. 27They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. 29Amalek dwells in the land of the South. The Chitti, the Yevusi, and the Emori dwell in the hill country. The Kna'ani dwells by the sea, and along the side of the Jordan.” 30Calev stilled the people before Moshe, and said, “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!” 31But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” 32They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Yisrael, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. 33There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

Chapter 14

1All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2All the children of Yisrael murmured against Moshe and against Aharon. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Mitzrayim, or that we had died in this wilderness! 3Why does YHWH bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be captured or killed! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Mitzrayim?” 4They said to one another, “Let’s choose a leader, and let’s return into Mitzrayim.” 5Then Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Yisrael. 6Yehoshua the son of Nun and Calev the son of Yefuneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes. 7They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8If YHWH delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey. 9Only don’t rebel against YHWH, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defence is removed from over them, and YHWH is with us. Don’t fear them.” 10But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones. YHWH’s kavod appeared in the Ohel Mo'ed to all the children of Yisrael. 11YHWH said to Moshe, “How long will this people despise me? How long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked amongst them? 12I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” 13Moshe said to YHWH, “Then the Mitzrim will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from amongst them. 14They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you YHWH are amongst this people; for you YHWH are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15Now if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, 16‘Because YHWH was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’ 17Now please let the power of Adonai be great, according as you have spoken, saying, 18‘YHWH is slow to anger, and abundant in chesed, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’ 19Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your chesed, and just as you have forgiven this people, from Mitzrayim even until now.” 20YHWH said, “I have pardoned according to your word; 21but in very deed—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with YHWH’s kavod— 22because all those men who have seen my glory and my signs, which I worked in Mitzrayim and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; 23surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it. 24But my servant Calev, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him I will bring into the land into which he went. His offspring shall possess it. 25Since the Amaleki and the Kna'ani dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn and go into the wilderness by the way to the Yam Suf.” 26YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 27“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation that complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the children of Yisrael, which they complain against me. 28Tell them, ‘As I live, says YHWH, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so I will do to you. 29Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were counted of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, 30surely you shall not come into the land concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Calev the son of Yefuneh, and Yehoshua the son of Nun. 31But I will bring in your little ones that you said should be captured or killed, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. 32But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies are consumed in the wilderness. 34After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, you will bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you will know my alienation.’ 35I, YHWH, have spoken. I will surely do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.” 36The men whom Moshe sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up an evil report against the land, 37even those men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before YHWH. 38But Yehoshua the son of Nun and Calev the son of Yefuneh remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land. 39Moshe told these words to all the children of Yisrael, and the people mourned greatly. 40They rose up early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which YHWH has promised; for we have sinned.” 41Moshe said, “Why now do you disobey the mitzvah of YHWH, since it shall not prosper? 42Don’t go up, for YHWH isn’t amongst you; that way you won’t be struck down before your enemies. 43For there the Amaleki and the Kna'ani are before you, and you will fall by the sword because you turned back from following YHWH; therefore YHWH will not be with you.” 44But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain. Nevertheless, the Aron YHWH’s Brit and Moshe didn’t depart out of the camp. 45Then the Amalekim came down, and the Kna'anim who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down even to Chormah.

Chapter 15

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you, 3and will make an offering by fire to YHWH—a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a free will offering, or in your set feasts, to make a pleasant aroma to YHWH, of the herd, or of the flock— 4then he who offers his offering shall offer to YHWH a meal offering of one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one fourth of a hin of oil. 5You shall prepare wine for the drink offering, one fourth of a hin, with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb. 6“‘For a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil; 7and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 8When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to YHWH, 9then he shall offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; 10and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 11Thus it shall be done for each bull, for each ram, for each of the male lambs, or of the young goats. 12According to the number that you shall prepare, so you shall do to everyone according to their number. 13“‘All who are native-born shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 14If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be amongst you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH, as you do, so he shall do. 15For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner, a statute forever throughout your generations. As you are, so the foreigner shall be before YHWH. 16One law and one ordinance shall be for you and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.’” 17YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 18“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land where I bring you, 19then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to YHWH. 20Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering. As the wave offering of the threshing floor, so you shall heave it. 21Of the first of your dough, you shall give to YHWH a wave offering throughout your generations. 22“‘When you err, and don’t observe all these mitzvot which YHWH has spoken to Moshe— 23even all that YHWH has commanded you by Moshe, from the day that YHWH gave mitzvah and onward throughout your generations— 24then it shall be, if it was done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma to YHWH, with its meal offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering. 25The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to YHWH, and their sin offering before YHWH, for their error. 26All the congregation of the children of Yisrael shall be forgiven, as well as the stranger who lives as a foreigner amongst them; for with regard to all the people, it was done unwittingly. 27“‘If a person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. 28The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs when he sins unwittingly before YHWH. He shall make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven. 29You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born amongst the children of Yisrael, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner amongst them. 30“‘But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, blasphemes YHWH. That soul shall be cut off from amongst his people. 31Because he has despised YHWH’s word, and has broken his mitzvah, that soul shall be utterly cut off. His iniquity shall be on him.’” 32While the children of Yisrael were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Shabbat day. 33Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moshe and Aharon, and to all the congregation. 34They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35YHWH said to Moshe, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.” 36All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 37YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 38“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes on the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each border a cord of blue. 39It shall be to you for a fringe, that you may see it, and remember all YHWH’s mitzvot, and do them; and that you don’t follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to play the prostitute; 40so that you may remember and do all my mitzvot, and be kodesh to your Elohim. 41I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, to be your Elohim: I am YHWH your Elohim.”

Chapter 16

1Now Korach, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kehat, the son of Levi, with Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuven, took some men. 2They rose up before Moshe, with some of the children of Yisrael, two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown. 3They assembled themselves together against Moshe and against Aharon, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are kodesh, everyone of them, and YHWH is amongst them! Why do you lift yourselves up above YHWH’s assembly?” 4When Moshe heard it, he fell on his face. 5He said to Korach and to all his company, “In the morning, YHWH will show who are his, and who is kodesh, and will cause him to come near to him. Even him whom he shall choose, he will cause to come near to him. 6Do this: have Korach and all his company take censers, 7put fire in them, and put incense on them before YHWH tomorrow. It shall be that the man whom YHWH chooses, he shall be kodesh. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!” 8Moshe said to Korach, “Hear now, you sons of Levi! 9Is it a small thing to you that the Elohim of Yisrael has separated you from the congregation of Yisrael, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of YHWH’s Mishkan, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; 10and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also? 11Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against YHWH! What is Aharon that you complain against him?” 12Moshe sent to call Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav; and they said, “We won’t come up! 13Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us? 14Moreover you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up.” 15Moshe was very angry, and said to YHWH, “Don’t respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.” 16Moshe said to Korach, “You and all your company go before YHWH, you, and they, and Aharon, tomorrow. 17Each man take his censer and put incense on it, and each man bring before YHWH his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aharon, each with his censer.” 18They each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed with Moshe and Aharon. 19Korach assembled all the congregation opposite them to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. YHWH’s kavod appeared to all the congregation. 20YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 21“Separate yourselves from amongst this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” 22They fell on their faces, and said, “Elohim, the Elohim of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” 23YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 24“Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from around the tent of Korach, Datan, and Aviram!’” 25Moshe rose up and went to Datan and Aviram; and the elders of Yisrael followed him. 26He spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins!” 27So they went away from the tent of Korach, Datan, and Aviram, on every side. Datan and Aviram came out, and stood at the door of their tents with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28Moshe said, “Hereby you shall know that YHWH has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind. 29If these men die the common death of all men, or if they experience what all men experience, then YHWH hasn’t sent me. 30But if YHWH makes a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up with all that belong to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall understand that these men have despised YHWH.” 31As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split apart. 32The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all of Korach’s men, and all their goods. 33So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed on them, and they perished from amongst the assembly. 34All Yisrael that were around them fled at their cry; for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” 35Fire came out from YHWH, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men who offered the incense. 36YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 37“Speak to El'azar the son of Aharon the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire away from the camp; for they are kodesh, 38even the censers of those who sinned against their own lives. Let them be beaten into plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before YHWH. Therefore they are kodesh. They shall be a sign to the children of Yisrael.” 39El'azar the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burnt had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar, 40to be a memorial to the children of Yisrael, to the end that no stranger who isn’t of the offspring of Aharon, would come near to burn incense before YHWH, that he not be as Korach and as his company; as YHWH spoke to him by Moshe. 41But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Yisrael complained against Moshe and against Aharon, saying, “You have killed YHWH’s people!” 42When the congregation was assembled against Moshe and against Aharon, they looked towards the Ohel Mo'ed. Behold, the cloud covered it, and YHWH’s kavod appeared. 43Moshe and Aharon came to the front of the Ohel Mo'ed. 44YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 45“Get away from amongst this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces. 46Moshe said to Aharon, “Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from YHWH! The plague has begun.” 47Aharon did as Moshe said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already begun amongst the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. 48He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, in addition to those who died about the matter of Korach. 50Aharon returned to Moshe to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, and the plague was stopped.

Chapter 17

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and take rods from them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3You shall write Aharon’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses. 4You shall lay them up in the Ohel Mo'ed before the Brit, where I meet with you. 5It shall happen that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Yisrael, which they murmur against you, cease from me.” 6Moshe spoke to the children of Yisrael; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, a total of twelve rods. Aharon’s rod was amongst their rods. 7Moshe laid up the rods before YHWH in the Tent of the Testimony. 8On the next day, Moshe went into the Tent of the Testimony; and behold, Aharon’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. 9Moshe brought out all the rods from before YHWH to all the children of Yisrael. They looked, and each man took his rod. 10YHWH said to Moshe, “Put back the rod of Aharon before the Brit, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their complaining against me, that they not die.” 11Moshe did so. As YHWH commanded him, so he did. 12The children of Yisrael spoke to Moshe, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone! 13Everyone who keeps approaching YHWH’s Mishkan, dies! Will we all perish?”

Chapter 18

1YHWH said to Aharon, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the Mishkan; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 2Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you; but you and your sons with you shall be before the Tent of the Testimony. 3They shall keep your commands and the duty of the whole Tent; only they shall not come near to the vessels of the Mishkan and to the altar, that they not die, neither they nor you. 4They shall be joined to you and keep the responsibility of the Ohel Mo'ed, for all the service of the Tent. A stranger shall not come near to you. 5“You shall perform the duty of the Mishkan and the duty of the altar, that there be no more wrath on the children of Yisrael. 6Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levi'im from amongst the children of Yisrael. They are a gift to you, dedicated to YHWH, to do the service of the Ohel Mo'ed. 7You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You shall serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.” 8YHWH spoke to Aharon, “Behold, I myself have given you the command of my wave offerings, even all the kodesh things of the children of Yisrael. I have given them to you by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever. 9This shall be yours of the most kodesh things from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall give to me, shall be most kodesh for you and for your sons. 10You shall eat of it like the most kodesh things. Every male shall eat of it. It shall be kodesh to you. 11“This is yours, too: the wave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Yisrael. I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it. 12“I have given to you all the best of the oil, all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to YHWH. 13The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to YHWH, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it. 14“Everything devoted in Yisrael shall be yours. 15Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to YHWH, both of man and animal, shall be yours. Nevertheless, you shall surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you shall redeem the firstborn of unclean animals. 16You shall redeem those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of money, according to the shekel of the Mishkan, which weighs twenty gerahs. 17“But you shall not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are kodesh. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 18Their meat shall be yours, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours. 19All the wave offerings of the kodesh things which the children of Yisrael offer to YHWH, I have given you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a Brit of salt forever before YHWH to you and to your offspring with you.” 20YHWH said to Aharon, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion amongst them. I am your portion and your inheritance amongst the children of Yisrael. 21“To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Yisrael for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the Ohel Mo'ed. 22Henceforth the children of Yisrael shall not come near the Ohel Mo'ed, lest they bear sin, and die. 23But the Levi'im shall do the service of the Ohel Mo'ed, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Amongst the children of Yisrael, they shall have no inheritance. 24For the tithe of the children of Yisrael, which they offer as a wave offering to YHWH, I have given to the Levi'im for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, ‘Amongst the children of Yisrael they shall have no inheritance.’” 25YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 26“Moreover you shall speak to the Levi'im, and tell them, ‘When you take of the children of Yisrael the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for YHWH, a tithe of the tithe. 27Your wave offering shall be credited to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press. 28Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to YHWH of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Yisrael; and of it you shall give YHWH’s wave offering to Aharon the priest. 29Out of all your gifts, you shall offer every wave offering to YHWH, of all its best parts, even the kodesh part of it.’ 30“Therefore you shall tell them, ‘When you heave its best from it, then it shall be credited to the Levi'im as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the wine press. 31You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the Ohel Mo'ed. 32You shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it its best. You shall not profane the kodesh things of the children of Yisrael, that you not die.’”

Chapter 19

1YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 2“This is the statute of the law which YHWH has commanded. Tell the children of Yisrael to bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no defect, and which was never yoked. 3You shall give her to El'azar the priest, and he shall bring her outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face. 4El'azar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood towards the front of the Ohel Mo'ed seven times. 5One shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her meat, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn. 6The priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the middle of the burning of the heifer. 7Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening. 8He who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening. 9“A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Yisrael for use in water for cleansing impurity. It is a sin offering. 10He who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. It shall be to the children of Yisrael, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner amongst them, for a statute forever. 11“He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. 12He shall purify himself with water on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he doesn’t purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. 13Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a man who has died, and doesn’t purify himself, defiles YHWH’s Mishkan; and that soul shall be cut off from Yisrael; because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is yet on him. 14“This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. 15Every open vessel, which has no covering bound on it, is unclean. 16“Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. 17“For the unclean, they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering; and running water shall be poured on them in a vessel. 18A clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, and on him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave. 19The clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day. On the seventh day, he shall purify him. He shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at evening. 20But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from amongst the assembly, because he has defiled the Mishkan of YHWH. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him. He is unclean. 21It shall be a perpetual statute to them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. 22“Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

Chapter 20

1The children of Yisrael, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Tzin in the first month. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moshe and against Aharon. 3The people quarrelled with Moshe, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before YHWH! 4Why have you brought YHWH’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals? 5Why have you made us to come up out of Mitzrayim, to bring us in to this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.” 6Moshe and Aharon went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, and fell on their faces. YHWH’s kavod appeared to them. 7YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 8“Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aharon your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.” 9Moshe took the rod from before YHWH, as he commanded him. 10Moshe and Aharon gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” 11Moshe lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank. 12YHWH said to Moshe and Aharon, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Yisrael, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13These are the waters of Merivah; because the children of Yisrael strove with YHWH, and he was sanctified in them. 14Moshe sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: “Your brother Yisrael says: You know all the travail that has happened to us; 15how our fathers went down into Mitzrayim, and we lived in Mitzrayim a long time. The Mitzrim mistreated us and our fathers. 16When we cried to YHWH, he heard our voice, sent an malak, and brought us out of Mitzrayim. Behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the edge of your border. 17“Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink from the water of the wells. We will go along the king’s highway. We will not turn away to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border.” 18Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you.” 19The children of Yisrael said to him, “We will go up by the highway; and if we drink your water, I and my livestock, then I will give its price. Only let me, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet.” 20He said, “You shall not pass through.” Edom came out against him with many people, and with a strong hand. 21Thus Edom refused to give Yisrael passage through his border, so Yisrael turned away from him. 22They travelled from Kadesh, and the children of Yisrael, even the whole congregation, came to Har Hor. 23YHWH spoke to Moshe and Aharon in Har Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying, 24“Aharon shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Yisrael, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Merivah. 25Take Aharon and El'azar his son, and bring them up to Har Hor; 26and strip Aharon of his garments, and put them on El'azar his son. Aharon shall be gathered, and shall die there.” 27Moshe did as YHWH commanded. They went up onto Har Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28Moshe stripped Aharon of his garments, and put them on El'azar his son. Aharon died there on the top of the mountain, and Moshe and El'azar came down from the mountain. 29When all the congregation saw that Aharon was dead, they wept for Aharon thirty days, even all the house of Yisrael.

Chapter 21

1The Kna'ani, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard that Yisrael came by the way of Atharim. He fought against Yisrael, and took some of them captive. 2Yisrael vowed a vow to YHWH, and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” 3YHWH listened to the voice of Yisrael, and delivered up the Kna'anim; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Chormah. 4They travelled from Har Hor by the way to the Yam Suf, to go around the land of Edom. The soul of the people was very discouraged because of the journey. 5The people spoke against Elohim and against Moshe: “Why have you brought us up out of Mitzrayim to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this disgusting food!” 6YHWH sent venomous snakes amongst the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Yisrael died. 7The people came to Moshe, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against YHWH and against you. Pray to YHWH, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moshe prayed for the people. 8YHWH said to Moshe, “Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9Moshe made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived. 10The children of Yisrael travelled, and encamped in Oboth. 11They travelled from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, towards the sunrise. 12From there they travelled, and encamped in the valley of Zered. 13From there they travelled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Emorim; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Emorim. 14Therefore it is said in The Book of the Wars of YHWH, “Vaheb in Suphah, the valleys of the Arnon, 15the slope of the valleys that incline towards the dwelling of Ar, leans on the border of Moab.” 16From there they travelled to Beer; that is the well of which YHWH said to Moshe, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.” 17Then Yisrael sang this song: “Spring up, well! Sing to it, 18the well, which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people dug, with the sceptre, and with their poles.” From the wilderness they travelled to Matanah; 19and from Matanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; 20and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert. 21Yisrael sent messengers to Sihon king of the Emorim, saying, 22“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn away into field or vineyard. We will not drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed your border.” 23Sihon would not allow Yisrael to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Yisrael into the wilderness, and came to Yahatz. He fought against Yisrael. 24Yisrael struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Yabok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified. 25Yisrael took all these cities. Yisrael lived in all the cities of the Emorim, in Cheshbon, and in all its villages. 26For Cheshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Emorim, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon. 27Therefore those who speak in proverbs say, “Come to Cheshbon. Let the city of Sihon be built and established; 28for a fire has gone out of Cheshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon. 29Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Emorim. 30We have shot at them. Cheshbon has perished even to Dibon. We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.” 31Thus Yisrael lived in the land of the Emorim. 32Moshe sent to spy out Yazer. They took its villages, and drove out the Emorim who were there. 33They turned and went up by the way of Bashan. Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edre'i. 34YHWH said to Moshe, “Don’t fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people, and his land. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Emorim, who lived at Cheshbon.” 35So they struck him, with his sons and all his people, until there were no survivors; and they possessed his land.

Chapter 22

1The children of Yisrael travelled, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. 2Balak the son of Tzipor saw all that Yisrael had done to the Emorim. 3Moab was very afraid of the people, because they were many. Moab was distressed because of the children of Yisrael. 4Moab said to the elders of Midyan, “Now this multitude will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” Balak the son of Tzipor was king of Moab at that time. 5He sent messengers to Bilam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, there is a people who came out of Mitzrayim. Behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying opposite me. 6Please come now therefore, and curse this people for me; for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall prevail, that we may strike them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” 7The elders of Moab and the elders of Midyan departed with the rewards of divination in their hand. They came to Bilam, and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8He said to them, “Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as YHWH shall speak to me.” The princes of Moab stayed with Bilam. 9Elohim came to Bilam, and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10Bilam said to Elohim, “Balak the son of Tzipor, king of Moab, has said to me, 11‘Behold, the people that has come out of Mitzrayim covers the surface of the earth. Now, come curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.’” 12Elohim said to Bilam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13Bilam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land; for YHWH refuses to permit me to go with you.” 14The princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Bilam refuses to come with us.” 15Balak again sent princes, more, and more honourable than they. 16They came to Bilam, and said to him, “Balak the son of Tzipor says, ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me, 17for I will promote you to very great honour, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.’” 18Bilam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the word of YHWH my Elohim, to do less or more. 19Now therefore please stay here tonight as well, that I may know what else YHWH will speak to me.” 20Elohim came to Bilam at night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.” 21Bilam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. 22Elohim’s anger burnt because he went; and YHWH’s malak placed himself in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23The donkey saw YHWH’s malak standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned out of the path, and went into the field. Bilam struck the donkey, to turn her into the path. 24Then YHWH’s malak stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 25The donkey saw YHWH’s malak, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Bilam’s foot against the wall. He struck her again. 26YHWH’s malak went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27The donkey saw YHWH’s malak, and she lay down under Bilam. Bilam’s anger burnt, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28YHWH opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Bilam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29Bilam said to the donkey, “Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you.” 30The donkey said to Bilam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing so to you?” He said, “No.” 31Then YHWH opened the eyes of Bilam, and he saw YHWH’s malak standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. 32YHWH’s malak said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me. 33The donkey saw me, and turned away before me these three times. Unless she had turned away from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive.” 34Bilam said to YHWH’s malak, “I have sinned; for I didn’t know that you stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases you, I will go back again.” 35YHWH’s malak said to Bilam, “Go with the men; but you shall only speak the word that I shall speak to you.” So Bilam went with the princes of Balak. 36When Balak heard that Bilam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border. 37Balak said to Bilam, “Didn’t I earnestly send for you to summon you? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I not able indeed to promote you to honour?” 38Bilam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any power at all to speak anything? I will speak the word that Elohim puts in my mouth.” 39Bilam went with Balak, and they came to Kiryat Huzoth. 40Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and sent to Bilam, and to the princes who were with him. 41In the morning, Balak took Bilam, and brought him up into the high places of Ba'al; and he saw from there part of the people.

Chapter 23

1Bilam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 2Balak did as Bilam had spoken; and Balak and Bilam offered on every altar a bull and a ram. 3Bilam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps YHWH will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height. 4Elohim met Bilam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.” 5YHWH put a word in Bilam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. 7He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Yaakov for me. Come, defy Yisrael. 8How shall I curse whom Elohim has not cursed? How shall I defy whom YHWH has not defied? 9For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed amongst the nations. 10Who can count the dust of Yaakov, or count the fourth part of Yisrael? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!” 11Balak said to Bilam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.” 12He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which YHWH puts in my mouth?” 13Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.” 14He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. 15He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet Elohim over there.” 16YHWH met Bilam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.” 17He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has YHWH spoken?” 18He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Tzipor. 19Elohim is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good? 20Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it. 21He has not seen iniquity in Yaakov. Neither has he seen perverseness in Yisrael. YHWH his Elohim is with him. The shout of a king is amongst them. 22Elohim brings them out of Mitzrayim. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox. 23Surely there is no enchantment with Yaakov; neither is there any divination with Yisrael. Now it shall be said of Yaakov and of Yisrael, ‘What has Elohim done!’ 24Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.” 25Balak said to Bilam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.” 26But Bilam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that YHWH speaks, that I must do’?” 27Balak said to Bilam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please Elohim that you may curse them for me from there.” 28Balak took Bilam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert. 29Bilam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 30Balak did as Bilam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

Chapter 24

1When Bilam saw that it pleased YHWH to bless Yisrael, he didn’t go, as at the other times, to use divination, but he set his face towards the wilderness. 2Bilam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Yisrael dwelling according to their tribes; and the Ruach Elohim came on him. 3He took up his parable, and said, “Bilam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says; 4he says, who hears the words of Elohim, who sees the vision of the El Shaddai, falling down, and having his eyes open: 5How goodly are your tents, Yaakov, and your dwellings, Yisrael! 6As valleys they are spread out, as gardens by the riverside, as aloes which YHWH has planted, as cedar trees beside the waters. 7Water shall flow from his buckets. His seed shall be in many waters. His king shall be higher than Agag. His kingdom shall be exalted. 8Elohim brings him out of Mitzrayim. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox. He shall consume the nations his adversaries, shall break their bones in pieces, and pierce them with his arrows. 9He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is cursed.” 10Balak’s anger burnt against Bilam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Bilam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times. 11Therefore, flee to your place, now! I thought to promote you to great honour; but, behold, YHWH has kept you back from honour.” 12Bilam said to Balak, “Didn’t I also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, 13‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond YHWH’s word, to do either good or bad from my own mind. I will say what YHWH says’? 14Now, behold, I go to my people. Come, I will inform you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days.” 15He took up his parable, and said, “Bilam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says; 16he says, who hears the words of Elohim, knows the knowledge of the Elyon, and who sees the vision of the El Shaddai, falling down, and having his eyes open: 17I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Yaakov. A sceptre will rise out of Yisrael, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and crush all the sons of Sheth. 18Edom shall be a possession. Seir, his enemy, also shall be a possession, while Yisrael does valiantly. 19Out of Yaakov shall one have dominion, and shall destroy the remnant from the city.” 20He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end shall come to destruction.” 21He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said, “Your dwelling place is strong. Your nest is set in the rock. 22Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted, until Asshur carries you away captive.” 23He took up his parable, and said, “Alas, who shall live when Elohim does this? 24But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim. They shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Ever. He also shall come to destruction.” 25Bilam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.

Chapter 25

1Yisrael stayed in Shitim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab; 2for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3Yisrael joined himself to Ba'al Peor, and YHWH’s anger burnt against Yisrael. 4YHWH said to Moshe, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to YHWH before the sun, that the fierce anger of YHWH may turn away from Yisrael.” 5Moshe said to the judges of Yisrael, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Ba'al Peor.” 6Behold, one of the children of Yisrael came and brought to his brothers a Midyani woman in the sight of Moshe, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, while they were weeping at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 7When Pinchas, the son of El'azar, the son of Aharon the priest, saw it, he rose up from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. 8He went after the man of Yisrael into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Yisrael, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped amongst the children of Yisrael. 9Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand. 10YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 11“Pinchas, the son of El'azar, the son of Aharon the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Yisrael, in that he was jealous with my jealousy amongst them, so that I didn’t consume the children of Yisrael in my jealousy. 12Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my Brit of peace. 13It shall be to him, and to his offspring after him, the Brit of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his Elohim, and made atonement for the children of Yisrael.’” 14Now the name of the man of Yisrael that was slain, who was slain with the Midyani woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers’ house amongst the Shimonim. 15The name of the Midyani woman who was slain was Kozbi, the daughter of Zur. He was head of the people of a fathers’ house in Midyan. 16YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 17“Harass the Midyanim, and strike them; 18for they harassed you with their wiles, wherein they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the incident regarding Kozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midyan, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.”

Chapter 26

1After the plague, YHWH spoke to Moshe and to El'azar the son of Aharon the priest, saying, 2“Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all who are able to go out to war in Yisrael.” 3Moshe and El'azar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4“Take a census, from twenty years old and upward, as YHWH commanded Moshe and the children of Yisrael.” These are those who came out of the land of Mitzrayim. 5Reuven, the firstborn of Yisrael; the sons of Reuven: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; 6of Hezron, the family of the Chetzronim; of Karmi, the family of the Karmim. 7These are the families of the Reuvenim; and those who were counted of them were forty-three thousand and seven hundred and thirty. 8The son of Pallu: Eliav. 9The sons of Eliav: Nemuel, Datan, and Aviram. These are that Datan and Aviram who were called by the congregation, who rebelled against Moshe and against Aharon in the company of Korach when they rebelled against YHWH; 10and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korach when that company died; at the time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. 11Notwithstanding, the sons of Korach didn’t die. 12The sons of Shimon after their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Yamin, the family of the Yaminim; of Yakhin, the family of the Yakhinim; 13of Zerach, the family of the Zerachim; of Sha'ul, the family of the Sha'ulites. 14These are the families of the Shimonim, twenty-two thousand and two hundred. 15The sons of Gad after their families: of Tzefon, the family of the Tzefonim; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; 16of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; 17of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. 18These are the families of the sons of Gad according to those who were counted of them, forty thousand and five hundred. 19The sons of Yehudah: Er and Onan. Er and Onan died in the land of Kna'an. 20The sons of Yehudah after their families were: of Shelach, the family of the Shelanites; of Peretz, the family of the Perezites; of Zerach, the family of the Zerachim. 21The sons of Peretz were: of Hezron, the family of the Chetzronim; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. 22These are the families of Yehudah according to those who were counted of them, seventy-six thousand and five hundred. 23The sons of Yissachar after their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; 24of Yashuv, the family of the Yashuvim; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. 25These are the families of Yissachar according to those who were counted of them, sixty-four thousand and three hundred. 26The sons of Zevulun after their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Eilon, the family of the Elonites; of Yachle'el, the family of the Yachle'elim. 27These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those who were counted of them, sixty thousand and five hundred. 28The sons of Yosef after their families: Menashe and Ephraim. 29The sons of Menashe: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir became the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gil'adim. 30These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Chelek, the family of the Chelkim; 31and Asri'el, the family of the Asrielites; and Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; 32and Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and Chefer, the family of the Hepherites. 33Tzelofchad the son of Chefer had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Tzelofchad were Mahlah, No'ah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. 34These are the families of Menashe. Those who were counted of them were fifty-two thousand and seven hundred. 35These are the sons of Ephraim after their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. 36These are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. 37These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were counted of them, thirty-two thousand and five hundred. These are the sons of Yosef after their families. 38The sons of Binyamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; 39of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. 40The sons of Bela were Ard and Na'aman: the family of the Ardites; and of Na'aman, the family of the Naamites. 41These are the sons of Binyamin after their families; and those who were counted of them were forty-five thousand and six hundred. 42These are the sons of Dan after their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan after their families. 43All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those who were counted of them, were sixty-four thousand and four hundred. 44The sons of Asher after their families: of Yimnah, the family of the Imnites; of Yishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beri'ah, the family of the Berites. 45Of the sons of Beri'ah: of Chever, the family of the Heberites; of Malki'el, the family of the Malchielites. 46The name of the daughter of Asher was Serach. 47These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those who were counted of them, fifty-three thousand and four hundred. 48The sons of Naftali after their families: of Yachtze'el, the family of the Yachtze'elim; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; 49of Yetzer, the family of the Yetzerim; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. 50These are the families of Naftali according to their families; and those who were counted of them were forty-five thousand and four hundred. 51These are those who were counted of the children of Yisrael, six hundred and one thousand and seven hundred and thirty. 52YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 53“To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. 54To the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance. To everyone according to those who were counted of him shall his inheritance be given. 55Notwithstanding, the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. 56According to the lot shall their inheritance be divided between the more and the fewer.” 57These are those who were counted of the Levi'im after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonim; of Kehat, the family of the Kehatim; of Merari, the family of the Merarim. 58These are the families of Levi: the family of the Livnim, the family of the Chevronim, the family of the Machlim, the family of the Mushites, and the family of the Korachim. Kehat became the father of Amram. 59The name of Amram’s wife was Yocheved, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Mitzrayim. She bore to Amram Aharon and Moshe, and Miriam their sister. 60To Aharon were born Nadav and Avihu, El'azar and Itamar. 61Nadav and Avihu died when they offered strange fire before YHWH. 62Those who were counted of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not counted amongst the children of Yisrael, because there was no inheritance given them amongst the children of Yisrael. 63These are those who were counted by Moshe and El'azar the priest, who counted the children of Yisrael in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64But amongst these there was not a man of them who were counted by Moshe and Aharon the priest, who counted the children of Yisrael in the wilderness of Sinai. 65For YHWH had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” There was not a man left of them, except Calev the son of Yefuneh, and Yehoshua the son of Nun.

Chapter 27

1Then the daughters of Tzelofchad, the son of Chefer, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Menashe, of the families of Menashe the son of Yosef came near. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, No'ah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. 2They stood before Moshe, before El'azar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed, saying, 3“Our father died in the wilderness. He was not amongst the company of those who gathered themselves together against YHWH in the company of Korach, but he died in his own sin. He had no sons. 4Why should the name of our father be taken away from amongst his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession amongst the brothers of our father.” 5Moshe brought their cause before YHWH. 6YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 7“The daughters of Tzelofchad speak right. You shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance amongst their father’s brothers. You shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. 8You shall speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 9If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. This shall be a statute and ordinance for the children of Yisrael, as YHWH commanded Moshe.’” 12YHWH said to Moshe, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Yisrael. 13When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aharon your brother was gathered; 14because in the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Tzin, to honour me as kodesh at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Merivah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Tzin.) 15Moshe spoke to YHWH, saying, 16“Let YHWH, the Elohim of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, 17who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in, that the congregation of YHWH may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.” 18YHWH said to Moshe, “Take Yehoshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Ruach, and lay your hand on him. 19Set him before El'azar the priest, and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight. 20You shall give authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Yisrael may obey. 21He shall stand before El'azar the priest, who shall enquire for him by the judgement of the Urim before YHWH. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the children of Yisrael with him, even all the congregation.” 22Moshe did as YHWH commanded him. He took Yehoshua, and set him before El'azar the priest and before all the congregation. 23He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as YHWH spoke by Moshe.

Chapter 28

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Command the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘See that you present my offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, as a pleasant aroma to me, in their due season.’ 3You shall tell them, ‘This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to YHWH: male lambs a year old without defect, two day by day, for a continual burnt offering. 4You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and you shall offer the other lamb at evening, 5with one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil. 6It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Har Sinai for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to YHWH. 7Its drink offering shall be the fourth part of a hin for each lamb. You shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to YHWH in the kodesh place. 8The other lamb you shall offer at evening. As the meal offering of the morning, and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 9“‘On the Shabbat day, you shall offer two male lambs a year old without defect, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering mixed with oil, and its drink offering: 10this is the burnt offering of every Shabbat, in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. 11“‘In the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to YHWH: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect, 12and three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering mixed with oil, for each bull; and two tenth parts of fine flour for a meal offering mixed with oil, for the one ram; 13and one tenth part of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering to every lamb, as a burnt offering of a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to YHWH. 14Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, the third part of a hin for the ram, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year. 15Also, one male goat for a sin offering to YHWH shall be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. 16“‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is YHWH’s Pesach. 17On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. 18In the first day shall be a kodesh convocation. You shall do no regular work, 19but you shall offer an offering made by fire, a burnt offering to YHWH: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old. They shall be without defect, 20with their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil. You shall offer three tenths for a bull, and two tenths for the ram. 21You shall offer one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; 22and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. 23You shall offer these in addition to the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. 24In this way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH. It shall be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. 25On the seventh day you shall have a kodesh convocation. You shall do no regular work. 26“‘Also in the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new meal offering to YHWH in your Chag HaShavuot, you shall have a kodesh convocation. You shall do no regular work; 27but you shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to YHWH: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; 28and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths for each bull, two tenths for the one ram, 29one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; 30and one male goat, to make atonement for you. 31Besides the continual burnt offering and its meal offering, you shall offer them and their drink offerings. See that they are without defect.

Chapter 29

1“‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a kodesh convocation; you shall do no regular work. It is a day of Yom Teruah to you. 2You shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to YHWH: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect; 3and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the ram, 4and one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; 5and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; 6in addition to the burnt offering of the new moon with its meal offering, and the continual burnt offering with its meal offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to YHWH. 7“‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a kodesh convocation. You shall afflict your souls. You shall do no kind of work; 8but you shall offer a burnt offering to YHWH for a pleasant aroma: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old, all without defect; 9and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the one ram, 10one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; 11one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and its meal offering, and their drink offerings. 12“‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a kodesh convocation. You shall do no regular work. You shall keep a feast to YHWH seven days. 13You shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to YHWH: thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect; 14and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenths for every bull of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each ram of the two rams, 15and one tenth for every lamb of the fourteen lambs; 16and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering. 17“‘On the second day you shall offer twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; 18and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; 19and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, with its meal offering and their drink offerings. 20“‘On the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; 21and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; 22and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its meal offering, and its drink offering. 23“‘On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; 24their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance; 25and one male goat for a sin offering; in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering. 26“‘On the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; 27and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance, 28and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its meal offering, and its drink offering. 29“‘On the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; 30and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance, 31and one male goat for a sin offering; in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and the drink offerings of it. 32“‘On the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without defect; 33and their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, after the ordinance, 34and one male goat for a sin offering; in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering. 35“‘On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall do no regular work; 36but you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a pleasant aroma to YHWH: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect; 37their meal offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, shall be according to their number, after the ordinance, 38and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, with its meal offering, and its drink offering. 39“‘You shall offer these to YHWH in your set feasts—in addition to your vows and your free will offerings—for your burnt offerings, your meal offerings, your drink offerings, and your peace offerings.’” 40Moshe told the children of Yisrael according to all that YHWH commanded Moshe.

Chapter 30

1Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Yisrael, saying, “This is the thing which YHWH has commanded. 2When a man vows a vow to YHWH, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. 3“Also, when a woman vows a vow to YHWH and binds herself by a pledge, being in her father’s house, in her youth, 4and her father hears her vow and her pledge with which she has bound her soul, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge with which she has bound her soul shall stand. 5But if her father forbids her in the day that he hears, none of her vows or of her pledges with which she has bound her soul, shall stand. YHWH will forgive her, because her father has forbidden her. 6“If she has a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance of her lips with which she has bound her soul, 7and her husband hears it, and says nothing to her in the day that he hears it; then her vows shall stand, and her pledges with which she has bound her soul shall stand. 8But if her husband forbids her in the day that he hears it, then he makes void her vow which is on her and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul. YHWH will forgive her. 9“But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, everything with which she has bound her soul shall stand against her. 10“If she vowed in her husband’s house or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, 11and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her and didn’t disallow her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge with which she bound her soul shall stand. 12But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand. Her husband has made them void. YHWH will forgive her. 13Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. 14But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges which are on her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her in the day that he heard them. 15But if he makes them null and void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity.” 16These are the statutes which YHWH commanded Moshe, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter, being in her youth, in her father’s house.

Chapter 31

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Avenge the children of Yisrael on the Midyanim. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3Moshe spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from amongst you for war, that they may go against Midyan, to execute YHWH’s vengeance on Midyan. 4You shall send one thousand out of every tribe, throughout all the tribes of Yisrael, to the war.” 5So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Yisrael, a thousand from every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6Moshe sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war with Pinchas the son of El'azar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the Mishkan and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7They fought against Midyan, as YHWH commanded Moshe. They killed every male. 8They killed the kings of Midyan with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Chur, and Reba, the five kings of Midyan. They also killed Bilam the son of Beor with the sword. 9The children of Yisrael took the women of Midyan captive with their little ones; and all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as plunder. 10All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire. 11They took all the captives, and all the plunder, both of man and of animal. 12They brought the captives with the prey and the plunder, to Moshe, and to El'azar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Yisrael, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho. 13Moshe and El'azar the priest, with all the princes of the congregation, went out to meet them outside of the camp. 14Moshe was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war. 15Moshe said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive? 16Behold, these caused the children of Yisrael, through the counsel of Bilam, to commit trespass against YHWH in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was amongst the congregation of YHWH. 17Now therefore kill every male amongst the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. 19“Encamp outside of the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. 20You shall purify every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.” 21El'azar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, “This is the statute of the law which YHWH has commanded Moshe. 22However the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23everything that may withstand the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity. All that doesn’t withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water. 24You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. Afterward you shall come into the camp.” 25YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 26“Count the plunder that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and El'azar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation; 27and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. 28Levy a tribute to YHWH of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred; of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks. 29Take it from their half, and give it to El'azar the priest, for YHWH’s wave offering. 30Of the children of Yisrael’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levi'im, who perform the duty of YHWH’s Mishkan.” 31Moshe and El'azar the priest did as YHWH commanded Moshe. 32Now the plunder, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33seventy-two thousand head of cattle, 34sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him. 36The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred sheep; 37and YHWH’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five. 38The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which YHWH’s tribute was seventy-two. 39The donkeys were thirty thousand and five hundred, of which YHWH’s tribute was sixty-one. 40The persons were sixteen thousand, of whom YHWH’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 41Moshe gave the tribute, which was YHWH’s wave offering, to El'azar the priest, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 42Of the children of Yisrael’s half, which Moshe divided off from the men who fought 43(now the congregation’s half was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred sheep, 44thirty-six thousand head of cattle, 45thirty thousand and five hundred donkeys, 46and sixteen thousand persons), 47even of the children of Yisrael’s half, Moshe took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levi'im, who performed the duty of YHWH’s Mishkan, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 48The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moshe. 49They said to Moshe, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us. 50We have brought YHWH’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before YHWH.” 51Moshe and El'azar the priest took their gold, even all worked jewels. 52All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to YHWH, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand and seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53The men of war had taken booty, every man for himself. 54Moshe and El'azar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Ohel Mo'ed for a memorial for the children of Yisrael before YHWH.

Chapter 32

1Now the children of Reuven and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. They saw the land of Yazer, and the land of Gilead. Behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuven came and spoke to Moshe, and to El'azar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, 3“Ataroth, Dibon, Yazer, Nimrah, Cheshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nevo, and Beon, 4the land which YHWH struck before the congregation of Yisrael, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.” 5They said, “If we have found favour in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Don’t bring us over the Jordan.” 6Moshe said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuven, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Yisrael from going over into the land which YHWH has given them? 8Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Yisrael, that they should not go into the land which YHWH had given them. 10YHWH’s anger burnt in that day, and he swore, saying, 11‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Mitzrayim, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov; because they have not wholly followed me, 12except Calev the son of Yefuneh the Kenizzite, and Yehoshua the son of Nun, because they have followed YHWH completely.’ 13YHWH’s anger burnt against Yisrael, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation who had done evil in YHWH’s sight was consumed. 14“Behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of YHWH towards Yisrael. 15For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.” 16They came near to him, and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones; 17but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Yisrael, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18We will not return to our houses until the children of Yisrael have all received their inheritance. 19For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.” 20Moshe said to them: “If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before YHWH to the war, 21and every one of your armed men will pass over the Jordan before YHWH until he has driven out his enemies from before him, 22and the land is subdued before YHWH; then afterward you shall return, and be clear of obligation to YHWH and to Yisrael. Then this land shall be your possession before YHWH. 23“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against YHWH; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.” 25The children of Gad and the children of Reuven spoke to Moshe, saying, “Your servants will do as my adonai commands. 26Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall be there in the cities of Gilead; 27but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before YHWH to battle, as my adonai says.” 28So Moshe commanded concerning them to El'azar the priest, and to Yehoshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the children of Yisrael. 29Moshe said to them, “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuven will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle before YHWH, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; 30but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions amongst you in the land of Kna'an.” 31The children of Gad and the children of Reuven answered, saying, “As YHWH has said to your servants, so will we do. 32We will pass over armed before YHWH into the land of Kna'an, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.” 33Moshe gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuven, and to the half-tribe of Menashe the son of Yosef, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Emorim, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan; the land, according to its cities and borders, even the cities of the surrounding land. 34The children of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aro'er, 35Atroth-shophan, Yazer, Yogbehah, 36Beit Nimrah, and Beit Charan: fortified cities and folds for sheep. 37The children of Reuven built Cheshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38Nevo, and Ba'al Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities which they built. 39The children of Machir the son of Menashe went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Emorim who were therein. 40Moshe gave Gilead to Machir the son of Menashe; and he lived therein. 41Ya'ir the son of Menashe went and took its villages, and called them Havvoth Ya'ir. 42Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Chapter 33

1These are the journeys of the children of Yisrael, when they went out of the land of Mitzrayim by their armies under the hand of Moshe and Aharon. 2Moshe wrote the starting points of their journeys by the mitzvah of YHWH. These are their journeys according to their starting points. 3They travelled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Pesach, the children of Yisrael went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Mitzrim, 4while the Mitzrim were burying all their firstborn, whom YHWH had struck amongst them. YHWH also executed judgements on their gods. 5The children of Yisrael travelled from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth. 6They travelled from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. 7They travelled from Etham, and turned back to Pihahiroth, which is before Ba'al Tzefon, and they encamped before Migdol. 8They travelled from before Hahiroth, and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah. 9They travelled from Marah, and came to Elim. In Elim, there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there. 10They travelled from Elim, and encamped by the Yam Suf. 11They travelled from the Yam Suf, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. 12They travelled from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. 13They travelled from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. 14They travelled from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15They travelled from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16They travelled from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth Hattaavah. 17They travelled from Kibroth Hattaavah, and encamped in Chatzerot. 18They travelled from Chatzerot, and encamped in Rithmah. 19They travelled from Rithmah, and encamped in Rimon Peretz. 20They travelled from Rimon Peretz, and encamped in Livnah. 21They travelled from Livnah, and encamped in Rissah. 22They travelled from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah. 23They travelled from Kehelathah, and encamped in Har Shepher. 24They travelled from Har Shepher, and encamped in Haradah. 25They travelled from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth. 26They travelled from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath. 27They travelled from Tahath, and encamped in Terach. 28They travelled from Terach, and encamped in Mithkah. 29They travelled from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah. 30They travelled from Hashmonah, and encamped in Moseroth. 31They travelled from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene Ya'akan. 32They travelled from Bene Ya'akan, and encamped in Hor Haggidgad. 33They travelled from Hor Haggidgad, and encamped in Yotvatah. 34They travelled from Yotvatah, and encamped in Abronah. 35They travelled from Abronah, and encamped in Ezion Geber. 36They travelled from Ezion Geber, and encamped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Tzin. 37They travelled from Kadesh, and encamped in Har Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. 38Aharon the priest went up into Har Hor at the mitzvah of YHWH and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Yisrael had come out of the land of Mitzrayim, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. 39Aharon was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died in Har Hor. 40The Kna'ani king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Kna'an, heard of the coming of the children of Yisrael. 41They travelled from Har Hor, and encamped in Zalmonah. 42They travelled from Zalmonah, and encamped in Punon. 43They travelled from Punon, and encamped in Oboth. 44They travelled from Oboth, and encamped in Iye Abarim, in the border of Moab. 45They travelled from Iyim, and encamped in Dibon Gad. 46They travelled from Dibon Gad, and encamped in Almon Diblathaim. 47They travelled from Almon Diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nevo. 48They travelled from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 49They encamped by the Jordan, from Beit Yeshimot even to Abel Shitim in the plains of Moab. 50YHWH spoke to Moshe in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them, “When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Kna'an, 52then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. 53You shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger groups you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. 55“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell. 56It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so I will do to you.”

Chapter 34

1YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 2“Command the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land of Kna'an (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Kna'an according to its borders), 3then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Tzin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward. 4Your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Tzin; and it shall pass southward of Kadesh Barnea; and it shall go from there to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5The border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Mitzrayim, and it shall end at the sea. 6“‘For the western border, you shall have the great sea and its border. This shall be your west border. 7“‘This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for yourselves Har Hor. 8From Har Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Chamat; and the border shall pass by Zedad. 9Then the border shall go to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your north border. 10“‘You shall mark out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11The border shall go down from Shepham to Rivlah, on the east side of Ain. The border shall go down, and shall reach to the side of the Yam Kinneret eastward. 12The border shall go down to the Jordan, and end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders around it.’” 13Moshe commanded the children of Yisrael, saying, “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which YHWH has commanded to give to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe; 14for the tribe of the children of Reuven according to their fathers’ houses, the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers’ houses, and the half-tribe of Menashe have received their inheritance. 15The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, towards the sunrise.” 16YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 17“These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: El'azar the priest, and Yehoshua the son of Nun. 18You shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance. 19These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Yehudah, Calev the son of Yefuneh. 20Of the tribe of the children of Shimon, Shmuel the son of Amihud. 21Of the tribe of Binyamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Yogli. 23Of the children of Yosef: of the tribe of the children of Menashe a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemu'el the son of Shiftan. 25Of the tribe of the children of Zevulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26Of the tribe of the children of Yissachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Achihud the son of Shelomi. 28Of the tribe of the children of Naftali a prince, Pedahel the son of Amihud.” 29These are they whom YHWH commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Yisrael in the land of Kna'an.

Chapter 35

1YHWH spoke to Moshe in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2“Command the children of Yisrael to give to the Levi'im cities to dwell in out of their inheritance. You shall give pasture lands for the cities around them to the Levi'im. 3They shall have the cities to dwell in. Their pasture lands shall be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals. 4“The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levi'im, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it. 5You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall be the pasture lands of their cities. 6“The cities which you shall give to the Levi'im, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. Besides them you shall give forty-two cities. 7All the cities which you shall give to the Levi'im shall be forty-eight cities together with their pasture lands. 8Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Yisrael, from the many you shall take many, and from the few you shall take few. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give some of his cities to the Levi'im.” 9YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying, 10“Speak to the children of Yisrael, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Kna'an, 11then you shall appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. 12The cities shall be for your refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgement. 13The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge. 14You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Kna'an. They shall be cities of refuge. 15These six cities shall be refuge for the children of Yisrael, for the stranger, and for the foreigner living amongst them, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. 16“‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 17If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 18Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him while lying in wait, so that he died, 21or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. 22“‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, 23or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and not seeking his harm, 24then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 25The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the kodesh oil. 26“‘But if the man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, 27and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, 28because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the man slayer shall return into the land of his possession. 29“‘These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30“‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain based on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone against any person so that he dies. 31“‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He shall surely be put to death. 32“‘You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. 33“‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it. 34You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, where I dwell; for I, YHWH, dwell amongst the children of Yisrael.’”

Chapter 36

1The heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Menashe, of the families of the sons of Yosef, came near and spoke before Moshe and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ households of the children of Yisrael. 2They said, “YHWH commanded my adonai to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Yisrael. My Adonai was commanded by YHWH to give the inheritance of Tzelofchad our brother to his daughters. 3If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Yisrael, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4When the jubilee of the children of Yisrael comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” 5Moshe commanded the children of Yisrael according to YHWH’s word, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Yosef speak what is right. 6This is the thing which YHWH commands concerning the daughters of Tzelofchad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best, only they shall marry into the family of the tribe of their father. 7So shall no inheritance of the children of Yisrael move from tribe to tribe; for the children of Yisrael shall all keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Yisrael shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Yisrael may each possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9So shall no inheritance move from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Yisrael shall each keep his own inheritance.’” 10The daughters of Tzelofchad did as YHWH commanded Moshe: 11for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah, and No'ah, the daughters of Tzelofchad, were married to their father’s brothers’ sons. 12They were married into the families of the sons of Menashe the son of Yosef. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. 13These are the mitzvot and the ordinances which YHWH commanded by Moshe to the children of Yisrael in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Devarim

Chapter 1

1These are the words which Moshe spoke to all Yisrael beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arava opposite Suf, between Paran, Tophel, Lavan, Chatzerot, and Dizahab. 2It is eleven days’ journey from Chorev by the way of Har Se'ir to Kadesh Barnea. 3In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moshe spoke to the children of Yisrael according to all that YHWH had given him in mitzvah to them, 4after he had struck Sihon the king of the Emorim who lived in Cheshbon, and Og the king of Bashan who lived in Ashtarot, at Edre'i. 5Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moshe began to declare this law, saying, 6“YHWH our Elohim spoke to us in Chorev, saying, ‘You have lived long enough at this mountain. 7Turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Emorim and to all the places near there: in the Arava, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South, by the seashore, in the land of the Kna'anim, and in Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which YHWH swore to your fathers—to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov—to give to them and to their offspring after them.’” 9I spoke to you at that time, saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone. 10YHWH your Elohim has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude. 11May YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! 12How can I myself alone bear your problems, your burdens, and your strife? 13Take wise men of understanding who are respected amongst your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.” 14You answered me, and said, “The thing which you have spoken is good to do.” 15So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and respected men, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. 16I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. 17You shall not show partiality in judgement; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgement is Elohim’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.” 18I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do. 19We travelled from Chorev and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Emorim, as YHWH our Elohim commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Emorim, which YHWH our Elohim gives to us. 21Behold, YHWH your Elohim has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as YHWH the Elohim of your fathers has spoken to you. Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed.” 22You came near to me, everyone of you, and said, “Let’s send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.” 23The thing pleased me well. I took twelve of your men, one man for every tribe. 24They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, “It is a good land which YHWH our Elohim gives to us.” 26Yet you wouldn’t go up, but rebelled against the mitzvah of YHWH your Elohim. 27You murmured in your tents, and said, “Because YHWH hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Mitzrayim, to deliver us into the hand of the Emorim to destroy us. 28Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart melt, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to the sky. Moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there!’” 29Then I said to you, “Don’t be terrified. Don’t be afraid of them. 30YHWH your Elohim, who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Mitzrayim before your eyes, 31and in the wilderness where you have seen how that YHWH your Elohim carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.” 32Yet in this thing you didn’t believe YHWH your Elohim, 33who went before you on the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in: in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day. 34YHWH heard the voice of your words and was angry, and swore, saying, 35“Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers, 36except Calev the son of Yefuneh. He shall see it. I will give the land that he has trodden on to him and to his children, because he has wholly followed YHWH.” 37Also YHWH was angry with me for your sakes, saying, “You also shall not go in there. 38Yehoshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Yisrael to inherit it. 39Moreover your little ones, whom you said would be captured or killed, your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall go in there. I will give it to them, and they shall possess it. 40But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Yam Suf.” 41Then you answered and said to me, “We have sinned against YHWH. We will go up and fight, according to all that YHWH our Elohim commanded us.” Every man of you put on his weapons of war, and presumed to go up into the hill country. 42YHWH said to me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go up and don’t fight; for I am not amongst you, lest you be struck before your enemies.’” 43So I spoke to you, and you didn’t listen; but you rebelled against the mitzvah of YHWH, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country. 44The Emorim, who lived in that hill country, came out against you and chased you as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Chormah. 45You returned and wept before YHWH, but YHWH didn’t listen to your voice, nor turn his ear to you. 46So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you remained.

Chapter 2

1Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Yam Suf, as YHWH spoke to me; and we encircled Har Se'ir many days. 2YHWH spoke to me, saying, 3“You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward. 4Command the people, saying, ‘You are to pass through the border of your brothers, the children of Esav, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore be careful. 5Don’t contend with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Har Se'ir to Esav for a possession. 6You shall purchase food from them for money, that you may eat. You shall also buy water from them for money, that you may drink.’” 7For YHWH your Elohim has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has known your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years, YHWH your Elohim has been with you. You have lacked nothing. 8So we passed by from our brothers, the children of Esav, who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arava from Eilat and from Ezion Geber. We turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9YHWH said to me, “Don’t bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you any of his land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.” 10(The Emim lived there before, a great and numerous people, and tall as the Anakim. 11These also are considered to be Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moavim call them Emim. 12The Chorim also lived in Seir in the past, but the children of Esav succeeded them. They destroyed them from before them, and lived in their place, as Yisrael did to the land of his possession, which YHWH gave to them.) 13“Now rise up and cross over the brook Zered.” We went over the brook Zered. 14The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea until we had come over the brook Zered were thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the middle of the camp, as YHWH swore to them. 15Moreover YHWH’s hand was against them, to destroy them from the middle of the camp, until they were consumed. 16So, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from amongst the people, 17YHWH spoke to me, saying, 18“You are to pass over Ar, the border of Moab, today. 19When you come near the border of the children of Ammon, don’t bother them, nor contend with them; for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.” 20(That also is considered a land of Rephaim. Rephaim lived there in the past, but the Amonim call them Zamzummim, 21a great people, many, and tall, as the Anakim; but YHWH destroyed them from before Yisrael, and they succeeded them, and lived in their place, 22as he did for the children of Esav who dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Chorim from before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place even to this day. 23Then the Avim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza: the Kaftorim, who came out of Kaftor, destroyed them and lived in their place.) 24“Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Emori, king of Cheshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. 25Today I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.” 26I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Cheshbon with words of peace, saying, 27“Let me pass through your land. I will go along by the highway. I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. 28You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink. Just let me pass through on my feet, 29as the children of Esav who dwell in Seir, and the Moavim who dwell in Ar, did to me, until I pass over the Jordan into the land which YHWH our Elohim gives us.” 30But Sihon king of Cheshbon would not let us pass by him, for YHWH your Elohim hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is today. 31YHWH said to me, “Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you. Begin to possess, that you may inherit his land.” 32Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Yahatz. 33YHWH our Elohim delivered him up before us; and we struck him, his sons, and all his people. 34We took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. We left no one remaining. 35Only the livestock we took for plunder for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities which we had taken. 36From Aro'er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. YHWH our Elohim delivered up all before us. 37Only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn’t come near: all the banks of the river Yabok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever YHWH our Elohim forbade us.

Chapter 3

1Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan. Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edre'i. 2YHWH said to me, “Don’t fear him; for I have delivered him, with all his people and his land, into your hand. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Emorim, who lived at Cheshbon.” 3So YHWH our Elohim also delivered into our hand Og, the king of Bashan, and all his people. We struck him until no one was left to him remaining. 4We took all his cities at that time. There was not a city which we didn’t take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, in addition to a great many villages without walls. 6We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Cheshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. 7But all the livestock, and the plunder of the cities, we took for plunder for ourselves. 8We took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Emorim who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Har Chermon. 9(The Tzidonim call Chermon Sirion, and the Emorim call it Senir.) 10We took all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, to Salecah and Edre'i, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Isn’t it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its width, after the cubit of a man.) 12This land we took in possession at that time: from Aro'er, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities, I gave to the Reuvenim and to the Gadim; 13and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Menashe—all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim. 14Ya'ir the son of Menashe took all the region of Argob, to the border of the Geshuri and the Ma'akhati, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth Ya'ir, to this day.) 15I gave Gilead to Machir. 16To the Reuvenim and to the Gadim I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and its border, even to the river Yabok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; 17the Arava also, and the Jordan and its border, from Kineret even to the sea of the Arava, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward. 18I commanded you at that time, saying, “YHWH your Elohim has given you this land to possess it. All of you men of valour shall pass over armed before your brothers, the children of Yisrael. 19But your wives, and your little ones, and your livestock, (I know that you have much livestock), shall live in your cities which I have given you, 20until YHWH gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also possess the land which YHWH your Elohim gives them beyond the Jordan. Then you shall each return to his own possession, which I have given you.” 21I commanded Yehoshua at that time, saying, “Your eyes have seen all that YHWH your Elohim has done to these two kings. So shall YHWH do to all the kingdoms where you go over. 22You shall not fear them; for YHWH your Elohim himself fights for you.” 23I begged YHWH at that time, saying, 24“Adonai YHWH, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or in earth that can do works like yours, and mighty acts like yours? 25Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that fine mountain, and Lebanon.” 26But YHWH was angry with me because of you, and didn’t listen to me. YHWH said to me, “That is enough! Speak no more to me of this matter. 27Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28But commission Yehoshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.” 29So we stayed in the valley near Beit Pe'or.

Chapter 4

1Now, Yisrael, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do them, that you may live and go in and possess the land which YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, gives you. 2You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim which I command you. 3Your eyes have seen what YHWH did because of Ba'al Peor; for YHWH your Elohim has destroyed all the men who followed Ba'al Peor from amongst you. 4But you who were faithful to YHWH your Elohim are all alive today. 5Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as YHWH my Elohim commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it. 6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who shall hear all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as YHWH our Elohim is whenever we call on him? 8What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you today? 9Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children— 10the day that you stood before YHWH your Elohim in Chorev, when YHWH said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” 11You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burnt with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. 12YHWH spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice. 13He declared to you his Brit, which he commanded you to perform, even the Aseret HaDibrot. He wrote them on two stone tablets. 14YHWH commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it. 15Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that YHWH spoke to you in Chorev out of the middle of the fire, 16lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; 19and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which YHWH your Elohim has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky. 20But YHWH has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Mitzrayim, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today. 21Furthermore YHWH was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance; 22but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan, but you shall go over and possess that good land. 23Be careful, lest you forget the Brit of YHWH your Elohim, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which YHWH your Elohim has forbidden you. 24For YHWH your Elohim is a devouring fire, a jealous Elohim. 25When you father children and children’s children, and you have been long in the land, and then corrupt yourselves, and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in YHWH your Elohim’s sight to provoke him to anger, 26I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed. 27YHWH will scatter you amongst the peoples, and you will be left few in number amongst the nations where YHWH will lead you away. 28There you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29But from there you shall seek YHWH your Elohim, and you will find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to YHWH your Elohim and listen to his voice. 31For YHWH your Elohim is a merciful Elohim. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the Brit of your fathers which he swore to them. 32For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that Elohim created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as great as this thing is, or has been heard like it? 33Did a people ever hear the voice of Elohim speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34Or has Elohim tried to go and take a nation for himself from amongst another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that YHWH your Elohim did for you in Mitzrayim before your eyes? 35It was shown to you so that you might know that YHWH is Elohim. There is no one else besides him. 36Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle of the fire. 37Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Mitzrayim; 38to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. 39Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that YHWH himself is Elohim in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else. 40You shall keep his statutes and his mitzvot which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for all time. 41Then Moshe set apart three cities beyond the Jordan towards the sunrise, 42that the man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbour unintentionally and didn’t hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reuvenim; and Ramot in Gilead for the Gadim; and Golan in Bashan for the Menashim. 44This is the law which Moshe set before the children of Yisrael. 45These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances which Moshe spoke to the children of Yisrael when they came out of Mitzrayim, 46beyond the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beit Pe'or, in the land of Sihon king of the Emorim, who lived at Cheshbon, whom Moshe and the children of Yisrael struck when they came out of Mitzrayim. 47They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Emorim, who were beyond the Jordan towards the sunrise; 48from Aro'er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Har Siyon (also called Chermon), 49and all the Arava beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arava, under the slopes of Pisgah.

Chapter 5

1Moshe called to all Yisrael, and said to them, “Hear, Yisrael, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears today, that you may learn them, and observe to do them.” 2YHWH our Elohim made a Brit with us in Chorev. 3YHWH didn’t make this Brit with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive today. 4YHWH spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, 5(I stood between YHWH and you at that time, to show you YHWH’s word; for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn’t go up onto the mountain) saying, 6“I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, out of the house of bondage. 7“You shall have no other gods before me. 8“You shall not make a carved image for yourself—any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, YHWH your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me 10and showing chesed to thousands of those who love me and keep my mitzvot. 11“You shall not misuse the name of YHWH your Elohim; for YHWH will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name. 12“Observe the Shabbat day, to keep it kodesh, as YHWH your Elohim commanded you. 13You shall labour six days, and do all your work; 14but the seventh day is a Shabbat to YHWH your Elohim, in which you shall not do any work—neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Mitzrayim, and YHWH your Elohim brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore YHWH your Elohim commanded you to keep the Shabbat day. 16“Honour your father and your mother, as YHWH your Elohim commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you. 17“You shall not murder. 18“You shall not commit adultery. 19“You shall not steal. 20“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour. 21“You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbour’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.” 22YHWH spoke these words to all your assembly on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me. 23When you heard the voice out of the middle of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; 24and you said, “Behold, YHWH our Elohim has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the fire. We have seen today that Elohim does speak with man, and he lives. 25Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear YHWH our Elohim’s voice any more, then we shall die. 26For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living Elohim speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27Go near, and hear all that YHWH our Elohim shall say, and tell us all that YHWH our Elohim tells you; and we will hear it, and do it.” 28YHWH heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me; and YHWH said to me, “I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken. 29Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my mitzvot always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! 30“Go tell them, ‘Return to your tents.’ 31But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the mitzvot, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.” 32You shall observe to do therefore as YHWH your Elohim has commanded you. You shall not turn away to the right hand or to the left. 33You shall walk in all the way which YHWH your Elohim has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

Chapter 6

1Now these are the mitzvot, the statutes, and the ordinances, which YHWH your Elohim commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land that you go over to possess; 2that you might fear YHWH your Elohim, to keep all his statutes and his mitzvot, which I command you—you, your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. 3Hear therefore, Yisrael, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4Shema Yisrael, YHWH Eloheinu, YHWH echad (Hear, O Yisrael, YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is one.) 5You shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. 6These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; 7and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates. 10It shall be, when YHWH your Elohim brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn’t build, 11and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; 12then beware lest you forget YHWH, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, out of the house of bondage. 13You shall fear YHWH your Elohim; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. 14You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, 15for YHWH your Elohim amongst you is a jealous Elohim, lest the anger of YHWH your Elohim be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. 16You shall not tempt YHWH your Elohim, as you tempted him in Masah. 17You shall diligently keep the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18You shall do that which is right and good in YHWH’s sight, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which YHWH swore to your fathers, 19to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as YHWH has spoken. 20When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which YHWH our Elohim has commanded you mean?” 21then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Mitzrayim. YHWH brought us out of Mitzrayim with a mighty hand; 22and YHWH showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Mitzrayim, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; 23and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. 24YHWH commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear YHWH our Elohim, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are today. 25It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all these mitzvot before YHWH our Elohim, as he has commanded us.”

Chapter 7

1When YHWH your Elohim brings you into the land where you go to possess it, and casts out many nations before you—the Chitti, the Girgashi, the Emori, the Kna'ani, the Perizi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi—seven nations greater and mightier than you; 2and when YHWH your Elohim delivers them up before you, and you strike them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no Brit with them, nor show chesed to them. 3You shall not make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son. 4For that would turn away your sons from following me, that they may serve other gods. So YHWH’s anger would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5But you shall deal with them like this: you shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their engraved images with fire. 6For you are a kodesh people to YHWH your Elohim. YHWH your Elohim has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7YHWH didn’t set his love on you nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples; 8but because YHWH loves you, and because he desires to keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, YHWH has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim. 9Know therefore that YHWH your Elohim himself is Elohim, the faithful Elohim, who keeps Brit and chesed to a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his mitzvot, 10and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11You shall therefore keep the mitzvot, the statutes, and the ordinances which I command you today, to do them. 12It shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances and keep and do them, that YHWH your Elohim will keep with you the Brit and the chesed which he swore to your fathers. 13He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you. 14You will be blessed above all peoples. There won’t be male or female barren amongst you, or amongst your livestock. 15YHWH will take away from you all sickness; and he will put none of the evil diseases of Mitzrayim, which you know, on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you. 16You shall consume all the peoples whom YHWH your Elohim shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them. You shall not serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you. 17If you shall say in your heart, “These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?” 18you shall not be afraid of them. You shall remember well what YHWH your Elohim did to Pharaoh and to all Mitzrayim: 19the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which YHWH your Elohim brought you out. So shall YHWH your Elohim do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20Moreover YHWH your Elohim will send the hornet amongst them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you. 21You shall not be scared of them; for YHWH your Elohim is amongst you, a great and awesome Elohim. 22YHWH your Elohim will cast out those nations before you little by little. You may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you. 23But YHWH your Elohim will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under the sky. No one will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 25You shall burn the engraved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared in it; for it is an abomination to YHWH your Elohim. 26You shall not bring an abomination into your house and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it. You shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.

Chapter 8

1You shall observe to do all the mitzvot which I command you today, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which YHWH swore to your fathers. 2You shall remember all the way which YHWH your Elohim has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his mitzvot or not. 3He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of YHWH’s mouth. 4Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years. 5You shall consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so YHWH your Elohim disciplines you. 6You shall keep the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. 7For YHWH your Elohim brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills; 8a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey; 9a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper. 10You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless YHWH your Elohim for the good land which he has given you. 11Beware lest you forget YHWH your Elohim, in not keeping his mitzvot, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you today; 12lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived in them; 13and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, out of the house of bondage; 15who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint; 16who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end; 17and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.” 18But you shall remember YHWH your Elohim, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his Brit which he swore to your fathers, as it is today. 19It shall be, if you shall forget YHWH your Elohim, and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish. 20As the nations that YHWH makes to perish before you, so you shall perish, because you wouldn’t listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice.

Chapter 9

1Hear, Yisrael! You are to pass over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky, 2a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” 3Know therefore today that YHWH your Elohim is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them and he will bring them down before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as YHWH has spoken to you. 4Don’t say in your heart, after YHWH your Elohim has thrust them out from before you, “For my righteousness YHWH has brought me in to possess this land;” because YHWH drives them out before you because of the wickedness of these nations. 5Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations YHWH your Elohim does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which YHWH swore to your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov. 6Know therefore that YHWH your Elohim doesn’t give you this good land to possess for your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7Remember, and don’t forget, how you provoked YHWH your Elohim to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you left the land of Mitzrayim until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against YHWH. 8Also in Chorev you provoked YHWH to wrath, and YHWH was angry with you to destroy you. 9When I had gone up onto the mountain to receive the stone tablets, even the tablets of the Brit which YHWH made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10YHWH delivered to me the two stone tablets written with Elohim’s finger. On them were all the words which YHWH spoke with you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire in the day of the assembly. 11It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights that YHWH gave me the two stone tablets, even the tablets of the Brit. 12YHWH said to me, “Arise, get down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought out of Mitzrayim have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned away from the way which I commanded them. They have made a molten image for themselves!” 13Furthermore YHWH spoke to me, saying, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. 14Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.” 15So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. The two tablets of the Brit were in my two hands. 16I looked, and behold, you had sinned against YHWH your Elohim. You had made yourselves a moulded calf. You had quickly turned away from the way which YHWH had commanded you. 17I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. 18I fell down before YHWH, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in YHWH’s sight, to provoke him to anger. 19For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which YHWH was angry against you to destroy you. But YHWH listened to me that time also. 20YHWH was angry enough with Aharon to destroy him. I prayed for Aharon also at the same time. 21I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain. 22At Taberah, at Masah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked YHWH to wrath. 23When YHWH sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” you rebelled against the mitzvah of YHWH your Elohim, and you didn’t believe him or listen to his voice. 24You have been rebellious against YHWH from the day that I knew you. 25So I fell down before YHWH the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because YHWH had said he would destroy you. 26I prayed to YHWH, and said, “Adonai YHWH, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Mitzrayim with a mighty hand. 27Remember your servants, Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin, 28lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because YHWH was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ 29Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”

Chapter 10

1At that time YHWH said to me, “Cut two stone tablets like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make an ark of wood. 2I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.” 3So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two stone tablets like the first, and went up onto the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. 4He wrote on the tablets, according to the first writing, the Aseret HaDibrot, which YHWH spoke to you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire in the day of the assembly; and YHWH gave them to me. 5I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are as YHWH commanded me. 6(The children of Yisrael travelled from Beeroth Bene Ya'akan to Moserah. There Aharon died, and there he was buried; and El'azar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his place. 7From there they travelled to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Yotvatah, a land of brooks of water. 8At that time YHWH set apart the tribe of Levi to bear the Aron YHWH’s Brit, to stand before YHWH to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. 9Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; YHWH is his inheritance, according as YHWH your Elohim spoke to him.) 10I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights; and YHWH listened to me that time also. YHWH would not destroy you. 11YHWH said to me, “Arise, take your journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.” 12Now, Yisrael, what does YHWH your Elohim require of you, but to fear YHWH your Elohim, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul, 13to keep YHWH’s mitzvot and statutes, which I command you today for your good? 14Behold, to YHWH your Elohim belongs heaven, the heaven of heavens, and the earth, with all that is therein. 15Only YHWH had a delight in your fathers to love them, and he chose their offspring after them, even you above all peoples, as it is today. 16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked. 17For YHWH your Elohim, he is Elohim of gods and Adonai of Adonim, the great Elohim, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn’t respect persons or take bribes. 18He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner in giving him food and clothing. 19Therefore love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Mitzrayim. 20You shall fear YHWH your Elohim. You shall serve him. You shall cling to him, and you shall swear by his name. 21He is your praise, and he is your Elohim, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. 22Your fathers went down into Mitzrayim with seventy persons; and now YHWH your Elohim has made you as the stars of the sky for multitude.

Chapter 11

1Therefore you shall love YHWH your Elohim, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his mitzvot, always. 2Know this day—for I don’t speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of YHWH your Elohim, his greatness, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm, 3his signs, and his works, which he did in the middle of Mitzrayim to Pharaoh the king of Mitzrayim, and to all his land; 4and what he did to the army of Mitzrayim, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Yam Suf to overflow them as they pursued you, and how YHWH has destroyed them to this day; 5and what he did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place; 6and what he did to Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav, the son of Reuven—how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the middle of all Yisrael; 7but your eyes have seen all of YHWH’s great work which he did. 8Therefore you shall keep the entire mitzvah which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land that you go over to possess; 9and that you may prolong your days in the land which YHWH swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10For the land, where you go in to possess isn’t like the land of Mitzrayim that you came out of, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs; 11but the land that you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky, 12a land which YHWH your Elohim cares for. YHWH your Elohim’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year. 13It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my mitzvot which I command you today, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14that I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. 16Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away to serve other gods and worship them; 17and YHWH’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which YHWH gives you. 18Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 19You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates; 21that your days and your children’s days may be multiplied in the land which YHWH swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth. 22For if you shall diligently keep all these mitzvot which I command you—to do them, to love YHWH your Elohim, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him— 23then YHWH will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. 24Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border. 25No man will be able to stand before you. YHWH your Elohim will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you. 26Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27the blessing, if you listen to the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim, which I command you today; 28and the curse, if you do not listen to the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. 29It shall happen, when YHWH your Elohim brings you into the land that you go to possess, that you shall set the blessing on Har Gerizim, and the curse on Har Eval. 30Aren’t they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Kna'anim who dwell in the Arava near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? 31For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, and you shall possess it and dwell in it. 32You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you today.

Chapter 12

1These are the statutes and the ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days that you live on the earth. 2You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods: on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 3You shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, and burn their Asherah poles with fire. You shall cut down the engraved images of their gods. You shall destroy their name out of that place. 4You shall not do so to YHWH your Elohim. 5But to the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you shall come there. 6You shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, your vows, your free will offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock there. 7There you shall eat before YHWH your Elohim, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which YHWH your Elohim has blessed you. 8You shall not do all the things that we do here today, every man whatever is right in his own eyes; 9for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which YHWH your Elohim gives you. 10But when you go over the Jordan and dwell in the land which YHWH your Elohim causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you dwell in safety, 11then it shall happen that to the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to YHWH. 12You shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim—you, and your sons, your daughters, your male servants, your female servants, and the Levi'i who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 13Be careful that you don’t offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14but in the place which YHWH chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you. 15Yet you may kill and eat meat within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to YHWH your Elohim’s blessing which he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the deer. 16Only you shall not eat the blood. You shall pour it out on the earth like water. 17You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your free will offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand; 18but you shall eat them before YHWH your Elohim in the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, and the Levi'i who is within your gates. You shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim in all that you put your hand to. 19Be careful that you don’t forsake the Levi'i as long as you live in your land. 20When YHWH your Elohim enlarges your border, as he has promised you, and you say, “I want to eat meat,” because your soul desires to eat meat, you may eat meat, after all the desire of your soul. 21If the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose to put his name is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which YHWH has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul. 22Even as the gazelle and as the deer is eaten, so you shall eat of it. The unclean and the clean may eat of it alike. 23Only be sure that you don’t eat the blood; for the blood is the life. You shall not eat the life with the meat. 24You shall not eat it. You shall pour it out on the earth like water. 25You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do that which is right in YHWH’s eyes. 26Only your kodesh things which you have, and your vows, you shall take and go to the place which YHWH shall choose. 27You shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on YHWH your Elohim’s altar. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on YHWH your Elohim’s altar, and you shall eat the meat. 28Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in YHWH your Elohim’s eyes. 29When YHWH your Elohim cuts off the nations from before you where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30be careful that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you, and that you not enquire after their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.” 31You shall not do so to YHWH your Elohim; for every abomination to YHWH, which he hates, they have done to their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. 32Whatever thing I command you, that you shall observe to do. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it.

Chapter 13

1If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises amongst you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let’s go after other gods” (which you have not known) “and let’s serve them,” 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for YHWH your Elohim is testing you, to know whether you love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You shall walk after YHWH your Elohim, fear him, keep his mitzvot, and obey his voice. You shall serve him, and cling to him. 5That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which YHWH your Elohim commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from amongst you. 6If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods”—which you have not known, you, nor your fathers; 7of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth— 8you shall not consent to him nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him; 9but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. 10You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim, out of the house of bondage. 11All Yisrael shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more wickedness like this amongst you. 12If you hear about one of your cities, which YHWH your Elohim gives you to dwell there, that 13certain wicked fellows have gone out from amongst you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods,” which you have not known, 14then you shall enquire, investigate, and ask diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination was done amongst you, 15you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, with all that is therein and its livestock, with the edge of the sword. 16You shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, with all of its plunder, to YHWH your Elohim. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, that YHWH may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you chesed, and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers, 18when you listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice, to keep all his mitzvot which I command you today, to do that which is right in YHWH your Elohim’s eyes.

Chapter 14

1You are the children of YHWH your Elohim. You shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. 2For you are a kodesh people to YHWH your Elohim, and YHWH has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth. 3You shall not eat any abominable thing. 4These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the chamois. 6Every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, amongst the animals, you may eat. 7Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof split: the camel, the hare, and the rabbit. Because they chew the cud but don’t part the hoof, they are unclean to you. 8The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat their meat. You shall not touch their carcasses. 9These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat whatever has fins and scales. 10You shall not eat whatever doesn’t have fins and scales. It is unclean to you. 11Of all clean birds you may eat. 12But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, 13the red kite, the falcon, the kite of any kind, 14every raven of any kind, 15the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, the hawk of any kind, 16the little owl, the great owl, the horned owl, 17the pelican, the vulture, the cormorant, 18the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. 19All winged creeping things are unclean to you. They shall not be eaten. 20Of all clean birds you may eat. 21You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the foreigner living amongst you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a kodesh people to YHWH your Elohim. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. 22You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes out of the field year by year. 23You shall eat before YHWH your Elohim, in the place which he chooses to cause his name to dwell, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear YHWH your Elohim always. 24If the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it because the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose to set his name there is too far from you, when YHWH your Elohim blesses you, 25then you shall turn it into money, bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose. 26You shall trade the money for whatever your soul desires: for cattle, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you. You shall eat there before YHWH your Elohim, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. 27You shall not forsake the Levi'i who is within your gates, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 28At the end of every three years you shall bring all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall store it within your gates. 29The Levi'i, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, as well as the foreigner living amongst you, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that YHWH your Elohim may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Chapter 15

1At the end of every seven years, you shall cancel debts. 2This is the way it shall be done: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbour. He shall not require payment from his neighbour and his brother, because YHWH’s release has been proclaimed. 3Of a foreigner you may require it; but whatever of yours is with your brother, your hand shall release. 4However there will be no poor with you (for YHWH will surely bless you in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance to possess) 5if only you diligently listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice, to observe to do all this mitzvah which I command you today. 6For YHWH your Elohim will bless you, as he promised you. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; 8but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks. 9Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing; and he cry to YHWH against you, and it be sin to you. 10You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because it is for this thing YHWH your Elohim will bless you in all your work and in all that you put your hand to. 11For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land. 12If your brother, a Ivri man, or a Ivri woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 13When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty. 14You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press. As YHWH your Elohim has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Mitzrayim, and YHWH your Elohim redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today. 16It shall be, if he tells you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you, 17then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. 18It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for he has been double the value of a hired hand as he served you six years. YHWH your Elohim will bless you in all that you do. 19You shall dedicate all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock to YHWH your Elohim. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20You shall eat it before YHWH your Elohim year by year in the place which YHWH shall choose, you and your household. 21If it has any defect—is lame or blind, or has any defect whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to YHWH your Elohim. 22You shall eat it within your gates. The unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle and as the deer. 23Only you shall not eat its blood. You shall pour it out on the ground like water.

Chapter 16

1Observe the month of Aviv, and keep the Pesach to YHWH your Elohim; for in the month of Aviv YHWH your Elohim brought you out of Mitzrayim by night. 2You shall sacrifice the Pesach to YHWH your Elohim, of the flock and the herd, in the place which YHWH shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. 3You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Mitzrayim in haste) that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Mitzrayim all the days of your life. 4No yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the meat, which you sacrifice the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning. 5You may not sacrifice the Pesach within any of your gates which YHWH your Elohim gives you; 6but at the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Pesach at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Mitzrayim. 7You shall roast and eat it in the place which YHWH your Elohim chooses. In the morning you shall return to your tents. 8Six days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to YHWH your Elohim. You shall do no work. 9You shall count for yourselves seven weeks. From the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks. 10You shall keep the Chag HaShavuot to YHWH your Elohim with a tribute of a free will offering of your hand, which you shall give according to how YHWH your Elohim blesses you. 11You shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levi'i who is within your gates, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are amongst you, in the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. 12You shall remember that you were a slave in Mitzrayim. You shall observe and do these statutes. 13You shall keep the Chag HaSukkot seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your wine press. 14You shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levi'i, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates. 15You shall keep a feast to YHWH your Elohim seven days in the place which YHWH chooses, because YHWH your Elohim will bless you in all your increase and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful. 16Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before YHWH your Elohim in the place which he chooses: in the Chag HaMatzot, in the Chag HaShavuot, and in the Chag HaSukkot. They shall not appear before YHWH empty. 17Every man shall give as he is able, according to YHWH your Elohim’s blessing which he has given you. 18You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which YHWH your Elohim gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgement. 19You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20You shall follow that which is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you. 21You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside YHWH your Elohim’s altar, which you shall make for yourselves. 22Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which YHWH your Elohim hates.

Chapter 17

1You shall not sacrifice to YHWH your Elohim an ox or a sheep in which is a defect or anything evil; for that is an abomination to YHWH your Elohim. 2If there is found amongst you, within any of your gates which YHWH your Elohim gives you, a man or woman who does that which is evil in YHWH your Elohim’s sight in transgressing his Brit, 3and has gone and served other gods and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the stars of the sky, which I have not commanded, 4and you are told, and you have heard of it, then you shall enquire diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in Yisrael, 5then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates, even that same man or woman; and you shall stone them to death with stones. 6At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. 7The hands of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall remove the evil from amongst you. 8If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgement, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise, and go up to the place which YHWH your Elohim chooses. 9You shall come to the priests who are Levi'im and to the judge who shall be in those days. You shall enquire, and they shall give you the verdict. 10You shall do according to the decisions of the verdict which they shall give you from that place which YHWH chooses. You shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you. 11According to the decisions of the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgement which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn away from the sentence which they announce to you, to the right hand, nor to the left. 12The man who does presumptuously in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before YHWH your Elohim, or to the judge, even that man shall die. You shall put away the evil from Yisrael. 13All the people shall hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously. 14When you have come to the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,” 15you shall surely set him whom YHWH your Elohim chooses as king over yourselves. You shall set as king over you one from amongst your brothers. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Mitzrayim, to the end that he may multiply horses; because YHWH has said to you, “You shall not go back that way again.” 17He shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away. He shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the Levitical priests. 19It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear YHWH his Elohim, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; 20that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn away from the mitzvah to the right hand, or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the middle of Yisrael.

Chapter 18

1The priests and the Levi'im—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no portion nor inheritance with Yisrael. They shall eat the offerings of YHWH made by fire and his portion. 2They shall have no inheritance amongst their brothers. YHWH is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them. 3This shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest: the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the inner parts. 4You shall give him the first fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep. 5For YHWH your Elohim has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in YHWH’s name, him and his sons forever. 6If a Levi'i comes from any of your gates out of all Yisrael where he lives, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which YHWH shall choose, 7then he shall minister in the name of YHWH his Elohim, as all his brothers the Levi'im do, who stand there before YHWH. 8They shall have like portions to eat, in addition to that which comes from the sale of his family possessions. 9When you have come into the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations. 10There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who tells fortunes, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, 11or a charmer, or someone who consults with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12For whoever does these things is an abomination to YHWH. Because of these abominations, YHWH your Elohim drives them out from before you. 13You shall be blameless with YHWH your Elohim. 14For these nations that you shall dispossess listen to those who practise sorcery and to diviners; but as for you, YHWH your Elohim has not allowed you so to do. 15YHWH your Elohim will raise up to you a prophet from amongst you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him. 16This is according to all that you desired of YHWH your Elohim in Chorev in the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear again YHWH my Elohim’s voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.” 17YHWH said to me, “They have well said that which they have spoken. 18I will raise them up a prophet from amongst their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. 19It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 20But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” 21You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which YHWH has not spoken?” 22When a prophet speaks in YHWH’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which YHWH has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him.

Chapter 19

1When YHWH your Elohim cuts off the nations whose land YHWH your Elohim gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess. 3You shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which YHWH your Elohim causes you to inherit into three parts, that every man slayer may flee there. 4This is the case of the man slayer who shall flee there and live: Whoever kills his neighbour unintentionally, and didn’t hate him in time past— 5as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbour to chop wood and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbour so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live. 6Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer while hot anger is in his heart and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally, even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past. 7Therefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves. 8If YHWH your Elohim enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers; 9and if you keep all this mitzvah to do it, which I command you today, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to walk ever in his ways, then you shall add three cities more for yourselves, in addition to these three. 10This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you. 11But if any man hates his neighbour, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities; 12then the elders of his city shall send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Yisrael that it may go well with you. 14You shall not remove your neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess. 15One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. 16If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before YHWH, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; 18and the judges shall make diligent inquisition; and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother, 19then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from amongst you. 20Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil amongst you. 21Your eyes shall not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Chapter 20

1When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for YHWH your Elohim, who brought you up out of the land of Mitzrayim, is with you. 2It shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people, 3and shall tell them, “Hear, Yisrael, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them; 4for YHWH your Elohim is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” 5The officers shall speak to the people, saying, “What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. 6What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not used its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use its fruit. 7What man is there who has pledged to be married to a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.” 8The officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, “What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.” 9It shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall appoint captains of armies at the head of the people. 10When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it. 11It shall be, if it gives you answer of peace and opens to you, then it shall be that all the people who are found therein shall become forced labourers to you, and shall serve you. 12If it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13When YHWH your Elohim delivers it into your hand, you shall strike every male of it with the edge of the sword; 14but the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, even all its plunder, you shall take for plunder for yourself. You may use the plunder of your enemies, which YHWH your Elohim has given you. 15Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. 16But of the cities of these peoples that YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes; 17but you shall utterly destroy them: the Chitti, the Emori, the Kna'ani, the Perizi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi, as YHWH your Elohim has commanded you; 18that they not teach you to follow all their abominations, which they have done for their gods; so would you sin against YHWH your Elohim. 19When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them; for you may eat of them. You shall not cut them down, for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged by you? 20Only the trees that you know are not trees for food, you shall destroy and cut them down. You shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.

Chapter 21

1If someone is found slain in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it isn’t known who has struck him, 2then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is slain. 3It shall be that the elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn’t been worked with and which has not drawn in the yoke. 4The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither ploughed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5The priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for them YHWH your Elohim has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in YHWH’s name; and according to their word shall every controversy and every assault be decided. 6All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 7They shall answer and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. 8Forgive, YHWH, your people Yisrael, whom you have redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood amongst your people Yisrael.” The blood shall be forgiven them. 9So you shall put away the innocent blood from amongst you, when you shall do that which is right in YHWH’s eyes. 10When you go out to battle against your enemies, and YHWH your Elohim delivers them into your hands and you carry them away captive, 11and see amongst the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her, and desire to take her as your wife, 12then you shall bring her home to your house. She shall shave her head and trim her nails. 13She shall take off the clothing of her captivity, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month. After that you shall go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14It shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she desires; but you shall not sell her at all for money. You shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled her. 15If a man has two wives, the one beloved and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated, 16then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the son of the beloved the rights of the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn; 17but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his. 18If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not listen to them, 19then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his place. 20They shall tell the elders of his city, “This our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” 21All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall remove the evil from amongst you. All Yisrael shall hear, and fear. 22If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of Elohim. Don’t defile your land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance.

Chapter 22

1You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray and hide yourself from them. You shall surely bring them again to your brother. 2If your brother isn’t near to you, or if you don’t know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother comes looking for it, and you shall restore it to him. 3So you shall do with his donkey. So you shall do with his garment. So you shall do with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost and you have found. You may not hide yourself. 4You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide yourself from them. You shall surely help him to lift them up again. 5A woman shall not wear men’s clothing, neither shall a man put on women’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to YHWH your Elohim. 6If you come across a bird’s nest on the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the hen sitting on the young, or on the eggs, you shall not take the hen with the young. 7You shall surely let the hen go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days. 8When you build a new house, then you shall make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t bring blood on your house if anyone falls from there. 9You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest all the fruit be defiled, the seed which you have sown, and the increase of the vineyard. 10You shall not plough with an ox and a donkey together. 11You shall not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together. 12You shall make yourselves fringes on the four corners of your cloak with which you cover yourself. 13If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, hates her, 14accuses her of shameful things, gives her a bad name, and says, “I took this woman, and when I came near to her, I didn’t find in her the tokens of virginity;” 15then the young lady’s father and mother shall take and bring the tokens of the young lady’s virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. 16The young lady’s father shall tell the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man as his wife, and he hates her. 17Behold, he has accused her of shameful things, saying, ‘I didn’t find in your daughter the tokens of virginity;’ and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity.” They shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. 18The elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him. 19They shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young lady, because he has given a bad name to a virgin of Yisrael. She shall be his wife. He may not put her away all his days. 20But if this thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young lady, 21then they shall bring out the young lady to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done folly in Yisrael, to play the prostitute in her father’s house. So you shall remove the evil from amongst you. 22If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Yisrael. 23If there is a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man finds her in the city, and lies with her, 24then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she didn’t cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbour’s wife. So you shall remove the evil from amongst you. 25But if the man finds the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die; 26but to the lady you shall do nothing. There is in the lady no sin worthy of death; for as when a man rises against his neighbour and kills him, even so is this matter; 27for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was no one to save her. 28If a man finds a lady who is a virgin, who is not pledged to be married, grabs her and lies with her, and they are found, 29then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver. She shall be his wife, because he has humbled her. He may not put her away all his days. 30A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.

Chapter 23

1He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into YHWH’s assembly. 2A person born of a forbidden union shall not enter into YHWH’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one of his enter into YHWH’s assembly. 3An Amoni or a Moavi shall not enter into YHWH’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into YHWH’s assembly forever, 4because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Mitzrayim, and because they hired against you Bilam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5Nevertheless YHWH your Elohim wouldn’t listen to Bilam, but YHWH your Elohim turned the curse into a blessing to you, because YHWH your Elohim loved you. 6You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. 7You shall not abhor an Edomi, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Mitzri, because you lived as a foreigner in his land. 8The children of the third generation who are born to them may enter into YHWH’s assembly. 9When you go out and camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing. 10If there is amongst you any man who is not clean by reason of that which happens to him by night, then shall he go outside of the camp. He shall not come within the camp; 11but it shall be, when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water. When the sun is down, he shall come within the camp. 12You shall have a place also outside of the camp where you go relieve yourself. 13You shall have a trowel amongst your weapons. It shall be, when you relieve yourself, you shall dig with it, and shall turn back and cover your excrement; 14for YHWH your Elohim walks in the middle of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you. Therefore your camp shall be kodesh, that he may not see an unclean thing in you, and turn away from you. 15You shall not deliver to his master a servant who has escaped from his master to you. 16He shall dwell with you, amongst you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best. You shall not oppress him. 17There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Yisrael, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Yisrael. 18You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a male prostitute, into the house of YHWH your Elohim for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to YHWH your Elohim. 19You shall not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest. 20You may charge a foreigner interest; but you shall not charge your brother interest, that YHWH your Elohim may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it. 21When you vow a vow to YHWH your Elohim, you shall not be slack to pay it, for YHWH your Elohim will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you. 22But if you refrain from making a vow, it shall be no sin in you. 23You shall observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to YHWH your Elohim as a free will offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do. 24When you come into your neighbour’s vineyard, then you may eat your fill of grapes at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your container. 25When you come into your neighbour’s standing grain, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbour’s standing grain.

Chapter 24

1When a man takes a wife and marries her, then it shall be, if she finds no favour in his eyes because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a certificate of divorce, put it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2When she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. 3If the latter husband hates her, and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife; 4her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled; for that would be an abomination to YHWH. You shall not cause the land to sin, which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance. 5When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, neither shall he be assigned any business. He shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he has taken. 6No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge, for he takes a life in pledge. 7If a man is found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Yisrael, and he deals with him as a slave, or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall remove the evil from amongst you. 8Be careful in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently and do according to all that the Levitical priests teach you. As I commanded them, so you shall observe to do. 9Remember what YHWH your Elohim did to Miriam, by the way as you came out of Mitzrayim. 10When you lend your neighbour any kind of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. 11You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge outside to you. 12If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge. 13You shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment and bless you. It shall be righteousness to you before YHWH your Elohim. 14You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates. 15In his day you shall give him his wages, neither shall the sun go down on it, for he is poor and sets his heart on it, lest he cry against you to YHWH, and it be sin to you. 16The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin. 17You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge; 18but you shall remember that you were a slave in Mitzrayim, and YHWH your Elohim redeemed you there. Therefore I command you to do this thing. 19When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow, that YHWH your Elohim may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 21When you harvest your vineyard, you shall not glean it after yourselves. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 22You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Mitzrayim. Therefore I command you to do this thing.

Chapter 25

1If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgement and the judges judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. 2It shall be, if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number. 3He may sentence him to no more than forty stripes. He shall not give more, lest if he should give more and beat him more than that many stripes, then your brother will be degraded in your sight. 4You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain. 5If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Yisrael. 7If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Yisrael. He will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.” 8Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him. If he stands and says, “I don’t want to take her,” 9then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his sandal from off his foot, and spit in his face. She shall answer and say, “So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.” 10His name shall be called in Yisrael, “The house of him who had his sandal removed.” 11When men strive against each other, and the wife of one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts out her hand, and grabs him by his private parts, 12then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity. 13You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light. 14You shall not have in your house diverse measures, one large and one small. 15You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you. 16For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to YHWH your Elohim. 17Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came out of Mitzrayim, 18how he met you by the way, and struck the rearmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn’t fear Elohim. 19Therefore it shall be, when YHWH your Elohim has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky. You shall not forget.

Chapter 26

1It shall be, when you have come in to the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance, possess it, and dwell in it, 2that you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that YHWH your Elohim gives you. You shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. 3You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, “I profess today to YHWH your Elohim, that I have come to the land which YHWH swore to our fathers to give us.” 4The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before YHWH your Elohim’s altar. 5You shall answer and say before YHWH your Elohim, “My father was a Arami ready to perish. He went down into Mitzrayim, and lived there, few in number. There he became a great, mighty, and populous nation. 6The Mitzrim mistreated us, afflicted us, and imposed hard labour on us. 7Then we cried to YHWH, the Elohim of our fathers. YHWH heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8YHWH brought us out of Mitzrayim with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs, and with wonders; 9and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, YHWH, have given me.” You shall set it down before YHWH your Elohim, and worship before YHWH your Elohim. 11You shall rejoice in all the good which YHWH your Elohim has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levi'i, and the foreigner who is amongst you. 12When you have finished tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levi'i, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates and be filled. 13You shall say before YHWH your Elohim, “I have put away the kodesh things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levi'i, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your mitzvah which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your mitzvot, neither have I forgotten them. 14I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor given of it for the dead. I have listened to YHWH my Elohim’s voice. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15Look down from your kodesh habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Yisrael, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.” 16Today YHWH your Elohim commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17You have declared today that YHWH is your Elohim, and that you would walk in his ways, keep his statutes, his mitzvot, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice. 18YHWH has declared today that you are a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his mitzvot. 19He will make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, in name, and in honour, and that you may be a kodesh people to YHWH your Elohim, as he has spoken.

Chapter 27

1Moshe and the elders of Yisrael commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the mitzvah which I command you today. 2It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and coat them with plaster. 3You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have passed over, that you may go in to the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, has promised you. 4It shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, on Har Eval, and you shall coat them with plaster. 5There you shall build an altar to YHWH your Elohim, an altar of stones. You shall not use any iron tool on them. 6You shall build YHWH your Elohim’s altar of uncut stones. You shall offer burnt offerings on it to YHWH your Elohim. 7You shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there. You shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim. 8You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.” 9Moshe and the Levitical priests spoke to all Yisrael, saying, “Be silent and listen, Yisrael! Today you have become the people of YHWH your Elohim. 10You shall therefore obey YHWH your Elohim’s voice, and do his mitzvot and his statutes, which I command you today.” 11Moshe commanded the people the same day, saying, 12“These shall stand on Har Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Shimon, Levi, Yehudah, Yissachar, Yosef, and Binyamin. 13These shall stand on Har Eval for the curse: Reuven, Gad, Asher, Zevulun, Dan, and Naftali. 14With a loud voice, the Levi'im shall say to all the men of Yisrael, 15‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to YHWH, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’ 16‘Cursed is he who dishonours his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 17‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbour’s landmark.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 18‘Cursed is he who leads the blind astray on the road.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 19‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 20‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he dishonours his father’s bed.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 21‘Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 22‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 23‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 24‘Cursed is he who secretly kills his neighbour.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 25‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 26‘Cursed is he who doesn’t uphold the words of this law by doing them.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”

Chapter 28

1It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to YHWH your Elohim’s voice, to observe to do all his mitzvot which I command you today, that YHWH your Elohim will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice. 3You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field. 4You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. 5Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed. 6You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out. 7YHWH will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways. 8YHWH will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to. He will bless you in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you. 9YHWH will establish you for a kodesh people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim, and walk in his ways. 10All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by YHWH’s name, and they will be afraid of you. 11YHWH will grant you abundant prosperity in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which YHWH swore to your fathers to give you. 12YHWH will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. 13YHWH will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you listen to the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim which I command you today, to observe and to do, 14and shall not turn away from any of the words which I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. 15But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice, to observe to do all his mitzvot and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you and overtake you. 16You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field. 17Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. 18The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed. 19You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out. 20YHWH will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. 21YHWH will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land where you go in to possess it. 22YHWH will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish. 23Your sky that is over your head will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron. 24YHWH will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the sky, until you are destroyed. 25YHWH will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth amongst all the kingdoms of the earth. 26Your dead bodies will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27YHWH will strike you with the boils of Mitzrayim, with the tumours, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. 28YHWH will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart. 29You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you. 30You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit. 31Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. 32Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand. 33A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always, 34so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad. 35YHWH will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 36YHWH will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone. 37You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword amongst all the peoples where YHWH will lead you away. 38You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in, for the locust will consume it. 39You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them. 40You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. 41You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. 42Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43The foreigner who is amongst you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower. 44He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail. 45All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you didn’t listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice, to keep his mitzvot and his statutes which he commanded you. 46They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever. 47Because you didn’t serve YHWH your Elohim with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; 48therefore you will serve your enemies whom YHWH sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49YHWH will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand, 50a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favour to the young. 51They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. 52They will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which YHWH your Elohim has given you. 53You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom YHWH your Elohim has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. 54The man who is tender amongst you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil towards his brother, towards the wife whom he loves, and towards the remnant of his children whom he has remaining, 55so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. 56The tender and delicate woman amongst you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil towards the husband that she loves, towards her son, towards her daughter, 57towards her young one who comes out from between her feet, and towards her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates. 58If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, THE YHWH your Elohim, 59then YHWH will make your plagues and the plagues of your offspring fearful, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration. 60He will bring on you again all the diseases of Mitzrayim, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you. 61Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, YHWH will bring them on you until you are destroyed. 62You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn’t listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice. 63It will happen that as YHWH rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so YHWH will rejoice over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. 64YHWH will scatter you amongst all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. 65Amongst these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but YHWH will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. 66Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. 67In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. 68YHWH will bring you into Mitzrayim again with ships, by the way of which I told you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.

Chapter 29

1These are the words of the Brit which YHWH commanded Moshe to make with the children of Yisrael in the land of Moab, in addition to the Brit which he made with them in Chorev. 2Moshe called to all Yisrael, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that YHWH did in the land of Mitzrayim to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; 3the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4But YHWH has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. 5I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your sandals have not grown old on your feet. 6You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am YHWH your Elohim. 7When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Cheshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we struck them. 8We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reuvenim, and to the Gadim, and to the half-tribe of the Menashim. 9Therefore keep the words of this Brit and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. 10All of you stand today in the presence of YHWH your Elohim: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Yisrael, 11your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners who are in the middle of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water, 12that you may enter into the Brit of YHWH your Elohim, and into his oath, which YHWH your Elohim makes with you today, 13that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your Elohim, as he spoke to you and as he swore to your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov. 14Neither do I make this Brit and this oath with you only, 15but with those who stand here with us today before YHWH our Elohim, and also with those who are not here with us today 16(for you know how we lived in the land of Mitzrayim, and how we came through the middle of the nations through which you passed; 17and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were amongst them); 18lest there should be amongst you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from YHWH our Elohim, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be amongst you a root that produces bitter poison; 19and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” to destroy the moist with the dry. 20YHWH will not pardon him, but then YHWH’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and YHWH will blot out his name from under the sky. 21YHWH will set him apart for evil out of all the tribes of Yisrael, according to all the curses of the Brit written in this book of the law. 22The generation to come—your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a far land—will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which YHWH has made it sick, 23that all of its land is sulphur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Amorah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which YHWH overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath. 24Even all the nations will say, “Why has YHWH done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?” 25Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the Brit of YHWH, the Elohim of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Mitzrayim, 26and went and served other gods and worshipped them, gods that they didn’t know and that he had not given to them. 27Therefore YHWH’s anger burnt against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. 28YHWH rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.” 29The secret things belong to YHWH our Elohim; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Chapter 30

1It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind amongst all the nations where YHWH your Elohim has driven you, 2and return to YHWH your Elohim and obey his voice according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3that then YHWH your Elohim will release you from captivity, have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where YHWH your Elohim has scattered you. 4If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there YHWH your Elohim will gather you, and from there he will bring you back. 5YHWH your Elohim will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will possess it. He will do you good, and increase your numbers more than your fathers. 6YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7YHWH your Elohim will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8You shall return and obey YHWH’s voice, and do all his mitzvot which I command you today. 9YHWH your Elohim will make you prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, for good; for YHWH will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers, 10if you will obey YHWH your Elohim’s voice, to keep his mitzvot and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul. 11For this mitzvah which I command you today is not too hard for you or too distant. 12It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up for us to heaven, bring it to us, and proclaim it to us, that we may do it?” 13Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will go over the sea for us, bring it to us, and proclaim it to us, that we may do it?” 14But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. 15Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil. 16For I command you today to love YHWH your Elohim, to walk in his ways and to keep his mitzvot, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that YHWH your Elohim may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it. 17But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away and worship other gods, and serve them, 18I declare to you today that you will surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it. 19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants, 20to love YHWH your Elohim, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which YHWH swore to your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov, to give them.

Chapter 31

1Moshe went and spoke these words to all Yisrael. 2He said to them, “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no more go out and come in. YHWH has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ 3YHWH your Elohim himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Yehoshua will go over before you, as YHWH has spoken. 4YHWH will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Emorim, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5YHWH will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the mitzvah which I have commanded you. 6Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them, for YHWH your Elohim himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.” 7Moshe called to Yehoshua, and said to him in the sight of all Yisrael, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which YHWH has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8YHWH himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.” 9Moshe wrote this law and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the Aron YHWH’s Brit, and to all the elders of Yisrael. 10Moshe commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the Chag HaSukkot, 11when all Yisrael has come to appear before YHWH your Elohim in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Yisrael in their hearing. 12Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they may hear, learn, fear YHWH your Elohim, and observe to do all the words of this law, 13and that their children, who have not known, may hear and learn to fear YHWH your Elohim, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.” 14YHWH said to Moshe, “Behold, your days approach that you must die. Call Yehoshua, and present yourselves in the Ohel Mo'ed, that I may commission him.” Moshe and Yehoshua went, and presented themselves in the Ohel Mo'ed. 15YHWH appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the Tent’s door. 16YHWH said to Moshe, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land where they go to be amongst them, and will forsake me and break my Brit which I have made with them. 17Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our Elohim is not amongst us?’ 18I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods. 19“Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Yisrael. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Yisrael. 20For when I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my Brit. 21It will happen, when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this song will testify before them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants; for I know their ways and what they are doing today, before I have brought them into the land which I promised them.” 22So Moshe wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Yisrael. 23He commissioned Yehoshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous; for you shall bring the children of Yisrael into the land which I swore to them. I will be with you.” 24When Moshe had finished writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25Moshe commanded the Levi'im, who bore the Aron YHWH’s Brit, saying, 26“Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the Aron YHWH your Elohim’s Brit, that it may be there for a witness against you. 27For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against YHWH. How much more after my death? 28Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn away from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days, because you will do that which is evil in YHWH’s sight, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.” 30Moshe spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Yisrael the words of this song, until they were finished.

Chapter 32

1Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. 2My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb. 3For I will proclaim YHWH’s name. Ascribe greatness to our Elohim! 4The Rock: his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A Elohim of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he. 5They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children, because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation. 6Is this the way you repay YHWH, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you. 7Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you. 8When the Elyon gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Yisrael. 9For YHWH’s portion is his people. Yaakov is the lot of his inheritance. 10He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. 11As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers. 12YHWH alone led him. There was no foreign god with him. 13He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock; 14butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine. 15But Yeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned Elohim who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation. 16They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations. 17They sacrificed to demons, not Elohim, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread. 18Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten Elohim who gave you birth. 19YHWH saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. 20He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. 21They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not Elohim. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 22For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire. 23“I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them. 24They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. 25Outside the sword will bereave, and in the rooms, terror on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the grey-haired man. 26I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from amongst men; 27were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted; YHWH has not done all this.’” 28For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them. 29Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! 30How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and YHWH had delivered them up? 31For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves concede. 32For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Amorah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter. 33Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps. 34“Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up amongst my treasures? 35Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides, for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.” 36For YHWH will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large. 37He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, 38which ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection. 39“See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. 40For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever, 41if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgement; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me. 42I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.” 43Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people. 44Moshe came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Yehoshua the son of Nun. 45Moshe finished reciting all these words to all Yisrael. 46He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. 47For it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it.” 48YHWH spoke to Moshe that same day, saying, 49“Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Har Nevo, which is in the land of Moab, that is across from Jericho; and see the land of Kna'an, which I give to the children of Yisrael for a possession. 50Die on the mountain where you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aharon your brother died on Har Hor, and was gathered to his people; 51because you trespassed against me amongst the children of Yisrael at the waters of Merivah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Tzin; because you didn’t uphold my holiness amongst the children of Yisrael. 52For you shall see the land from a distance; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Yisrael.”

Chapter 33

1This is the blessing with which Moshe the man of Elohim blessed the children of Yisrael before his death. 2He said, “YHWH came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Har Paran. He came from the ten thousands of kodesh ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them. 3Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet. Each receives your words. 4Moshe commanded us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Yaakov. 5He was king in Yeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Yisrael together. 6“Let Reuven live, and not die; Nor let his men be few.” 7This is for Yehudah. He said, “Hear, YHWH, the voice of Yehudah. Bring him in to his people. With his hands he contended for himself. You shall be a help against his adversaries.” 8About Levi he said, “Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one, whom you proved at Masah, with whom you contended at the waters of Merivah. 9He said of his father, and of his mother, ‘I have not seen him.’ He didn’t acknowledge his brothers, nor did he know his own children; for they have observed your word, and keep your Brit. 10They shall teach Yaakov your ordinances, and Yisrael your law. They shall put incense before you, and whole burnt offering on your altar. 11YHWH, bless his skills. Accept the work of his hands. Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him, of those who hate him, that they not rise again.” 12About Binyamin he said, “The beloved of YHWH will dwell in safety by him. He covers him all day long. He dwells between his shoulders.” 13About Yosef he said, “His land is blessed by YHWH, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath, 14for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, for the precious things that the moon can yield, 15for the best things of the ancient mountains, for the precious things of the everlasting hills, 16for the precious things of the earth and its fullness, the good will of him who lived in the bush. Let this come on the head of Yosef, on the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brothers. 17Majesty belongs to the firstborn of his herd. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he will push all the peoples to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Menashe.” 18About Zevulun he said, “Rejoice, Zevulun, in your going out; and Yissachar, in your tents. 19They will call the peoples to the mountain. There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they will draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20About Gad he said, “He who enlarges Gad is blessed. He dwells as a lioness, and tears the arm and the crown of the head. 21He provided the first part for himself, for the lawgiver’s portion was reserved for him. He came with the heads of the people. He executed the righteousness of YHWH, His ordinances with Yisrael.” 22About Dan he said, “Dan is a lion’s cub that leaps out of Bashan.” 23About Naftali he said, “Naftali, satisfied with favour, full of YHWH’s blessing, Possess the west and the south.” 24About Asher he said, “Asher is blessed with children. Let him be acceptable to his brothers. Let him dip his foot in oil. 25Your bars will be iron and bronze. As your days, so your strength will be. 26“There is no one like Elohim, Yeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, in his excellency on the skies. 27The eternal Elohim is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and said, ‘Destroy!’ 28Yisrael dwells in safety, the fountain of Yaakov alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew. 29You are happy, Yisrael! Who is like you, a people saved by YHWH, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency? Your enemies will submit themselves to you. You will tread on their high places.”

Chapter 34

1Moshe went up from the plains of Moab to Har Nevo, to the top of Pisgah, that is opposite Jericho. YHWH showed him all the land of Gilead to Dan, 2and all Naftali, and the land of Ephraim and Menashe, and all the land of Yehudah, to the Western Sea, 3and the south, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, to Zoar. 4YHWH said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Avraham, to Yitzhak, and to Yaakov, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5So Moshe the servant of YHWH died there in the land of Moab, according to YHWH’s word. 6He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beit Pe'or, but no man knows where his tomb is to this day. 7Moshe was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor his strength gone. 8The children of Yisrael wept for Moshe in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the days of weeping in the mourning for Moshe were ended. 9Yehoshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moshe had laid his hands on him. The children of Yisrael listened to him, and did as YHWH commanded Moshe. 10Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Yisrael like Moshe, whom YHWH knew face to face, 11in all the signs and the wonders which YHWH sent him to do in the land of Mitzrayim, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 12and in all the mighty hand, and in all the awesome deeds, which Moshe did in the sight of all Yisrael.

Yehoshua

Chapter 1

1Now after the death of Moshe the servant of YHWH, YHWH spoke to Yehoshua the son of Nun, Moshe’s servant, saying, 2“Moshe my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go across this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land which I am giving to them, even to the children of Yisrael. 3I have given you every place that the sole of your foot will tread on, as I told Moshe. 4From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Chitim, and to the great sea towards the going down of the sun, shall be your border. 5No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moshe, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you. 6“Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law which Moshe my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. 9Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for YHWH your Elohim is with you wherever you go.” 10Then Yehoshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11“Pass through the middle of the camp, and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare food; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess.’” 12Yehoshua spoke to the Reuvenim, and to the Gadim, and to the half-tribe of Menashe, saying, 13“Remember the word which Moshe the servant of YHWH commanded you, saying, ‘YHWH your Elohim gives you rest, and will give you this land. 14Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall live in the land which Moshe gave you beyond the Jordan; but you shall pass over before your brothers armed, all the mighty men of valour, and shall help them 15until YHWH has given your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they have also possessed the land which YHWH your Elohim gives them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and possess it, which Moshe the servant of YHWH gave you beyond the Jordan towards the sunrise.’” 16They answered Yehoshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17Just as we listened to Moshe in all things, so will we listen to you. Only may YHWH your Elohim be with you, as he was with Moshe. 18Whoever rebels against your mitzvah, and doesn’t listen to your words in all that you command him shall himself be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

Chapter 2

1Yehoshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shitim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, including Jericho.” They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rachav, and slept there. 2The king of Jericho was told, “Behold, men of the children of Yisrael came in here tonight to spy out the land.” 3Jericho’s king sent to Rachav, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to spy out all the land.” 4The woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I didn’t know where they came from. 5About the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, the men went out. Where the men went, I don’t know. Pursue them quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6But she had brought them up to the roof, and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. 7The men pursued them along the way to the fords of the Jordan River. As soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 8Before they had lain down, she came up to them on the roof. 9She said to the men, “I know that YHWH has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10For we have heard how YHWH dried up the water of the Yam Suf before you, when you came out of Mitzrayim; and what you did to the two kings of the Emorim, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, and there wasn’t any more spirit in any man, because of you: for YHWH your Elohim, he is Elohim in heaven above, and on earth beneath. 12Now therefore, please swear to me by YHWH, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a true sign; 13and that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death.” 14The men said to her, “Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when YHWH gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.” 15Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall. 16She said to them, “Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you. Hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way.” 17The men said to her, “We will be guiltless of this your oath which you’ve made us to swear. 18Behold, when we come into the land, tie this line of scarlet thread in the window which you used to let us down. Gather to yourself into the house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him. 20But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you’ve made us to swear.” 21She said, “Let it be as you have said.” She sent them away, and they departed. Then she tied the scarlet line in the window. 22They went and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but didn’t find them. 23Then the two men returned, descended from the mountain, crossed the river, and came to Yehoshua the son of Nun. They told him all that had happened to them. 24They said to Yehoshua, “Truly YHWH has delivered all the land into our hands. Moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt away before us.”

Chapter 3

1Yehoshua got up early in the morning; and they moved from Shitim and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Yisrael. They camped there before they crossed over. 2After three days, the officers went through the middle of the camp; 3and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the Aron YHWH your Elohim’s Brit, and the Levitical priests bearing it, then leave your place and follow it. 4Yet there shall be a space between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measure—don’t come closer to it—that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before.” 5Yehoshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow YHWH will do wonders amongst you.” 6Yehoshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the Aron HaBrit, and cross over before the people.” They took up the Aron HaBrit, and went before the people. 7YHWH said to Yehoshua, “Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Yisrael, that they may know that as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you. 8You shall command the priests who bear the Aron HaBrit, saying, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 9Yehoshua said to the children of Yisrael, “Come here, and hear the words of YHWH your Elohim.” 10Yehoshua said, “By this you shall know that the living Elohim is amongst you, and that he will without fail drive the Kna'ani, the Chitti, the Chivi, the Perizi, the Girgashi, the Emori, and the Yevusi out from before you. 11Behold, the Aron HaBrit of Adonai of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan. 12Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Yisrael, for every tribe a man. 13It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of YHWH, Adonai of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.” 14When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the Aron HaBrit being before the people, 15and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest), 16the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Tzaretan; and those that went down towards the sea of the Arava, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over near Jericho. 17The priests who bore the Aron YHWH’s Brit stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Yisrael crossed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.

Chapter 4

1When all the nation had completely crossed over the Jordan, YHWH spoke to Yehoshua, saying, 2“Take twelve men out of the people, a man out of every tribe, 3and command them, saying, ‘Take from out of the middle of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you’ll camp tonight.’” 4Then Yehoshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Yisrael, a man out of every tribe. 5Yehoshua said to them, “Cross before the Aron YHWH your Elohim into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you pick up a stone and put it on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Yisrael; 6that this may be a sign amongst you, that when your children ask in the future, saying, ‘What do you mean by these stones?’ 7then you shall tell them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the Aron YHWH’s Brit. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Yisrael forever.’” 8The children of Yisrael did as Yehoshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, as YHWH spoke to Yehoshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Yisrael. They carried them over with them to the place where they camped, and laid them down there. 9Yehoshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the Aron HaBrit stood; and they are there to this day. 10For the priests who bore the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything was finished that YHWH commanded Yehoshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moshe commanded Yehoshua; and the people hurried and passed over. 11When all the people had completely crossed over, YHWH’s ark crossed over with the priests in the presence of the people. 12The children of Reuven, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Menashe crossed over armed before the children of Yisrael, as Moshe spoke to them. 13About forty thousand men, ready and armed for war, passed over before YHWH to battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14On that day, YHWH magnified Yehoshua in the sight of all Yisrael; and they feared him, as they feared Moshe, all the days of his life. 15YHWH spoke to Yehoshua, saying, 16“Command the priests who bear the Aron HaBrit, that they come up out of the Jordan.” 17Yehoshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up out of the Jordan!” 18When the priests who bore the Aron YHWH’s Brit had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet had been lifted up to the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before. 19The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho. 20Yehoshua set up those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, in Gilgal. 21He spoke to the children of Yisrael, saying, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22Then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Yisrael came over this Jordan on dry land. 23For YHWH your Elohim dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you until you had crossed over, as YHWH your Elohim did to the Yam Suf, which he dried up from before us, until we had crossed over, 24that all the peoples of the earth may know that YHWH’s hand is mighty, and that you may fear YHWH your Elohim forever.’”

Chapter 5

1When all the kings of the Emorim, who were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Kna'anim, who were by the sea, heard how YHWH had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Yisrael until we had crossed over, their heart melted, and there was no more spirit in them, because of the children of Yisrael. 2At that time, YHWH said to Yehoshua, “Make flint knives, and circumcise again the sons of Yisrael the second time.” 3Yehoshua made himself flint knives, and circumcised the sons of Yisrael at the hill of the foreskins. 4This is the reason Yehoshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Mitzrayim, who were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way, after they came out of Mitzrayim. 5For all the people who came out were circumcised; but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Mitzrayim had not been circumcised. 6For the children of Yisrael walked forty years in the wilderness until all the nation, even the men of war who came out of Mitzrayim, were consumed, because they didn’t listen to YHWH’s voice. YHWH swore to them that he wouldn’t let them see the land which YHWH swore to their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7Their children, whom he raised up in their place, were circumcised by Yehoshua, for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them on the way. 8When they were done circumcising the whole nation, they stayed in their places in the camp until they were healed. 9YHWH said to Yehoshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Mitzrayim from you.” Therefore the name of that place was called Gilgal to this day. 10The children of Yisrael encamped in Gilgal. They kept the Pesach on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho. 11They ate unleavened cakes and parched grain of the produce of the land on the next day after the Pesach, in the same day. 12The manna ceased on the next day, after they had eaten of the produce of the land. The children of Yisrael didn’t have manna any more, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Kna'an that year. 13When Yehoshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood in front of him with his sword drawn in his hand. Yehoshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our enemies?” 14He said, “No; but I have come now as commander of YHWH’s army.” Yehoshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshipped, and asked him, “What does my adonai say to his servant?” 15The prince of YHWH’s army said to Yehoshua, “Take off your sandals, for the place on which you stand is kodesh.” Yehoshua did so.

Chapter 6

1Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Yisrael. No one went out, and no one came in. 2YHWH said to Yehoshua, “Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valour. 3All of your men of war shall march around the city, going around the city once. You shall do this six days. 4Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the city wall will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight in front of him.” 6Yehoshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, “Take up the Aron HaBrit, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before YHWH’s ark.” 7They said to the people, “Advance! March around the city, and let the armed men pass on before YHWH’s ark.” 8It was so, that when Yehoshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before YHWH advanced and blew the trumpets, and the Aron YHWH’s Brit followed them. 9The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark went after them. The trumpets sounded as they went. 10Yehoshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” 11So he caused YHWH’s ark to go around the city, circling it once. Then they came into the camp, and stayed in the camp. 12Yehoshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up YHWH’s ark. 13The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of YHWH’s ark went on continually, and blew the trumpets. The armed men went in front of them. The rear guard came after YHWH’s ark. The trumpets sounded as they went. 14The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. They did this six days. 15On the seventh day, they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. On this day only they marched around the city seven times. 16At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Yehoshua said to the people, “Shout, for YHWH has given you the city! 17The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to YHWH. Only Rachav the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Yisrael accursed and trouble it. 19But all the silver, gold, and vessels of bronze and iron are kodesh to YHWH. They shall come into YHWH’s treasury.” 20So the people shouted and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight in front of him, and they took the city. 21They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword. 22Yehoshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house, and bring the woman and all that she has out from there, as you swore to her.” 23The young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rachav with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all of her relatives, and they set them outside of the camp of Yisrael. 24They burnt the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only they put the silver, the gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron into the treasury of YHWH’s house. 25But Rachav the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had, Yehoshua saved alive. She lives in the middle of Yisrael to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Yehoshua sent to spy out Jericho. 26Yehoshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before YHWH who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.” 27So YHWH was with Yehoshua; and his fame was in all the land.

Chapter 7

1But the children of Yisrael committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Karmi, the son of Zavdi, the son of Zerach, of the tribe of Yehudah, took some of the devoted things. Therefore YHWH’s anger burnt against the children of Yisrael. 2Yehoshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beit Aven, on the east side of Beit El, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the land.” The men went up and spied out Ai. 3They returned to Yehoshua, and said to him, “Don’t let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Don’t make all the people to toil there, for there are only a few of them.” 4So about three thousand men of the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai. 5The men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them. They chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent. The hearts of the people melted, and became like water. 6Yehoshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before YHWH’s ark until the evening, he and the elders of Yisrael; and they put dust on their heads. 7Yehoshua said, “Alas, Adonai YHWH, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to deliver us into the hand of the Emorim, to cause us to perish? I wish that we had been content and lived beyond the Jordan! 8Oh, Adonai, what shall I say, after Yisrael has turned their backs before their enemies? 9For the Kna'anim and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. What will you do for your great name?” 10YHWH said to Yehoshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face like that? 11Yisrael has sinned. Yes, they have even transgressed my Brit which I commanded them. Yes, they have even taken some of the devoted things, and have also stolen, and also deceived. They have even put it amongst their own stuff. 12Therefore the children of Yisrael can’t stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you any more, unless you destroy the devoted things from amongst you. 13Get up! Sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, for YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, says, “There is a devoted thing amongst you, Yisrael. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted thing from amongst you.” 14In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. It shall be that the tribe which YHWH selects shall come near by families. The family which YHWH selects shall come near by households. The household which YHWH selects shall come near man by man. 15It shall be, that he who is taken with the devoted thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed YHWH’s Brit, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Yisrael.’” 16So Yehoshua rose up early in the morning and brought Yisrael near by their tribes. The tribe of Yehudah was selected. 17He brought near the family of Yehudah, and he selected the family of the Zerachim. He brought near the family of the Zerachim man by man, and Zavdi was selected. 18He brought near his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Karmi, the son of Zavdi, the son of Zerach, of the tribe of Yehudah, was selected. 19Yehoshua said to Achan, “My son, please give glory to YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, and make confession to him. Tell me now what you have done! Don’t hide it from me!” 20Achan answered Yehoshua, and said, “I have truly sinned against YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, and this is what I have done. 21When I saw amongst the plunder a beautiful Babylonian robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent, with the silver under it.” 22So Yehoshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent. Behold, it was hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. 23They took them from the middle of the tent, and brought them to Yehoshua and to all the children of Yisrael. They laid them down before YHWH. 24Yehoshua, and all Yisrael with him, took Achan the son of Zerach, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor. 25Yehoshua said, “Why have you troubled us? YHWH will trouble you today.” All Yisrael stoned him with stones, and they burnt them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26They raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. YHWH turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called “The valley of Achor” to this day.

Chapter 8

1YHWH said to Yehoshua, “Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed. Take all the warriors with you, and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, with his people, his city, and his land. 2You shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king, except you shall take its goods and its livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.” 3So Yehoshua arose, with all the warriors, to go up to Ai. Yehoshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valour, and sent them out by night. 4He commanded them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. 5I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them. 6They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us, like the first time.’ So we will flee before them, 7and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for YHWH your Elohim will deliver it into your hand. 8It shall be, when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to YHWH’s word. Behold, I have commanded you.” 9Yehoshua sent them out; and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Beit El and Ai on the west side of Ai; but Yehoshua stayed amongst the people that night. 10Yehoshua rose up early in the morning, mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Yisrael, before the people to Ai. 11All the people, even the men of war who were with him, went up and came near, and came before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai. 12He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beit El and Ai, on the west side of the city. 13So they set the people, even all the army who was on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city; and Yehoshua went that night into the middle of the valley. 14When the king of Ai saw it, they hurried and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Yisrael to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arava; but he didn’t know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15Yehoshua and all Yisrael made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. 16All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them. They pursued Yehoshua, and were drawn away from the city. 17There was not a man left in Ai or Beit El who didn’t go out after Yisrael. They left the city open, and pursued Yisrael. 18YHWH said to Yehoshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand towards Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” Yehoshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand towards the city. 19The ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand and entered into the city and took it. They hurried and set the city on fire. 20When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way. The people who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers. 21When Yehoshua and all Yisrael saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned back and killed the men of Ai. 22The others came out of the city against them, so they were in the middle of Yisrael, some on this side, and some on that side. They struck them, so that they let none of them remain or escape. 23They captured the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Yehoshua. 24When Yisrael had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all Yisrael returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25All that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the people of Ai. 26For Yehoshua didn’t draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27Yisrael took for themselves only the livestock and the goods of that city, according to YHWH’s word which he commanded Yehoshua. 28So Yehoshua burnt Ai and made it a heap forever, even a desolation, to this day. 29He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening. At sundown, Yehoshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised a great heap of stones on it that remains to this day. 30Then Yehoshua built an altar to YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, on Har Eval, 31as Moshe the servant of YHWH commanded the children of Yisrael, as it is written in the book of the law of Moshe: an altar of uncut stones, on which no one had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to YHWH and sacrificed peace offerings. 32He wrote there on the stones a copy of Moshe’s law, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Yisrael. 33All Yisrael, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests, who carried the Aron YHWH’s Brit, the foreigner as well as the native; half of them in front of Har Gerizim, and half of them in front of Har Eval, as Moshe the servant of YHWH had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Yisrael. 34Afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35There was not a word of all that Moshe commanded which Yehoshua didn’t read before all the assembly of Yisrael, with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were amongst them.

Chapter 9

1When all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of Lebanon, the Chitti, the Emori, the Kna'ani, the Perizi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi, heard of it 2they gathered themselves together to fight with Yehoshua and with Yisrael, with one accord. 3But when the inhabitants of Giv'on heard what Yehoshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and old, torn-up and bound up wineskins, 5and old and patched sandals on their feet, and wore old garments. All the bread of their food supply was dry and mouldy. 6They went to Yehoshua at the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Yisrael, “We have come from a far country. Now therefore make a Brit with us.” 7The men of Yisrael said to the Chivim, “What if you live amongst us? How could we make a Brit with you?” 8They said to Yehoshua, “We are your servants.” Yehoshua said to them, “Who are you? Where do you come from?” 9They said to him, “Your servants have come from a very far country because of the name of YHWH your Elohim; for we have heard of his fame, all that he did in Mitzrayim, 10and all that he did to the two kings of the Emorim who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Cheshbon and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtarot. 11Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take supplies in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them. Tell them, “We are your servants. Now make a Brit with us.”’ 12This our bread we took hot for our supplies out of our houses on the day we went out to go to you; but now, behold, it is dry, and has become mouldy. 13These wineskins, which we filled, were new; and behold, they are torn. These our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.” 14The men sampled their provisions, and didn’t ask counsel from YHWH’s mouth. 15Yehoshua made peace with them, and made a Brit with them, to let them live. The princes of the congregation swore to them. 16At the end of three days after they had made a Brit with them, they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they lived amongst them. 17The children of Yisrael travelled and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Giv'on, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiryat Ye'arim. 18The children of Yisrael didn’t strike them, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael. All the congregation murmured against the princes. 19But all the princes said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael. Now therefore we may not touch them. 20We will do this to them, and let them live; lest wrath be on us, because of the oath which we swore to them.” 21The princes said to them, “Let them live.” So they became wood cutters and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the princes had spoken to them. 22Yehoshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you live amongst us? 23Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you will never fail to be slaves, both wood cutters and drawers of water for the house of my Elohim.” 24They answered Yehoshua, and said, “Because your servants were certainly told how YHWH your Elohim commanded his servant Moshe to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Therefore we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25Now, behold, we are in your hand. Do to us as it seems good and right to you to do.” 26He did so to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Yisrael, so that they didn’t kill them. 27That day Yehoshua made them wood cutters and drawers of water for the congregation and for YHWH’s altar to this day, in the place which he should choose.

Chapter 10

1Now when Adoni-Tzedek king of Jerusalem heard how Yehoshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Giv'on had made peace with Yisrael, and were amongst them, 2they were very afraid, because Giv'on was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. 3Therefore Adoni-Tzedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Yarmut, Yafia king of Lakhish, and Devir king of Eglon, saying, 4“Come up to me and help me. Let’s strike Giv'on; for they have made peace with Yehoshua and with the children of Yisrael.” 5Therefore the five kings of the Emorim, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Yarmut, the king of Lakhish, and the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together and went up, they and all their armies, and encamped against Giv'on, and made war against it. 6The men of Giv'on sent to Yehoshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Don’t abandon your servants! Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us; for all the kings of the Emorim that dwell in the hill country have gathered together against us.” 7So Yehoshua went up from Gilgal, he and the whole army with him, including all the mighty men of valour. 8YHWH said to Yehoshua, “Don’t fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands. Not a man of them will stand before you.” 9Yehoshua therefore came to them suddenly. He marched from Gilgal all night. 10YHWH confused them before Yisrael. He killed them with a great slaughter at Giv'on, and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beit Choron, and struck them to Azekah and to Makkedah. 11As they fled from before Yisrael, while they were at the descent of Beit Choron, YHWH hurled down great stones from the sky on them to Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the children of Yisrael killed with the sword. 12Then Yehoshua spoke to YHWH in the day when YHWH delivered up the Emorim before the children of Yisrael. He said in the sight of Yisrael, “Sun, stand still on Giv'on! You, moon, stop in the valley of Ayalon!” 13The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isn’t this written in the book of Yashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and didn’t hurry to go down about a whole day. 14There was no day like that before it or after it, that YHWH listened to the voice of a man; for YHWH fought for Yisrael. 15Yehoshua returned, and all Yisrael with him, to the camp to Gilgal. 16These five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. 17Yehoshua was told, saying, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” 18Yehoshua said, “Roll large stones to cover the cave’s entrance, and set men by it to guard them; 19but don’t stay there. Pursue your enemies, and attack them from the rear. Don’t allow them to enter into their cities; for YHWH your Elohim has delivered them into your hand.” 20When Yehoshua and the children of Yisrael had finished killing them with a very great slaughter until they were consumed, and the remnant which remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21all the people returned to the camp to Yehoshua at Makkedah in peace. None moved his tongue against any of the children of Yisrael. 22Then Yehoshua said, “Open the cave entrance, and bring those five kings out of the cave to me.” 23They did so, and brought those five kings out of the cave to him: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Yarmut, the king of Lakhish, and the king of Eglon. 24When they brought those kings out to Yehoshua, Yehoshua called for all the men of Yisrael, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who went with him, “Come near. Put your feet on the necks of these kings.” They came near, and put their feet on their necks. 25Yehoshua said to them, “Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed. Be strong and courageous, for YHWH will do this to all your enemies against whom you fight.” 26Afterward Yehoshua struck them, put them to death, and hanged them on five trees. They were hanging on the trees until the evening. 27At the time of the going down of the sun, Yehoshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and threw them into the cave in which they had hidden themselves, and laid great stones on the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day. 28Yehoshua took Makkedah on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with its king. He utterly destroyed it and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining. He did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho. 29Yehoshua passed from Makkedah, and all Yisrael with him, to Livnah, and fought against Livnah. 30YHWH delivered it also, with its king, into the hand of Yisrael. He struck it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining in it. He did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. 31Yehoshua passed from Livnah, and all Yisrael with him, to Lakhish, and encamped against it, and fought against it. 32YHWH delivered Lakhish into the hand of Yisrael. He took it on the second day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with all the souls who were in it, according to all that he had done to Livnah. 33Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lakhish; and Yehoshua struck him and his people, until he had left him no one remaining. 34Yehoshua passed from Lakhish, and all Yisrael with him, to Eglon; and they encamped against it and fought against it. 35They took it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it that day, according to all that he had done to Lakhish. 36Yehoshua went up from Eglon, and all Yisrael with him, to Hebron; and they fought against it. 37They took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with its king and all its cities, and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but he utterly destroyed it, and all the souls who were in it. 38Yehoshua returned, and all Yisrael with him, to Devir, and fought against it. 39He took it, with its king and all its cities. They struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining. As he had done to Hebron, so he did to Devir, and to its king; as he had done also to Livnah, and to its king. 40So Yehoshua struck all the land, the hill country, the South, the lowland, the slopes, and all their kings. He left no one remaining, but he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, commanded. 41Yehoshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea even to Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even to Giv'on. 42Yehoshua took all these kings and their land at one time because YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, fought for Yisrael. 43Yehoshua returned, and all Yisrael with him, to the camp to Gilgal.

Chapter 11

1When Yavin king of Chatzor heard of it, he sent to Yovav king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaf, 2and to the kings who were on the north, in the hill country, in the Arava south of Kineret, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west, 3to the Kna'ani on the east and on the west, the Emori, the Chitti, the Perizi, the Yevusi in the hill country, and the Chivi under Chermon in the land of Mitzpah. 4They went out, they and all their armies with them, many people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. 5All these kings met together; and they came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Yisrael. 6YHWH said to Yehoshua, “Don’t be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Yisrael. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7So Yehoshua came suddenly, with all the warriors, against them by the waters of Merom, and attacked them. 8YHWH delivered them into the hand of Yisrael, and they struck them, and chased them to great Tzidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the valley of Mitzpah eastward. They struck them until they left them no one remaining. 9Yehoshua did to them as YHWH told him. He hamstrung their horses and burnt their chariots with fire. 10Yehoshua turned back at that time, and took Chatzor, and struck its king with the sword; for Chatzor used to be the head of all those kingdoms. 11They struck all the souls who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was no one left who breathed. He burnt Chatzor with fire. 12Yehoshua captured all the cities of those kings, with their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them, as Moshe the servant of YHWH commanded. 13But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Yisrael burnt none of them, except Chatzor only. Yehoshua burnt that. 14The children of Yisrael took all the plunder of these cities, with the livestock, as plunder for themselves; but every man they struck with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They didn’t leave any who breathed. 15As YHWH commanded Moshe his servant, so Moshe commanded Yehoshua. Yehoshua did so. He left nothing undone of all that YHWH commanded Moshe. 16So Yehoshua captured all that land, the hill country, all the South, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, the Arava, the hill country of Yisrael, and the lowland of the same, 17from Har Halak, that goes up to Seir, even to Ba'al Gad in the valley of Lebanon under Har Chermon. He took all their kings, struck them, and put them to death. 18Yehoshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19There was not a city that made peace with the children of Yisrael, except the Chivim, the inhabitants of Giv'on. They took all in battle. 20For it was of YHWH to harden their hearts, to come against Yisrael in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as YHWH commanded Moshe. 21Yehoshua came at that time, and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Devir, from Anav, and from all the hill country of Yehudah, and from all the hill country of Yisrael. Yehoshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22There were none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Yisrael. Only in Gaza, in Gat, and in Ashdod, did some remain. 23So Yehoshua took the whole land, according to all that YHWH spoke to Moshe; and Yehoshua gave it for an inheritance to Yisrael according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land had rest from war.

Chapter 12

1Now these are the kings of the land, whom the children of Yisrael struck, and possessed their land beyond the Jordan towards the sunrise, from the valley of the Arnon to Har Chermon, and all the Arava eastward: 2Sihon king of the Emorim, who lived in Cheshbon, and ruled from Aro'er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the middle of the valley, and half Gilead, even to the river Yabok, the border of the children of Ammon; 3and the Arava to the sea of Kineret, eastward, and to the sea of the Arava, even the Salt Sea, eastward, the way to Beit Yeshimot; and on the south, under the slopes of Pisgah: 4and the border of Og king of Bashan, of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtarot and at Edre'i, 5and ruled in Har Chermon, and in Salecah, and in all Bashan, to the border of the Geshuri and the Ma'akhati, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Cheshbon. 6Moshe the servant of YHWH and the children of Yisrael struck them. Moshe the servant of YHWH gave it for a possession to the Reuvenim, and the Gadim, and the half-tribe of Menashe. 7These are the kings of the land whom Yehoshua and the children of Yisrael struck beyond the Jordan westward, from Ba'al Gad in the valley of Lebanon even to Har Halak, that goes up to Seir. Yehoshua gave it to the tribes of Yisrael for a possession according to their divisions; 8in the hill country, and in the lowland, and in the Arava, and in the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the South; the Chitti, the Emori, and the Kna'ani, the Perizi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi: 9the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Beit El, one; 10the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11the king of Yarmut, one; the king of Lakhish, one; 12the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; 13the king of Devir, one; the king of Geder, one; 14the king of Chormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15the king of Livnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; 16the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Beit El, one; 17the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Chefer, one; 18the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lassharon, one; 19the king of Madon, one; the king of Chatzor, one; 20the king of Shimron Meron, one; the king of Achshaf, one; 21the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; 22the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Yokne'am in Karmel, one; 23the king of Dor in the height of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one; 24the king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty-one.

Chapter 13

1Now Yehoshua was old and well advanced in years. YHWH said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed. 2“This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the Pelishtim, and all the Geshuri; 3from the Shichor, which is before Mitzrayim, even to the border of Ekron northward, which is counted as Kna'ani; the five lords of the Pelishtim; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gitim, and the Ekronites; also the Avim, 4on the south; all the land of the Kna'anim, and Mearah that belongs to the Tzidonim, to Aphek, to the border of the Emorim; 5and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, towards the sunrise, from Ba'al Gad under Har Chermon to the entrance of Chamat; 6all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, even all the Tzidonim. I will drive them out from before the children of Yisrael. Just allocate it to Yisrael for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. 7Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Menashe.” 8With him the Reuvenim and the Gadim received their inheritance, which Moshe gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, even as Moshe the servant of YHWH gave them: 9from Aro'er, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba to Dibon; 10and all the cities of Sihon king of the Emorim, who reigned in Cheshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon; 11and Gilead, and the border of the Geshuri and Ma'akhati, and all Har Chermon, and all Bashan to Salecah; 12all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtarot and in Edre'i (who was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for Moshe attacked these, and drove them out. 13Nevertheless the children of Yisrael didn’t drive out the Geshuri, nor the Ma'akhati: but Geshur and Maacath live within Yisrael to this day. 14Only he gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The offerings of YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spoke to him. 15Moshe gave to the tribe of the children of Reuven according to their families. 16Their border was from Aro'er, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain by Medeba; 17Cheshbon, and all its cities that are in the plain; Dibon, Bamoth Ba'al, Beit Ba'al Meon, 18Yahatz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, 19Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar in the mount of the valley, 20Beit Pe'or, the slopes of Pisgah, Beit Yeshimot, 21all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Emorim, who reigned in Cheshbon, whom Moshe struck with the chiefs of Midyan, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Chur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land. 22The children of Yisrael also killed Bilam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, with the sword, amongst the rest of their slain. 23The border of the children of Reuven was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuven according to their families, the cities and its villages. 24Moshe gave to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad, according to their families. 25Their border was Yazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aro'er that is near Rabbah; 26and from Cheshbon to Ramath Mitzpeh, and Betonim; and from Machanayim to the border of Devir; 27and in the valley, Beit Haram, Beit Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Cheshbon, the Jordan’s bank, to the uttermost part of the Yam Kinneret beyond the Jordan eastward. 28This is the inheritance of the children of Gad according to their families, the cities and its villages. 29Moshe gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Menashe. It was for the half-tribe of the children of Menashe according to their families. 30Their border was from Machanayim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the villages of Ya'ir, which are in Bashan, sixty cities. 31Half Gilead, Ashtarot, and Edre'i, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the children of Machir the son of Menashe, even for the half of the children of Machir according to their families. 32These are the inheritances which Moshe distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho, eastward. 33But Moshe gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, is their inheritance, as he spoke to them.

Chapter 14

1These are the inheritances which the children of Yisrael took in the land of Kna'an, which El'azar the priest, Yehoshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Yisrael, distributed to them, 2by the lot of their inheritance, as YHWH commanded by Moshe, for the nine tribes, and for the half-tribe. 3For Moshe had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan; but to the Levi'im he gave no inheritance amongst them. 4For the children of Yosef were two tribes, Menashe and Ephraim. They gave no portion to the Levi'im in the land, except cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for their livestock and for their property. 5The children of Yisrael did as YHWH commanded Moshe, and they divided the land. 6Then the children of Yehudah came near to Yehoshua in Gilgal. Calev the son of Yefuneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the thing that YHWH spoke to Moshe the man of Elohim concerning me and concerning you in Kadesh Barnea. 7I was forty years old when Moshe the servant of YHWH sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8Nevertheless, my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed YHWH my Elohim. 9Moshe swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where you walked shall be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have wholly followed YHWH my Elohim.’ 10“Now, behold, YHWH has kept me alive, as he spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that YHWH spoke this word to Moshe, while Yisrael walked in the wilderness. Now, behold, I am eighty-five years old, today. 11As yet I am as strong today as I was in the day that Moshe sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, to go out and to come in. 12Now therefore give me this hill country, of which YHWH spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and great and fortified cities. It may be that YHWH will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as YHWH said.” 13Yehoshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron to Calev the son of Yefuneh for an inheritance. 14Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Calev the son of Yefuneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he followed YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael wholeheartedly. 15Now the name of Hebron before was Kiryat Arba, after the greatest man amongst the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.

Chapter 15

1The lot for the tribe of the children of Yehudah according to their families was to the border of Edom, even to the wilderness of Tzin southward, at the uttermost part of the south. 2Their south border was from the uttermost part of the Salt Sea, from the bay that looks southward; 3and it went out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and passed along to Tzin, and went up by the south of Kadesh Barnea, and passed along by Hezron, went up to Addar, and turned towards Karka; 4and it passed along to Azmon, went out at the brook of Mitzrayim; and the border ended at the sea. This shall be your south border. 5The east border was the Salt Sea, even to the end of the Jordan. The border of the north quarter was from the bay of the sea at the end of the Jordan. 6The border went up to Beit Choglah, and passed along by the north of Beit Arava; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuven. 7The border went up to Devir from the valley of Achor, and so northward, looking towards Gilgal, that faces the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the river. The border passed along to the waters of En Shemesh, and ended at En Rogel. 8The border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom to the side of the Yevusi (also called Jerusalem) southward; and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the farthest part of the valley of Rephaim northward. 9The border extended from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of Har Efron; and the border extended to Baalah (also called Kiryat Ye'arim); 10and the border turned about from Baalah westward to Har Se'ir, and passed along to the side of Har Ye'arim (also called Chesalon) on the north, and went down to Beit Shemesh, and passed along by Timnah; 11and the border went out to the side of Ekron northward; and the border extended to Shikkeron, and passed along to Har Baalah, and went out at Yavne'el; and the goings out of the border were at the sea. 12The west border was to the shore of the great sea. This is the border of the children of Yehudah according to their families. 13He gave to Calev the son of Yefuneh a portion amongst the children of Yehudah, according to the mitzvah of YHWH to Yehoshua, even Kiryat Arba, named after the father of Anak (also called Hebron). 14Calev drove out the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak. 15He went up against the inhabitants of Devir: now the name of Devir before was Kiryat Sepher. 16Calev said, “He who strikes Kiryat Sepher, and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17Otni'el the son of Kenaz, the brother of Calev, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 18When she came, she had him ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey, and Calev said, “What do you want?” 19She said, “Give me a blessing. Because you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. 20This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Yehudah according to their families. 21The farthest cities of the tribe of the children of Yehudah towards the border of Edom in the South were Kabzeel, Eder, Yagur, 22Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23Kedesh, Chatzor, Ithnan, 24Zif, Telem, Bealoth, 25Chatzor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (also called Chatzor), 26Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beit Pelet, 28Hazar Shual, Be'er Sheva, Biziothiah, 29Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30Eltolad, Chesil, Chormah, 31Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimon. All the cities are twenty-nine, with their villages. 33In the lowland, Eshtaol, Tyre'a, Ashnah, 34Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35Yarmut, Adullam, Sokho, Azekah, 36Shaaraim, Adithaim and Gederah (or Gederothaim); fourteen cities with their villages. 37Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, 38Dilean, Mitzpah, Yokte'el, 39Lakhish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, 41Gederoth, Beit Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages. 42Livnah, Ether, Ashan, 43Yiftach, Ashnah, Nezib, 44Ke'ilah, Akhziv, and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages. 45Ekron, with its towns and its villages; 46from Ekron even to the sea, all that were by the side of Ashdod, with their villages. 47Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the brook of Mitzrayim, and the great sea with its coastline. 48In the hill country, Shamir, Yatir, Sokho, 49Dannah, Kiryat Sannah (which is Devir), 50Anav, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51Goshen, Cholon, and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages. 52Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53Yanim, Beit Tapuach, Aphekah, 54Humtah, Kiryat Arba (also called Hebron), and Zior; nine cities with their villages. 55Ma'on, Karmel, Zif, Yutah, 56Yizre'el, Yokde'am, Zanoah, 57Kain, Giv'ah, and Timnah; ten cities with their villages. 58Halhul, Beit Tzur, Gedor, 59Maarath, Beit Anoth, and Eltekon; six cities with their villages. 60Kiryat Ba'al (also called Kiryat Ye'arim), and Rabbah; two cities with their villages. 61In the wilderness, Beit Arava, Middin, Secacah, 62Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En Gedi; six cities with their villages. 63As for the Yevusim, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Yehudah couldn’t drive them out; but the Yevusim live with the children of Yehudah at Jerusalem to this day.

Chapter 16

1The lot came out for the children of Yosef from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Beit El. 2It went out from Beit El to Luz, and passed along to the border of the Archites to Ataroth; 3and it went down westward to the border of the Yafletim, to the border of Beit Choron the lower, and on to Gezer; and ended at the sea. 4The children of Yosef, Menashe and Ephraim, took their inheritance. 5This was the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families. The border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth Addar, to Beit Choron the upper. 6The border went out westward at Michmethath on the north. The border turned about eastward to Taanath Shilo, and passed along it on the east of Yanoach. 7It went down from Yanoach to Ataroth, to Naarah, reached to Jericho, and went out at the Jordan. 8From Tappuah the border went along westward to the brook of Kanah; and ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families; 9together with the cities which were set apart for the children of Ephraim in the middle of the inheritance of the children of Menashe, all the cities with their villages. 10They didn’t drive out the Kna'anim who lived in Gezer; but the Kna'anim dwell in the territory of Ephraim to this day, and have become servants to do forced labour.

Chapter 17

1This was the lot for the tribe of Menashe, for he was the firstborn of Yosef. As for Machir the firstborn of Menashe, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan. 2So this was for the rest of the children of Menashe according to their families: for the children of Avi'ezer, for the children of Chelek, for the children of Asri'el, for the children of Shechem, for the children of Chefer, and for the children of Shemida. These were the male children of Menashe the son of Yosef according to their families. 3But Tzelofchad, the son of Chefer, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Menashe, had no sons, but daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, No'ah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. 4They came to El'azar the priest, and to Yehoshua the son of Nun, and to the princes, saying, “YHWH commanded Moshe to give us an inheritance amongst our brothers.” Therefore according to the mitzvah of YHWH he gave them an inheritance amongst the brothers of their father. 5Ten parts fell to Menashe, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan; 6because the daughters of Menashe had an inheritance amongst his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Menashe. 7The border of Menashe was from Asher to Michmethath, which is before Shechem. The border went along to the right hand, to the inhabitants of En Tappuah. 8The land of Tappuah belonged to Menashe; but Tappuah on the border of Menashe belonged to the children of Ephraim. 9The border went down to the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook. These cities belonged to Ephraim amongst the cities of Menashe. The border of Menashe was on the north side of the brook, and ended at the sea. 10Southward it was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Menashe’s, and the sea was his border. They reached to Asher on the north, and to Yissachar on the east. 11Menashe had three heights in Yissachar, in Asher Beit She'an and its towns, and Yivle'am and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Ein-Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns. 12Yet the children of Menashe couldn’t drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Kna'anim would dwell in that land. 13When the children of Yisrael had grown strong, they put the Kna'anim to forced labour, and didn’t utterly drive them out. 14The children of Yosef spoke to Yehoshua, saying, “Why have you given me just one lot and one part for an inheritance, since we are a numerous people, because YHWH has blessed us so far?” 15Yehoshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and clear land for yourself there in the land of the Perizim and of the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” 16The children of Yosef said, “The hill country is not enough for us. All the Kna'anim who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are in Beit She'an and its towns, and those who are in the valley of Yizre'el.” 17Yehoshua spoke to the house of Yosef, that is, to Ephraim and to Menashe, saying, “You are a numerous people, and have great power. You shall not have one lot only; 18but the hill country shall be yours. Although it is a forest, you shall cut it down, and it’s farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Kna'anim, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

Chapter 18

1The whole congregation of the children of Yisrael assembled themselves together at Shilo, and set up the Ohel Mo'ed there. The land was subdued before them. 2Seven tribes remained amongst the children of Yisrael, which had not yet divided their inheritance. 3Yehoshua said to the children of Yisrael, “How long will you neglect to go in to possess the land, which YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, has given you? 4Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe. I will send them, and they shall arise, walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; then they shall come to me. 5They shall divide it into seven portions. Yehudah shall live in his borders on the south, and the house of Yosef shall live in their borders on the north. 6You shall survey the land into seven parts, and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before YHWH our Elohim. 7However, the Levi'im have no portion amongst you; for the priesthood of YHWH is their inheritance. Gad, Reuven, and the half-tribe of Menashe have received their inheritance east of the Jordan, which Moshe the servant of YHWH gave them.” 8The men arose and went. Yehoshua commanded those who went to survey the land, saying, “Go walk through the land, survey it, and come again to me. I will cast lots for you here before YHWH in Shilo.” 9The men went and passed through the land, and surveyed it by cities into seven portions in a book. They came to Yehoshua to the camp at Shilo. 10Yehoshua cast lots for them in Shilo before YHWH. There Yehoshua divided the land to the children of Yisrael according to their divisions. 11The lot of the tribe of the children of Binyamin came up according to their families. The border of their lot went out between the children of Yehudah and the children of Yosef. 12Their border on the north quarter was from the Jordan. The border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward. It ended at the wilderness of Beit Aven. 13The border passed along from there to Luz, to the side of Luz (also called Beit El), southward. The border went down to Ataroth Addar, by the mountain that lies on the south of Beit Choron the lower. 14The border extended, and turned around on the west quarter southward, from the mountain that lies before Beit Choron southward; and ended at Kiryat Ba'al (also called Kiryat Ye'arim), a city of the children of Yehudah. This was the west quarter. 15The south quarter was from the farthest part of Kiryat Ye'arim. The border went out westward, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16The border went down to the farthest part of the mountain that lies before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim northward. It went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Yevusi southward, and went down to En Rogel. 17It extended northward, went out at En Shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. It went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuven. 18It passed along to the side opposite the Arava northward, and went down to the Arava. 19The border passed along to the side of Beit Choglah northward; and the border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the south border. 20The Jordan was its border on the east quarter. This was the inheritance of the children of Binyamin, by the borders around it, according to their families. 21Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Binyamin according to their families were Jericho, Beit Choglah, Emek Keziz, 22Beit Arava, Zemaraim, Beit El, 23Avim, Parah, Ofrah, 24Chephar Ammoni, Ofni, and Geva; twelve cities with their villages. 25Giv'on, Ramah, Beeroth, 26Mitzpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28Zelah, Eleph, the Yevusi (also called Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiryat; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Binyamin according to their families.

Chapter 19

1The second lot came out for Shimon, even for the tribe of the children of Shimon according to their families. Their inheritance was in the middle of the inheritance of the children of Yehudah. 2They had for their inheritance Be'er Sheva (or Sheva), Moladah, 3Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, 4Eltolad, Bethul, Chormah, 5Ziklag, Beit Markavot, Hazar Susah, 6Beit Levavot, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities with their villages; 7Ain, Rimon, Ether, and Ashan; four cities with their villages; 8and all the villages that were around these cities to Baalath Beer, Ramah of the South. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Shimon according to their families. 9Out of the part of the children of Yehudah was the inheritance of the children of Shimon; for the portion of the children of Yehudah was too much for them. Therefore the children of Shimon had inheritance in the middle of their inheritance. 10The third lot came up for the children of Zevulun according to their families. The border of their inheritance was to Sarid. 11Their border went up westward, even to Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth. It reached to the brook that is before Yokne'am. 12It turned from Sarid eastward towards the sunrise to the border of Chisloth Tavor. It went out to Daberath, and went up to Yafia. 13From there it passed along eastward to Gat Chefer, to Ethkazin; and it went out at Rimon which stretches to Neah. 14The border turned around it on the north to Hannathon; and it ended at the valley of Yiftach El; 15Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Beit Lechem: twelve cities with their villages. 16This is the inheritance of the children of Zevulun according to their families, these cities with their villages. 17The fourth lot came out for Yissachar, even for the children of Yissachar according to their families. 18Their border was to Yizre'el, Chesulloth, Shunem, 19Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21Remeth, Engannim, En Haddah, and Beit Patzetz. 22The border reached to Tavor, Shahazumah, and Beit Shemesh. Their border ended at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages. 23This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Yissachar according to their families, the cities with their villages. 24The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families. 25Their border was Chelkat, Hali, Beten, Achshaf, 26Allammelech, Amad, Mishal. It reached to Karmel westward, and to Shihorlibnath. 27It turned towards the sunrise to Beit Dagon, and reached to Zevulun, and to the valley of Yiftach El northward to Beit Emek and Neiel. It went out to Cabul on the left hand, 28and Ebron, Rechov, Chamon, and Kanah, even to great Tzidon. 29The border turned to Ramah, to the fortified city of Tyre; and the border turned to Chosah. It ended at the sea by the region of Akhziv; 30Ummah also, and Aphek, and Rechov: twenty-two cities with their villages. 31This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages. 32The sixth lot came out for the children of Naftali, even for the children of Naftali according to their families. 33Their border was from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, Adami-nekeb, and Yavne'el, to Lakkum. It ended at the Jordan. 34The border turned westward to Aznoth Tavor, and went out from there to Hukkok. It reached to Zevulun on the south, and reached to Asher on the west, and to Yehudah at the Jordan towards the sunrise. 35The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kineret, 36Adamah, Ramah, Chatzor, 37Kedesh, Edre'i, En Chatzor, 38Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beit Anat, and Beit Shemesh; nineteen cities with their villages. 39This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naftali according to their families, the cities with their villages. 40The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. 41The border of their inheritance was Tyre'a, Eshtaol, Irshemesh, 42Shaalabbin, Ayalon, Ithlah, 43Eilon, Timnah, Ekron, 44Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45Yehud, Bene Berak, Gat Rimon, 46Me Yarkon, and Rakkon, with the border opposite Yafo. 47The border of the children of Dan went out beyond them; for the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and lived therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their forefather. 48This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages. 49So they finished distributing the land for inheritance by its borders. The children of Yisrael gave an inheritance to Yehoshua the son of Nun amongst them. 50According to YHWH’s mitzvah, they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnathserah in the hill country of Ephraim; and he built the city, and lived there. 51These are the inheritances, which El'azar the priest, Yehoshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Yisrael, distributed for inheritance by lot in Shilo before YHWH, at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. So they finished dividing the land.

Chapter 20

1YHWH spoke to Yehoshua, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moshe, 3that the man slayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4He shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his case in the ears of the elders of that city. They shall take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live amongst them. 5If the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver up the man slayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbour unintentionally, and didn’t hate him before. 6He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgement, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days. Then the man slayer shall return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.’” 7They set apart Kedesh in Galil in the hill country of Naftali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiryat Arba (also called Hebron) in the hill country of Yehudah. 8Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuven, Ramot in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Menashe. 9These were the appointed cities for all the children of Yisrael, and for the alien who lives amongst them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stands trial before the congregation.

Chapter 21

1Then the heads of fathers’ houses of the Levi'im came near to El'azar the priest, and to Yehoshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Yisrael. 2They spoke to them at Shilo in the land of Kna'an, saying, “YHWH commanded through Moshe to give us cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for our livestock.” 3The children of Yisrael gave to the Levi'im out of their inheritance, according to the mitzvah of YHWH, these cities with their pasture lands. 4The lot came out for the families of the Kehatim. The children of Aharon the priest, who were of the Levi'im, had thirteen cities by lot out of the tribe of Yehudah, out of the tribe of the Shimonim, and out of the tribe of Binyamin. 5The rest of the children of Kehat had ten cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half-tribe of Menashe. 6The children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Yissachar, out of the tribe of Asher, out of the tribe of Naftali, and out of the half-tribe of Menashe in Bashan. 7The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities out of the tribe of Reuven, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zevulun. 8The children of Yisrael gave these cities with their pasture lands by lot to the Levi'im, as YHWH commanded by Moshe. 9They gave out of the tribe of the children of Yehudah, and out of the tribe of the children of Shimon, these cities which are mentioned by name: 10and they were for the children of Aharon, of the families of the Kehatim, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot. 11They gave them Kiryat Arba, named after the father of Anak (also called Hebron), in the hill country of Yehudah, with its pasture lands around it. 12But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Calev the son of Yefuneh for his possession. 13To the children of Aharon the priest they gave Hebron with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Livnah with its pasture lands, 14Yatir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, 15Cholon with its pasture lands, Devir with its pasture lands, 16Ain with its pasture lands, Yutah with its pasture lands, and Beit Shemesh with its pasture lands: nine cities out of those two tribes. 17Out of the tribe of Binyamin, Giv'on with its pasture lands, Geva with its pasture lands, 18Anatot with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands: four cities. 19All the cities of the children of Aharon, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands. 20The families of the children of Kehat, the Levi'im, even the rest of the children of Kehat, had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21They gave them Shechem with its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Gezer with its pasture lands, 22Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beit Choron with its pasture lands: four cities. 23Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, 24Ayalon with its pasture lands, Gat Rimon with its pasture lands: four cities. 25Out of the half-tribe of Menashe, Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gat Rimon with its pasture lands: two cities. 26All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kehat were ten with their pasture lands. 27They gave to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levi'im, out of the half-tribe of Menashe Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Be Eshterah with its pasture lands: two cities. 28Out of the tribe of Yissachar, Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, 29Yarmut with its pasture lands, En Gannim with its pasture lands: four cities. 30Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, 31Chelkat with its pasture lands, and Rechov with its pasture lands: four cities. 32Out of the tribe of Naftali, Kedesh in Galil with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Hammothdor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands: three cities. 33All the cities of the Gershonim according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands. 34To the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levi'im, out of the tribe of Zevulun, Yokne'am with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, 35Dimnah with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands: four cities. 36Out of the tribe of Reuven, Bezer with its pasture lands, Yahatz with its pasture lands, 37Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands: four cities. 38Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramot in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Machanayim with its pasture lands, 39Cheshbon with its pasture lands, Yazer with its pasture lands: four cities in all. 40All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levi'im. Their lot was twelve cities. 41All the cities of the Levi'im amongst the possessions of the children of Yisrael were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. 42Each of these cities included their pasture lands around them. It was this way with all these cities. 43So YHWH gave to Yisrael all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived in it. 44YHWH gave them rest all around, according to all that he swore to their fathers. Not a man of all their enemies stood before them. YHWH delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45Nothing failed of any good thing which YHWH had spoken to the house of Yisrael. All came to pass.

Chapter 22

1Then Yehoshua called the Reuvenim, the Gadim, and the half-tribe of Menashe, 2and said to them, “You have kept all that Moshe the servant of YHWH commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you. 3You have not left your brothers these many days to this day, but have performed the duty of the mitzvah of YHWH your Elohim. 4Now YHWH your Elohim has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them. Therefore now return and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moshe the servant of YHWH gave you beyond the Jordan. 5Only take diligent heed to do the mitzvah and the law which Moshe the servant of YHWH commanded you, to love YHWH your Elohim, to walk in all his ways, to keep his mitzvot, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6So Yehoshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went to their tents. 7Now to the one half-tribe of Menashe Moshe had given inheritance in Bashan; but Yehoshua gave to the other half amongst their brothers beyond the Jordan westward. Moreover when Yehoshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, 8and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much wealth to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the plunder of your enemies with your brothers.” 9The children of Reuven and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Menashe returned, and departed from the children of Yisrael out of Shilo, which is in the land of Kna'an, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they owned, according to the mitzvah of YHWH by Moshe. 10When they came to the region near the Jordan, that is in the land of Kna'an, the children of Reuven and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Menashe built an altar there by the Jordan, a great altar to look at. 11The children of Yisrael heard this, “Behold, the children of Reuven and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Menashe have built an altar along the border of the land of Kna'an, in the region around the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the children of Yisrael.” 12When the children of Yisrael heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Yisrael gathered themselves together at Shilo, to go up against them to war. 13The children of Yisrael sent to the children of Reuven, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Menashe, into the land of Gilead, Pinchas the son of El'azar the priest. 14With him were ten princes, one prince of a fathers’ house for each of the tribes of Yisrael; and they were each head of their fathers’ houses amongst the thousands of Yisrael. 15They came to the children of Reuven, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Menashe, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16“The whole congregation of YHWH says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the Elohim of Yisrael, to turn away today from following YHWH, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against YHWH? 17Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of YHWH, 18that you must turn away today from following YHWH? It will be, since you rebel today against YHWH, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Yisrael. 19However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of YHWH, in which YHWH’s Mishkan dwells, and take possession amongst us; but don’t rebel against YHWH, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than YHWH our Elohim’s altar. 20Didn’t Achan the son of Zerach commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Yisrael? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’” 21Then the children of Reuven and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Menashe answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Yisrael, 22“The Mighty One, Elohim, YHWH, the Mighty One, Elohim, YHWH, he knows; and Yisrael shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against YHWH (don’t save us today), 23that we have built us an altar to turn away from following YHWH; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let YHWH himself require it. 24“If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, “What have you to do with YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael? 25For YHWH has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuven and children of Gad. You have no portion in YHWH.”’ So your children might make our children cease from fearing YHWH. 26“Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; 27but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of YHWH before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;’ that your children may not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in YHWH.’ 28“Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, “Behold the pattern of YHWH’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’ 29“Far be it from us that we should rebel against YHWH, and turn away today from following YHWH, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides YHWH our Elohim’s altar that is before his Mishkan!” 30When Pinchas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Yisrael that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuven and the children of Gad and the children of Menashe spoke, it pleased them well. 31Pinchas the son of El'azar the priest said to the children of Reuven, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Menashe, “Today we know that YHWH is amongst us, because you have not committed this trespass against YHWH. Now you have delivered the children of Yisrael out of YHWH’s hand.” 32Pinchas the son of El'azar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuven, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Kna'an, to the children of Yisrael, and brought them word again. 33The thing pleased the children of Yisrael; and the children of Yisrael blessed Elohim, and spoke no more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuven and the children of Gad lived. 34The children of Reuven and the children of Gad named the altar “A Witness Between Us that YHWH is Elohim.”

Chapter 23

1After many days, when YHWH had given rest to Yisrael from their enemies all around, and Yehoshua was old and well advanced in years, 2Yehoshua called for all Yisrael, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, “I am old and well advanced in years. 3You have seen all that YHWH your Elohim has done to all these nations because of you; for it is YHWH your Elohim who has fought for you. 4Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea towards the going down of the sun. 5YHWH your Elohim will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. You shall possess their land, as YHWH your Elohim spoke to you. 6“Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moshe, that you not turn away from it to the right hand or to the left; 7that you not come amongst these nations, these that remain amongst you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down yourselves to them; 8but hold fast to YHWH your Elohim, as you have done to this day. 9“For YHWH has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. 10One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is YHWH your Elohim who fights for you, as he spoke to you. 11Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love YHWH your Elohim. 12“But if you do at all go back, and hold fast to the remnant of these nations, even these who remain amongst you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you; 13know for a certainty that YHWH your Elohim will no longer drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which YHWH your Elohim has given you. 14“Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which YHWH your Elohim spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it. 15It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which YHWH your Elohim spoke to you, so YHWH will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which YHWH your Elohim has given you, 16when you disobey the Brit of YHWH your Elohim, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them. Then YHWH’s anger will be kindled against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you.”

Chapter 24

1Yehoshua gathered all the tribes of Yisrael to Shechem, and called for the elders of Yisrael, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before Elohim. 2Yehoshua said to all the people, “YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terach, the father of Avraham, and the father of Nachor. They served other gods. 3I took your father Avraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Kna'an, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him Yitzhak. 4I gave to Yitzhak Yaakov and Esav: and I gave to Esav Har Se'ir, to possess it. Yaakov and his children went down into Mitzrayim. 5“‘I sent Moshe and Aharon, and I plagued Mitzrayim, according to that which I did amongst them: and afterward I brought you out. 6I brought your fathers out of Mitzrayim: and you came to the sea. The Mitzrim pursued your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Yam Suf. 7When they cried out to YHWH, he put darkness between you and the Mitzrim, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Mitzrayim. You lived in the wilderness many days. 8“‘I brought you into the land of the Emorim, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9Then Balak the son of Tzipor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Yisrael. He sent and called Bilam the son of Beor to curse you, 10but I would not listen to Bilam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11“‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Emori, the Perizi, the Kna'ani, the Chitti, the Girgashi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi; and I delivered them into your hand. 12I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Emorim; not with your sword, nor with your bow. 13I gave you a land on which you had not laboured, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’ 14“Now therefore fear YHWH, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Mitzrayim; and serve YHWH. 15If it seems evil to you to serve YHWH, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Emorim, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve YHWH.” 16The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake YHWH, to serve other gods; 17for it is YHWH our Elohim who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Mitzrayim, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and amongst all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. 18YHWH drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Emorim who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve YHWH; for he is our Elohim.” 19Yehoshua said to the people, “You can’t serve YHWH, for he is a kodesh Elohim. He is a jealous Elohim. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. 20If you forsake YHWH, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.” 21The people said to Yehoshua, “No, but we will serve YHWH.” 22Yehoshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen YHWH yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.” 23“Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are amongst you, and incline your heart to YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael.” 24The people said to Yehoshua, “We will serve YHWH our Elohim, and we will listen to his voice.” 25So Yehoshua made a Brit with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26Yehoshua wrote these words in the book of the law of Elohim; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the Beit HaMikdash of YHWH. 27Yehoshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all YHWH’s words which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your Elohim.” 28So Yehoshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance. 29After these things, Yehoshua the son of Nun, the servant of YHWH, died, being one hundred and ten years old. 30They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. 31Yisrael served YHWH all the days of Yehoshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Yehoshua, and had known all the work of YHWH, that he had worked for Yisrael. 32They buried the bones of Yosef, which the children of Yisrael brought up out of Mitzrayim, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Yaakov bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Yosef. 33El'azar the son of Aharon died. They buried him in the hill of Pinchas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

Shoftim

Chapter 1

1After the death of Yehoshua, the children of Yisrael asked of YHWH, saying, “Who should go up for us first against the Kna'anim, to fight against them?” 2YHWH said, “Yehudah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.” 3Yehudah said to Shimon his brother, “Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Kna'anim; and I likewise will go with you into your lot.” So Shimon went with him. 4Yehudah went up, and YHWH delivered the Kna'anim and the Perizim into their hand. They struck ten thousand men in Bezek. 5They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and they fought against him. They struck the Kna'anim and the Perizim. 6But Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. 7Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so Elohim has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8The children of Yehudah fought against Jerusalem, took it, struck it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 9After that, the children of Yehudah went down to fight against the Kna'anim who lived in the hill country, and in the South, and in the lowland. 10Yehudah went against the Kna'anim who lived in Hebron. (The name of Hebron before that was Kiryat Arba.) They struck Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11From there he went against the inhabitants of Devir. (The name of Devir before that was Kiryat Sepher.) 12Calev said, “I will give Achsah my daughter as wife to the man who strikes Kiryat Sepher, and takes it.” 13Otni'el the son of Kenaz, Calev’s younger brother, took it, so he gave him Achsah his daughter as his wife. 14When she came, she got him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey; and Calev said to her, “What would you like?” 15She said to him, “Give me a blessing; because you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” Then Calev gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. 16The children of the Kenite, Moshe’s brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Yehudah into the wilderness of Yehudah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. 17Yehudah went with Shimon his brother, and they struck the Kna'anim who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Chormah. 18Also Yehudah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border. 19YHWH was with Yehudah, and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 20They gave Hebron to Calev, as Moshe had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there. 21The children of Binyamin didn’t drive out the Yevusim who inhabited Jerusalem, but the Yevusim dwell with the children of Binyamin in Jerusalem to this day. 22The house of Yosef also went up against Beit El, and YHWH was with them. 23The house of Yosef sent to spy out Beit El. (The name of the city before that was Luz.) 24The watchers saw a man come out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 25He showed them the entrance into the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go. 26The man went into the land of the Chitim, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day. 27Menashe didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beit She'an and its towns, nor Taanach and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Yivle'am and its towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; but the Kna'anim would dwell in that land. 28When Yisrael had grown strong, they put the Kna'anim to forced labour, and didn’t utterly drive them out. 29Ephraim didn’t drive out the Kna'anim who lived in Gezer, but the Kna'anim lived in Gezer amongst them. 30Zevulun didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Kna'anim lived amongst them, and became subject to forced labour. 31Asher didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Tzidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Akhziv, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rechov; 32but the Asherites lived amongst the Kna'anim, the inhabitants of the land, for they didn’t drive them out. 33Naftali didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Beit Shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beit Anat; but he lived amongst the Kna'anim, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beit Shemesh and of Beit Anat became subject to forced labour. 34The Emorim forced the children of Dan into the hill country, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; 35but the Emorim would dwell in Har Cheres, in Ayalon, and in Shaalbim. Yet the hand of the house of Yosef prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labour. 36The border of the Emorim was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

Chapter 2

1YHWH’s malak came up from Gilgal to Bochim. He said, “I brought you out of Mitzrayim, and have brought you to the land which I swore to give your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my Brit with you. 2You shall make no Brit with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this? 3Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.’” 4When YHWH’s malak spoke these words to all the children of Yisrael, the people lifted up their voice and wept. 5They called the name of that place Bochim, and they sacrificed there to YHWH. 6Now when Yehoshua had sent the people away, the children of Yisrael each went to his inheritance to possess the land. 7The people served YHWH all the days of Yehoshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Yehoshua, who had seen all the great work of YHWH that he had worked for Yisrael. 8Yehoshua the son of Nun, the servant of YHWH, died, being one hundred and ten years old. 9They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Cheres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. 10After all that generation were gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who didn’t know YHWH, nor the work which he had done for Yisrael. 11The children of Yisrael did that which was evil in YHWH’s sight, and served the Baals. 12They abandoned YHWH, the Elohim of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Mitzrayim, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; and they provoked YHWH to anger. 13They abandoned YHWH, and served Ba'al and the Ashtarot. 14YHWH’s anger burnt against Yisrael, and he delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15Wherever they went out, YHWH’s hand was against them for evil, as YHWH had spoken, and as YHWH had sworn to them; and they were very distressed. 16YHWH raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17Yet they didn’t listen to their judges; for they prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed themselves down to them. They quickly turned away from the way in which their fathers walked, obeying YHWH’s mitzvot. They didn’t do so. 18When YHWH raised up judges for them, then YHWH was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it grieved YHWH because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them. 19But when the judge was dead, they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers in following other gods to serve them and to bow down to them. They didn’t cease what they were doing, or give up their stubborn ways. 20YHWH’s anger burnt against Yisrael; and he said, “Because this nation transgressed my Brit which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to my voice, 21I also will no longer drive out any of the nations that Yehoshua left when he died from before them; 22that by them I may test Yisrael, to see if they will keep YHWH’s way to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.” 23So YHWH left those nations, without driving them out hastily. He didn’t deliver them into Yehoshua’s hand.

Chapter 3

1Now these are the nations which YHWH left, to test Yisrael by them, even as many as had not known all the wars of Kna'an; 2only that the generations of the children of Yisrael might know, to teach them war, at least those who knew nothing of it before: 3the five lords of the Pelishtim, all the Kna'anim, the Tzidonim, and the Chivim who lived on Har Lebanon, from Har Ba'al Chermon to the entrance of Chamat. 4They were left to test Yisrael by them, to know whether they would listen to YHWH’s mitzvot, which he commanded their fathers by Moshe. 5The children of Yisrael lived amongst the Kna'anim, the Chitim, the Emorim, the Perizim, the Chivim, and the Yevusim. 6They took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods. 7The children of Yisrael did that which was evil in YHWH’s sight, and forgot YHWH their Elohim, and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8Therefore YHWH’s anger burnt against Yisrael, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rish'atayim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Yisrael served Cushan Rish'atayim eight years. 9When the children of Yisrael cried to YHWH, YHWH raised up a saviour to the children of Yisrael, who saved them, even Otni'el the son of Kenaz, Calev’s younger brother. 10YHWH’s Ruach came on him, and he judged Yisrael; and he went out to war, and YHWH delivered Cushan Rish'atayim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. His hand prevailed against Cushan Rish'atayim. 11The land had rest forty years, then Otni'el the son of Kenaz died. 12The children of Yisrael again did that which was evil in YHWH’s sight, and YHWH strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Yisrael, because they had done that which was evil in YHWH’s sight. 13He gathered the children of Ammon and Amalek to himself; and he went and struck Yisrael, and they possessed the city of palm trees. 14The children of Yisrael served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15But when the children of Yisrael cried to YHWH, YHWH raised up a saviour for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Binyamini, a left-handed man. The children of Yisrael sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he wore it under his clothing on his right thigh. 17He offered the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18When Ehud had finished offering the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19But he himself turned back from the stone idols that were by Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” The king said, “Keep silence!” All who stood by him left him. 20Ehud came to him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. Ehud said, “I have a message from Elohim to you.” He arose out of his seat. 21Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body. 22The handle also went in after the blade; and the fat closed on the blade, for he didn’t draw the sword out of his body; and it came out behind. 23Then Ehud went out onto the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them. 24After he had gone, his servants came and saw that the doors of the upper room were locked. They said, “Surely he is covering his feet in the upper room.” 25They waited until they were ashamed; and behold, he didn’t open the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and behold, their Adonai had fallen down dead on the floor. 26Ehud escaped while they waited, passed beyond the stone idols, and escaped to Seirah. 27When he had come, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Yisrael went down with him from the hill country, and he led them. 28He said to them, “Follow me; for YHWH has delivered your enemies the Moavim into your hand.” They followed him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moavim, and didn’t allow any man to pass over. 29They struck at that time about ten thousand men of Moab, every strong man and every man of valour. No man escaped. 30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Yisrael. Then the land had rest eighty years. 31After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck six hundred men of the Pelishtim with an ox goad. He also saved Yisrael.

Chapter 4

1The children of Yisrael again did that which was evil in YHWH’s sight, when Ehud was dead. 2YHWH sold them into the hand of Yavin king of Kna'an, who reigned in Chatzor; the captain of whose army was Sisra, who lived in Harosheth of the Goyim. 3The children of Yisrael cried to YHWH, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the children of Yisrael for twenty years. 4Now Devorah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Yisrael at that time. 5She lived under Devorah’s palm tree between Ramah and Beit El in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Yisrael came up to her for judgement. 6She sent and called Barak the son of Avino'am out of Kedesh Naftali, and said to him, “Hasn’t YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, commanded, ‘Go and lead the way to Har Tavor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naftali and of the children of Zevulun? 7I will draw to you, to the river Kishon, Sisra, the captain of Yavin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand.’” 8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9She said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the journey that you take won’t be for your honour; for YHWH will sell Sisra into a woman’s hand.” Devorah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10Barak called Zevulun and Naftali together to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; and Devorah went up with him. 11Now Chever the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Chovav, Moshe’s brother-in-law, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh. 12They told Sisra that Barak the son of Avino'am had gone up to Har Tavor. 13Sisra gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Goyim, to the river Kishon. 14Devorah said to Barak, “Go; for this is the day in which YHWH has delivered Sisra into your hand. Hasn’t YHWH gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Har Tavor, and ten thousand men after him. 15YHWH confused Sisra, all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak. Sisra abandoned his chariot and fled away on his feet. 16But Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth of the Goyim; and all the army of Sisra fell by the edge of the sword. There was not a man left. 17However Sisra fled away on his feet to the tent of Yael the wife of Chever the Kenite; for there was peace between Yavin the king of Chatzor and the house of Chever the Kenite. 18Yael went out to meet Sisra, and said to him, “Turn in, my adonai, turn in to me; don’t be afraid.” He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, and gave him a drink, and covered him. 20He said to her, “Stand in the door of the tent, and if any man comes and enquires of you, and says, ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say, ‘No.’” 21Then Yael, Chever’s wife, took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his Battei HaMikdash, and it pierced through into the ground, for he was in a deep sleep; so he fainted and died. 22Behold, as Barak pursued Sisra, Yael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek.” He came to her; and behold, Sisra lay dead, and the tent peg was in his Battei HaMikdash. 23So Elohim subdued Yavin the king of Kna'an before the children of Yisrael on that day. 24The hand of the children of Yisrael prevailed more and more against Yavin the king of Kna'an, until they had destroyed Yavin king of Kna'an.

Chapter 5

1Then Devorah and Barak the son of Avino'am sang on that day, saying, 2“Because the leaders took the lead in Yisrael, because the people offered themselves willingly, be blessed, YHWH! 3“Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to YHWH. I will sing praise to YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael. 4“YHWH, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water. 5The mountains quaked at YHWH’s presence, even Sinai at the presence of YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael. 6“In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Yael, the highways were unoccupied. The travellers walked through byways. 7The rulers ceased in Yisrael. They ceased until I, Devorah, arose; Until I arose a mother in Yisrael. 8They chose new gods. Then war was in the gates. Was there a shield or spear seen amongst forty thousand in Yisrael? 9My heart is towards the governors of Yisrael, who offered themselves willingly amongst the people. Bless YHWH! 10“Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets, and you who walk by the way. 11Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water, there they will rehearse YHWH’s righteous acts, the righteous acts of his rule in Yisrael. “Then YHWH’s people went down to the gates. 12‘Awake, awake, Devorah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Avino'am.’ 13“Then a remnant of the nobles and the people came down. YHWH came down for me against the mighty. 14Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim, after you, Binyamin, amongst your peoples. Governors come down out of Machir. Those who handle the marshal’s staff came out of Zevulun. 15The princes of Yissachar were with Devorah. As was Yissachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuven, there were great resolves of heart. 16Why did you sit amongst the sheepfolds? To hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuven, there were great searchings of heart. 17Gilead lived beyond the Jordan. Why did Dan remain in ships? Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, and lived by his creeks. 18Zevulun was a people that jeopardised their lives to the death; Naftali also, on the high places of the field. 19“The kings came and fought, then the kings of Kna'an fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no plunder of silver. 20From the sky the stars fought. From their courses, they fought against Sisra. 21The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength. 22Then the horse hoofs stamped because of the prancing, the prancing of their strong ones. 23‘Curse Meroz,’ said YHWH’s malak. ‘Curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they didn’t come to help YHWH, to help YHWH against the mighty.’ 24“Yael shall be blessed above women, the wife of Chever the Kenite; blessed shall she be above women in the tent. 25He asked for water. She gave him milk. She brought him butter in a lordly dish. 26She put her hand to the tent peg, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer. With the hammer she struck Sisra. She struck through his head. Yes, she pierced and struck through his Battei HaMikdash. 27At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay. At her feet he bowed, he fell. Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. 28“Through the window she looked out, and cried: Sisra’s mother looked through the lattice. ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots wait?’ 29Her wise ladies answered her, Yes, she returned answer to herself, 30‘Have they not found, have they not divided the plunder? A lady, two ladies to every man; to Sisra a plunder of dyed garments, a plunder of dyed garments embroidered, of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the plunder?’ 31“So let all your enemies perish, YHWH, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.

Chapter 6

1The children of Yisrael did that which was evil in YHWH’s sight, so YHWH delivered them into the hand of Midyan seven years. 2The hand of Midyan prevailed against Yisrael; and because of Midyan the children of Yisrael made themselves the dens which are in the mountains, the caves, and the strongholds. 3So it was, when Yisrael had sown, that the Midyanim, the Amalekim, and the children of the east came up against them. 4They encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza. They left no sustenance in Yisrael, and no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5For they came up with their livestock and their tents. They came in as locusts for multitude. Both they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it. 6Yisrael was brought very low because of Midyan; and the children of Yisrael cried to YHWH. 7When the children of Yisrael cried to YHWH because of Midyan, 8YHWH sent a prophet to the children of Yisrael; and he said to them, “YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, says, ‘I brought you up from Mitzrayim, and brought you out of the house of bondage. 9I delivered you out of the hand of the Mitzrim and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land. 10I said to you, “I am YHWH your Elohim. You shall not fear the gods of the Emorim, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not listened to my voice.’” 11YHWH’s malak came and sat under the oak which was in Ofrah, that belonged to Yoash the Abiezrite. His son Gidon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midyanim. 12YHWH’s malak appeared to him, and said to him, “YHWH is with you, you mighty man of valour!” 13Gidon said to him, “Oh, my adonai, if YHWH is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t YHWH bring us up from Mitzrayim?’ But now YHWH has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midyan.” 14YHWH looked at him, and said, “Go in this your might, and save Yisrael from the hand of Midyan. Haven’t I sent you?” 15He said to him, “O Adonai, how shall I save Yisrael? Behold, my family is the poorest in Menashe, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16YHWH said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midyanim as one man.” 17He said to him, “If now I have found favour in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. 18Please don’t go away until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you.” He said, “I will wait until you come back.” 19Gidon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal. He put the meat in a basket and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it. 20The malak of Elohim said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” He did so. 21Then YHWH’s malak stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. Then YHWH’s malak departed out of his sight. 22Gidon saw that he was YHWH’s malak; and Gidon said, “Alas, Adonai YHWH! Because I have seen YHWH’s malak face to face!” 23YHWH said to him, “Peace be to you! Don’t be afraid. You shall not die.” 24Then Gidon built an altar there to YHWH, and called it “YHWH Shalom.” To this day it is still in Ofrah of the Abiezrites. 25That same night, YHWH said to him, “Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Ba'al that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it. 26Then build an altar to YHWH your Elohim on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” 27Then Gidon took ten men of his servants, and did as YHWH had spoken to him. Because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night. 28When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Ba'al was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built. 29They said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” When they enquired and asked, they said, “Gidon the son of Yoash has done this thing.” 30Then the men of the city said to Yoash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Ba'al, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.” 31Yoash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Ba'al? Or will you save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar!” 32Therefore on that day he named him Yeruba'al, saying, “Let Ba'al contend against him, because he has broken down his altar.” 33Then all the Midyanim and the Amalekim and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Yizre'el. 34But YHWH’s Ruach came on Gidon, and he blew a trumpet; and Avi'ezer was gathered together to follow him. 35He sent messengers throughout all Menashe, and they also were gathered together to follow him. He sent messengers to Asher, to Zevulun, and to Naftali; and they came up to meet them. 36Gidon said to Elohim, “If you will save Yisrael by my hand, as you have spoken, 37behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I’ll know that you will save Yisrael by my hand, as you have spoken.” 38It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39Gidon said to Elohim, “Don’t let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40Elohim did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

Chapter 7

1Then Yeruba'al, who is Gidon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. Midyan’s camp was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2YHWH said to Gidon, “The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midyanim into their hand, lest Yisrael brag against me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Har Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. 4YHWH said to Gidon, “There are still too many people. Bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. It shall be, that those whom I tell you, ‘This shall go with you,’ shall go with you; and whoever I tell you, ‘This shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” 5So he brought down the people to the water; and YHWH said to Gidon, “Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, like a dog laps, you shall set him by himself; likewise everyone who bows down on his knees to drink.” 6The number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water. 7YHWH said to Gidon, “I will save you by the three hundred men who lapped, and deliver the Midyanim into your hand. Let all the other people go, each to his own place.” 8So the people took food in their hand, and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of the men of Yisrael to their own tents, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Midyan was beneath him in the valley. 9That same night, YHWH said to him, “Arise, go down into the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 10But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp. 11You will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened to go down into the camp.” Then went he down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp. 12The Midyanim and the Amalekim and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude. 13When Gidon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. He said, “Behold, I dreamt a dream; and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midyan, came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” 14His fellow answered, “This is nothing other than the sword of Gidon the son of Yoash, a man of Yisrael. Elohim has delivered Midyan into his hand, with all the army.” 15It was so, when Gidon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshipped. Then he returned into the camp of Yisrael and said, “Arise, for YHWH has delivered the army of Midyan into your hand!” 16He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers. 17He said to them, “Watch me, and do likewise. Behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so you shall do. 18When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, ‘For YHWH and for Gidon!’” 19So Gidon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch. Then they blew the trumpets and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. 20The three companies blew the trumpets, broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow; and they shouted, “The sword of YHWH and of Gidon!” 21They each stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran; and they shouted, and put them to flight. 22They blew the three hundred trumpets, and YHWH set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beit Shitah towards Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. 23The men of Yisrael were gathered together out of Naftali, out of Asher, and out of all Menashe, and pursued Midyan. 24Gidon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against Midyan and take the waters before them as far as Beit Barah, even the Jordan!” So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together and took the waters as far as Beit Barah, even the Jordan. 25They took the two princes of Midyan, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at Oreb’s rock, and Zeeb they killed at Zeeb’s wine press, as they pursued Midyan. Then they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gidon beyond the Jordan.

Chapter 8

1The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you treated us this way, that you didn’t call us when you went to fight with Midyan?” They rebuked him sharply. 2He said to them, “What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn’t the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Avi'ezer? 3Elohim has delivered into your hand the princes of Midyan, Oreb and Zeeb! What was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger was abated towards him when he had said that. 4Gidon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing. 5He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zevach and Zalmunna, the kings of Midyan.” 6The princes of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zevach and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” 7Gidon said, “Therefore when YHWH has delivered Zevach and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” 8He went up there to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9He spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.” 10Now Zevach and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the children of the east; for there fell one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew sword. 11Gidon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Yogbehah, and struck the army; for the army felt secure. 12Zevach and Zalmunna fled and he pursued them. He took the two kings of Midyan, Zevach and Zalmunna, and confused all the army. 13Gidon the son of Yoash returned from the battle from the ascent of Cheres. 14He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him; and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men. 15He came to the men of Succoth, and said, “See Zevach and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zevach and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’” 16He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 17He broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city. 18Then he said to Zevach and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tavor?” They answered, “They were like you. They all resembled the children of a king.” 19He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As YHWH lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” 20He said to Yeter his firstborn, “Get up and kill them!” But the youth didn’t draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was yet a youth. 21Then Zevach and Zalmunna said, “You rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” Gidon arose, and killed Zevach and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks. 22Then the men of Yisrael said to Gidon, “Rule over us, both you, your son, and your son’s son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midyan.” 23Gidon said to them, “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. YHWH shall rule over you.” 24Gidon said to them, “I do have a request: that you would each give me the earrings of his plunder.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Yishmaelim.) 25They answered, “We will willingly give them.” They spread a garment, and every man threw the earrings of his plunder into it. 26The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold, in addition to the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midyan, and in addition to the chains that were about their camels’ necks. 27Gidon made an ephod out of it, and put it in Ofrah, his city. Then all Yisrael played the prostitute with it there; and it became a snare to Gidon and to his house. 28So Midyan was subdued before the children of Yisrael, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gidon. 29Yeruba'al the son of Yoash went and lived in his own house. 30Gidon had seventy sons conceived from his body, for he had many wives. 31His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Avimelech. 32Gidon the son of Yoash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Yoash his father, in Ofrah of the Abiezrites. 33As soon as Gidon was dead, the children of Yisrael turned again and played the prostitute following the Baals, and made Ba'al Berith their god. 34The children of Yisrael didn’t remember YHWH their Elohim, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side; 35neither did they show kindness to the house of Yeruba'al, that is, Gidon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Yisrael.

Chapter 9

1Avimelech the son of Yeruba'al went to Shechem to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, 2“Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that all the sons of Yeruba'al, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.” 3His mother’s brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words. Their hearts inclined to follow Avimelech; for they said, “He is our brother.” 4They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Ba'al Berith, with which Avimelech hired vain and reckless fellows who followed him. 5He went to his father’s house at Ofrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Yeruba'al, being seventy persons, on one stone; but Yotam the youngest son of Yeruba'al was left, for he hid himself. 6All the men of Shechem assembled themselves together with all the house of Millo, and went and made Avimelech king by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem. 7When they told it to Yotam, he went and stood on the top of Har Gerizim and lifted up his voice, cried out, and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that Elohim may listen to you. 8The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ 9“But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop producing my oil, with which they honour Elohim and man by me, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’ 10“The trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and reign over us.’ 11“But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’ 12“The trees said to the vine, ‘Come and reign over us.’ 13“The vine said to them, ‘Should I leave my new wine, which cheers Elohim and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’ 14“Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘Come and reign over us.’ 15“The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’ 16“Now therefore, if you have dealt truly and righteously, in that you have made Avimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Yeruba'al and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands 17(for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midyan; 18and you have risen up against my father’s house today and have slain his sons, seventy persons, on one stone, and have made Avimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother); 19if you then have dealt truly and righteously with Yeruba'al and with his house today, then rejoice in Avimelech, and let him also rejoice in you; 20but if not, let fire come out from Avimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Millo and devour Avimelech.” 21Yotam ran away and fled, and went to Beer and lived there, for fear of Avimelech his brother. 22Avimelech was prince over Yisrael three years. 23Then Elohim sent an evil spirit between Avimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Avimelech, 24that the violence done to the seventy sons of Yeruba'al might come, and that their blood might be laid on Avimelech their brother who killed them, and on the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. 25The men of Shechem set an ambush for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them; and Avimelech was told about it. 26Ga'al the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. 27They went out into the field, harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes, celebrated, and went into the house of their god and ate and drank, and cursed Avimelech. 28Ga'al the son of Ebed said, “Who is Avimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Yeruba'al? Isn’t Zevul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him? 29I wish that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Avimelech.” He said to Avimelech, “Increase your army and come out!” 30When Zevul the ruler of the city heard the words of Ga'al the son of Ebed, his anger burnt. 31He sent messengers to Avimelech craftily, saying, “Behold, Ga'al the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and behold, they incite the city against you. 32Now therefore, go up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. 33It shall be that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and rush on the city. Behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then may you do to them as you shall find occasion.” 34Avimelech rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. 35Ga'al the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. Avimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from the ambush. 36When Ga'al saw the people, he said to Zevul, “Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” Zevul said to him, “You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men.” 37Ga'al spoke again and said, “Behold, people are coming down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Meonenim.” 38Then Zevul said to him, “Now where is your mouth, that you said, ‘Who is Avimelech, that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people that you have despised? Please go out now and fight with them.” 39Ga'al went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Avimelech. 40Avimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded, even to the entrance of the gate. 41Avimelech lived at Arumah; and Zevul drove out Ga'al and his brothers, that they should not dwell in Shechem. 42On the next day, the people went out into the field; and they told Avimelech. 43He took the people and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and behold, the people came out of the city. So, he rose up against them and struck them. 44Avimelech and the companies that were with him rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and the two companies rushed on all who were in the field and struck them. 45Avimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city and killed the people in it. He beat down the city and sowed it with salt. 46When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith. 47Avimelech was told that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48Avimelech went up to Har Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Avimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done!” 49All the people likewise each cut down his bough, followed Avimelech, and put them at the base of the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. 50Then Avimelech went to Tevetz and encamped against Tevetz, and took it. 51But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women of the city fled there, and shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower. 52Avimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and came near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53A certain woman cast an upper millstone on Avimelech’s head, and broke his skull. 54Then he called hastily to the young man, his armour bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, that men not say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ His young man thrust him through, and he died.” 55When the men of Yisrael saw that Avimelech was dead, they each departed to his place. 56Thus Elohim repaid the wickedness of Avimelech, which he did to his father in killing his seventy brothers; 57and Elohim repaid all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads; and the curse of Yotam the son of Yeruba'al came on them.

Chapter 10

1After Avimelech, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Yissachar, arose to save Yisrael. He lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2He judged Yisrael twenty-three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. 3After him Ya'ir, the Gil'adi, arose. He judged Yisrael twenty-two years. 4He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts. They had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Ya'ir to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 5Ya'ir died, and was buried in Kamon. 6The children of Yisrael again did that which was evil in YHWH’s sight, and served the Baals, the Ashtarot, the gods of Aram, the gods of Tzidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Pelishtim. They abandoned YHWH, and didn’t serve him. 7YHWH’s anger burnt against Yisrael, and he sold them into the hand of the Pelishtim and into the hand of the children of Ammon. 8They troubled and oppressed the children of Yisrael that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the children of Yisrael that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Emorim, which is in Gilead. 9The children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Yehudah, and against Binyamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Yisrael was very distressed. 10The children of Yisrael cried to YHWH, saying, “We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our Elohim, and have served the Baals.” 11YHWH said to the children of Yisrael, “Didn’t I save you from the Mitzrim, and from the Emorim, from the children of Ammon, and from the Pelishtim? 12The Tzidonim also, and the Amalekim, and the Maonites, oppressed you; and you cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods. Therefore I will save you no more. 14Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!” 15The children of Yisrael said to YHWH, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems good to you; only deliver us, please, today.” 16They put away the foreign gods from amongst them and served YHWH; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Yisrael. 17Then the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. The children of Yisrael assembled themselves together and encamped in Mitzpah. 18The people, the princes of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Chapter 11

1Now Yiftach the Gil'adi was a mighty man of valour. He was the son of a prostitute. Gilead became the father of Yiftach. 2Gilead’s wife bore him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Yiftach out and said to him, “You will not inherit in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3Then Yiftach fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Outlaws joined up with Yiftach, and they went out with him. 4After a while, the children of Ammon made war against Yisrael. 5When the children of Ammon made war against Yisrael, the elders of Gilead went to get Yiftach out of the land of Tob. 6They said to Yiftach, “Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.” 7Yiftach said to the elders of Gilead, “Didn’t you hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8The elders of Gilead said to Yiftach, “Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight with the children of Ammon. You will be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9Yiftach said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and YHWH delivers them before me, will I be your head?” 10The elders of Gilead said to Yiftach, “YHWH will be witness between us. Surely we will do what you say.” 11Then Yiftach went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them. Yiftach spoke all his words before YHWH in Mitzpah. 12Yiftach sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, “What do you have to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13The king of the children of Ammon answered the messengers of Yiftach, “Because Yisrael took away my land when he came up out of Mitzrayim, from the Arnon even to the Yabok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore restore that territory again peaceably.” 14Yiftach sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon; 15and he said to him, “Yiftach says: Yisrael didn’t take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon; 16but when they came up from Mitzrayim, and Yisrael went through the wilderness to the Yam Suf, and came to Kadesh, 17then Yisrael sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let me pass through your land;’ but the king of Edom didn’t listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab, but he refused; so Yisrael stayed in Kadesh. 18Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn’t come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. 19Yisrael sent messengers to Sihon king of the Emorim, the king of Cheshbon; and Yisrael said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to my place.’ 20But Sihon didn’t trust Yisrael to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Yahatz, and fought against Yisrael. 21YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Yisrael, and they struck them. So Yisrael possessed all the land of the Emorim, the inhabitants of that country. 22They possessed all the border of the Emorim, from the Arnon even to the Yabok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan. 23So now YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, has dispossessed the Emorim from before his people Yisrael, and should you possess them? 24Won’t you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whoever YHWH our Elohim has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess. 25Now are you anything better than Balak the son of Tzipor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Yisrael, or did he ever fight against them? 26Yisrael lived in Cheshbon and its towns, and in Aro'er and its towns, and in all the cities that are along the side of the Arnon for three hundred years! Why didn’t you recover them within that time? 27Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me. May YHWH the Judge be judge today between the children of Yisrael and the children of Ammon.” 28However, the king of the children of Ammon didn’t listen to the words of Yiftach which he sent him. 29Then YHWH’s Ruach came on Yiftach, and he passed over Gilead and Menashe, and passed over Mitzpah of Gilead, and from Mitzpah of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon. 30Yiftach vowed a vow to YHWH, and said, “If you will indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, 31then it shall be, that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be YHWH’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” 32So Yiftach passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them; and YHWH delivered them into his hand. 33He struck them from Aro'er until you come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and to Abelcheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Yisrael. 34Yiftach came to Mitzpah to his house; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are one of those who trouble me; for I have opened my mouth to YHWH, and I can’t go back.” 36She said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to YHWH; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because YHWH has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon.” 37Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me. Leave me alone two months, that I may depart and go down on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.” 38He said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months; and she departed, she and her companions, and mourned her virginity on the mountains. 39At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. She was a virgin. It became a custom in Yisrael 40that the daughters of Yisrael went yearly to celebrate the daughter of Yiftach the Gil'adi four days in a year.

Chapter 12

1The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Yiftach, “Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!” 2Yiftach said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand. 3When I saw that you didn’t save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and YHWH delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me today, to fight against me?” 4Then Yiftach gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gil'adim, in the middle of Ephraim, and in the middle of Menashe.” 5The Gil'adim took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. Whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Efrati?” If he said, “No;” 6then they said to him, “Now say ‘Shibboleth;’” and he said “Sibboleth”; for he couldn’t manage to pronounce it correctly, then they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time, forty-two thousand of Ephraim fell. 7Yiftach judged Yisrael six years. Then Yiftach the Gil'adi died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead. 8After him Ibzan of Beit Lechem judged Yisrael. 9He had thirty sons. He sent his thirty daughters outside his clan, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside his clan for his sons. He judged Yisrael seven years. 10Ibzan died, and was buried at Beit Lechem. 11After him, Eilon the Zevuluni judged Yisrael; and he judged Yisrael ten years. 12Eilon the Zevuluni died, and was buried in Ayalon in the land of Zevulun. 13After him, Abdon the son of Hillel the Pir'atoni judged Yisrael. 14He had forty sons and thirty sons’ sons who rode on seventy donkey colts. He judged Yisrael eight years. 15Abdon the son of Hillel the Pir'atoni died, and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekim.

Chapter 13

1The children of Yisrael again did that which was evil in YHWH’s sight; and YHWH delivered them into the hand of the Pelishtim forty years. 2There was a certain man of Tyre'a, of the family of the Danim, whose name was Manoach; and his wife was barren, and childless. 3YHWH’s malak appeared to the woman, and said to her, “See now, you are barren and childless; but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4Now therefore please beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don’t eat any unclean thing; 5for, behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son. No razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to Elohim from the womb. He shall begin to save Yisrael out of the hand of the Pelishtim.” 6Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of Elohim came to me, and his face was like the face of the malak of Elohim, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name; 7but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink. Don’t eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to Elohim from the womb to the day of his death.’” 8Then Manoach entreated YHWH, and said, “Oh, Adonai, please let the man of Elohim whom you sent come again to us, and teach us what we should do to the child who shall be born.” 9Elohim listened to the voice of Manoach, and the malak of Elohim came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Manoach, her husband, wasn’t with her. 10The woman hurried and ran, and told her husband, saying to him, “Behold, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me.” 11Manoach arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” He said, “I am.” 12Manoach said, “Now let your words happen. What shall the child’s way of life and mission be?” 13YHWH’s malak said to Manoach, “Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. 14She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. Let her observe all that I commanded her.” 15Manoach said to YHWH’s malak, “Please stay with us, that we may make a young goat ready for you.” 16YHWH’s malak said to Manoach, “Though you detain me, I won’t eat your bread. If you will prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to YHWH.” For Manoach didn’t know that he was YHWH’s malak. 17Manoach said to YHWH’s malak, “What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honour you?” 18YHWH’s malak said to him, “Why do you ask about my name, since it is incomprehensible?” 19So Manoach took the young goat with the meal offering, and offered it on the rock to YHWH. Then the malak did an amazing thing as Manoach and his wife watched. 20For when the flame went up towards the sky from off the altar, YHWH’s malak ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoach and his wife watched; and they fell on their faces to the ground. 21But YHWH’s malak didn’t appear to Manoach or to his wife any more. Then Manoach knew that he was YHWH’s malak. 22Manoach said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen Elohim.” 23But his wife said to him, “If YHWH were pleased to kill us, he wouldn’t have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand, and he wouldn’t have shown us all these things, nor would he have told us such things as these at this time.” 24The woman bore a son and named him Shimshon. The child grew, and YHWH blessed him. 25YHWH’s Ruach began to move him in Mahaneh Dan, between Tyre'a and Eshtaol.

Chapter 14

1Shimshon went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Pelishtim. 2He came up, and told his father and his mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Pelishtim. Now therefore get her for me as my wife.” 3Then his father and his mother said to him, “Isn’t there a woman amongst your brothers’ daughters, or amongst all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Pelishtim?” Shimshon said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.” 4But his father and his mother didn’t know that it was of YHWH; for he sought an occasion against the Pelishtim. Now at that time the Pelishtim ruled over Yisrael. 5Then Shimshon went down to Timnah with his father and his mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion roared at him. 6YHWH’s Ruach came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat with his bare hands, but he didn’t tell his father or his mother what he had done. 7He went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Shimshon well. 8After a while he returned to take her, and he went over to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. 9He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. He came to his father and mother and gave to them, and they ate, but he didn’t tell them that he had taken the honey out of the lion’s body. 10His father went down to the woman; and Shimshon made a feast there, for the young men used to do so. 11When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12Shimshon said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle now. If you can tell me the answer within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing; 13but if you can’t tell me the answer, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.” They said to him, “Tell us your riddle, that we may hear it.” 14He said to them, “Out of the eater came out food. Out of the strong came out sweetness.” They couldn’t in three days declare the riddle. 15On the seventh day, they said to Shimshon’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you called us to impoverish us? Isn’t that so?” 16Shimshon’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?” 17She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted; and on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him severely; and she told the riddle to the children of her people. 18The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” He said to them, “If you hadn’t ploughed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have found out my riddle.” 19YHWH’s Ruach came mightily on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck thirty men of them. He took their plunder, then gave the changes of clothing to those who declared the riddle. His anger burnt, and he went up to his father’s house. 20But Shimshon’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his friend.

Chapter 15

1But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Shimshon visited his wife with a young goat. He said, “I will go in to my wife’s room.” But her father wouldn’t allow him to go in. 2Her father said, “I most certainly thought that you utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please, take her instead.” 3Shimshon said to them, “This time I will be blameless in the case of the Pelishtim when I harm them.” 4Shimshon went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the middle between every two tails. 5When he had set the torches on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Pelishtim, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves. 6Then the Pelishtim said, “Who has done this?” They said, “Shimshon, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” The Pelishtim came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. 7Shimshon said to them, “If you behave like this, surely I will take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.” 8He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cave in Etam’s rock. 9Then the Pelishtim went up, encamped in Yehudah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 10The men of Yehudah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Shimshon, to do to him as he has done to us.” 11Then three thousand men of Yehudah went down to the cave in Etam’s rock, and said to Shimshon, “Don’t you know that the Pelishtim are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” He said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.” 12They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Pelishtim.” Shimshon said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” 13They spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will bind you securely and deliver you into their hands; but surely we will not kill you.” They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock. 14When he came to Lehi, the Pelishtim shouted as they met him. Then YHWH’s Ruach came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire; and his bands dropped from off his hands. 15He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, put out his hand, took it, and struck a thousand men with it. 16Shimshon said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men.” 17When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath Lehi. 18He was very thirsty, and called on YHWH and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19But Elohim split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore its name was called En Hakkore, which is in Lehi, to this day. 20He judged Yisrael twenty years in the days of the Pelishtim.

Chapter 16

1Shimshon went to Gaza, and saw there a prostitute, and went in to her. 2The Gazites were told, “Shimshon is here!” They surrounded him and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, “Wait until morning light; then we will kill him.” 3Shimshon lay until midnight, then arose at midnight and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city, with the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron. 4It came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5The lords of the Pelishtim came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” 6Delilah said to Shimshon, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and what you might be bound to afflict you.” 7Shimshon said to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.” 8Then the lords of the Pelishtim brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9Now she had an ambush waiting in the inner room. She said to him, “The Pelishtim are on you, Shimshon!” He broke the cords as a flax thread is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known. 10Delilah said to Shimshon, “Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies. Now please tell me how you might be bound.” 11He said to her, “If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then I will become weak, and be as another man.” 12So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, then said to him, “The Pelishtim are on you, Shimshon!” The ambush was waiting in the inner room. He broke them off his arms like a thread. 13Delilah said to Shimshon, “Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the fabric on the loom.” 14She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Pelishtim are on you, Shimshon!” He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam and the fabric. 15She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16When she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, his soul was troubled to death. 17He told her all his heart and said to her, “No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to Elohim from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me and I will become weak, and be like any other man.” 18When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Pelishtim, saying, “Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Pelishtim came up to her and brought the money in their hand. 19She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20She said, “The Pelishtim are upon you, Shimshon!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that YHWH had departed from him. 21The Pelishtim laid hold on him and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of bronze; and he ground at the mill in the prison. 22However, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved. 23The lords of the Pelishtim gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has delivered Shimshon our enemy into our hand.” 24When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us, into our hand.” 25When their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Shimshon, that he may entertain us.” They called for Shimshon out of the prison; and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars; 26and Shimshon said to the boy who held him by the hand, “Allow me to feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean on them.” 27Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Pelishtim were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who saw while Shimshon performed. 28Shimshon called to YHWH, and said, “Adonai YHWH, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, Elohim, that I may be at once avenged of the Pelishtim for my two eyes.” 29Shimshon took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house rested and leaned on them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. 30Shimshon said, “Let me die with the Pelishtim!” He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life. 31Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Tyre'a and Eshtaol in the burial site of Manoach his father. He judged Yisrael twenty years.

Chapter 17

1There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Michah. 2He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears—behold, the silver is with me. I took it.” His mother said, “May YHWH bless my son!” 3He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, then his mother said, “I most certainly dedicate the silver to YHWH from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” 4When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, who made a carved image and a molten image out of it. It was in the house of Michah. 5The man Michah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Yisrael. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes. 7There was a young man out of Beit Lechem Yehudah, of the family of Yehudah, who was a Levi'i; and he lived there. 8The man departed out of the city, out of Beit Lechem Yehudah, to live where he could find a place, and he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Michah, as he travelled. 9Michah said to him, “Where did you come from?” He said to him, “I am a Levi'i of Beit Lechem Yehudah, and I am looking for a place to live.” 10Michah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, a suit of clothing, and your food.” So the Levi'i went in. 11The Levi'i was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. 12Michah consecrated the Levi'i, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Michah. 13Then Michah said, “Now I know that YHWH will do good to me, since I have a Levi'i as my priest.”

Chapter 18

1In those days there was no king in Yisrael. In those days the tribe of the Danim sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their inheritance had not fallen to them amongst the tribes of Yisrael. 2The children of Dan sent five men of their family from their whole number, men of valour, from Tyre'a and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land!” They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Michah, and lodged there. 3When they were by the house of Michah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levi'i; so they went over there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What do you do in this place? What do you have here?” 4He said to them, “Thus and thus has Michah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and I have become his priest.” 5They said to him, “Please ask counsel of Elohim, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.” 6The priest said to them, “Go in peace. Your way in which you go is before YHWH.” 7Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in safety, in the way of the Tzidonim, quiet and secure; for there was no one in the land possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Tzidonim, and had no dealings with anyone else. 8They came to their brothers at Tyre'a and Eshtaol; and their brothers asked them, “What do you say?” 9They said, “Arise, and let’s go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. Do you stand still? Don’t be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land. 10When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people, and the land is large; for Elohim has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.” 11The family of the Danim set out from Tyre'a and Eshtaol with six hundred men armed with weapons of war. 12They went up and encamped in Kiryat Ye'arim in Yehudah. Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. Behold, it is behind Kiryat Ye'arim. 13They passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Michah. 14Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brothers, “Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a carved image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you have to do.” 15They went over there and came to the house of the young Levi'i man, even to the house of Michah, and asked him how he was doing. 16The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. 18When these went into Michah’s house, and took the engraved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19They said to him, “Hold your peace, put your hand on your mouth, and go with us. Be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Yisrael?” 20The priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, the teraphim, and the engraved image, and went with the people. 21So they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods before them. 22When they were a good way from the house of Michah, the men who were in the houses near Michah’s house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan. 23As they called to the children of Dan, they turned their faces, and said to Michah, “What ails you, that you come with such a company?” 24He said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away! What more do I have? How can you ask me, ‘What ails you?’” 25The children of Dan said to him, “Don’t let your voice be heard amongst us, lest angry fellows fall on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household.” 26The children of Dan went their way; and when Michah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house. 27They took that which Michah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword; then they burnt the city with fire. 28There was no deliverer, because it was far from Tzidon, and they had no dealings with anyone else; and it was in the valley that lies by Beit Rechov. They built the city and lived in it. 29They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Yisrael; however the name of the city used to be Laish. 30The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image; and Yonatan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moshe, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danim until the day of the captivity of the land. 31So they set up for themselves Michah’s engraved image which he made, and it remained all the time that Elohim’s house was in Shilo.

Chapter 19

1In those days, when there was no king in Yisrael, there was a certain Levi'i living on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, who took for himself a concubine out of Beit Lechem Yehudah. 2His concubine played the prostitute against him, and went away from him to her father’s house to Beit Lechem Yehudah, and was there for four months. 3Her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly to her, to bring her again, having his servant with him and a couple of donkeys. She brought him into her father’s house; and when the father of the young lady saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4His father-in-law, the young lady’s father, kept him there; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank, and stayed there. 5On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning, and he rose up to depart. The young lady’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you shall go your way.” 6So they sat down, ate, and drank, both of them together. Then the young lady’s father said to the man, “Please be pleased to stay all night, and let your heart be merry.” 7The man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he stayed there again. 8He arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the young lady’s father said, “Please strengthen your heart and stay until the day declines;” and they both ate. 9When the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the young lady’s father, said to him, “Behold, now the day draws towards evening, please stay all night. Behold, the day is ending. Stay here, that your heart may be merry; and tomorrow go on your way early, that you may go home.” 10But the man wouldn’t stay that night, but he rose up and went near Yevus (also called Jerusalem). With him were a couple of saddled donkeys. His concubine also was with him. 11When they were by Yevus, the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, “Please come and let’s enter into this city of the Yevusim, and stay in it.” 12His master said to him, “We won’t enter into the city of a foreigner that is not of the children of Yisrael; but we will pass over to Giv'ah.” 13He said to his servant, “Come and let’s draw near to one of these places; and we will lodge in Giv'ah, or in Ramah.” 14So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Giv'ah, which belongs to Binyamin. 15They went over there, to go in to stay in Giv'ah. He went in, and sat down in the street of the city; for there was no one who took them into his house to stay. 16Behold, an old man came from his work out of the field at evening. Now the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he lived in Giv'ah; but the men of the place were Binyaminim. 17He lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?” 18He said to him, “We are passing from Beit Lechem Yehudah to the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Beit Lechem Yehudah. I am going to YHWH’s house; and there is no one who has taken me into his house. 19Yet there is both straw and feed for our donkeys; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your servant, and for the young man who is with your servants. There is no lack of anything.” 20The old man said, “Peace be to you! Just let me supply all your needs, but don’t sleep in the street.” 21So he brought him into his house, and gave the donkeys fodder. Then they washed their feet, and ate and drank. 22As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain wicked fellows, surrounded the house, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we can have sex with him!” 23The man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, “No, my brothers, please don’t act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, don’t do this folly. 24Behold, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. I will bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them what seems good to you; but to this man don’t do any such folly.” 25But the men wouldn’t listen to him; so the man grabbed his concubine, and brought her out to them; and they had sex with her, and abused her all night until the morning. When the day began to dawn, they let her go. 26Then the woman came in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her Adonai was, until it was light. 27Her Adonai rose up in the morning and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and behold, the woman his concubine had fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28He said to her, “Get up, and let’s get going!” but no one answered. Then he took her up on the donkey; and the man rose up, and went to his place. 29When he had come into his house, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Yisrael. 30It was so, that all who saw it said, “Such a deed has not been done or seen from the day that the children of Yisrael came up out of the land of Mitzrayim to this day! Consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

Chapter 20

1Then all the children of Yisrael went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Be'er Sheva, with the land of Gilead, to YHWH at Mitzpah. 2The chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Yisrael, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of Elohim, four hundred thousand footmen who drew sword. 3(Now the children of Binyamin heard that the children of Yisrael had gone up to Mitzpah.) The children of Yisrael said, “Tell us, how did this wickedness happen?” 4The Levi'i, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered, “I came into Giv'ah that belongs to Binyamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5The men of Giv'ah rose against me, and surrounded the house by night. They intended to kill me and they raped my concubine, and she is dead. 6I took my concubine and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Yisrael; for they have committed lewdness and folly in Yisrael. 7Behold, you children of Yisrael, all of you, give here your advice and counsel.” 8All the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, neither will any of us turn to his house. 9But now this is the thing which we will do to Giv'ah: we will go up against it by lot; 10and we will take ten men of one hundred throughout all the tribes of Yisrael, and one hundred of one thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to get food for the people, that they may do, when they come to Giv'ah of Binyamin, according to all the folly that the men of Giv'ah have done in Yisrael.” 11So all the men of Yisrael were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. 12The tribes of Yisrael sent men through all the tribe of Binyamin, saying, “What wickedness is this that has happened amongst you? 13Now therefore deliver up the men, the wicked fellows who are in Giv'ah, that we may put them to death and put away evil from Yisrael.” But Binyamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the children of Yisrael. 14The children of Binyamin gathered themselves together out of the cities to Giv'ah, to go out to battle against the children of Yisrael. 15The children of Binyamin were counted on that day out of the cities twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, in addition to the inhabitants of Giv'ah, who were counted seven hundred chosen men. 16Amongst all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed. Every one of them could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17The men of Yisrael, besides Binyamin, were counted four hundred thousand men who drew sword. All these were men of war. 18The children of Yisrael arose, went up to Beit El, and asked counsel of Elohim. They asked, “Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Binyamin?” YHWH said, “Yehudah first.” 19The children of Yisrael rose up in the morning and encamped against Giv'ah. 20The men of Yisrael went out to battle against Binyamin; and the men of Yisrael set the battle in array against them at Giv'ah. 21The children of Binyamin came out of Giv'ah, and on that day destroyed twenty-two thousand of the Yisra'eli men down to the ground. 22The people, the men of Yisrael, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the first day. 23The children of Yisrael went up and wept before YHWH until evening; and they asked of YHWH, saying, “Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Binyamin my brother?” YHWH said, “Go up against him.” 24The children of Yisrael came near against the children of Binyamin the second day. 25Binyamin went out against them out of Giv'ah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Yisrael again eighteen thousand men. All these drew the sword. 26Then all the children of Yisrael and all the people went up, and came to Beit El, and wept, and sat there before YHWH, and fasted that day until evening; then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before YHWH. 27The children of Yisrael asked YHWH (for the Aron HaBrit of Elohim was there in those days, 28and Pinchas, the son of El'azar, the son of Aharon, stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Binyamin my brother, or shall I cease?” YHWH said, “Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.” 29Yisrael set ambushes all around Giv'ah. 30The children of Yisrael went up against the children of Binyamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Giv'ah, as at other times. 31The children of Binyamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill of the people as at other times, in the highways, of which one goes up to Beit El and the other to Giv'ah, in the field, about thirty men of Yisrael. 32The children of Binyamin said, “They are struck down before us, as at the first.” But the children of Yisrael said, “Let’s flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33All the men of Yisrael rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Ba'al Tamar. Then the ambushers of Yisrael broke out of their place, even out of Maareh Geva. 34Ten thousand chosen men out of all Yisrael came over against Giv'ah, and the battle was severe; but they didn’t know that disaster was close to them. 35YHWH struck Binyamin before Yisrael; and the children of Yisrael destroyed of Binyamin that day twenty-five thousand and one hundred men. All these drew the sword. 36So the children of Binyamin saw that they were struck, for the men of Yisrael yielded to Binyamin because they trusted the ambushers whom they had set against Giv'ah. 37The ambushers hurried, and rushed on Giv'ah; then the ambushers spread out, and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 38Now the appointed sign between the men of Yisrael and the ambushers was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city. 39The men of Yisrael turned in the battle, and Binyamin began to strike and kill of the men of Yisrael about thirty persons; for they said, “Surely they are struck down before us, as in the first battle.” 40But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Binyaminim looked behind them; and behold, the whole city went up in smoke to the sky. 41The men of Yisrael turned, and the men of Binyamin were dismayed; for they saw that disaster had come on them. 42Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Yisrael to the way of the wilderness, but the battle followed hard after them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the middle of it. 43They surrounded the Binyaminim, chased them, and trod them down at their resting place, as far as near Giv'ah towards the sunrise. 44Eighteen thousand men of Binyamin fell; all these were men of valour. 45They turned and fled towards the wilderness to the rock of Rimon. They gleaned five thousand men of them in the highways, and followed hard after them to Gidom, and struck two thousand men of them. 46So that all who fell that day of Binyamin were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword. All these were men of valour. 47But six hundred men turned and fled towards the wilderness to the rock of Rimon, and stayed in the rock of Rimon four months. 48The men of Yisrael turned again on the children of Binyamin, and struck them with the edge of the sword—including the entire city, the livestock, and all that they found. Moreover they set all the cities which they found on fire.

Chapter 21

1Now the men of Yisrael had sworn in Mitzpah, saying, “None of us will give his daughter to Binyamin as a wife.” 2The people came to Beit El and sat there until evening before Elohim, and lifted up their voices, and wept severely. 3They said, “YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, why has this happened in Yisrael, that there should be one tribe lacking in Yisrael today?” 4On the next day, the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5The children of Yisrael said, “Who is there amongst all the tribes of Yisrael who didn’t come up in the assembly to YHWH?” For they had made a great oath concerning him who didn’t come up to YHWH to Mitzpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” 6The children of Yisrael grieved for Binyamin their brother, and said, “There is one tribe cut off from Yisrael today. 7How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since we have sworn by YHWH that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?” 8They said, “What one is there of the tribes of Yisrael who didn’t come up to YHWH to Mitzpah?” Behold, no one came from Yavesh Gilead to the camp to the assembly. 9For when the people were counted, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Yavesh Gilead there. 10The congregation sent twelve thousand of the most valiant men there, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Yavesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones. 11This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man.” 12They found amongst the inhabitants of Yavesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp to Shilo, which is in the land of Kna'an. 13The whole congregation sent and spoke to the children of Binyamin who were in the rock of Rimon, and proclaimed peace to them. 14Binyamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Yavesh Gilead. There still weren’t enough for them. 15The people grieved for Binyamin, because YHWH had made a breach in the tribes of Yisrael. 16Then the elders of the congregation said, “How shall we provide wives for those who remain, since the women are destroyed out of Binyamin?” 17They said, “There must be an inheritance for those who are escaped of Binyamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Yisrael. 18However, we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Yisrael had sworn, saying, ‘Cursed is he who gives a wife to Binyamin.’” 19They said, “Behold, there is a feast of YHWH from year to year in Shilo, which is on the north of Beit El, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Beit El to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.” 20They commanded the children of Binyamin, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, 21and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shilo come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards, and each man catch his wife of the daughters of Shilo, and go to the land of Binyamin. 22It shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we didn’t take for each man his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them; otherwise you would now be guilty.’” 23The children of Binyamin did so, and took wives for themselves according to their number, of those who danced, whom they carried off. They went and returned to their inheritance, built the cities, and lived in them. 24The children of Yisrael departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they each went out from there to his own inheritance. 25In those days there was no king in Yisrael. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.

Rut

Chapter 1

1In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Beit Lechem Yehudah went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelekh, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Machlon and Kilyon, Ephrathites of Beit Lechem Yehudah. They came into the country of Moab and lived there. 3Elimelekh, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Rut. They lived there about ten years. 5Machlon and Kilyon both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband. 6Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how YHWH had visited his people in giving them bread. 7She went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return to the land of Yehudah. 8Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May YHWH deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9May YHWH grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices, and wept. 10They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.” 11Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons, 13would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me seriously for your sakes, for YHWH’s hand has gone out against me.” 14They lifted up their voices and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Rut stayed with her. 15She said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.” 16Rut said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your Elohim my Elohim. 17Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May YHWH do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.” 18When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. 19So they both went until they came to Beit Lechem. When they had come to Beit Lechem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?” 20She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the El Shaddai has dealt very bitterly with me. 21I went out full, and YHWH has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since YHWH has testified against me, and the El Shaddai has afflicted me?” 22So Naomi returned, and Rut the Moaviyah, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. They came to Beit Lechem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Chapter 2

1Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelekh, and his name was Boaz. 2Rut the Moaviyah said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field, and glean amongst the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favour.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3She went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelekh. 4Behold, Boaz came from Beit Lechem, and said to the reapers, “May YHWH be with you.” They answered him, “May YHWH bless you.” 5Then Boaz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, “Whose young lady is this?” 6The servant who was set over the reapers answered, “It is the Moavi lady who came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. 7She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers amongst the sheaves.’ So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she rested a little in the house.” 8Then Boaz said to Rut, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go to glean in another field, and don’t go from here, but stay here close to my maidens. 9Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them. Haven’t I commanded the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink from that which the young men have drawn.” 10Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favour in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11Boaz answered her, “I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father, your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn’t know before. 12May YHWH repay your work, and a full reward be given to you from YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” 13Then she said, “Let me find favour in your sight, my adonai, because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not as one of your servants.” 14At meal time Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” She sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain. She ate, was satisfied, and left some of it. 15When she had risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even amongst the sheaves, and don’t reproach her. 16Also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it. Let her glean, and don’t rebuke her.” 17So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18She took it up, and went into the city. Then her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned; and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left after she had enough. 19Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? Where have you worked? Blessed be he who noticed you.” She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by YHWH, who has not abandoned his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.” 21Rut the Moaviyah said, “Yes, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22Naomi said to Rut her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not harm you in any other field.” 23So she stayed close to the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

Chapter 3

1Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2Now isn’t Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he will be winnowing barley tonight on the threshing floor. 3Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get dressed, and go down to the threshing floor; but don’t make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4It shall be, when he lies down, that you shall note the place where he is lying. Then you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down. Then he will tell you what to do.” 5She said to her, “All that you say, I will do.” 6She went down to the threshing floor, and did everything that her mother-in-law told her. 7When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. She came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8At midnight, the man was startled and turned himself; and behold, a woman lay at his feet. 9He said, “Who are you?” She answered, “I am Rut your servant. Therefore spread the corner of your garment over your servant; for you are a near kinsman.” 10He said, “You are blessed by YHWH, my daughter. You have shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, because you didn’t follow young men, whether poor or rich. 11Now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my people knows that you are a worthy woman. 12Now it is true that I am a near kinsman. However, there is a kinsman nearer than I. 13Stay this night, and in the morning, if he will perform for you the part of a kinsman, good. Let him do the kinsman’s duty. But if he will not do the duty of a kinsman for you, then I will do the duty of a kinsman for you, as YHWH lives. Lie down until the morning.” 14She lay at his feet until the morning, then she rose up before one could discern another. For he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15He said, “Bring the mantle that is on you, and hold it.” She held it; and he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her; then he went into the city. 16When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” She told her all that the man had done for her. 17She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley; for he said, ‘Don’t go empty to your mother-in-law.’” 18Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know what will happen; for the man will not rest until he has settled this today.”

Chapter 4

1Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. Behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by. Boaz said to him, “Come over here, friend, and sit down!” He came over, and sat down. 2Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here,” and they sat down. 3He said to the near kinsman, “Naomi, who has come back out of the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelekh’s. 4I thought I should tell you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who sit here, and before the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know. For there is no one to redeem it besides you; and I am after you.” He said, “I will redeem it.” 5Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Rut the Moaviyah, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.” 6The near kinsman said, “I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption for yourself; for I can’t redeem it.” 7Now this was the custom in former time in Yisrael concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man took off his sandal, and gave it to his neighbour; and this was the way of formalizing transactions in Yisrael. 8So the near kinsman said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” then he took off his sandal. 9Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today, that I have bought all that was Elimelekh’s, and all that was Kilyon’s and Machlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. 10Moreover, Rut the Moaviyah, the wife of Machlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from amongst his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.” 11All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May YHWH make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Yisrael; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Beit Lechem. 12Let your house be like the house of Peretz, whom Tamar bore to Yehudah, of the offspring which YHWH will give you by this young woman.” 13So Boaz took Rut and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and YHWH enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son. 14The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be YHWH, who has not left you today without a near kinsman. Let his name be famous in Yisrael. 15He shall be to you a restorer of life and sustain you in your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16Naomi took the child, laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to him. 17The women, her neighbours, gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi”. They named him Oved. He is the father of Yishai, the father of David. 18Now this is the history of the generations of Peretz: Peretz became the father of Hezron, 19and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Aminadav, 20and Aminadav became the father of Nachshon, and Nachshon became the father of Salmon, 21and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Oved, 22and Oved became the father of Yishai, and Yishai became the father of David.

Shmuel Alef

Chapter 1

1Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Yerocham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Efrati. 2He had two wives. The name of one was Channah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Channah had no children. 3This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to YHWH Tzeva'ot in Shilo. The two sons of Eli, Chofni and Pinchas, priests to YHWH, were there. 4When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; 5but he gave a double portion to Channah, for he loved Channah, but YHWH had shut up her womb. 6Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because YHWH had shut up her womb. 7So year by year, when she went up to YHWH’s house, her rival provoked her. Therefore she wept, and didn’t eat. 8Elkanah her husband said to her, “Channah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” 9So Channah rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shilo. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of YHWH’s Beit HaMikdash. 10She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to YHWH, weeping bitterly. 11She vowed a vow, and said, “YHWH Tzeva'ot, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to YHWH all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head.” 12As she continued praying before YHWH, Eli saw her mouth. 13Now Channah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Get rid of your wine!” 15Channah answered, “No, my adonai, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have not been drinking wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul before YHWH. 16Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation.” 17Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the Elohim of Yisrael grant your petition that you have asked of him.” 18She said, “Let your servant find favour in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate; and her facial expression wasn’t sad any more. 19They rose up in the morning early and worshipped YHWH, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Channah his wife; and YHWH remembered her. 20When the time had come, Channah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Shmuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of YHWH.” 21The man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to YHWH the yearly sacrifice and his vow. 22But Channah didn’t go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before YHWH, and stay there forever.” 23Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may YHWH establish his word.” So the woman waited and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, and one ephah of meal, and a container of wine, and brought him to YHWH’s house in Shilo. The child was young. 25They killed the bull, and brought the child to Eli. 26She said, “Oh, my adonai, as your soul lives, my adonai, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to YHWH. 27I prayed for this child, and YHWH has given me my petition which I asked of him. 28Therefore I have also given him to YHWH. As long as he lives he is given to YHWH.” He worshipped YHWH there.

Chapter 2

1Channah prayed, and said, “My heart exults in YHWH! My horn is exalted in YHWH. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. 2There is no one as kodesh as YHWH, for there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our Elohim. 3“Don’t keep talking so exceedingly proudly. Don’t let arrogance come out of your mouth, for YHWH is a Elohim of knowledge. By him actions are weighed. 4“The bows of the mighty men are broken. Those who stumbled are armed with strength. 5Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry are satisfied. Yes, the barren has borne seven. She who has many children languishes. 6“YHWH kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and brings up. 7YHWH makes poor and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up. 8He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the needy from the dunghill to make them sit with princes and inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are YHWH’s. He has set the world on them. 9He will keep the feet of his kodesh ones, but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness; for no man will prevail by strength. 10Those who strive with YHWH shall be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in the sky. “YHWH will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.” 11Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child served YHWH before Eli the priest. 12Now the sons of Eli were wicked men. They didn’t know YHWH. 13The custom of the priests with the people was that when anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant came while the meat was boiling, with a fork of three teeth in his hand; 14and he stabbed it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot. The priest took all that the fork brought up for himself. They did this to all the B'nei Yisrael who came there to Shilo. 15Yes, before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw.” 16If the man said to him, “Let the fat be burnt first, and then take as much as your soul desires;” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.” 17The sin of the young men was very great before YHWH; for the men despised YHWH’s offering. 18But Shmuel ministered before YHWH, being a child, clothed with a linen ephod. 19Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, “May YHWH give you offspring from this woman for the petition which was asked of YHWH.” Then they went to their own home. 21YHWH visited Channah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Shmuel grew before YHWH. 22Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Yisrael, and how that they slept with the women who served at the door of the Ohel Mo'ed. 23He said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24No, my sons; for it is not a good report that I hear! You make YHWH’s people disobey. 25If one man sins against another, Elohim will judge him; but if a man sins against YHWH, who will intercede for him?” Notwithstanding, they didn’t listen to the voice of their father, because YHWH intended to kill them. 26The child Shmuel grew on, and increased in favour both with YHWH and also with men. 27A man of Elohim came to Eli and said to him, “YHWH says, ‘Did I reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Mitzrayim in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? 28Didn’t I choose him out of all the tribes of Yisrael to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? Didn’t I give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Yisrael made by fire? 29Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honour your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Yisrael my people?’ 30“Therefore YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, says, ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father should walk before me forever.’ But now YHWH says, ‘Far be it from me; for those who honour me I will honour, and those who despise me will be cursed. 31Behold, the days come that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, that there will not be an old man in your house. 32You will see the affliction of my habitation, in all the wealth which I will give Yisrael. There shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33The man of yours whom I don’t cut off from my altar will consume your eyes and grieve your heart. All the increase of your house will die in the flower of their age. 34This will be the sign to you that will come on your two sons, on Chofni and Pinchas: in one day they will both die. 35I will raise up a faithful priest for myself who will do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house. He will walk before my anointed forever. 36It will happen that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and will say, “Please put me into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”

Chapter 3

1The child Shmuel ministered to YHWH before Eli. YHWH’s word was rare in those days. There were not many visions, then. 2At that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see), 3and Elohim’s lamp hadn’t yet gone out, and Shmuel had laid down in YHWH’s Beit HaMikdash where Elohim’s ark was, 4YHWH called Shmuel. He said, “Here I am.” 5He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He said, “I didn’t call. Lie down again.” He went and lay down. 6YHWH called yet again, “Shmuel!” Shmuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He answered, “I didn’t call, my son. Lie down again.” 7Now Shmuel didn’t yet know YHWH, neither was YHWH’s word yet revealed to him. 8YHWH called Shmuel again the third time. He arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” Eli perceived that YHWH had called the child. 9Therefore Eli said to Shmuel, “Go, lie down. It shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, YHWH; for your servant hears.’” So Shmuel went and lay down in his place. 10YHWH came, and stood, and called as at other times, “Shmuel! Shmuel!” Then Shmuel said, “Speak; for your servant hears.” 11YHWH said to Shmuel, “Behold, I will do a thing in Yisrael at which both the ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end. 13For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he didn’t restrain them. 14Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be removed with sacrifice or offering forever.” 15Shmuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of YHWH’s house. Shmuel was afraid to show Eli the vision. 16Then Eli called Shmuel and said, “Shmuel, my son!” He said, “Here I am.” 17He said, “What is the thing that he has spoken to you? Please don’t hide it from me. Elohim do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you.” 18Shmuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, “It is YHWH. Let him do what seems good to him.” 19Shmuel grew, and YHWH was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20All Yisrael from Dan even to Be'er Sheva knew that Shmuel was established to be a prophet of YHWH. 21YHWH appeared again in Shilo; for YHWH revealed himself to Shmuel in Shilo by YHWH’s word.

Chapter 4

1The word of Shmuel came to all Yisrael. Now Yisrael went out against the Pelishtim to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Pelishtim encamped in Aphek. 2The Pelishtim put themselves in array against Yisrael. When they joined battle, Yisrael was defeated by the Pelishtim, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field. 3When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Yisrael said, “Why has YHWH defeated us today before the Pelishtim? Let’s get the Aron YHWH’s Brit out of Shilo and bring it to us, that it may come amongst us and save us out of the hand of our enemies.” 4So the people sent to Shilo, and they brought from there the Aron HaBrit of YHWH Tzeva'ot, who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Chofni and Pinchas, were there with the Aron HaBrit of Elohim. 5When the Aron YHWH’s Brit came into the camp, all Yisrael shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded. 6When the Pelishtim heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Ivrim mean?” They understood that YHWH’s ark had come into the camp. 7The Pelishtim were afraid, for they said, “Elohim has come into the camp.” They said, “Woe to us! For there has not been such a thing before. 8Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Mitzrim with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9Be strong and behave like men, O you Pelishtim, that you not be servants to the Ivrim, as they have been to you. Strengthen yourselves like men, and fight!” 10The Pelishtim fought, and Yisrael was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter; for thirty thousand footmen of Yisrael fell. 11Elohim’s ark was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Chofni and Pinchas, were slain. 12A man of Binyamin ran out of the army and came to Shilo the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. 13When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for Elohim’s ark. When the man came into the city and told about it, all the city cried out. 14When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, “What does the noise of this tumult mean?” The man hurried, and came and told Eli. 15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old. His eyes were set, so that he could not see. 16The man said to Eli, “I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army.” He said, “How did the matter go, my son?” 17He who brought the news answered, “Yisrael has fled before the Pelishtim, and there has been also a great slaughter amongst the people. Your two sons also, Chofni and Pinchas, are dead, and Elohim’s ark has been captured.” 18When he made mention of Elohim’s ark, Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Yisrael forty years. 19His daughter-in-law, Pinchas’ wife, was with child, near to giving birth. When she heard the news that Elohim’s ark was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth; for her pains came on her. 20About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she didn’t answer, neither did she regard it. 21She named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Yisrael!” because Elohim’s ark was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22She said, “The glory has departed from Yisrael; for Elohim’s ark has been taken.”

Chapter 5

1Now the Pelishtim had taken Elohim’s ark, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2The Pelishtim took Elohim’s ark, and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. 3When the people of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before YHWH’s ark. They took Dagon and set him in his place again. 4When they arose early on the following morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before YHWH’s ark; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso was intact. 5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. 6But YHWH’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and struck them with tumours, even Ashdod and its borders. 7When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the Elohim of Yisrael shall not stay with us, for his hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.” 8They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Pelishtim, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Elohim of Yisrael?” They answered, “Let the ark of the Elohim of Yisrael be carried over to Gat.” They carried the ark of the Elohim of Yisrael there. 9It was so, that after they had carried it there, YHWH’s hand was against the city with a very great confusion; and he struck the men of the city, both small and great, so that tumours broke out on them. 10So they sent Elohim’s ark to Ekron. As Elohim’s ark came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the Elohim of Yisrael here to us, to kill us and our people.” 11They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Pelishtim, and they said, “Send the ark of the Elohim of Yisrael away, and let it go again to its own place, that it not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly panic throughout all the city. The hand of Elohim was very heavy there. 12The men who didn’t die were struck with the tumours; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Chapter 6

1YHWH’s ark was in the country of the Pelishtim seven months. 2The Pelishtim called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with YHWH’s ark? Show us how we should send it to its place.” 3They said, “If you send away the ark of the Elohim of Yisrael, don’t send it empty; but by all means return a trespass offering to him. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.” 4Then they said, “What should the trespass offering be which we shall return to him?” They said, “Five golden tumours and five golden mice, for the number of the lords of the Pelishtim; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. 5Therefore you shall make images of your tumours and images of your mice that mar the land; and you shall give glory to the Elohim of Yisrael. Perhaps he will release his hand from you, from your gods, and from your land. 6Why then do you harden your hearts as the Mitzrim and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had worked wonderfully amongst them, didn’t they let the people go, and they departed? 7“Now therefore take and prepare yourselves a new cart and two milk cows on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them; 8and take YHWH’s ark and lay it on the cart. Put the jewels of gold, which you return him for a trespass offering, in a box by its side; and send it away, that it may go. 9Behold, if it goes up by the way of its own border to Beit Shemesh, then he has done us this great evil; but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us. It was a chance that happened to us.” 10The men did so, and took two milk cows and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11They put YHWH’s ark on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumours. 12The cows took the straight way by the way to Beit Shemesh. They went along the highway, lowing as they went, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Pelishtim went after them to the border of Beit Shemesh. 13The people of Beit Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14The cart came into the field of Yehoshua of Beit Shemesh, and stood there, where there was a great stone. Then they split the wood of the cart and offered up the cows for a burnt offering to YHWH. 15The Levi'im took down YHWH’s ark and the box that was with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone; and the men of Beit Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to YHWH. 16When the five lords of the Pelishtim had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. 17These are the golden tumours which the Pelishtim returned for a trespass offering to YHWH: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gat one, for Ekron one; 18and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Pelishtim belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great stone on which they set down YHWH’s ark. That stone remains to this day in the field of Yehoshua of Beit Shemesh. 19He struck of the men of Beit Shemesh, because they had looked into YHWH’s ark, he struck fifty thousand and seventy of the men. Then the people mourned, because YHWH had struck the people with a great slaughter. 20The men of Beit Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before YHWH, this kodesh Elohim? To whom shall he go up from us?” 21They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiryat Ye'arim, saying, “The Pelishtim have brought back YHWH’s ark. Come down and bring it up to yourselves.”

Chapter 7

1The men of Kiryat Ye'arim came and took YHWH’s ark, and brought it into Avinadav’s house on the hill, and consecrated El'azar his son to keep YHWH’s ark. 2From the day that the ark stayed in Kiryat Ye'arim, the time was long—for it was twenty years; and all the house of Yisrael lamented after YHWH. 3Shmuel spoke to all the house of Yisrael, saying, “If you are returning to YHWH with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtarot from amongst you, and direct your hearts to YHWH, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Pelishtim.” 4Then the children of Yisrael removed the Baals and the Ashtarot, and served YHWH only. 5Shmuel said, “Gather all Yisrael to Mitzpah, and I will pray to YHWH for you.” 6They gathered together to Mitzpah, and drew water, and poured it out before YHWH, and fasted on that day, and said there, “We have sinned against YHWH.” Shmuel judged the children of Yisrael in Mitzpah. 7When the Pelishtim heard that the children of Yisrael were gathered together at Mitzpah, the lords of the Pelishtim went up against Yisrael. When the children of Yisrael heard it, they were afraid of the Pelishtim. 8The children of Yisrael said to Shmuel, “Don’t stop crying to YHWH our Elohim for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Pelishtim.” 9Shmuel took a suckling lamb, and offered it for a whole burnt offering to YHWH. Shmuel cried to YHWH for Yisrael, and YHWH answered him. 10As Shmuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Pelishtim came near to battle against Yisrael; but YHWH thundered with a great thunder on that day on the Pelishtim and confused them; and they were struck down before Yisrael. 11The men of Yisrael went out of Mitzpah and pursued the Pelishtim, and struck them until they came under Beit Kar. 12Then Shmuel took a stone and set it between Mitzpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “YHWH helped us until now.” 13So the Pelishtim were subdued, and they stopped coming within the border of Yisrael. YHWH’s hand was against the Pelishtim all the days of Shmuel. 14The cities which the Pelishtim had taken from Yisrael were restored to Yisrael, from Ekron even to Gat; and Yisrael recovered its border out of the hand of the Pelishtim. There was peace between Yisrael and the Emorim. 15Shmuel judged Yisrael all the days of his life. 16He went from year to year in a circuit to Beit El, Gilgal, and Mitzpah; and he judged Yisrael in all those places. 17His return was to Ramah, for his house was there, and he judged Yisrael there; and he built an altar to YHWH there.

Chapter 8

1When Shmuel was old, he made his sons judges over Yisrael. 2Now the name of his firstborn was Yoel, and the name of his second, Aviyah. They were judges in Be'er Sheva. 3His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned away after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. 4Then all the elders of Yisrael gathered themselves together and came to Shmuel to Ramah. 5They said to him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons don’t walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6But the thing displeased Shmuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Shmuel prayed to YHWH. 7YHWH said to Shmuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them. 8According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Mitzrayim even to this day, in that they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they also do to you. 9Now therefore, listen to their voice. However, you shall protest solemnly to them, and shall show them the way of the king who will reign over them.” 10Shmuel told all YHWH’s words to the people who asked him for a king. 11He said, “This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them as his servants, for his chariots and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots. 12He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest; and to make his instruments of war and the instruments of his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers, to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, even your best, and give them to his servants. 15He will take one tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16He will take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys, and assign them to his own work. 17He will take one tenth of your flocks; and you will be his servants. 18You will cry out in that day because of your king whom you will have chosen for yourselves; and YHWH will not answer you in that day.” 19But the people refused to listen to the voice of Shmuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, 20that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.” 21Shmuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of YHWH. 22YHWH said to Shmuel, “Listen to their voice, and make them a king.” Shmuel said to the men of Yisrael, “Everyone go to your own city.”

Chapter 9

1Now there was a man of Binyamin, whose name was Kish the son of Avi'el, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Binyamini, a mighty man of valour. 2He had a son whose name was Sha'ul, an impressive young man; and there was not amongst the children of Yisrael a more handsome person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people. 3The donkeys of Kish, Sha'ul’s father, were lost. Kish said to Sha'ul his son, “Now take one of the servants with you, and arise, go look for the donkeys.” 4He passed through the hill country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they didn’t find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they weren’t there. Then he passed through the land of the Binyaminim, but they didn’t find them. 5When they had come to the land of Zuph, Sha'ul said to his servant who was with him, “Come! Let’s return, lest my father stop caring about the donkeys and be anxious for us.” 6The servant said to him, “Behold now, there is a man of Elohim in this city, and he is a man who is held in honour. All that he says surely happens. Now let’s go there. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go.” 7Then Sha'ul said to his servant, “But behold, if we go, what should we bring the man? For the bread is spent in our sacks, and there is not a present to bring to the man of Elohim. What do we have?” 8The servant answered Sha'ul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of Elohim, to tell us our way.” 9(In earlier times in Yisrael, when a man went to enquire of Elohim, he said, “Come! Let’s go to the seer;” for he who is now called a prophet was before called a seer.) 10Then Sha'ul said to his servant, “Well said. Come! Let’s go.” So they went to the city where the man of Elohim was. 11As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer here?” 12They answered them and said, “He is. Behold, he is before you. Hurry now, for he has come today into the city; for the people have a sacrifice today in the high place. 13As soon as you have come into the city, you will immediately find him before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the sacrifice. Afterwards those who are invited eat. Now therefore go up; for at this time you will find him.” 14They went up to the city. As they came within the city, behold, Shmuel came out towards them to go up to the high place. 15Now YHWH had revealed to Shmuel a day before Sha'ul came, saying, 16“Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Binyamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Yisrael. He will save my people out of the hand of the Pelishtim; for I have looked upon my people, because their cry has come to me.” 17When Shmuel saw Sha'ul, YHWH said to him, “Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! He will have authority over my people.” 18Then Sha'ul approached Shmuel in the gateway, and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” 19Shmuel answered Sha'ul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you are to eat with me today. In the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. 20As for your donkeys who were lost three days ago, don’t set your mind on them, for they have been found. For whom does all Yisrael desire? Is it not you and all your father’s house?” 21Sha'ul answered, “Am I not a Binyamini, of the smallest of the tribes of Yisrael? And my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Binyamin? Why then do you speak to me like this?” 22Shmuel took Sha'ul and his servant and brought them into the guest room, and made them sit in the best place amongst those who were invited, who were about thirty persons. 23Shmuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion which I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Set it aside.’” 24The cook took up the thigh, and that which was on it, and set it before Sha'ul. Shmuel said, “Behold, that which has been reserved! Set it before yourself and eat; because it has been kept for you for the appointed time, for I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Sha'ul ate with Shmuel that day. 25When they had come down from the high place into the city, he talked with Sha'ul on the housetop. 26They arose early; and about daybreak, Shmuel called to Sha'ul on the housetop, saying, “Get up, that I may send you away.” Sha'ul arose, and they both went outside, he and Shmuel, together. 27As they were going down at the end of the city, Shmuel said to Sha'ul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us.” He went ahead, then Shmuel said, “But stand still first, that I may cause you to hear Elohim’s message.”

Chapter 10

1Then Shmuel took the vial of oil and poured it on his head, then kissed him and said, “Hasn’t YHWH anointed you to be prince over his inheritance? 2When you have departed from me today, then you will find two men by Rachel’s tomb, on the border of Binyamin at Zelzah. They will tell you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found; and behold, your father has stopped caring about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do for my son?”’ 3“Then you will go on forward from there, and you will come to the oak of Tavor. Three men will meet you there going up to Elohim to Beit El: one carrying three young goats, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a container of wine. 4They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hand. 5“After that you will come to the hill of Elohim, where the garrison of the Pelishtim is; and it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a lute, a tambourine, a pipe, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying. 6Then YHWH’s Ruach will come mightily on you, then you will prophesy with them and will be turned into another man. 7Let it be, when these signs have come to you, that you do what is appropriate for the occasion; for Elohim is with you. 8“Go down ahead of me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings. Wait seven days, until I come to you and show you what you are to do.” 9It was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Shmuel, Elohim gave him another heart; and all those signs happened that day. 10When they came there to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Ruach Elohim came mightily on him, and he prophesied amongst them. 11When all who knew him before saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said to one another, “What is this that has come to the son of Kish? Is Sha'ul also amongst the prophets?” 12One from the same place answered, “Who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Sha'ul also amongst the prophets?” 13When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. 14Sha'ul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” He said, “To seek the donkeys. When we saw that they were not found, we came to Shmuel.” 15Sha'ul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Shmuel said to you.” 16Sha'ul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys were found.” But concerning the matter of the kingdom, of which Shmuel spoke, he didn’t tell him. 17Shmuel called the people together to YHWH to Mitzpah; 18and he said to the children of Yisrael, “YHWH, the Elohim of Yisrael, says ‘I brought Yisrael up out of Mitzrayim and I delivered you out of the hand of the Mitzrim, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ 19But you have today rejected your Elohim, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, ‘No! Set a king over us!’ Now therefore present yourselves before YHWH by your tribes and by your thousands.” 20So Shmuel brought all the tribes of Yisrael near, and the tribe of Binyamin was chosen. 21He brought the tribe of Binyamin near by their families and the family of the Matrites was chosen. Then Sha'ul the son of Kish was chosen; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22Therefore they asked of YHWH further, “Is there yet a man to come here?” YHWH answered, “Behold, he has hidden himself amongst the baggage.” 23They ran and got him there. When he stood amongst the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 24Shmuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom YHWH has chosen, that there is no one like him amongst all the people?” All the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!” 25Then Shmuel told the people the regulations of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book and laid it up before YHWH. Shmuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 26Sha'ul also went to his house in Giv'ah; and the army went with him, whose hearts Elohim had touched. 27But certain worthless fellows said, “How could this man save us?” They despised him, and brought him no tribute. But he held his peace.

Chapter 11

1Then Nachash the Amoni came up and encamped against Yavesh Gilead; and all the men of Yavesh said to Nachash, “Make a Brit with us, and we will serve you.” 2Nachash the Amoni said to them, “On this condition I will make it with you, that all your right eyes be gouged out. I will make this dishonour all Yisrael.” 3The elders of Yavesh said to him, “Give us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Yisrael; and then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.” 4Then the messengers came to Giv'ah of Sha'ul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people, then all the people lifted up their voice and wept. 5Behold, Sha'ul came following the oxen out of the field; and Sha'ul said, “What ails the people that they weep?” They told him the words of the men of Yavesh. 6Elohim’s Ruach came mightily on Sha'ul when he heard those words, and his anger burnt hot. 7He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, then sent them throughout all the borders of Yisrael by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever doesn’t come out after Sha'ul and after Shmuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” The dread of YHWH fell on the people, and they came out as one man. 8He counted them in Bezek; and the children of Yisrael were three hundred thousand, and the men of Yehudah thirty thousand. 9They said to the messengers who came, “Tell the men of Yavesh Gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be rescued.’” The messengers came and told the men of Yavesh; and they were glad. 10Therefore the men of Yavesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you shall do with us all that seems good to you.” 11On the next day, Sha'ul put the people in three companies; and they came into the middle of the camp in the morning watch, and struck the Amonim until the heat of the day. Those who remained were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. 12The people said to Shmuel, “Who is he who said, ‘Shall Sha'ul reign over us?’ Bring those men, that we may put them to death!” 13Sha'ul said, “No man shall be put to death today; for today YHWH has rescued Yisrael.” 14Then Shmuel said to the people, “Come! Let’s go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.” 15All the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Sha'ul king before YHWH in Gilgal. There they offered sacrifices of peace offerings before YHWH; and there Sha'ul and all the men of Yisrael rejoiced greatly.

Chapter 12

1Shmuel said to all Yisrael, “Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. 2Now, behold, the king walks before you. I am old and grey-headed. Behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth to this day. 3Here I am. Witness against me before YHWH and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a bribe to make me blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.” 4They said, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from anyone’s hand.” 5He said to them, “YHWH is witness against you, and his anointed is witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” They said, “He is witness.” 6Shmuel said to the people, “It is YHWH who appointed Moshe and Aharon, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Mitzrayim. 7Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before YHWH concerning all the righteous acts of YHWH, which he did to you and to your fathers. 8“When Yaakov had come into Mitzrayim, and your fathers cried to YHWH, then YHWH sent Moshe and Aharon, who brought your fathers out of Mitzrayim, and made them to dwell in this place. 9But they forgot YHWH their Elohim; and he sold them into the hand of Sisra, captain of the army of Chatzor, and into the hand of the Pelishtim, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. 10They cried to YHWH, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken YHWH and have served the Baals and the Ashtarot; but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ 11YHWH sent Yeruba'al, Bedan, Yiftach, and Shmuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety. 12“When you saw that Nachash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when YHWH your Elohim was your king. 13Now therefore see the king whom you have chosen and whom you have asked for. Behold, YHWH has set a king over you. 14If you will fear YHWH, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not rebel against the mitzvah of YHWH, then both you and also the king who reigns over you are followers of YHWH your Elohim. 15But if you will not listen to YHWH’s voice, but rebel against the mitzvah of YHWH, then YHWH’s hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers. 16“Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which YHWH will do before your eyes. 17Isn’t it wheat harvest today? I will call to YHWH, that he may send thunder and rain; and you will know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in YHWH’s sight, in asking for a king.” 18So Shmuel called to YHWH, and YHWH sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared YHWH and Shmuel. 19All the people said to Shmuel, “Pray for your servants to YHWH your Elohim, that we not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for a king.” 20Shmuel said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil; yet don’t turn away from following YHWH, but serve YHWH with all your heart. 21Don’t turn away to go after vain things which can’t profit or deliver, for they are vain. 22For YHWH will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased YHWH to make you a people for himself. 23Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against YHWH in ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24Only fear YHWH, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you. 25But if you keep doing evil, you will be consumed, both you and your king.”