The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  20Then the LORD said to Aaron: “You shall have jno inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; kI am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

  Tithes for Support of the Levites

  21“Behold, lI have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as 9an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, mthe work of the tabernacle of meeting.

  22n“Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, olest they bear sin and die.

  23“But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

  24“For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites 10as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’ ”

  The Tithe of the Levites

  25Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

  26“Speak thus to the Levites, and say to them: ‘When you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the LORD, pa tenth of the tithe.

  27‘And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the qthreshing floor and as the fullness of the winepress.

  28‘Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to the LORD from all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel, and you shall give the LORD’s heave offering from it to Aaron the priest.

  29‘Of all your gifts you shall offer up every heave offering due to the LORD, from all the 11best of them, the consecrated part of them.’

  30“Therefore you shall say to them: ‘When you have lifted up the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and as the produce of the winepress.

  31‘You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is ryour 12reward for your work in the tabernacle of meeting.

  32‘And you shall sbear no sin because of it, when you have lifted up the best of it. But you shall not tprofane the holy gifts of the children of Israel, lest you die.’ ”

  Numbers 19

  Laws of Purification

  1Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

  2“This is the 1ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without 2blemish, in which there is no adefect band on which a yoke has never come.

  3‘You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it coutside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him;

  4‘and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and dsprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting.

  5‘Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: eits hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned.

  6‘And the priest shall take fcedar wood and ghyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.

  7h‘Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be unclean until evening.

  8‘And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening.

  9‘Then a man who is clean shall gather up ithe ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel jfor the water of 3purification; it is for purifying from sin.

  10‘And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them.

  11k‘He who touches the dead 4body of anyone shall be unclean seven days.

  12l‘He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.

  13‘Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and mdoes not purify himself, ndefiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because othe water of purification was not sprinkled on him; phis uncleanness is still on him.

  14‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days;

  15‘and every qopen vessel, which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean.

  16r‘Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

  17‘And for an unclean person they shall take some of the sashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and 5running water shall be put on them in a vessel.

  18‘A clean person shall take thyssop and dip it in the water, sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, the slain, the dead, or a grave.

  19‘The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; uand on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and at evening he shall be clean.

  20‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has vdefiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

  21‘It shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water of purification shall be unclean until evening.

  22w‘Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and xthe person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.’ ”

  Numbers 20

  Moses’ Error at Kadesh

  (Ex. 17:1–7)

  1Thena the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in bKadesh; and cMiriam died there and was buried there.

  2dNow there was no water for the congregation; eso they gathered together against Moses and Aaron.

  3And the people fcontended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died gwhen our brethren died before the LORD!

  4h“Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here?

  5“And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.”

  6So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and ithey 1fell on their faces. And jthe glory of the LORD appeared to them.

  7Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

  8k“Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus lyou shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.”

  9So Moses took the rod mfrom before the LORD as He commanded him.

  10And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, n“Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”

  11Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; oand water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

  12Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because pyou did not believe Me, to qhallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

  13rThis was the water of 2Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them.

  Passage Through Edom Refused

  14sN
ow Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of tEdom. u“Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

  15v‘how our fathers went down to Egypt, wand we dwelt in Egypt a long time, xand the Egyptians 3afflicted us and our fathers.

  16y‘When we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and zsent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border.

  17‘Please alet us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King’s Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’ ”

  18Then bEdom said to him, “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword.”

  19So the children of Israel said to him, “We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, cthen I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.”

  20Then he said, d“You shall not pass through.” So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand.

  21Thus Edom erefused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel fturned away from him.

  Death of Aaron

  22Now the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from gKadesh hand came to Mount Hor.

  23And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying:

  24“Aaron shall 4be igathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah.

  25j“Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor;

  26“and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there.”

  27So Moses did just as the LORD commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

  28kMoses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; and lAaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

  29Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron mthirty days.

  Numbers 21

  Canaanites Defeated at Hormah

  1The aking of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Atharim. Then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners.

  2bSo Israel made a vow to the LORD, and said, “If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then cI will utterly destroy their cities.”

  3And the LORD listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called 1Hormah.

  The Bronze Serpent

  4Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to dgo around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very 2discouraged on the way.

  5And the people espoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul 3loathes this worthless bread.”

  6So fthe LORD sent gfiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

  7hTherefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have isinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; jpray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

  8Then the LORD said to Moses, k“Make a lfiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”

  9So mMoses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

  From Mount Hor to Moab

  10Now the children of Israel moved on and ncamped in Oboth.

  11And they journeyed from Oboth and camped at 4Ije Abarim, in the wilderness which is east of Moab, toward the sunrise.

  12oFrom there they moved and camped in the Valley of Zered.

  13From there they moved and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites; for pthe Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

  14Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD:

  5“Waheb in Suphah,

  The brooks of the Arnon,

  15And the slope of the brooks

  That reaches to the dwelling of qAr,

  And lies on the border of Moab.”

  16From there they went rto Beer, which is the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”

  17sThen Israel sang this song:

  “Spring up, O well!

  All of you sing to it—

  18The well the leaders sank,

  Dug by the nation’s nobles,

  By the tlawgiver, with their staves.”

  And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah,

  19from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

  20and from Bamoth, in the valley that is in the 6country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks udown on the 7wasteland.

  King Sihon Defeated

  (Deut. 2:26–37)

  21Then vIsrael sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

  22w“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”

  23xBut Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together and 8went out against Israel in the wilderness, yand he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.

  24Then zIsrael defeated him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the people of Ammon; for the border of the people of Ammon was fortified.

  25So Israel took all these cities, and Israel adwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages.

  26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon.

  27Therefore those who speak in 9proverbs say:

  “Come to Heshbon, let it be built;

  Let the city of Sihon be repaired.

  28“For bfire went out from Heshbon,

  A flame from the city of Sihon;

  It consumed cAr of Moab,

  The lords of the dheights of the Arnon.

  29Woe to you, eMoab!

  You have perished, O people of fChemosh!

  He has given his gsons as fugitives,

  And his hdaughters into captivity,

  To Sihon king of the Amorites.

  30“But we have shot at them;

  Heshbon has perished ias far as Dibon.

  Then we laid waste as far as Nophah,

  Which reaches to jMedeba.”

  31Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

  32Then Moses sent to 10spy out kJazer; and they took its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.

  King Og Defeated

  (Deut. 3:1–22)

  33lAnd they turned and went up by the way to mBashan. So Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle nat Edrei.

  34Then the LORD said to Moses, o“Do not fear him, for I have 11delivered him into your hand, with all his people and his land; and pyou shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.”

  35qSo they defeated him, his sons, and all his people, until there was no survivor left him; and they took possession of his land.

  Numbers 22

  Balak Sends for Balaam

  1Then athe children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across
from Jericho.

  2Now bBalak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

  3And cMoab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel.

  4So Moab said to dthe elders of Midian, “Now this company will 1lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.

  5Then ehe sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at fPethor, which is near 2the River in the land of 3the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me!

  6g“Therefore please come at once, hcurse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

  7So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with ithe diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak.

  8And he said to them, j“Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

  9kThen God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”

  10So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying,

  11‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’ ”

  12And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for lthey are blessed.”

  13So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to give me permission to go with you.”

  14And the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

  15Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more 4honorable than they.