Monthly Offerings
11At the beginnings of your months you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 12also three-tenths of an ephah of choice flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull; and two-tenths of choice flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; 13and one-tenth of choice flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for every lamb—a burnt offering of pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD. 14Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, one-third of a hin for a ram, and one-fourth of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year. 15And there shall be one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.
Offerings at Passover
16On the fourteenth day of the first month there shall be a passover offering to the LORD. 17And on the fifteenth day of this month is a festival; seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. 18On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not work at your occupations. 19You shall offer an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish. 20Their grain offering shall be of choice flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah shall you offer for a bull, and two-tenths for a ram; 21one-tenth shall you offer for each of the seven lambs; 22also 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 belongs to the regular burnt offering. 24In the same way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD; it shall be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. 25And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.
Offerings at the Festival of Weeks
26On the day of the first fruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to the LORD at your festival of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. 27You shall offer a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old. 28Their grain offering shall be of choice flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for one ram, 29one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; 30with one male goat, to make atonement for you. 31In addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, you shall offer them and their drink offering. They shall be without blemish.
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a Heb between the two evenings
b Heb between the two evenings
28.1–29.40 Offerings are described for a number of occasions. Lev 23 has a similar cultic calendar; cf. also Ex 23.14–17; 34.18–24; Deut 16.1–17; Ezek 45.17–46.15.
28.2 Offerings by fire, my pleasing odor. See 15.3.
28.3–8 Cf. Ex 29.38–42.
28.11 Beginnings of your months. See 10.10; 1 Sam 20.5, 24; 2 Kings 4.23; Isa 1.14; Hos 2.11; Am 8.5.
28.16 On the passover, see 9.1–14; Ex 12.1–27. No offerings are described here; the celebration is described elsewhere and assumed here.
28.17–25 The festival of unleavened bread (Ex 13.3–10), originally a separate festival, is combined with the Passover.
28.26 Fifty days after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, at the beginning of the wheat harvest (June), is the festival of weeks, Shavuoth (Lev 23.15–21), or the “festival of harvest” (Ex 23.16).
NUMBERS 29
Offerings at the Festival of Trumpets
1On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, 2and you shall offer a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish. 3Their grain offering shall be of choice flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of one ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 4and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; 5with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. 6These are in addition to the burnt offering of the new moon and its grain offering, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to the ordinance for them, a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.
Offerings on the Day of Atonement
7On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation, and deny yourselves;a you shall do no work. 8You shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing odor: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old. They shall be without blemish. 9Their grain offering shall be of choice flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 10one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; 11with one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering of atonement, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.
Offerings at the Festival of Booths
12On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. You shall celebrate a festival to the LORD seven days. 13You shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD: thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old. They shall be without blemish. 14Their grain offering shall be of choice flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams, 15and one-tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; 16also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.
17On the second day: twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 18with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; 19also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.
20On the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 21with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; 22also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.
23On the fourth day: ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 24with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; 25also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.
26On the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 27with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; 28also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.
29On the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 30with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; 31also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings.
32On the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 33with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; 34also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.
35On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations. 36You shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish, 37and the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance
with their number; 38also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.
39These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed festivals, in addition to your votive offerings and your freewill offerings, as your burnt offerings, your grain offerings, your drink offerings, and your offerings of well-being.
40b So Moses told the Israelites everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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a Or and fast
b Ch 30.1 in Heb
29.1 The first day of the seventh month is traditionally New Year’s Day (Rosh Hashanah; see Ex 23.16; 34.22 for the end of the year); many commentators have argued that Israel once had an “agricultural year” calendar in which the first month came in the autumn, following the harvest thanksgiving festival (see v. 12). To blow the trumpets. See 10.1–10.
29.6 See 28.2.
29.7–11 The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur; see Lev 16.29–34; 23.26–32.
29.12–34 The Festival of Booths, Sukkoth (Lev 23.33–36; Deut 16.13–15), or Festival of Ingathering (Ex 23.16; 34.22), is the harvest thanksgiving festival.
29.35–38 Although the Feast of Booths is a grand seven-day festival (see v. 12), these regulations add an eighth day, with far fewer offerings.
NUMBERS 30
Vows Made by Women
1Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the Israelites: This is what the LORD has commanded. 2When a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
3When a woman makes a vow to the LORD, or binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house, in her youth, 4and her father hears of her vow or her pledge by which she has bound herself, and says nothing to her; then all her vows shall stand, and any pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5But if her father expresses disapproval to her at the time that he hears of it, no vow of hers, and no pledge by which she has bound herself, shall stand; and the LORD will forgive her, because her father had expressed to her his disapproval.
6If she marries, while obligated by her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her at the time that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. 8But if, at the time that her husband hears of it, he expresses disapproval to her, then he shall nullify the vow by which she was obligated, or the thoughtless utterance of her lips, by which she bound herself; and the LORD will forgive her. 9(But every vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall be binding upon her.) 10And if she made a vow in her husband’s house, or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, 11and her husband heard it and said nothing to her, and did not express disapproval to her, then all her vows shall stand, and any pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. 12But if her husband nullifies them at the time that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning her pledge of herself, shall not stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will forgive her. 13Any vow or any binding oath to deny herself,a her husband may allow to stand, or her husband may nullify. 14But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day,b then he validates all her vows, or all her pledges, by which she is obligated; he has validated them, because he said nothing to her at the time that he heard of them. 15But if he nullifies them some time after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her guilt.
16These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning a husband and his wife, and a father and his daughter while she is still young and in her father’s house.
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a Or to fast
b Or from that day to the next
30.1–16 Ch. 30 focuses on vows made by women and the limits that husbands and fathers may place on those vows (note the mention of vows in 29.39).
30.3–5 Vows made while a woman is under her father’s authority.
30.4–5 The father must speak up as soon as he hears of his daughter’s vow, if he disapproves. The LORD will forgive her, i.e., will not punish her or require atonement from her for breaking her vow.
30.6–8 A woman under a vow at the time of her marriage, one that, presumably, her father did not annul. Thoughtless, better “impulsive” or “rash” cf. the same root in Lev 5.4; Ps 106.33.
30.7–8 See 30.4–5.
30.9 A widow or divorced woman is presumably not under any man’s authority.
30.10–15 Vows made while under a husband’s authority.
30.11–12 See 30.4–5.
30.13 A specific instance, in which a woman vows to deny herself, or to fast (see text note a; cf. the same phrase in 29.7).
30.14–15 He shall bear her guilt. See 30.4–5. The husband may change his mind at a later date and keep her from carrying out her vow, but the Lord will hold him responsible, not her (see Deut 23.21–23).
NUMBERS 31
War against Midian
1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Avenge the Israelites on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your number for the war, so that they may go against Midian, to execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian. 4You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.”5So out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe were conscripted, twelve thousand armed for battle. 6Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest,a with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the alarm in his hand. 7They did battle against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8They killed the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian, in addition to others who were slain by them; and they also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. 9The Israelites took the women of Midian and their little ones captive; and they took all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods as booty. 10All their towns where they had settled, and all their encampments, they burned, 11but they took all the spoil and all the booty, both people and animals. 12Then they brought the captives and the booty and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the Israelites, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
Return from the War
13Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14Moses became angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live? 16These women here, on Balaam’s advice, made the Israelites act treacherously against the LORD in the affair of Peor, so that the plague came among the congregation of the LORD. 17Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man by sleeping with him. 18But all the young girls who have not known a man by sleeping with him, keep alive for yourselves. 19Camp outside the camp seven days; whoever of you has killed any person or touched a corpse, purify yourselves and your captives on the third and on the seventh day. 20You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, everything made of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”
21Eleazar the priest said to the troops who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded Moses: 22gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—23everything that can withstand fire, shall be passed through fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water for purification; and whatever cannot withstand fire, shall be passed through the water. 24You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; afterward you may come into the camp.”
Disposition of Captives and Booty
25The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 26“You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the ancestral hou
ses of the congregation make an inventory of the booty captured, both human and animal. 27Divide the booty into two parts, between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28From the share of the warriors who went out to battle, set aside as tribute for the LORD, one item out of every five hundred, whether persons, oxen, donkeys, sheep, or goats. 29Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD. 30But from the Israelites’ half you shall take one out of every fifty, whether persons, oxen, donkeys, sheep, or goats—all the animals—and give them to the Levites who have charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”
31Then Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses:
32The booty remaining from the spoil that the troops had taken totaled six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep, 33seventy-two thousand oxen, 34sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35and thirty-two thousand persons in all, women who had not known a man by sleeping with him.
36The half-share, the portion of those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep and goats, 37and the LORD’s tribute of sheep and goats was six hundred seventy-five. 38The oxen were thirty-six thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was seventy-two. 39The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the LORD’s tribute was sixty-one. 40The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 41Moses gave the tribute, the offering for the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
42As for the Israelites’ half, which Moses separated from that of the troops, 43the congregation’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep and goats, 44thirty-six thousand oxen, 45thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46and sixteen thousand persons. 47From the Israelites’ half Moses took one of every fifty, both of persons and of animals, and gave them to the Levites who had charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
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