- The Lord commands that a census of the Israelites be taken. From the 12 tribes, excluding the Levites, a total of 603,550 men older than 20 available for an army are counted. The Levites are responsible for the maintenance of the Tabernacle of the Covenant Law. #Nm1
- The physical arrangements of the different tribes are prescribed. The tribes are grouped into four main camps (Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, Dan), each having their own standards. The Levites are situated in the middle of the encampment, separate from the four camps. #Nm2
- The Levites are assigned the duties of the tabernacle and tent of meetings. The various clans of the Levites, their numbers, and how they are situated around the tabernacle are detailed. The Lord takes the Levites in place of the first-born sons of Israelites. #Nm3
- Thirty to 50 year old men of the various Levite clans are assigned different tasks. Men of the Kohathite clan move the most holy things. Men of the Gershonite clan move the curtains & tent of the tabernacle. Men of the Merarite clan move the frame. Their numbers are tallied. #Nm4
- Persons with skin diseases are to be expelled from the camp. Restitution involves the original amount plus one fifth, plus offerings to the priest. A test for an unfaithful wife involves drinking bitter water, which will cause her misery and to miscarry if she is guilty. #Nm5
- To be a Nazirite, viz., one who has consecrated vows to the Lord: refrain from fermented drinks & grapes; do not cut hair; avoid going near a corpse. Specified offerings are made when the period given in the vow ends. A priestly blessing for the Israelites is given. #Nm6
- After the tabernacle is anointed & consecrated, the tribes’ leaders give 12 oxen & 6 carts as gifts, which go to the Gershonites & Merarites (not the Kohathites). Listed altar offerings by 11 non-priestly tribes of Israel include silver, gold, livestock, flour, & olive oil. #Nm7
- A lampstand of gold is made according to the pattern given to Moses by the Lord. The Levites are set apart as the first-born sons in Israel. When ceremonially clean, they are given the duties of animal sacrifice & offerings. Tabernacle work is done by Levites aged 25-50. #Nm8
- The Israelites are commanded by the Lord to celebrate Passover. Those unclean, e.g., by touching a dead body, can observe Passover at a later date. They are to eat lamb together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The Lord inhabits a fiery cloud over the tabernacle. #Nm9
- The Lord has Moses make 2 silver trumpets & gives directions for trumpet calls, & for moving the camps & holy things. The Israelites move from Mt. Sanai to Paran after 2 years in the desert, and Moses convinces his brother-in-law Hobab, son of Raguel the Midianite, to stay. #Nm10
- The mixed multitude fell a lusting for food & complained to Moses how better it was in Egypt. A jealous God promises Israel that ye shall eat flesh not 1 day but even a whole month until it comes out of your nostrils. Wind brings quail 2 cubits high & the Lord sends plague. #Nm11
- Aaron & Miriam speak ill of Moses’s wife. The Lord finds out: I speak to prophets in dreams; with Moses I speak face to face, clearly & not in riddles.The Lord afflicts Miriam with a skin disease. They beg forgiveness. To be cured, Miriam is confined outside camp 7 days. #Nm12
- From the wilderness of Paran, the Lord tells Moses to send 1 man from each tribe to survey Canaan. After 40 days, Caleb reports that the land surely flows with milk & honey, but the people are stronger than we. Some are giants, & we were like grasshoppers. #Nm13
- The Israelites grumble about their desert hardships & fears of the people of Canaan, & how it was better in Egypt. The Lord threatens to destroy them, but Moses reasons with him. The Lord curses them: no men over 20 but Caleb & Joshua son of Nun shall see the promised land. #Nm14
- Offerings to the Lord, whether special vows or freewill or festival offerings, are prescribed, including those for unintentional sin. A defiant sinner is to be cut off from the people. A man who breaks the Sabbath by gathering firewood is stoned. I am the Lord your God. #Nm15
- Korah, a Levite, & Reubenites Datham & Abiram rise up with 250 Israelites against Moses & Aaron. Moses asks them to bring censers to a meeting with the Lord. The rebels’ families are destroyed. The 250 are burnt to death & their censers made into an altar. A plague is sent. #Nm16
- To stop the grumbling of the Israelites, the Lord has Moses gather a staff from each tribe, saying that the tribe of the staff that sprouts is chosen by the Lord. Aaron’s staff becomes budded, blossomed, produces almonds, and is put near the ark as a sign to the rebellious. #Nm17
- The Lord puts the Levites in charge of the tent of the meeting, with Aaron’s sons as priests. The Levites manage the offerings & take their perpetual share. Firstborns may be redeemed at the specified redemption price unless it is a cow, sheep, or goat; they are holy. #Nm18
- The water of cleansing is made from the ashes of a red heifer without defect or blemish that has never been under a yoke. It is used to purify one made unclean after, e.g., touching a corpse or entering a tent with a corpse. #Nm19
- Miriam dies in the Desert of Zin & the Israelites complain about their hardships: it is no place of seed, figs, vines, or pomegranates. They are thirsty. Moses uses his staff to make water. The Israelites are not allowed to go through Edom. Aaron is gathered at Mt. Hor. #Nm20
- The Lord has Israel destroy the Canaanites under King Arad. The Israelites march around Edom and complain: our soul loathes this light bread. The Lord kills many from snakebite. The Israelites are refused passage through Amor, so they kill the king & take his land. #Nm21
- Balak, son of the Moab king, fears the Israelites & asks Balaam, a diviner from Ammon, to join & fight them. The Lord tells Balaam that the Israelites are blessed, so Balaam refuses to join. He is summoned by Balak, beats his donkey to get there, & counters Balak’s offer. #Nm22
- Still hoping to have Balaam’s help by cursing the Israelites, Balak takes Balaam to the mountains to observe them. Three times they build 7 altars and sacrifice a bull & a ram. The first 2 times, the Lord has Balaam tell Balak that Israel is blessed. What hath God wrought? #Nm23
- Balaam warns a 3rd time of the greatness of Israel and how it will conquer nations. May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed. Angered, Balak tells Balaam to leave. Unbidden, Balaam foretells the destruction of Moab, Edom, Amalek, & the Kenites. #Nm24
- Israelites commit whoredom with women of Moab & worship the local deity, Baal of Peor. This enrages the Lord. One of them brings a Midianite woman to the tabernacle. A descendent of Aaron slays them, which zeal causes the Lord to halt the plague that kills 24000 Israelites. #Nm25
- On the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho, a second census of men above 20 years of age is taken. The total for the 12 tribes and the clans within each of the tribes is 601,730. None except Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua are in the original census. #Nm26
- The Lord spells out rules for inheritance—son, daughter, brothers, father’s brothers, & nearest relative, in that order. The Lord tells Moses that he will be gathered after going to the top of Mt. Abarim (Mt. Nebo) & seeing the promised land. Joshua is to be his successor. #Nm27
- The Lord gives Moses instructions for preparing food, Sabbath, monthly & sin offerings, Passover, & the Festival of Weeks. Most involve sacrifice of animals without defect, grain, oil & drink offerings. The burnt offering has a pleasing aroma, a sweet savor unto the Lord. #Nm28
- The Lord gives Moses instructions for observing the Festival of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the seven day Festival of Tabernacles. These involve sacrifice of bulls, rams, lambs and goats, in addition to grain, sin and drink offerings. #Nm29
- Regulations on vows, pledges, & oaths are given. Men who make them are bound, but young women living in their father’s household & wives are released from them if the father or husband objects upon learning of them. If the men hold their peace, the women remain bound. #Nm30
- The Israelites make war on the Midianites. They slay 5 kings, Balaam, and all boys and men, and women not virgins. They burn the towns. An accounting of the distribution of the plunder to the warriors & tribes of Israel is given, as well as purification rites & offerings. #Nm31
- Reuben & Gad wish to possess Gilead, east of the Jordan River, as it is good for raising livestock. Moses tells them, Shall your brethren go to war & you shall sit there? They agree to cross over to fight after fortifying their lands, are given Gilead, & build cities there. #Nm32
- Moses gives a detailed record of the travels of the Israelites from Rameses, on the day after Passover, to the plains of Moab, across from Jericho. The Lord commands the Israelites to drive out the Canaanites, destroy all idols, and distribute the plunder and land. #Nm33
- The boundaries of Canaan are prescribed. They run from the Wilderness of Zin to the South, the Mediterranean to the East, & the Dead Sea to the West. The lands are given to 9 tribes & some to Manasseh, as Manasseh, Reuben & Gad were already given land east of the Jordan. #Nm34
- The Lord commands the Levites be given 48 cities with pastureland in Canaan. Six cities are to be a refuge for sojourners or one who has killed another. If intentional & with 2 or more witnesses, the slayer is to be put to death. If accidental, the congregation shall judge. #Nm35
- The question arises concerning inheritance of land when daughters of the Gilead clan of the Manasseh (Joseph’s son) tribe marry outside the tribe. Moses says there can be no transfer of lands between tribes. Women must marry within their tribe to keep their inheritance. #Nm36