ChukatStatute

1Reading 1 Numbers 19:1–17Chapter page with footnotes →

The Red Heifer

^19:1And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: ²This is the statute of the Torah which the LORD commanded, saying: Speak to the sons of Israel, that they take to you a red heifer, perfect, in which there is no blemish, upon which no yoke has come up. ³And you shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her out to outside the camp, and he shall slaughter her before his face.

⁴And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood toward the front of the tent of appointed time (mo-ed) seven times. ⁵And he shall burn the heifer before his eyes; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, he shall burn. ⁶And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

⁷And the priest shall wash his garments, and bathe his flesh in the water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean before(ad עד) the evening. ⁸And he that burns her shall wash his garments in the water, and bathe his flesh in the water, and shall be unclean before(ad עד) the evening.

⁹And a clean man shall gather the ashes of the heifer, and lay them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be for the congregation of the sons of Israel for a charge, for water of impurity; it is a sin offering. ¹⁰And he that gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his garments, and be unclean before(ad עד) the evening; and it shall be to the sons of Israel, and to the sojourner that sojourns among them, for an everlasting statute.

Purification of the Unclean

¹¹He that touches the dead, even any soul of a man, shall be unclean seven days. ¹²He shall purify himself with it on the third day and on the seventh day, and he shall be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he shall not be clean. ¹³Everyone that touches the dead, the soul of the man that dies, and does not purify himself, has defiled the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of impurity was not dashed upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

¹⁴This is the Torah: when a man dies in a tent, everyone that comes into the tent, and everything that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. ¹⁵And every open vessel, which has no covering bound upon it, it is unclean.

¹⁶And everyone that touches, upon the face of the field, one slain with a sword, or a dead one, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

¹⁷And for the unclean they shall take of the dust of the burning of the sin offering, and he shall put upon it living water in a vessel.

2Reading 2 Numbers 19:18–20:6Chapter page with footnotes →

^19:18And a clean man shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the souls that were there, and upon him that touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave.

¹⁹And the clean shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him; and he shall wash his garments, and bathe in the water, and shall be clean at evening. ²⁰And the man that is unclean and does not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; the water of impurity has not been dashed upon him; he is unclean.

²¹And it shall be for them an everlasting statute. And he that sprinkles the water of impurity shall wash his garments; and he that touches the water of impurity shall be unclean before(ad עד) the evening. ²²And everything that the unclean touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean before(ad עד) the evening.

Water from the Rock

^20:1And the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people dwelt in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

²And there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves against Moses and against Aaron. ³And the people strove with Moses, and spoke, saying: Would that we had expired when our brothers expired before the LORD! ⁴And why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, to die there, we and our cattle? ⁵And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is no place of seed, or fig, or vine, or pomegranate; and there is no water to drink.

⁶And Moses and Aaron came from before the assembly to the entrance of the tent of appointed time (mo-ed), and fell upon their faces; and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

3Reading 3 Numbers 20:7–13Chapter page with footnotes →

^20:7And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ⁸Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it give its water; and you shall bring forth for them water out of the rock, and give the congregation and their cattle drink.

⁹And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. ¹⁰And Moses and Aaron assembled the assembly before the rock, and he said to them: Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth for you water out of this rock? ¹¹And Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice; and much water came forth, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

¹²And the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron: Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.

¹³These are the waters of Meribah, where the sons of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

4Reading 4 Numbers 20:14–21Chapter page with footnotes →

Edom Refuses Passage

^20:14And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that has found us; ¹⁵how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt many days; and the Egyptians dealt evil with us and with our fathers; ¹⁶and we cried to the LORD, and he heard our voice, and sent a messenger, and brought us forth out of Egypt; and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city at the edge of your border. ¹⁷Let us pass, please, through your land; we will not pass through field or through vineyard, and we will not drink water of a well; we will go by the king's way, we will not turn aside to the right or to the left, until we have passed your border.

¹⁸And Edom said to him: You shall not pass through me, lest I come out against you with the sword.

¹⁹And the sons of Israel said to him: We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will give its price; only there is nothing, on my feet let me pass through.

²⁰And he said: You shall not pass through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. ²¹And Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; and Israel turned away from him.

5Reading 5 Numbers 20:22–21:9Chapter page with footnotes →

The Death of Aaron

^20:22And they journeyed from Kadesh; and the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to mount Hor. ²³And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron in mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying: ²⁴Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not come into the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against my mouth at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to mount Hor. ²⁶And strip Aaron of his garments, and clothe Eleazar his son with them; and Aaron shall be gathered, and shall die there.

²⁷And Moses did as the LORD commanded; and they went up to mount Hor in the eyes of all the congregation. ²⁸And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and clothed Eleazar his son with them; and Aaron died there on the top of the mount; and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. ²⁹And all the congregation saw that Aaron had expired, and they wept for Aaron thirty days, all the house of Israel.

The Defeat of Arad

^21:1And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negev, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took captive of them a captive. ²And Israel vowed a vow to the LORD, and said: If you indeed give this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

³And the LORD heard the voice of Israel, and gave up the Canaanite; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities; and he called the name of the place Hormah.

The Bronze Serpent

⁴And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Sea of Reeds, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became short on the way. ⁵And the people spoke against God and against Moses: Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this worthless bread.

⁶And the LORD sent among the people the serpents, the fiery ones, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died.

⁷And the people came to Moses, and said: We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away from us the serpent. And Moses prayed for the people.

⁸And the LORD said to Moses: Make for yourself a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall be that everyone that is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. ⁹And Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it upon the pole; and it was, if the serpent had bitten any man, and he looked to the serpent of bronze, he lived.

6Reading 6 Numbers 21:10–20Chapter page with footnotes →

The Journey to Moab

^21:10And the sons of Israel journeyed, and camped in Oboth. ¹¹And they journeyed from Oboth, and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the rising of the sun. ¹²From there they journeyed, and camped in the valley of Zered. ¹³From there they journeyed, and camped beyond the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of the LORD: Vaheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,

¹⁵and the slope of the valleys that inclines toward the dwelling of Ar, and leans upon the border of Moab.

¹⁶And from there to Beer; that is the well of which the LORD said to Moses: Gather the people, and I will give them water. ¹⁷Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well; sing to it!

¹⁸The well which princes dug, which the nobles of the people delved, with the scepter, with their staves. And from the wilderness to Mattanah; ¹⁹and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; ²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, by the top of Pisgah, which looks down upon the face of the wasteland.

7Reading 7 Numbers 21:21–22:1Chapter page with footnotes →

The Defeat of Sihon

^21:21And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying: ²²Let me pass through your land; we will not turn aside into field or into vineyard; we will not drink water of a well; we will go by the king's way, until we have passed your border.

²³And Sihon did not allow Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people, and went out against Israel to the wilderness, and came to Jahaz; and he fought against Israel. ²⁴And Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, to the sons of Ammon; for the border of the sons of Ammon was strong.

²⁵And Israel took all these cities; and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her daughter-towns. ²⁶For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, to the Arnon. ²⁷Therefore those who speak in proverbs say: Come to Heshbon! Let the city of Sihon be built and established!

²⁸For a fire went out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it devoured Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of the Arnon.

²⁹Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh; he has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to the king of the Amorites, Sihon.

³⁰And we have shot at them; Heshbon is perished, to Dibon; and we laid waste to Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.

The Defeat of Og

³¹And Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. ³²And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured her daughter-towns, and he dispossessed the Amorites that were there.

³³And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.

³⁴And the LORD said to Moses: Do not fear him; for into your hand I have given him, and all his people, and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.

³⁵And they struck him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left to him remaining; and they took possession of his land.

Balak Summons Balaam

^22:1And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan of Jericho.

PJudges 11:1–33Chapter page with footnotes →

Jephthah Delivers Israel

^11:1And Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a woman, a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. ²And the wife of Gilead bore him sons; and the sons of the woman grew up, and they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, "You shall not inherit in the house of our father, for you are the son of another woman."

³And Jephthah fled from before his brothers, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and there gathered to Jephthah empty men, and they went out with him.

⁴And it came to pass after days, that the children of Ammon fought with Israel. ⁵And it came to pass, when the children of Ammon fought with Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to take Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶And they said to Jephthah, "Come and be for us a chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon."

⁷And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did not you hate me, and drive me out from the house of my father? And why have you come to me now when you are in distress?"

⁸And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Therefore now we have returned to you, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon, and you shall be for us head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

⁹And Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back to fight with the children of Ammon, and the LORD gives them before me, I—I will be your head."

¹⁰And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD shall be hearing between us, if we do not act according to your word."

¹¹And Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people set him over them for head and for chief; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.

¹²And Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, "What is between me and you, that you have come to me to fight in my land?"

¹³And the king of the children of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took my land when he came up from Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan; and now restore them in peace."

¹⁴And Jephthah added yet again, and sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon. ¹⁵And he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon. ¹⁶For when they came up from Egypt, Israel walked through the wilderness as far as the Sea of Reeds, and came to Kadesh. ¹⁷And Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Let me pass, please, through your land'; but the king of Edom did not listen. And also to the king of Moab he sent; but he was not willing; and Israel dwelt in Kadesh.

¹⁸And he walked through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came from the rising of the sun to the land of Moab, and they encamped beyond the Arnon; but they did not come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.

¹⁹And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorite, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, 'Let us pass, please, through your land to my place.' ²⁰But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his border; and Sihon gathered all his people, and they encamped in Jahaz, and he fought with Israel.

²¹And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them; and Israel possessed all the land of the Amorite, the inhabitant of that land. ²²And they possessed all the border of the Amorite, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even to the Jordan.

²³And now the LORD, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorite from before His people Israel, and you—would you possess it? ²⁴Is it not so that whatever Chemosh your god dispossesses for you, that you possess? So all that the LORD our God has dispossessed from before us, that we possess. ²⁵And now, are you indeed better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive with Israel, or did he ever fight against them?

²⁶While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its daughters, and in Aroer and its daughters, and in all the cities that are by the sides of the Arnon, three hundred years—and why did you not recover them in that time? ²⁷And I—I have not sinned against you, but you are doing evil with me to fight against me; let the LORD, the Judge, judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon."

²⁸But the king of the children of Ammon did not listen to the words of Jephthah which he sent to him.

Jephthah’s Vow

²⁹And the spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over to the children of Ammon.

³⁰And Jephthah vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed give the children of Ammon into my hand, ³¹then it shall be that the one going out, who goes out from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall be for the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

³²And Jephthah passed over to the children of Ammon to fight with them; and the LORD gave them into his hand. ³³And he smote them from Aroer until you come to Minnith, twenty cities, and to Abel-cheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

AJohn 3:14–16Chapter page with footnotes →

^3:14As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

¹⁶For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.