Whenever the tabernacle is to move, ¹  the Levites must take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be reassembled, ²  the Levites must set it up. ³  Any unauthorized person ⁴  who approaches it must be killed.

So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood; ¹  but the unauthorized person ²  who comes near must be put to death.”

The Levites purified themselves ¹  and washed their clothing; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to purify them.

Is it a small thing ¹  that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, ²  to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince ³  over us?

The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

And the second lamb you must offer in the late afternoon; just as you offered the grain offering and drink offering in the morning, ¹  you must offer it as an offering made by fire, as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites.”

In addition, the officers are to say to the troops, “Who among you is afraid and fainthearted? He may go home so that he will not make his fellow soldier’s ¹  heart as fearful ²  as his own.”

The men said to her, “If you ¹  die, may we die too! ²  If you do not report what we’ve been up to, ³  then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance ⁴  to you.” ⁵ 

The Lord handed Lachish over to Israel and they ¹  captured it on the second day. They put the sword to all who lived there, just as they had done to Libnah.

The whole hill country ¹  will be yours; though it is a forest, you can clear it and it will be entirely yours. ²  You can conquer the Canaanites, though they have chariots with iron-rimmed wheels and are strong.”

“El, God, the Lord! ¹  El, God, the Lord! He knows the truth! ²  Israel must also know! If we have rebelled or disobeyed the Lord, ³  don’t spare us ⁴  today!

The Reubenites and Gadites named the altar, “Surely it is a Reminder to us ¹  that the Lord is God.”

The Amorites managed ¹  to remain in Har Heres, ²  Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Whenever the tribe of Joseph was strong militarily, ³  the Amorites were forced to do hard labor.

When they invaded ¹  with their cattle and tents, they were as thick ²  as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. ³  They came to devour ⁴  the land.

Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. ¹  Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.

He ordered Jether his firstborn son, “Come on! ¹  Kill them!” But Jether was too afraid to draw his sword, ²  because he was still young.

Gideon used all this to make ¹  an ephod, ²  which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites ³  prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it ⁴  there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.

So if you have shown loyalty and integrity to Jerub-Baal and his family ¹  today, then may Abimelech bring you happiness and may you bring him happiness! ² 

When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late ¹  and the servant ²  said to his master, “Come on, let’s stop at ³  this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.”