For all the firstborn males among the Israelites are mine, both humans and animals; when I destroyed ¹  all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for myself.

And they observed the Passover ¹  on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight in the wilderness of Sinai; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.

And those men said to him, “We are ceremonially defiled by the dead body of a man; why are we kept back from offering the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?”

“Tell the Israelites, ‘If any ¹  of you or of your posterity become ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, or are on a journey far away, then he may ²  observe the Passover to the Lord.

At the commandment ¹  of the Lord the Israelites would begin their journey, and at the commandment of the Lord they would make camp; as long as ²  the cloud remained settled over the tabernacle they would camp.

Whether it was for two days, or a month, or a year, ¹  that the cloud prolonged its stay ²  over the tabernacle, the Israelites remained camped without traveling; ³  but when it was taken up, they traveled on.

“Send out men to investigate ¹  the land of Canaan, which I am giving ²  to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe, ³  each one a leader among them.”

They came back ¹  to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. ²  They reported ³  to the whole community and showed the fruit of the land.

And all the Israelites murmured ¹  against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died ²  in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished ³  in this wilderness!

You must have one law for the person who sins unintentionally, both for the native-born among the Israelites and for the resident foreigner who lives among them.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make ¹  tassels ²  for themselves on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread ³  on the tassel of the corners.

“Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe, ¹  one from every tribal leader, ²  twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff.

So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, ¹  according to their tribes ²  – twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs.

I myself have chosen ¹  your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the duties ²  of the tent of meeting.

The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings; I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as your priestly portion ¹  and to your sons as a perpetual ordinance.

The Lord spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion of property ¹  among them – I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

But the Levites must perform the service ¹  of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. ²  It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites ³  have no inheritance. ⁴ 

Thus you are to offer up a raised offering to the Lord of all your tithes which you receive from the Israelites; and you must give the Lord’s raised offering from it to Aaron the priest.

And you will bear no sin concerning it when you offer up the best of it. And you must not profane the holy things of the Israelites, or else you will die.’” ¹ 

“This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded: ‘Instruct ¹  the Israelites to bring ²  you a red ³  heifer ⁴  without blemish, which has no defect ⁵  and has never carried a yoke.