1The LORD spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai. It was the first month of the second year after the people came out of Egypt. He said,2‘Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover Feast at the appointed time.3Celebrate it when the sun goes down on the 14th day of this month. Obey all its rules and laws.’4So Moses told the Israelites to celebrate the Passover Feast.5They did it in the Desert of Sinai. They celebrated it when the sun went down on the 14th day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.6But some of them couldn’t celebrate the Passover Feast on that day. That’s because they weren’t ‘clean’. They had gone near a dead body. So they came to Moses and Aaron that same day.7They said to Moses, ‘We went near a dead body. So we aren’t “clean”. But why should we be kept from bringing the LORD’s offering at the appointed time? Why shouldn’t we bring it along with the other Israelites?’8Moses answered them, ‘Wait until I find out what the LORD wants you to do.’9Then the LORD spoke to Moses. He said,10‘Tell the Israelites, “Suppose any of you or your children are ‘unclean’ because they have gone near a dead body. Or suppose they are away on a journey. They must still celebrate the LORD’s Passover.11They must celebrate it on the 14th day of the second month. They must do so when the sun goes down. They must eat the lamb together with bread made without yeast. They must eat it with bitter plants.12They must not leave any of it until morning. They must not break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover Feast, they must follow all the rules.13But suppose someone is ‘clean’ and not on a journey. And they fail to celebrate the Passover Feast. Then they must be separated from the community of Israel. They did not bring the LORD’s offering at the appointed time. They will be punished for their sin.14‘ “What if there is an outsider living among you? And what if they want to celebrate the LORD’s Passover? Then they must obey its rules and laws. You must have the same laws for outsiders as you do for the Israelites.” ’
The cloud covers the holy tent
15The holy tent was set up. It was the tent where the tablets of the covenant law were kept. On the day it was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening until morning the cloud above the tent looked like fire.16That’s what continued to happen. The cloud covered the tent. At night the cloud looked like fire.17When the cloud lifted from its place above the tent, the Israelites started out. Where the cloud settled, the Israelites camped.18When the LORD gave the command, the Israelites started out. And when he gave the command, they camped. As long as the cloud stayed above the holy tent, they remained in camp.19Sometimes the cloud remained above the tent for a long time. Then the Israelites obeyed the LORD’s order. They didn’t start out.20Sometimes the cloud was above the tent for only a few days. When the LORD would give the command, they would camp. And when he would give the command, they would start out.21Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening until morning. When it lifted in the morning, they started out. It didn’t matter whether it was day or night. When the cloud lifted, the people started out.22It didn’t matter whether the cloud stayed above the holy tent for two days or a month or a year. The Israelites would remain in camp. They wouldn’t start out. But when the cloud lifted, they would start out.23When the LORD gave the command, they camped. And when he gave the command, they started out. They obeyed the LORD’s order. They obeyed him, just as he had commanded them through Moses.
Numbers 9
English Standard Version
The Passover Celebrated
1And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, (Nu 1:1)2“Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time.3On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it.” (Le 23:5)4So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Passover.5And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did.6And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. (Ex 18:15; Ex 18:19; Ex 18:26; Nu 5:2; Nu 19:11; Nu 19:16; Nu 27:2; Joh 18:28)7And those men said to him, “We are unclean through touching a dead body. Why are we kept from bringing the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?” (Nu 9:13)8And Moses said to them, “Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.” (Nu 27:5)9The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,10“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord.11In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they shall keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. (Ex 12:6; Ex 12:8; De 16:3; 2Ch 30:2)12They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones; according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it. (Ex 12:10; Ex 12:43; Ex 12:46; Ex 12:49; Joh 19:36)13But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey fails to keep the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin. (Ge 17:14; Ex 12:15; Nu 9:7)14And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.” (Ex 12:48)
The Cloud Covering the Tabernacle
15On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. (Ex 13:21; Ex 40:17; Ex 40:34)16So it was always: the cloud covered it by day[1] and the appearance of fire by night.17And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. (Ex 40:36; Nu 10:11; Nu 10:33)18At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. (1Co 10:1)19Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out. (Nu 1:53)20Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out.21And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out.22Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. (Ex 40:36)23At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses. (Nu 9:19)