(21) GOD spoke to Moses: (22) Take a census of the Gershonites also, by their ancestral house and by their clans. (23) Record them from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who are subject to service in the performance of tasks for the Tent of Meeting. (24) These are the duties of the Gershonite clans as to labor and porterage:

(25) they shall carry the cloths of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with its covering, the covering of dolphin skin that is on top of it, and the screen for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; (26) the hangings of the enclosure, the screen at the entrance of the gate of the enclosure that surrounds the Tabernacle, the cords thereof, and the altar, and all their service equipment and all their accessories; and they shall perform the service. (27) All the duties of the Gershonites, all their porterage and all their service, shall be performed on orders from Aaron and his sons; you shall make them responsible for attending to all their porterage. (28) Those are the duties of the Gershonite clans for the Tent of Meeting; they shall attend to them under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. (29) As for the Merarites, you shall record them by the clans of their ancestral house; (30) you shall record them from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who are subject to service in the performance of the duties for the Tent of Meeting. (31) These are their porterage tasks in connection with their various duties for the Tent of Meeting: the planks, the bars, the posts, and the sockets of the Tabernacle; (32) the posts around the enclosure and their sockets, pegs, and cords—all these furnishings and their service: you shall list by name the objects that are their porterage tasks. (33) Those are the duties of the Merarite clans, pertaining to their various duties in the Tent of Meeting under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. (34) So Moses, Aaron, and the chieftains of the community recorded the Kohathites by the clans of their ancestral house, (35) from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to service for work relating to the Tent of Meeting. (36) Those recorded by their clans came to 2,750. (37) That was the enrollment of the Kohathite clans, all those who performed duties relating to the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron recorded at GOD’s command through Moses. (38) The Gershonites who were recorded by the clans of their ancestral house, (39) from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to service for work relating to the Tent of Meeting— (40) those recorded by the clans of their ancestral house came to 2,630. (41) That was the enrollment of the Gershonite clans, all those performing duties relating to the Tent of Meeting whom Moses and Aaron recorded at GOD’s command. (42) The enrollment of the Merarite clans by the clans of their ancestral house, (43) from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to service for work relating to the Tent of Meeting— (44) those recorded by their clans came to 3,200. (45) That was the enrollment of the Merarite clans that Moses and Aaron recorded at GOD’s command through Moses. (46) All the Levites whom Moses, Aaron, and the chieftains of Israel recorded by the clans of their ancestral houses, (47) from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to duties of service and porterage relating to the Tent of Meeting— (48) those recorded came to 8,580. (49) Each one, in turn, was given responsibility for his service and porterage at GOD’s command through Moses, and each was recorded as GOD had commanded Moses.

(29) As for the Merarites, you shall record them by the clans of their ancestral house; (30) you shall record them from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who are subject to service in the performance of the duties for the Tent of Meeting. (31) These are their porterage tasks in connection with their various duties for the Tent of Meeting: the planks, the bars, the posts, and the sockets of the Tabernacle; (32) the posts around the enclosure and their sockets, pegs, and cords—all these furnishings and their service: you shall list by name the objects that are their porterage tasks. (33) Those are the duties of the Merarite clans, pertaining to their various duties in the Tent of Meeting under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

(34) So Moses, Aaron, and the chieftains of the community recorded the Kohathites by the clans of their ancestral house, (35) from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to service for work relating to the Tent of Meeting. (36) Those recorded by their clans came to 2,750. (37) That was the enrollment of the Kohathite clans, all those who performed duties relating to the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron recorded at GOD’s command through Moses.

(38) The Gershonites who were recorded by the clans of their ancestral house, (39) from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to service for work relating to the Tent of Meeting— (40) those recorded by the clans of their ancestral house came to 2,630. (41) That was the enrollment of the Gershonite clans, all those performing duties relating to the Tent of Meeting whom Moses and Aaron recorded at GOD’s command. (42) The enrollment of the Merarite clans by the clans of their ancestral house, (43) from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to service for work relating to the Tent of Meeting— (44) those recorded by their clans came to 3,200. (45) That was the enrollment of the Merarite clans that Moses and Aaron recorded at GOD’s command through Moses. (46) All the Levites whom Moses, Aaron, and the chieftains of Israel recorded by the clans of their ancestral houses, (47) from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to duties of service and porterage relating to the Tent of Meeting— (48) those recorded came to 8,580. (49) Each one, in turn, was given responsibility for his service and porterage at GOD’s command through Moses, and each was recorded as GOD had commanded Moses.

(1) GOD spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Instruct the Israelites to remove from camp anyone with an eruption or a discharge and anyone defiled by a corpse. (3) Remove male and female alike; put them outside the camp so that they do not defile the camp of those in whose midst I dwell. (4) The Israelites did so, putting them outside the camp; as GOD had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.

(5) GOD spoke to Moses, saying: (6) Speak to the Israelites: When a man or woman has committed any wrong toward a fellow human being, thus breaking faith with GOD, and they have realized their guilt, (7) they shall confess the wrong that they have done. They shall make restitution in the principal amount and add one-fifth to it, giving it to the one who was wronged. (8) If that party [is deceased and] has no kin to whom restitution can be made, the amount repaid shall go to GOD for the priest—in addition to the ram of expiation with which expiation is made on their behalf. (9) So, too, any gift among the sacred donations that the Israelites offer shall be the priest’s. (10) And each shall retain his sacred donations: each priest shall keep what is given to him.

(8) If that party [is deceased and] has no kin to whom restitution can be made, the amount repaid shall go to GOD for the priest—in addition to the ram of expiation with which expiation is made on their behalf. (9) So, too, any gift among the sacred donations that the Israelites offer shall be the priest’s. (10) And each shall retain his sacred donations: each priest shall keep what is given to him.

(2) There was a certain man from Zorah, of the stock of Dan, whose name was Manoah. His wife was infertile and had borne no children. (3) An angel of GOD appeared to the woman and said to her, “You are infertile and have borne no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son. (4) Now be careful not to drink wine or other intoxicant, or to eat anything impure. (5) For you are going to conceive and bear a son; let no razor touch his head, for the boy is to be a nazirite to God from the womb on. He shall be the first to deliver Israel from the Philistines.” (6) The woman went and told her husband, “An agent of God came to me; he looked like an angel of God, very frightening. I did not ask him where he was from, nor did he tell me his name. (7) He said to me, ‘You are going to conceive and bear a son. Drink no wine or other intoxicant, and eat nothing impure, for the boy is to be a nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death!’” (8) Manoah pleaded with GOD. “Oh, my Sovereign!” he said, “please let the agent of God that You sent come to us again, and let him instruct us how to act with the child that is to be born.” (9) God heeded Manoah’s plea, and the angel of God came to the woman again. She was sitting in the field and her husband Manoah was not with her. (10) The woman ran in haste to tell her husband. She said to him, “The man who came to me before has just appeared to me.” (11) Manoah promptly followed his wife. He came to that figure and asked him: “Are you the one who spoke to my wife?” “Yes,” he answered. (12) Then Manoah said, “May your words soon come true! What rules shall be observed for the boy?” (13) The angel of GOD said to Manoah, “The woman must abstain from all the things against which I warned her. (14) She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, or drink wine or other intoxicant, or eat anything impure. She must observe all that I commanded her.” (15) Manoah said to the angel of GOD, “Let us detain you and prepare a kid for you.” (16) But the angel of GOD said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I shall not eat your food; and if you present a burnt offering, offer it to GOD.”—For Manoah did not know that he was an angel of GOD. (17) So Manoah said to the angel of GOD, “What is your name? We should like to honor you when your words come true.” (18) The angel said to him, “You must not ask for my name; it is unknowable!” (19) Manoah took the kid and the grain offering and offered them up on the rock to GOD; and a marvelous thing happened while Manoah and his wife looked on. (20) As the flames leaped up from the altar toward the sky, the angel of GOD ascended in the flames of the altar, while Manoah and his wife looked on; and they flung themselves on their faces to the ground.— (21) The angel of GOD never appeared again to Manoah and his wife.—Manoah then realized that it had been an angel of GOD. (22) And Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen a divine being.” (23) But his wife said to him, “Had GOD meant to take our lives, our burnt offering and grain offering would not have been accepted, nor would we have been shown all these things—and [God] would not have made such an announcement to us.” (24) The woman bore a son, and she named him Samson. The boy grew up, and GOD blessed him. (25) The spirit of GOD first moved him in the encampment of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

(5) And when a long blast is sounded on the horn—as soon as you hear that sound of the horn—all the troops shall give a mighty shout. Thereupon the city wall will collapse, and the troops shall advance, every man straight ahead.” (6) Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and let seven priests carrying seven ram’s horns precede the Ark of GOD.” (7) And he instructed the troops, “Go forward, march around the city, with the vanguard marching in front of the Ark of GOD.” (8) When Joshua had instructed the troops, the seven priests carrying seven ram’s horns advanced before GOD, blowing their horns; and the Ark of GOD’s Covenant followed them. (9) The vanguard marched in front of the priests who were blowing the horns, and the rear guard marched behind the Ark, with the horns sounding all the time. (10) But Joshua’s orders to the rest of the troops were, “Do not shout, do not let your voices be heard, and do not let a sound issue from your lips until the moment that I command you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.” (11) So he had the Ark of GOD go around the city and complete one circuit; then they returned to camp and spent the night in camp. (12) Joshua rose early the next day; and the priests took up the Ark of GOD, (13) while the seven priests bearing the seven ram’s horns marched in front of the Ark of GOD, blowing the horns as they marched. The vanguard marched in front of them, and the rear guard marched behind the Ark of GOD, with the horns sounding all the time. (14) And so they marched around the city once on the second day and returned to the camp. They did this six days.

(12) Joshua rose early the next day; and the priests took up the Ark of GOD,