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Numbers 9

1Yahweh spoke to Moses in the Sinai wilderness in the first month of the second year after they left the land of Egypt:

2“The sons of Israel are to observe the Passover at its appointed time.

3On the fourteenth day of this month, between the evenings, you are to observe it at its appointed time. Observe it according to all its statutes and all its ordinances.”

4Moses told the sons of Israel to observe the Passover.

5They observed the Passover in the Sinai wilderness on the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings. The sons of Israel did everything Yahweh had commanded Moses.

6But there were men who were unclean because of a dead person and could not observe the Passover that day. They came before Moses and Aaron that day.

7Those men said to him, “We are unclean because of a dead person. Why should we be excluded from presenting Yahweh’s offering at its appointed time among the sons of Israel?”

8Moses said to them, “Wait, and I will hear what Yahweh commands concerning you.”

9Yahweh spoke to Moses:

10“Speak to the sons of Israel: If any of you or your descendants is unclean because of a dead person, or is on a distant journey, he is still to observe the Passover to Yahweh.

11They are to observe it on the fourteenth day of the second month, between the evenings, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

12They must leave none of it until morning or break a bone of it. They are to observe it according to every statute of the Passover.

13But the person who is clean and is not on a journey, yet fails to observe the Passover, shall be cut off from his people. Because he did not present Yahweh’s offering at its appointed time, that person shall bear his sin.

14If a resident foreigner lives among you and observes the Passover to Yahweh, he is to observe it according to the statute and ordinance of the Passover. You shall have one statute, for the resident foreigner and the native of the land.”

15On the day the dwelling was set up, the cloud covered the dwelling, the tent of the testimony. From evening until morning, it was over the dwelling with the appearance of fire.

16It was always so: the cloud covered it, and at night it had the appearance of fire.

17Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the sons of Israel would set out afterward. Wherever the cloud settled, there the sons of Israel would camp.

18At Yahweh’s command the sons of Israel would set out, and at Yahweh’s command they would camp. As long as the cloud remained over the dwelling, they remained in camp.

19When the cloud lingered over the dwelling for many days, the sons of Israel kept Yahweh’s charge and did not set out.

20Sometimes the cloud remained over the dwelling for a few days. At Yahweh’s command they would camp, and at Yahweh’s command they would set out.

21Sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning, and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they would set out. Or it remained a day and a night; when the cloud lifted, they would set out.

22Whether for two days, a month, or a longer time, while the cloud lingered over the dwelling, resting on it, the sons of Israel remained in camp and did not set out. When it lifted, they would set out.

23At Yahweh’s command they would camp, and at Yahweh’s command they would set out. They kept Yahweh’s charge at Yahweh’s command through Moses.

Translation notes 4

9:1–14 — A second date for Passover. The narrative returns to the first month, before chapter 1’s census. Those prevented by corpse uncleanness or a distant journey may observe Passover in the second month. Deliberate neglect by an eligible person is treated differently.

9:3, 11 — Between the evenings. This is the Hebrew time expression also retained in Exodus 12:6. It concerns the latter part of the day toward evening; its exact boundaries have been interpreted differently.

9:13 — Cut off. The source says that the person is to be cut off from his people and bear his sin. It does not specify here the agent or exact procedure of that sanction.

9:15–23 — The cloud’s timing. The repeated commands emphasize that movement depends on Yahweh’s direction, whether the stay is brief or long. The final “days” in verse 22 can denote an extended period, sometimes a year; no precise duration is certain here.