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Leviticus 20

Amplified Bible, 2015 (AMP)

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¹ The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and they washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

² Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and his sons; just as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

³ Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁴ This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the Tent of Meeting, but at the age of fifty years, they shall[4] retire from the service of the [tabernacle] work and serve no longer. They may assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting to keep an obligation, but they shall do no [heavy or difficult] work. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their obligations.

⁵ 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,

⁶ The sons of Israel are to keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month[1] at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and ordinances you shall keep it.

⁷ So Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover.

⁸ They observed the Passover 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.

⁹ But there were certain men who were [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] the dead body of a man, so they could not observe the Passover on that day; so they came before Moses and Aaron that same day.

¹⁰ Those men said to Moses, "We are [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] a dead body. Why are we being restrained from presenting the Lord's offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?"

¹¹ Therefore, Moses said to them, "Wait, and I will listen to what the LORD will command concerning you."

¹² Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹³ Say to the Israelites, 'If any one of you or of your descendants becomes [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] a dead body or is on a distant journey, he may, however, observe the Passover to the LORD. On the fourteenth day of the second month [thirty days later] at twilight, they shall observe it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it until morning nor break any of its bones; in accordance with all the statutes of the Passover they shall observe it. But the man who is [ceremonially] clean and is not on a journey, and yet does not observe the Passover, that person shall be cut off from among his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them] because he did not bring the Lord's offering at its appointed time; that man will bear [the penalty of] his sin. If a stranger lives among you as a resident alien and observes the Passover to the LORD, in accordance with its statutes and its ordinances, so shall he do; you shall have one statute, both for the resident alien and for the native of the land.'

¹⁴ Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected, the cloud [of God's presence] covered the tabernacle, that is, the tent of the Testimony; and in the evening it was over the tabernacle, appearing like [a pillar of] fire until the morning.

¹⁵ So it was continuously; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

¹⁶ Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent (tabernacle), afterward the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites would camp.

¹⁷ At the Lord's command the Israelites would journey on, and at His command they would camp. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle they remained camped.

¹⁸ Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep their obligation to the LORD and not set out.

¹⁹ Sometimes the cloud remained only a few days over the tabernacle, and in accordance with the command of the LORD they remained camped. Then at His command they set out.

²⁰ If sometimes the cloud remained [over the tabernacle] from evening only until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would journey on; whether in the daytime or at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out.

²¹ Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud [of the Lord's presence] lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the Israelites remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they set out.

²² At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they journeyed on; they kept their obligation to the LORD, in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses.

²³ The LORD spoke further to Moses, saying,

²⁴ Make two trumpets of silver; you shall make them of hammered work. You shall use them to summon the congregation and to have the camps move out. When both are blown, all the congregation [that is, all adult males] shall gather before you at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). However, if a single trumpet is blown, then the leaders, heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps on the south side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. They shall blow an alarm whenever they are to move out [on their journeys]. When the assembly is to be gathered, you shall blow [the trumpets in short, sharp tones], but without sounding an alarm. The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and the trumpets shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations. When you go to war in your land against the enemy that attacks you, then sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of rejoicing, and in your appointed feasts, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifice of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God.

²⁵ On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year [since leaving Egypt], the cloud [of the Lord's presence] was lifted from over the tabernacle of the Testimony,

²⁶ and the Israelites set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud [of the Lord's guiding presence] settled down in the Wilderness of Paran.

²⁷ So they moved out for the first time in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses.

#	AMP
1	The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and they washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.
2	Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and his sons; just as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
3	Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
4	This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the Tent of Meeting, but at the age of fifty years, they shall[4] retire from the service of the [tabernacle] work and serve no longer. They may assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting to keep an obligation, but they shall do no [heavy or difficult] work. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their obligations.
5	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,
6	The sons of Israel are to keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month[1] at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and ordinances you shall keep it.
7	So Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover.
8	They observed the Passover 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.
9	But there were certain men who were [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] the dead body of a man, so they could not observe the Passover on that day; so they came before Moses and Aaron that same day.
10	Those men said to Moses, "We are [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] a dead body. Why are we being restrained from presenting the Lord's offering at its appointed time among the Israelites?"
11	Therefore, Moses said to them, "Wait, and I will listen to what the LORD will command concerning you."
12	Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
13	Say to the Israelites, 'If any one of you or of your descendants becomes [ceremonially] unclean because of [touching] a dead body or is on a distant journey, he may, however, observe the Passover to the LORD. On the fourteenth day of the second month [thirty days later] at twilight, they shall observe it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it until morning nor break any of its bones; in accordance with all the statutes of the Passover they shall observe it. But the man who is [ceremonially] clean and is not on a journey, and yet does not observe the Passover, that person shall be cut off from among his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them] because he did not bring the Lord's offering at its appointed time; that man will bear [the penalty of] his sin. If a stranger lives among you as a resident alien and observes the Passover to the LORD, in accordance with its statutes and its ordinances, so shall he do; you shall have one statute, both for the resident alien and for the native of the land.'
14	Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected, the cloud [of God's presence] covered the tabernacle, that is, the tent of the Testimony; and in the evening it was over the tabernacle, appearing like [a pillar of] fire until the morning.
15	So it was continuously; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
16	Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent (tabernacle), afterward the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud stopped, there the Israelites would camp.
17	At the Lord's command the Israelites would journey on, and at His command they would camp. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle they remained camped.
18	Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep their obligation to the LORD and not set out.
19	Sometimes the cloud remained only a few days over the tabernacle, and in accordance with the command of the LORD they remained camped. Then at His command they set out.
20	If sometimes the cloud remained [over the tabernacle] from evening only until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would journey on; whether in the daytime or at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out.
21	Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud [of the Lord's presence] lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the Israelites remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they set out.
22	At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they journeyed on; they kept their obligation to the LORD, in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses.
23	The LORD spoke further to Moses, saying,
24	Make two trumpets of silver; you shall make them of hammered work. You shall use them to summon the congregation and to have the camps move out. When both are blown, all the congregation [that is, all adult males] shall gather before you at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). However, if a single trumpet is blown, then the leaders, heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps on the south side [of the tabernacle] shall set out. They shall blow an alarm whenever they are to move out [on their journeys]. When the assembly is to be gathered, you shall blow [the trumpets in short, sharp tones], but without sounding an alarm. The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and the trumpets shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations. When you go to war in your land against the enemy that attacks you, then sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of rejoicing, and in your appointed feasts, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifice of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God.
25	On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year [since leaving Egypt], the cloud [of the Lord's presence] was lifted from over the tabernacle of the Testimony,
26	and the Israelites set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud [of the Lord's guiding presence] settled down in the Wilderness of Paran.
27	So they moved out for the first time in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses.

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