1 (53) But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Yisra᾽el: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.

(54) And the children of Yisra᾽el did according to all that the Lord commanded Moshe, so they did.

2 (1) And the Lord spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying,

(2) Every man of the children of Yisra᾽el shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensigns of their father’s house: far off about the Tent of Meeting shall they pitch.

(3) And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Yehuda pitch by their hosts: and Naĥshon the son of ῾Amminadav shall be captain of the children of Yehuda.

(4) And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were seventy four thousand, six hundred.

(5) And those that pitch next to him shall be the tribe of Yissakhar: and Netan᾽el the son of Żu῾ar shall be captain of the children of Yissakhar.

(6) And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty four thousand, four hundred.

(7) Then the tribe of Zevulun: and Eli᾽av the son of Ḥelon shall be captain of the children of Zevulun.

(8) And his host, and those that were numbered of it, were fifty seven thousand, four hundred.

(9) All that were numbered in the camp of Yehuda were a hundred and eighty six thousand, four hundred, by their hosts. These shall first set forth.

(10) On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Re᾽uven by their hosts: and the captain of the children of Re᾽uven shall be Eliżur the son of Shede᾽ur.

(11) And his host, and those that were numbered of it, were forty six thousand, five hundred.

(12) And those who pitch by him shall be the tribe of Shim῾on: and the captain of the children of Shim῾on shall be Shelumi᾽el the son of Żurishadday.

(13) And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty nine thousand, three hundred.

(14) Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Elyasaf the son of Re῾u᾽el.

(15) And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty five thousand, six hundred and fifty.

(16) All that were numbered in the camp of Re᾽uven were a hundred and fifty one thousand, four hundred and fifty, by their hosts. And they shall set forth in the second rank.

(17) Then the Tent of Meeting shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.

(18) On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Efrayim by their hosts: and the captain of the sons of Efrayim shall be Elishama the son of ῾Ammihud.

(19) And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand, five hundred.

(20) And by him shall be the tribe of Menashshe: and the captain of the children of Menashshe shall be Gamli᾽el the son of Pedażur.

(21) And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty two thousand, two hundred.

(22) Then the tribe of Binyamin: and the captain of the sons of Binyamin shall be Avidan the son of Gid῾oni.

(23) And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty five thousand, four hundred.

(24) All that were numbered of the camp of Efrayim were a hundred and eight thousand and one hundred, by their hosts. And they shall go forward in the third rank.

(25) The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their hosts: and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Aĥi῾ezer the son of ῾Ammishadday.

(26) And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were sixty two thousand, seven hundred.

(27) And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pag῾i᾽el the son of ῾Okhran.

(28) And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty one thousand, five hundred.

(29) Then the tribe of Naftali: and the captain of the children of Naftali shall be Aĥira the son of ῾Enan.

(30) And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty three thousand, four hundred.

(31) All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were a hundred and fifty seven thousand, six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards.

(32) These are those who were numbered of the children of Yisra᾽el by the houses of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps by their hosts were six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty.

(33) But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Yisra᾽el; as the Lord commanded Moshe.

(34) And the children of Yisra᾽el did according to all that the Lord commanded Moshe: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, everyone after their families, according to the houses of their fathers.

3 (1) These also are the generations of Aharon and Moshe in the day that the Lord spoke with Moshe in mount Sinay.

(2) And these are the names of the sons of Aharon; Nadav the firstborn, and Avihu, El῾azar and Itamar.

(3) These are the names of the sons of Aharon, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.

(4) And Nadav and Avihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinay, and they had no children: and El῾azar and Itamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aharon their father.

(5) And the Lord spoke to Moshe saying,

(6) Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aharon the priest, that they may minister to him.

(7) And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.

(8) And they shall keep all the instruments of the Tent of Meeting, and the charge of the children of Yisra᾽el, to do the service of the tabernacle.

(9) And thou shalt give the Levites to Aharon and to his sons: they are wholly given to him out of the children of Yisra᾽el.

(10) And thou shalt appoint Aharon and his sons, and they shall keep their priest’s office: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.

(11) And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying,

(12) And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Yisra᾽el instead of all the firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Yisra᾽el: therefore the Levites shall be mine;

(13) because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Miżrayim I hallowed to me all the firstborn in Yisra᾽el, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord.

3 (14) And the Lord spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinay, saying,

(15) Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.

(16) And Moshe numbered them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded.

(17) And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Qehat, and Merari.

(18) And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Livni, and Shim῾i.

(19) And the sons of Qehat by their families; ῾Amram, and Yiżhar, Ḥevron, and ῾Uzzi᾽el.

(20) And the sons of Merari by their families; Maĥli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.

(21) Of Gershon was the family of the Livni, and the family of the Shim῾i: these are the families of the Gershoni.

(22) Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand five hundred.

(23) The families of the Gershoni shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.

(24) And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershoni shall be Elyasaf the son of La᾽el.

(25) And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, its covering, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,

(26) and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all its service.

(27) And of Qehat was the family of the ῾Amrami, and the family of the Yiżhari, and the family of the Ḥevroni, and the family of the ῾Uzzi’eli: these are the families of the Qehati.

(28) In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand, six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.

(29) The families of the sons of Qehat shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward.

(30) And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Qehati shall be Eliżafan, the son of ῾Uzzi᾽el.

(31) And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service.

(32) And El῾azar the son of Aharon the priest shall be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.

(33) Of Merari was the family of the Maĥli, and the family of the Mushi: these are the families of Merari.

(34) And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.

(35) And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Żuri᾽el the son of Aviĥayil: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward.

(36) And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its vessels, and all that belongs to it.

(37) And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pegs, and their cords.

(38) But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, before the Tent of Meeting eastward, shall be Moshe and Aharon and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Yisra᾽el; and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death.

(39) All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moshe and Aharon numbered at the commandment of the Lord, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty two thousand.

3 (40) And the Lord said to Moshe, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Yisra᾽el from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

(41) And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the Lord) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Yisra᾽el; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Yisra᾽el.

(42) And Moshe numbered, as the Lord commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Yisra᾽el.

(43) And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty two thousand, two hundred and seventy three.

(44) And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying,

(45) Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Yisra᾽el, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord.

(46) And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and seventy three of the firstborn of the children of Yisra᾽el who are more than the Levites:

(47) thou shalt take five shekels for every man, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gera:)

(48) and thou shalt give the money, with which the surplus of them is to be redeemed, to Aharon and to his sons.

(49) And Moshe took the redemption money of those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites:

(50) of the firstborn of the children of Yisra᾽el he took the money; a thousand three hundred and sixty five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

(51) and Moshe gave the money of those who were redeemed to Aharon and to his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moshe.

4 (1) And the Lord spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying,

(2) Take the sum of the sons of Qehat from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,

(3) from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

(4) This shall be the service of the sons of Qehat in the Tent of Meeting, namely, the most holy things:

(5) and when the camp sets forward, Aharon shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of testimony with it:

(6) and they shall put on it the covering of taĥash skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in its poles.

(7) And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put on it the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and the jars for pouring out: and the continual bread shall be on it:

(8) and they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of taĥash skins, and shall put in its poles.

(9) And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its lamps, and its tongs, and its pans, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it:

(10) and they shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of taĥash skins, and shall put it upon a bar.

(11) And upon the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of taĥash skins, and shall put in its poles.

(12) And they shall take all the instruments of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of taĥash skins, and shall put them on a bar:

(13) and they shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it:

(14) and they shall put upon it all its vessels with which they minister about it, the pans, the forks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of taĥash skins, and put in its poles.

(15) And when Aharon and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Qehat shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Qehat in the Tent of Meeting.

(16) And to the office of El῾azar the son of Aharon the priest pertains the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meal offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, as to the sanctuary, and as to its vessels.

(17) And the Lord spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying,

(18) Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Qehati from among the Levites:

(19) but thus do to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach the most holy things: Aharon and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:

(20) but they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

2 (1) Yet the number of the children of Yisra᾽el shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; and it shall come to pass, that instead of that which was said to them, You are not my people, it shall be said to them, You are the sons of the living God. (2) Then shall the children of Yehuda and the children of Yisra᾽el be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Yizre᾽el. (3) Say to your brothers, ῾Ammi (My people;) and to your sisters, Ruĥama (Pitied.) (4) Contend with your mother, contend: for she is not my wife, nor am I her husband: let her therefore put away her harlotry out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; (5) lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. (6) And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they are the children of harlotry. (7) For their mother has played the harlot: she who conceived them has acted shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink. (8) Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall against her, that she shall not find her paths. (9) And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not catch them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then she shall say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then it was better with me than now. (10) For she did not know that it was I who gave her the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and multiplied silver and gold for her, which they used for the Ba῾al. (11) Therefore I will take back my corn in its time, and my wine in its season, and will take away my wool and my flax which were to cover her nakedness. (12) And now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand. (13) I will also bring all her mirth to an end, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her appointed times. (14) And I will blight her vines and her fig trees, concerning which she has said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the wild beasts shall eat them. (15) And I will visit upon her the days of the Be῾alim, on which she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the Lord. (16) Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. (17) And will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of ῾Akhor (Troubling) for a Gate of Hope: and she shall respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Miżrayim. (18) And it shall be on that day, says the Lord, that thou shalt say, Ishi (my Husband;) and shalt no more say to me Ba῾ali (my Master.) (19) For I will take away the names of the Be῾alim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name. (20) And on that day I will make a covenant for them with the wild beasts, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them lie down in safety. (21) And I will betroth thee to me for ever; and I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loyal love, and in mercies. (22) And I will betroth thee to me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.

1. Some things bring forth uncleanness and [also] a protect [against it]; [Some things] bring forth uncleanness but do not protect against it; [Some things] protect but do not bring forth; [Some things] do not bring forth nor do they protect. The following bring forth and protect against [impurity]: A chest, a box, a cupboard, a beehive of straw, a beehive of reeds, or the water-tank of an Alexandrian ship, such of which [objects] have [flat] bottoms and can contain [at least] forty seahs liquid measure or two kors dry measure. [Also] a curtain, a leather apron, a leather bedspread, a sheet, a matting underlay or a mat when made into tents. A herd of cattle, unclean or clean, packs of wild animals or birds, a resting bird, a [shady] place that [a woman] makes for her son among the ears of corn; The iris, the ivy, squirting cucumber, Greek gourds and clean foodstuffs. Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri did not agree with regard to clean foodstuffs except in the case of a cake of dried figs.

2. Projections from a wall, balconies, dovecotes, crevices and crags, grottoes, [overhanging] pinnacles, interlaced boughs and protruding stones as long as they are cable of sustaining thin plasterwork, the words of Rabbi Meir. But the sages say a medium plasterwork. What are interlaced boughs? A tree which casts shade over the ground. Protruding stones? [Stones] that project from a wall.

3. The following bring [impurity] but do not protect against it: A chest, a box, a cupboard, a beehive of straw, a beehive of reeds, or the water tank of an Alexandrian ship, such of which [objects] have [flat] bottoms but cannot contain forty se'ahs of liquid measure or two kors dry measure. A curtain, a leather apron, a leather undercover, a sheet, a matting underlay or a mat when not made into tents. Cattle or wild animals when they are dead, and foodstuffs that are [liable to become] unclean. In addition to these, a human-powered mill.

4. The following protect [against impurity] but do not bring it: A loom [with the woof] spread out, the ropes of a bed, waste baskets, and window-lattices.

5. The following neither bring [impurity] nor protect against it:Seeds, plants [still] attached to the ground, except for the plants mentioned above, A lump of hail, snow, frost, ice and salt. [Anything] that hops from one place to another, or leaps from one place to another, a flying bird. A loosely-flapping garment, or a ship floating [freely] on the water. If the ship were tied with something that can keep it steady, or a stone were [placed so as] to hold down the garment, it can bring uncleanness. Rabbi Yose says: a house on a ship cannot bring uncleanness.

6. Two [earthenware] jars in which there are two pieces of corpse the size of half an olive, sealed with tightly fitting lids, lying in a house, they remain clean, but the house becomes unclean. If one of them was opened, that [jar] and the house become unclean, but the other remains clean. A similarly with to two rooms that open into a house.

§ The mishna states: And what is the color that is like diluted wine that is impure? It is specifically when the dilution consists of two parts water and one part wine, and specifically when it is from the wine of the Sharon region in Eretz Yisrael. The Sages taught in a baraita:

For the purposes of the examination of blood, the wine of the Sharon region in Eretz Yisrael has the same status as undiluted Carmelite wine and not diluted Carmelite wine, new Carmelite wine and not old Carmelite wine.

Rav Yitzḥak bar Avudimi says: And in all cases of blood that has the color of diluted wine, one examines blood only with a simple Tiberian cup. The Gemara asks: What is the reason? Abaye says: Containers are designed according to a universal standard, such that a cup that can contain a log of wine, one fashions it from material weighing one hundred dinars, whereas a cup that can contain two log, one fashions it from material weighing two hundred dinars. By contrast, in the case of a simple Tiberian cup, even one that can contain two log, one fashions it from material weighing one hundred dinars. And since the material from which the cup is made is weak, it is more transparent and therefore the redness of the wine inside is more noticeable. Consequently, one must compare the blood to wine in a cup of this kind.

On the Sabbath and New moon, annointed times and festivals in that place the fires are put out and they are not punished but they do not leave from there. Like the rest of the wicked they get rest on that day. All those who violate the Sabbaths and annointed times and do not worry about the honor of their Master in order to observe these days rather violating them publicly i.e they did not keep the Sabbaths and annointed times in this life they also will not observe them in the afterlife and they will thus have no rest [from the flames of hell.]

One who grinds [something] the size of a dried fig is liable. And anyone who pounds spices or herbs in a mortar is surely grinding, so he is liable. One who cuts a vegetable severed [from the plant] is surely [doing] a subcategory of grinding. Likewise one who saws woods to benefit from its sawdust or one who rubs a strip of metal is liable from once he rubs off a minimal amount. But one who chops wood is not liable until he has measured out [the amount of wood] with which to cook the amount of a dried fig from an egg.

One who sifts [something] the size of a dried fig is liable. One who kneads [something] the size of a dried fig is liable. One who kneads [mud] is [doing] a subcategory of kneading. And what is its [requisite] amount? [That which is] enough to make a goldsmith’s crucible. And there is no [such thing as] kneading of ashes or of sand or of bran or of anything that is similar to them. One who places sesame seeds or flax seeds or that which is similar to them in water is liable on account of kneading – as they [then] become mixed up and connect to one another.