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The Torah · Old Testament

Numbers 15

Offerings, wrongdoing and reminders to obey

General context

Instructions for life in the land specify the flour, oil and wine accompanying animal offerings and require a contribution from the first dough. The chapter provides sacrifices for unintentional wrongdoing by the congregation or an individual and distinguishes such cases from defiant offense against the Lord's word. A narrative then records a man found gathering sticks on the Sabbath. He is held while a ruling is sought; the Lord orders death, and the congregation stones him outside the camp. The closing command requires fringes with a blue cord on garments as a visible reminder to remember and do the commandments.

Cited passages: Numbers 15:1, Numbers 15:2, Numbers 15:3, Numbers 15:4, Numbers 15:5, Numbers 15:6, Numbers 15:7, Numbers 15:8, Numbers 15:9, Numbers 15:10, Numbers 15:11, Numbers 15:12, Numbers 15:13, Numbers 15:14, Numbers 15:15, Numbers 15:16, Numbers 15:17, Numbers 15:18, Numbers 15:19, Numbers 15:20, Numbers 15:21, Numbers 15:22, Numbers 15:23, Numbers 15:24, Numbers 15:25, Numbers 15:26, Numbers 15:27, Numbers 15:28, Numbers 15:29, Numbers 15:30, Numbers 15:31, Numbers 15:32, Numbers 15:33, Numbers 15:34, Numbers 15:35, Numbers 15:36, Numbers 15:37, Numbers 15:38, Numbers 15:39, Numbers 15:40, Numbers 15:41

Numbers 15 (KJV)

1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you,

3And will make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the Lord, of the herd, or of the flock:

4Then shall he that offereth his offering unto the Lord bring a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil.

5And the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice, for one lamb.

6Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meat offering two tenth deals of flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil.

7And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.

8And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in performing a vow, or peace offerings unto the Lord:

9Then shall he bring with a bullock a meat offering of three tenth deals of flour mingled with half an hin of oil.

10And thou shalt bring for a drink offering half an hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

11Thus shall it be done for one bullock, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or a kid.

12According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number.

13All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

14And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; as ye do, so he shall do.

15One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.

16One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.

17And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

18Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you,

19Then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the Lord.

20Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it.

21Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the Lord an heave offering in your generations.

22And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses,

23Even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations;

24Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the Lord, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering.

25And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their ignorance:

26And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance.

27And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering.

28And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.

29Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.

30But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

31Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

32And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.

33And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.

34And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.

35And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

36And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.

37And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

38Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:

39And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:

40That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.

41I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The offering instructions apply a common ordinance to Israelites and resident foreigners. The prescribed accompaniments increase with the animal: a lamb, a ram and a bull each have specified quantities. The law about unintentional sin likewise includes the resident foreigner. The contribution in verses 17-21 is a cake from the first dough made after eating the land's bread. The Sabbath offender is unnamed, and the account supplies no personal motive for his gathering of sticks.

Cited passages: Numbers 15:4, Numbers 15:5, Numbers 15:6, Numbers 15:7, Numbers 15:8, Numbers 15:9, Numbers 15:10, Numbers 15:11, Numbers 15:12, Numbers 15:13, Numbers 15:14, Numbers 15:15, Numbers 15:16, Numbers 15:17, Numbers 15:18, Numbers 15:19, Numbers 15:20, Numbers 15:21, Numbers 15:24, Numbers 15:25, Numbers 15:26, Numbers 15:27, Numbers 15:28, Numbers 15:29, Numbers 15:32, Numbers 15:33, Numbers 15:34, Numbers 15:35, Numbers 15:36

Literary context

The chapter speaks of entering and eating in the land after the wilderness sentence in chapter 14, placing future communal life beside present judgment. Its sequence moves from offerings to distinctions in wrongdoing, then to a concrete execution and a daily reminder. The placement of the Sabbath case after the warning about presumptuous sin is suggestive, but the narrative does not explicitly describe the man's intent. At the end, seeing the garment fringe is meant to lead to remembering and doing, in contrast to following the heart and eyes into unfaithfulness.

Cited passages: Numbers 14:30, Numbers 14:31, Numbers 14:32, Numbers 14:33, Numbers 14:34, Numbers 14:35, Numbers 15:1, Numbers 15:2, Numbers 15:3, Numbers 15:17, Numbers 15:18, Numbers 15:22, Numbers 15:23, Numbers 15:24, Numbers 15:25, Numbers 15:26, Numbers 15:27, Numbers 15:28, Numbers 15:29, Numbers 15:30, Numbers 15:31, Numbers 15:32, Numbers 15:33, Numbers 15:34, Numbers 15:35, Numbers 15:36, Numbers 15:37, Numbers 15:38, Numbers 15:39, Numbers 15:40, Numbers 15:41

Key moments

  1. One ordinance (Numbers 15:15). The instructions place the congregation and the resident foreigner under the same offering ordinance.
  2. A Sabbath execution (Numbers 15:36). The congregation carries out the ordered stoning outside the camp.
  3. A blue cord (Numbers 15:38). Garment fringes receive a blue cord to help the people remember the commandments.

For reflection

What ordinary reminder helps you move from remembering a commitment to acting on it? How does this chapter keep the seriousness of wrongdoing alongside provision for forgiveness?

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