Shlach Numbers 13 1 - 15 41 First Portion Numbers Chapter 13 The Lord spoke to Moses saying, Send out for yourself men who will scout the Land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. You shall send one man each for his father s tribe each one shall be a chieftain in their midst. So Moses sent them from the desert of Paran by the word of the Lord. All of them were men of distinction they were the heads of the children of Israel. These are their names For the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zakkur. For the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. For the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jepphunneh. For the tribe of Issachar, Yigal the son of Joseph. For the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun. For the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. For the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. For the tribe of Joseph, the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. For the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. For the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. For the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. For the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. These are the names of the men Moses sent to scout the Land, and Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua. Moses sent them to scout the Land of Canaan, and he said to them, Go up this way in the south and climb up the mountain. You shall see what kind of land it is, and the people who inhabit it are they strong or weak? Are there few or many? And what of the land they inhabit? Is it good or bad? And what of the cities in which they reside are they in camps or in fortresses? What is the soil like is it fat or lean? Are there any trees in it or not? You shall be courageous and take from the fruit of the land. It was the season when the first grapes begin to ripen. Second Portion So they went up and explored the land, from the desert of Zin until Rehov, at the entrance to Hamath. They went up in, the south, and he came to Hebron, and there were Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of the giant. Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan of Egypt. They came to the Valley of Eshkol and they cut a branch with a cluster of grapes. They carried it on a pole between two people and they also took some pomegranates and figs. They called that place the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster eshkol the children of Israel cut from there. They returned from scouting the Land at the end of forty days. They went, and they came to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the desert of Paran, to Kadesh. They brought them back a report, as well as to the entire congregation, and they showed them the fruit of the land. They told him and said, We came to the land to which you sent us, and it is flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who inhabit the land are mighty, and the cities are extremely huge and fortified, and there we saw even the offspring of the giant. The Amalekites dwell in the south land, while the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountainous region. The Canaanites dwell on the coast and alongside the Jordan. Caleb silenced the people to hear about Moses, and he said, We can surely go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it. But the men who went up with him said, We are unable to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. They spread an evil report about the land which they had scouted, telling the children of Israel, The land we passed through to explore is a land that consumes its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of stature. There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, descended from the giants. In our eyes, we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes. Numbers Chapter 14 The entire community raised their voices and shouted, and the people wept on that night. All the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the entire congregation said, If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this desert. Why does the Lord bring us to this land to fall by the sword our wives and children will be as spoils. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt? They said to each other, Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt! Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the entire congregation of the children of Israel. Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had scouted the land, tore their clothes. They spoke to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land we passed through to scout is an exceedingly good land. Third Portion If the Lord desires us, He will bring us to this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. But you shall not rebel against the Lord, and you will not fear the people of that land for they are as our bread. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us do not fear them. The entire congregation threatened to pelt them with stones, but the glory of the Lord appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of Israel. The Lord said to Moses, How long will this people provoke Me? How much longer will they not believe in Me after all the signs I have performed in their midst? I will strike them with a plague and annihilate them then I will make you into a nation, greater and stronger than they. Moses said to the Lord, But the Egyptians will hear that You have brought this nation out from its midst with great power. They will say about the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that You, O Lord, are in the midst of this people that You, the Lord, appear to them eye to eye and that Your cloud rests over them. And You go before them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night, and if You kill this nation like one man, the nations who have heard of Your reputation will say as follows Since the Lord lacked the ability to bring this nation to the Land which He swore to them, He slaughtered them in the desert. Now, please, let the strength of the Lord be increased, as You spoke, saying. The Lord is slow to anger and abundantly kind, forgiving iniquity and transgression, Who cleanses some and does not cleanse others , Who visits the iniquities of parents on children, even to the third and fourth generations. Please forgive the iniquity of this nation in accordance with your abounding kindness, as You have borne this people from Egypt until now. And the Lord said, I have forgiven them in accordance with your word. However, as surely as I live, and as the glory of the Lord fills the earth... that all the people who perceived My glory, and the signs that I performed in Egypt and in the desert, yet they have tested me these ten times and not listened to My voice, if they will see the Land that I swore to their fathers, and all who provoked Me will not see it. But as for My servant Caleb, since he was possessed by another spirit, and he followed Me, I will bring him to the land to which he came, and his descendants will drive it s inhabitants out. The Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley. Tomorrow, turn back and journey into the desert toward the Red Sea. Fourth Portion The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, How much longer will this evil congregation who are causing to complain against Me exist ? The complaints of the children of Israel which they caused them to complain against Me, I have heard. Say to them, As I live, says the Lord, if not as you have spoken in My ears, so will I do to you. In this desert, your corpses shall fall your entire number, all those from the age of twenty and up, who were counted, because you complained against Me. You shall not come into the Land concerning which I raised My hand that you would settle in it, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. As for your infants, of whom you said that they will be as spoils, I will bring them there , and they will come to know the Land which You despised. But as for you, your corpses shall fall in this desert. Your children shall wander in the desert for forty years and bear your defection until the last of your corpses has fallen in the desert. According to the number of days which you toured the Land forty days, a day for each year, you will thus bear your iniquities for forty years thus you will come to know My alienation. I, the Lord, have spoken if I will not do this to the entire evil congregation who have assembled against me in this desert they will end, and there they will die. As for the men whom Moses had sent to scout the Land, who returned and caused the entire congregation to complain against him by spreading a slanderous report about the Land the men who spread an evil report about the Land died in the plague, before the Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive of the men who went to tour the Land. Moses related all these words to the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. They arose early in the morning and ascended to the mountain top, saying, We are ready to go up to the place of which the Lord spoke, for we have sinned. Moses said, Why do you transgress the word of the Lord? It will not succeed. Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, so that you will not be beaten by your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword. For you have turned away from the Lord, and the Lord will not be with you. They defiantly ascended to the mountain top, but the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and Moses did not move from the camp. The Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived on the mountain came down and smote them and crushed them pursuing them until Hormah. Numbers Chapter 15 The Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to the children of Israel and say to them When you arrive in the Land of your dwelling place, which I am giving you, and you make a fire offering to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice namely a peace offering , for an expressed vow or for a voluntary offering or on your festivals, to provide a pleasing fragrance for the Lord, from the cattle or from the sheep. The one who brings his offering to the Lord shall present a meal offering containing one tenth fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil. And a quarter of a hin of wine for a libation, you shall prepare with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb. Or for a ram, you shall present a meal offering containing two tenths fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil. And a third of a hin of wine for a libation you shall offer up, a pleasing fragrance to the Lord. Fifth Portion If you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice by expressing a vow, or for a peace offering for the Lord, with the young bull he shall offer up a meal offering consisting of three tenths fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil. And you shall offer half a hin of wine for a libation, a fire offering of pleasing fragrance to the Lord. So shall it be done for each ox or ram, or for a young sheep or young goat. In accordance with the number you offer up, so shall you present for each one, according to their numbers. Every native born shall do it in this manner, to offer up a fire offering of pleasing fragrance to the Lord. If a proselyte resides with you, or those among you in future generations, and he offers up a fire offering of pleasing fragrance to the Lord, as you make it, so shall he make it. One rule applies to the assembly, for yourselves and for the proselyte who resides with you one rule applies throughout your generations just as it is for you, so it is for the proselyte, before the Lord. There shall be one law and one ordinance for you and the proselyte who resides with you . Sixth Portion The Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to the children of Israel and you shall say to them, When you arrive in the Land to which I am bringing you, and you eat from the bread of the Land, you shall set aside a gift for the Lord. The first portion of your dough, you shall separate a loaf for a gift as in the case of the gift of the threshing floor, so shall you separate it. From the first portion of your dough you shall give a gift to the Lord in all your generations. And if you should err and not fulfill all these commandments, which the Lord spoke to Moses. All that the Lord commanded you through Moses, from the day on which the Lord commanded and from then on, for all generations. If because of the eyes of the congregation it was committed inadvertently, the entire congregation shall prepare a young bull as a burnt offering for a pleasing fragrance for the Lord, with its prescribed meal offering and libation, and one young he goat for a sin offering. The kohen shall atone on behalf of the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them, for it was an error, and they have brought their offering as a fire offering to the Lord and their sin offering before the Lord because of their error. The entire congregation of the children of Israel and the proselyte who resides with them shall be forgiven, for all the people were in error. Seventh Portion But if an individual sins inadvertently, he shall offer up a she goat in its first year as a sin offering. And the kohen shall atone for the erring soul which sinned inadvertently before the Lord, so as to atone on his behalf, and it shall be forgiven him. One law shall apply to anyone who sins inadvertently from the native born of the children of Israel and the proselyte who resides among them. But if a person should act highhandedly, whether he is a native born or a proselyte, he is blaspheming the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among its people. For he has scorned the word of the Lord and violated His commandment that soul shall be utterly cut off for its iniquity is upon it. When the children of Israel were in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood presented him before Moses and Aaron and before the entire congregation. They put him under guard, since it was not specified what was to be done to him. The Lord said to Moses, The man shall be put to death the entire congregation shall pelt him with stones outside the camp. So the entire congregation took him outside the camp, and they pelted him to death with stones, as the Lord had commanded Moses. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying Speak to the children of Israel and you shall say to them that they shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations, and they shall affix a thread of sky blue wool on the fringe of each corner. This shall be fringes for you, and when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord to perform them, and you shall not wander after your hearts and after your eyes after which you are going astray. So that you shall remember and perform all My commandments and you shall be holy to your God. I am the Lord, your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt to be your God I am the Lord, your God.