1 A year after Israel’s departure from Egypt, the L
ORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. In the first month
[fn] of that year he said,
2 “Tell the Israelites to celebrate the Passover at the prescribed time,
3 at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
[fn] Be sure to follow all my decrees and regulations concerning this celebration.”
9 This was the L
ORD’s reply to Moses.
10 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If any of the people now or in future generations are ceremonially unclean at Passover time because of touching a dead body, or if they are on a journey and cannot be present at the ceremony, they may still celebrate the L
ORD’s Passover.
11 They must offer the Passover sacrifice one month later, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month.
[fn] They must eat the Passover lamb at that time with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast.
12 They must not leave any of the lamb until the next morning, and they must not break any of its bones. They must follow all the normal regulations concerning the Passover.
15 On the day the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered it.
[fn] But from evening until morning the cloud over the Tabernacle looked like a pillar of fire.
16 This was the regular pattern—at night the cloud that covered the Tabernacle had the appearance of fire.
17 Whenever the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. And wherever the cloud settled, the people of Israel would set up camp.
18 In this way, they traveled and camped at the L
ORD’s command wherever he told them to go. Then they remained in their camp as long as the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle.
19 If the cloud remained over the Tabernacle for a long time, the Israelites stayed and performed their duty to the L
ORD.
20 Sometimes the cloud would stay over the Tabernacle for only a few days, so the people would stay for only a few days, as the L
ORD commanded. Then at the L
ORD’s command they would break camp and move on.
21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and lifted the next morning. But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on.
22 Whether the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on.
23 So they camped or traveled at the L
ORD’s command, and they did whatever the L
ORD told them through Moses.