Aaron's Silence, Aaron's Speech

(10) And Moses said unto the LORD: ‘Oh Lord, I am not a man of words, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.’ (11) And the LORD said unto him: ‘Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I the LORD? (12) Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak.’ (13) And he said: ‘Oh Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send.’ (14) And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said: ‘Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. (15) And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. (16) And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him in God’s stead. (17) And thou shalt take in thy hand this rod, wherewith thou shalt do the signs.’

(1) And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him: ‘Up, make us a god who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.’ (2) And Aaron said unto them: ‘Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.’ (3) And all the people broke off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. (4) And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said: ‘This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.’ (5) And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said: ‘To-morrow shall be a feast to the LORD.’ . . . (21) And Moses said unto Aaron: ‘What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them?’ (22) And Aaron said: ‘Let not the anger of my lord wax hot; thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil. (23) So they said unto me: Make us a god, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. (24) And I said unto them: Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off; so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.’

(1) And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put fire therein, and laid incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. (2) And there came forth fire from before the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. (3) Then Moses said unto Aaron: ‘This is it that the LORD spoke, saying: Through them that are nigh unto Me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ And Aaron held his peace.

(12) And Moses spoke unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left: ‘Take the meal-offering that remaineth of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it ... (16) And Moses diligently inquired for the goat of the sin-offering, and, behold, it was burnt; and he was angry with Eleazar and with Ithamar, the sons of Aaron that were left, saying: (17) ’Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin-offering in the place of the sanctuary, seeing it is most holy, and He hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD? (18) Behold, the blood of it was not brought into the sanctuary within; ye should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.’ (19) And Aaron spoke unto Moses: ‘Behold, this day have they offered their sin-offering and their burnt-offering before the LORD, and there have befallen me such things as these; and if I had eaten the sin-offering to-day, would it have been well-pleasing in the sight of the LORD? (20) And when Moses heard that, it was well-pleasing in his sight.

(1) And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman. (2) And they said: ‘Hath the LORD indeed spoken only with Moses? hath He not spoken also with us?’ And the LORD heard it.— (3) Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth.— (4) And the LORD spoke suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam: ‘Come out ye three unto the tent of meeting.’ And they three came out. (5) And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forth. (6) And He said: ‘Hear now My words: if there be a prophet among you, I the LORD do make Myself known unto him in a vision, I do speak with him in a dream. (7) My servant Moses is not so; he is trusted in all My house; (8) with him do I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD doth he behold; wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against My servant, against Moses?’ (9) And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and He departed. (10) And when the cloud was removed from over the Tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam; and, behold, she was leprous. (11) And Aaron said unto Moses: ‘Oh my lord, lay not, I pray thee, sin upon us, for that we have done foolishly, and for that we have sinned. (12) Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb.’ (13) And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying: ‘Heal her now, O God, I beseech Thee.’ ...

(6) But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying: ‘Ye have killed the people of the LORD.’ (7) And it came to pass, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting; and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. (8) And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting. (9) And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: (10) ’Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.’ And they fell upon their faces. (11) And Moses said unto Aaron: ‘Take thy fire-pan, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry it quickly unto the congregation, and make atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from the LORD: the plague is begun.’ (12) And Aaron took as Moses spoke, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. (13) And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. (14) Now they that died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah. (15) And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stayed.

(1) And the LORD said unto Aaron: ‘Thou and thy sons and thy fathers’ house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood....(5) And ye shall keep the charge of the holy things, and the charge of the altar, that there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel... (7) And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood in everything that pertaineth to the altar, and to that within the veil; and ye shall serve; I give you the priesthood as a service of gift; and the common man that draweth nigh shall be put to death.’ (8) And the LORD spoke unto Aaron: ‘And I, behold, I have given thee the charge of My heave-offerings; even of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel unto thee have I given them for a consecrated portion, and to thy sons, as a due for ever.

(22) Moses deposited the staffs before the LORD, in the Tent of the Pact. (23) The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Pact, and there the staff of Aaron of the house of Levi had sprouted: it had brought forth sprouts, produced blossoms, and borne almonds. (24) Moses then brought out all the staffs from before the LORD to all the Israelites; each identified and recovered his staff. (25) The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back before the Pact, to be kept as a lesson to rebels, so that their mutterings against Me may cease, lest they die.” (26) This Moses did; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did.