Parsha Chukat

Numbers (Bamidbar) 19:1-17 (Parsha Chukat, Aliyah 1)

Num 19:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:
Num 19:2 This is the statute of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying: Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer, faultless, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke.
Num 19:3 And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, and she shall be brought forth without the camp, and she shall be slain before his face.
Num 19:4nAnd Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.

Num 19:5 And the heifer shall be burnt in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall be burnt.
Num 19:6 And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

Num 19:7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he may come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
Num 19:8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.

Num 19:9 And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of sprinkling; it is a purification from sin.

Num 19:10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even; and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.

Num 19:11 He that toucheth the dead, even any man’s dead body, shall be unclean seven days;
Num 19:12 the same shall purify himself therewith on the third day and on the seventh day, and he shall be clean; but if he purify not himself the third day and the seventh day, he shall not be clean.
Num 19:13 Whosoever toucheth the dead, even the body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself – he hath defiled the tabernacle of the LORD – that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of sprinkling was not dashed against him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

Num 19:14 This is the law: when a man dieth in a tent, every one that cometh into the tent, and every thing that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
Num 19:15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering close-bound upon it, is unclean.
Num 19:16 And whosoever in the open field toucheth one that is slain with a sword, or one that dieth of himself, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

Num 19:17 And for the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the purification from sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel.

Numbers (Bamidbar) 19:18-22 (Parsha Chukat, Aliyah 2)

Num 19:18 And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave.

Num 19:19 And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him; and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.

Num 19:20 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; the water of sprinkling hath not been dashed against him: he is unclean.
Num 19:21 And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them; and he that sprinkleth the water of sprinkling shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of sprinkling shall be unclean until even.
Num 19:22 And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth him shall be unclean until even.

Numbers (Bamidbar) 20:1-6 (Parsha Chukat, Aliyah 2)

Num 20:1 And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

Num 20:2 And there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
Num 20:3 And the people strove with Moses, and spoke, saying: ‘Would that we had perished when our brethren perished before the LORD!
Num 20:4 And why have ye brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, to die there, we and our cattle?
Num 20:5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.’

Num 20:6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces; and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.

Numbers (Bamidbar) 20:7-13 (Parsha Chukat, Aliyah 3)

Num 20:7 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Num 20:8 ‘Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.’

Num 20:9  And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as He commanded him.

Num 20:10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them: ‘Hear now, ye rebels; are we to bring you forth water out of this rock?’

Num 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

Num 20:12 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron: ‘Because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.’

Num 20:13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and He was sanctified in them.

Numbers (Bamidbar) 20:22-21:9 (Parsha Chukat, Aliyah 4)

Num 20:14  And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom: ‘Thus saith thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us;
Num 20:15  how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and our fathers;
Num 20:16  and when we cried unto the LORD, He heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt; and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border.
Num 20:17  Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy land; we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells; we will go along the king’s highway, we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy border.’

Num 20:18  And Edom said unto him: ‘Thou shalt not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against thee.’

Num 20:19  And the children of Israel said unto him: ‘We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then will I give the price thereof; let me only pass through on my feet; there is no hurt.’

Num 20:20  And he said: ‘Thou shalt not pass through.’ And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.
Num 20:21  Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; wherefore Israel turned away from him.

Numbers (Bamidbar) 20:22-29 (Parsha Chukat, Aliyah 5)

Num 20:22  And they journeyed from Kadesh; and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came unto mount Hor.

Num 20:23  And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying:
Num 20:24  ‘Aaron shall be gathered unto his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against My word at the waters of Meribah.
Num 20:25  Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor.
Num 20:26  And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.’

Num 20:27  And Moses did as the LORD commanded; and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
Num 20:28  And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount; and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.

Num 20:29  And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

Numbers (Bamidbar) 21:1-9 (Parsha Chukat, Aliyah 5)

Num 21:1  And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.
Num 21:2  And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said: ‘If Thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.’
Num 21:3  And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities; and the name of the place was called Hormah.

Num 21:4  And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became impatient because of the way.

Num 21:5  And the people spoke against God, and against Moses: ‘Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.’
Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Num 21:7  And the people came to Moses, and said: ‘We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that He take away the serpents from us.’ And Moses prayed for the people.

Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live.’

Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived.

Numbers (Bamidbar) 21:10-20 (Parsha Chukat, Aliyah 6)

Num 21:10  And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in Oboth.
Num 21:11  And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which is in front of Moab, toward the sun-rising.
Num 21:12  From thence they journeyed, and pitched in the valley of Zered.
Num 21:13  From thence they journeyed, and pitched on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that cometh out of the border of the Amorites. – For Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites;
Num 21:14  wherefore it is said in the book of the Wars of the LORD: Vaheb in Suphah, and the valleys of Arnon,
Num 21:15  And the slope of the valleys that inclineth toward the seat of Ar, and leaneth upon the border of Moab. –
Num 21:16  And from thence to Beer; that is the well whereof the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Gather the people together, and I will give them water.’

Num 21:17  Then sang Israel this song: Spring up, O well – sing ye unto it –

Num 21:18  The well, which the princes digged, which the nobles of the people delved, with the sceptre, and with their staves. And from the wilderness to Mattanah;
Num 21:19  and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;
Num 21:20  and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, by the top of Pisgah, which looketh down upon the desert.

Numbers (Bamidbar) 22:21-35 (Parsha Chukat, Aliyah 7)

Num 21:21  And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying:
Num 21:22  ‘Let me pass through thy land; we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard; we will not drink of the water of the wells; we will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed thy border.’

Num 21:23  And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz; and he fought against Israel.
Num 21:24  And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

Num 21:25  And Israel took all these cities; and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the towns thereof.
Num 21:26  For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto the Arnon.

Num 21:27  Wherefore they that speak in parables say: Come ye to Heshbon! let the city of Sihon be built and established!
Num 21:28  For a fire is gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it hath devoured Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of Arnon.
Num 21:29  Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh; he hath given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, unto Sihon king of the Amorites.
Num 21:30  We have shot at them – Heshbon is perished – even unto Dibon, and we have laid waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

Num 21:31  Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
Num 21:32  And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they took the towns thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

Num 21:33  And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

Num 21:34  And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Fear him not; for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.’

Num 21:35  So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him remaining; and they possessed his land.

Numbers (Bamidbar) 22:1 (Parsha Chukat, Aliyah 7)

Num 22:1  And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.

Judges 11.1-33 (Parsha Chukat, Haftarah)

Jdg 11:1  Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah.
Jdg 11:2  And Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove out Jephthah, and said unto him: ‘Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of another woman.’
Jdg 11:3  Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and there were gathered vain fellows to Jephthah, and they went out with him.

Jdg 11:4  And it came to pass after a while, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
Jdg 11:5  And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob.
Jdg 11:6  And they said unto Jephthah: ‘Come and be our chief, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.’

Jdg 11:7  And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead: ‘Did not ye hate me, and drive me out of my father’s house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?’

Jdg 11:8  And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah: ‘Therefore are we returned to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon, and thou shalt be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.’

Jdg 11:9  And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead: ‘If ye bring me back home to fight with the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, I will be your head.’

Jdg 11:10  And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah: ‘The LORD shall be witness between us; surely according to thy word so will we do.’
Jdg 11:11  Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.

Jdg 11:12  And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying: ‘What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come unto me to fight against my land?’

Jdg 11:13  And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah: ‘Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan; now therefore restore those cities peaceably.’

Jdg 11:14  And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon;
Jdg 11:15  and he said unto him: ‘Thus saith Jephthah: Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon.
Jdg 11:16  But when they came up from Egypt, and Israel walked through the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh;
Jdg 11:17  then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying: Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land; but the king of Edom hearkened not. And in like manner he sent unto the king of Moab; but he would not; and Israel abode in Kadesh.
Jdg 11:18  Then he walked through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they pitched on the other side of the Arnon; but they came not within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.
Jdg 11:19  And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him: Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land unto my place.
Jdg 11:20  But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
Jdg 11:21  And the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them; so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
Jdg 11:22  And they possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto the Jordan.
Jdg 11:23  So now the LORD, the God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel, and shouldest thou possess them?
Jdg 11:24  Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God hath dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.
Jdg 11:25  And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them?
Jdg 11:26  While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and its towns, and in Aroer and its towns, and in all the cities that are along by the side of the Arnon, three hundred years; wherefore did ye not recover them within that time?
Jdg 11:27  I therefore have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me; the LORD, the Judge, be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.’
Jdg 11:28  Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

Jdg 11:29  Then the spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
Jdg 11:30  And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said: ‘If Thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand,
Jdg 11:31  then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering.’
Jdg 11:32  So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hand.
Jdg 11:33  And he smote them from Aroer until thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto Abel-cheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

John 2:13-25 (Parsha Chukat, Renewed Covenant)

Joh 2:13  The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Joh 2:14  In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.
Joh 2:15  And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.
Joh 2:16  And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”
Joh 2:17  His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Joh 2:18  So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”

Joh 2:19  Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Joh 2:20  The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”
Joh 2:21  But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Joh 2:22  When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Joh 2:23  Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.
Joh 2:24  But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people
Joh 2:25  and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.