NUMBERS CHAPTER 7 ~ 12

NUMBERS 7

1 It happened, when Moses had done
Setting up the tent under sun,
That he anointed, consecrated
It and all its furnishings stated,
And the altar and all its tools,
So he anointed them in pools
And consecrated them in dread.
2 The leaders of Israel, each head
Of their fathers' houses, who were
The leaders of the tribes, over
Those who were numbered, made offering.
3 And they each one brought their offering
Before YHWH, six covered carts and
Twelve oxen, a cart in the hand
Of every two of leaders' band,
And for each one an ox, and they
Presented them by tent that day.
4 Then YHWH spoke to Moses to say,
5 "Accept these from them, that they may
Be used in doing meeting tent
Work, and you shall give them as meant
To the Levites, to every man
According as his service can."
6 So Moses took the carts and oxen,
And gave them to the Levites coxswain.
7 Two carts and four oxen he gave
To the sons of Gershon as slave,
According to their service, 8 and
Four carts and eight oxen in hand
He gave to the sons of Merari,
According to their service carry,
Under the hand of Ithamar
The son of Aaron the priest's fer.
9 But to the sons of Kohath he
Gave none, because theirs was the fee
Of service of the holy things,
Which they carried on shoulder wings.

Justice is not that every man be treated
Exactly as the other with meal meted.
For one the oxen and the carts to own,
For others only shoes to cushion bone.
Each gets from You the things he hazards most,
And in the end there is no room for boast.
According to their service, each man finds
A gift divine behind the veils and blinds.
I grasp my own and run to meet Your call
And stumbling sometimes, and about to fall,
I still win what was always mine to live,
Astounded at Your common lot to give.
Beloved, my shoulders have no wings to bear,
But still I find Your givings everywhere.

10 The leaders offered dedication
For the altar when in its station
It was anointed, so the chiefs
Offered their offerings' reliefs
Before the altar. 11 For YHWH said
To Moses, "They shall offer bread,
Their offering, one chief every day,
For altar dedication's sway."
12 And the one who offered his offering
On the first day was Nahshon proffering,
The son of Amminadab, from
The tribe of Judah overcome.
13 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 14 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 15 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
16 One goat kid as a sin offering,
17 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was the offering of Nahshon
Who was Amminadab's own son.

Those Christians seem to think that faith is but
Remembering sins and covering them in blood,
Religion is the mass and offering what
Was on the cross and what is in the bud
Of bread and wine, so sweetly bread and wine.
Besides the kid for sin, old-fashioned Moses
Describes at least two dozen things that shine
Far brighter in the list that God imposes.
A silver charger and a golden spoon
Show that my prayer is more than asking pardon.
There was an offering not inopportune
Before dear Eve and Adam left the garden.
Lord, let my peace and praise be as five rams
In weight, two oxen and ten goats and lambs.

18 On the second day Nethanel
The son of Zuar, chief as well
Of Issachar, presented swell.
19 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 20 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 21 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
22 One goat kid as a sin offering,
23 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was offering of Nethanel
The son of Zuar. 24 On the bell
Of the third day Eliab son
Of Helon, chief of Zebulon.
25 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 26 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 27 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
28 One goat kid as a sin offering,
29 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was Eliab's offering, son
Of Helon. 30 On the fourth day done
Elizur the son of Shedeur,
Chief of Reuben, presented sure.
31 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 32 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 33 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
34 One goat kid as a sin offering,
35 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was the offering of Elizur
The son of Shedeur and no miser.
36 On the fifth day Shelumiel,
Zurishaddai's son, chief as well
Of Simeon's folk, presented spell.
37 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 38 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 39 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
40 One goat kid as a sin offering,
41 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was Shelumiel's offering,
The son of Zurishaddai's ring.
42 On the sixth day Eliasaph son
Of Deuel, chief of Gad's folk spun.
43 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 44 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 45 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
46 One goat kid as a sin offering,
47 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was Eliasaph's offering,
The son of Deuel on a string.
48 On the seventh day Elishama
The son of Ammihud, no blamer,
But the chief of Ephraim's folk came here.
49 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 50 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 51 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
52 One goat kid as a sin offering,
53 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was offering of Elishama
The son of Ammihud, no blamer.
54 On the eighth day Gamaliel
The son of Pedahzur came well
As chief of Manasseh's folk's dell.
55 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 56 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 57 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
58 One goat kid as a sin offering,
59 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was Gamaliel's offering,
The son of Pedahzur and ring.
60 On the ninth day Abidan son
Of Gideoni, chief when done
Of Benjamin's folk hit the sun.
61 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 62 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 63 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
64 One goat kid as a sin offering,
65 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was the offering of Abidan
The son Gideoni might hide in.
66 On the tenth day Ahiezer
The son Ammishaddai's did bear,
The chief of Dan's folk came to swear.
67 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 68 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 69 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
70 One goat kid as a sin offering,
71 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was Ahiezer's offering
The son of Ammishaddai's ring.
72 On the eleventh day Pagiel
The son of Ocran, all the while
The chief of Asher's folk a pile.
73 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 74 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 75 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
76 One goat kid as a sin offering,
77 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was the offering of Pagiel
The son of Ocran, and his pile.
78 On the twelfth day Ahira son
Of Enan, who was chief well done
Of Naphtali's folk had begun.
79 His offering was one silver plate,
One hundred and thirty in weight,
Of seventy shekels a bowl
Of silver by the temple goal
Of shekel, and both of them full
Of fine flour mixed with oil to pull
As a grain offering, 80 one gold pan
Of ten shekels gargantuan,
Full of incense, 81 and one young bull,
One ram, and one male yearling lamb,
As a burnt offering anagram,
82 One goat kid as a sin offering,
83 For sacrifice of peace offering:
Two oxen, five rams, five male goats,
And five male yearling lambs in coats.
This was Ahira's offering due,
The son of Enan, last of crew.
84 This was the dedication for
The altar from the leaders' score
Of Israel, when it was anointed:
Twelve silver platters, twelve appointed
Silver bowls, and twelve gold pans.
85 Each silver platter weighed in spans
Of shekels one hundred and thirty
And each bowl seventy, not dirty.
The silver of the vessels weighed
In all two thousand four hundred,
According to the shekel spent
Within the sanctuary tent.
86 The twelve gold pans full of incense
Weighed ten shekels apiece, in pence
According to the shekel weight
Of sanctuary and of state,
All the gold of the pans weighed one
Hundred and twenty shekels done.
87 All the oxen for the burnt offering
Were twelve young bulls, and twelve rams proffering,
Twelve male lambs yearling, with their grain
Offering, and the goats' kids in train
As a sin offering twelve. 88 And all
The oxen for peace offerings' call
In sacrifice were twenty-four
Bulls, the rams sixty, and not more
Than sixty male goats, and the lambs
In their first year sixty from dams.
This was the dedication offering
For the altar after the proffering
Of its anointing. 89 When Moses
Went to the meeting tent to bless
And speak with Him, he heard the voice
Of One speaking to him by choice
From above the mercy seat that
Was on the ark where witness sat,
From between the two cherubim,
And thus it was He spoke to him.

As every chief among the twelve brought to
Your altar, my Beloved, the offerings due,
And every offering brought was just the same,
So every offering glorified Your name.
Of one command and one light are they all
Who respond to the divine summons call
To be Imams and leaders of the world.
The twelve in time and place have aye unfurled
The same flag of divine proof and of power.
Each brings his own incense to last an hour,
The fragrance of the same sweet love and truth.
In humble desert tent, acacia booth,
Or in the mirrored temple built on mount,
Or in the inner tent, they have one count.

WEEK 36 NUMBERS 8

1 And YHWH spoke to Moses, and said
2 "Speak to Aaron , and have him led,
'When you arrange the lamps, the lamps
Seven in number with their damps
Give light in front of the lampstand.'"
3 And Aaron did so, by command
He arranged the lamps to face toward
The front of the lampstand, as Lord
YHWH commanded Moses. 4 Now this
Craft of the lampstand's edifice
Was hammered gold, from its shaft to
Its flowers it was hammered construe.
According to the pattern which
YHWH had shown Moses on the pitch,
So he made the lampstand thereto.

Let the lamp that shines in my inner cave
Where I alone seek out its light and brave,
Be beaten from the gold of love and fire
That is the meat and drink of Your desire.
Let shaft and flowers be spun high in the room
That hides my fragile faith from public doom.
I know that pattern that You once revealed
To Moses on the mount, I know its yield,
I know its sapphire gleamings and its hard
And shining plates, and yet the honour guard
Of precious words is written on my heart:
I read them in the shining lights apart
That glimmer from the lampstand in that place,
Hidden from all the world but not Your face.

5 Then YHWH spoke to Moses, and said
6 "Take Levites from among well-fed
Folk of Israel and cleanse them right.
7 "Thus you shall do to them in rite:
Douse water of purification
On them, and let them each location
On all their body shave, and let
Them wash their clothes, and not forget,
And so make themselves clean. 8 "Then let
Them take a young bull with its grain
Offering of fine flour mixed amain
With oil, and you shall take another
Young bull as sin offering to brother.

The only ones who shave the whole body
Today, it seems, in answer to Your plea,
Are Qalandars who roam Your fair earth's land,
Alone, unnoticed by the sultan's band.
Without Levite, each firstborn is remanded
To take the role that You then once commanded,
And so the Qalandar with faith in hand
Wanders about the cities and the roads
With little on his back of other loads
Than what he can remember, what he knows
Of Your revealing from the mountain shows.
He meets new Sinais everywhere he goes.
Beloved, look down on hairy me and see
The heart of Qalandar, alone and free.

9 "And you shall bring the Levites here
Before the meeting tent appear,
And you shall gather them together,
The whole assembly of a feather,
Of Israel's folk. 10 "So you shall bring
The Levites before YHWH on wing,
And the children of Israel shall
Lay their hands on the Levites' pal,
11 "And Aaron shall offer Levites
Before YHWH, like wave offering rites
From the children of Israel,
That they may perform the work well
Of YHWH. 12 "Then the Levites shall lay
Their hands on the heads of the gay
Young bulls, and you shall offer one
As a sin offering as done
And the other as a burnt offering
To YHWH, to make atonement proffering
For the Levites. 13 "And you shall stand
The Levites before Aaron's band,
Him and his sons, and then offer
Them like a wave offering to stir
YHWH. 14 "Thus you'll separate Levites
From among Israel's folk by rights,
And all the Levites shall be Mine.
15 "After that the Levites shall join
Into meeting tent service fine.
So you shall cleanse and offer them,
Like a wave offering at the hem.

With burnt offering You separated then
The Levites from all such existing men.
The offering of a bull might seem to vie
With taurobolium upon the sly.
The offering is a gauge of faithfulness,
The common meal of parties that confess
A contract solemn and a promise kept.
The modern reader sees who wailed and wept
With rantings, dancings, cuttings of the flesh
As something on the same order and fresh.
The human sacrifice that Christians pose
Makes older things collapse before the nose.
Beloved, I join with You in promised meal
Confirming that You and I make a deal.

16 "For they are wholly given to Me
From among Israel's children free,
I have taken them for Myself
Instead of all who open shelf
Of the womb, the firstborn of all
The children of Israel by call.
17 "For all of the firstborn among
The children of Israel were sung
As Mine own, both the man and beast,
On the day that I struck at least
All the firstborn in Egypt's land
I sanctified Myself their band.
18 "I have taken Levites instead
Of all the firstborn of the bred
Children of Israel. 19 "And I have
Given the Levites as gift suave
To Aaron and his sons among
The children of Israel unsung,
To do the work for Israel's folk
In tent of meeting at a stroke,
To make atonement for the folk
Of Israel, that there be no plague
Among Israel's folk, clear or vague,
When the children of Israel come
Near sanctuary with their sum."
20 Thus Moses and Aaron and all
The assembly of Israel's call
Did to the Levites, according
To all that YHWH said commanding
Moses concerning the Levites,
So Israel's folk did for their rights.
21 And Levites purified themselves
And washed their clothes upon their shelves,
Then Aaron presented them, like
A wave offering before YHWH's strike,
And Aaron made atonement for
Them to cleanse them each, all the more.
22 After that the Levites went in
To do their work and without sin
In the meeting tent before Aaron
And his sons, as YHWH once did swear on
Moses concerning the Levites,
So they did to them for their rights.
23 Then YHWH spoke to Moses, and said
24 "This is what is for Levites' spread:
From twenty-five years old and up
One may enter to bear the cup
Of service in the meeting tent,
Its work and all its labours spent,
25 "And at the age of fifty years
They must cease doing work for fears,
And shall work no more in arrears.
26 "They may minister with their brothers
In meeting tent to help the others,
But they themselves shall do no work.
Thus you shall do and not to shirk
To the Levites regarding work."

The Levites get to work for five more years
Than do the priest, such justice raises fears.
Ought not all workers catch the same amount
And all come to a common, saving count?
Ah no, it seems each ministry atones
For what it takes from energy and bones.
The priest requires five years of youthful scopes
To learn the legal lessons of his ropes.
Only at thirty can he tell the times
Distinguishing between the rights and crimes.
The aged come to lend a helping hand,
But not hand so much as the right command,
Knowing how things ought to be done they spell
The knots their children could not tie up well.

NUMBERS 9

1 Now YHWH spoke to Moses within
The wilderness of Sinai's spin,
In the first month of second year
After they'd come from Egypt's fear,
Saying 2 "Let folk of Israel keep
The Passover when I say peep.
3 "On this month's fourteenth day, at twilight,
You shall keep it appointed skylight,
According to all its rites and
Rituals you shall keep command."
4 So Moses said to Israel's folk
To keep Passover as God spoke.
5 And they kept the Passover on
Fourteenth day of the first month drawn,
At twilight, in the wilderness
Of Sinai, by all the address
That YHWH commanded to Moses,
So did the folk of Israel do.
6 Now there were then certain men who
Were defiled by a human corpse,
So they could not, because it warps,
Keep the Passover on that day,
And they came to Moses to say,
And spoke to Aaron in that way.
7 And those men said to him, "We are
Defiled by a human corpse scar.
Why are we kept from presenting
The offering of YHWH at its wing
Of time appointed among folk
Of Israel?" 8 And Moses spoke
To them, "Stand still, that I may hear
What YHWH will command for your fear."

Who touch and bathe the body of the dead
Must purify themselves and so be led,
And so they will not keep the feast that You
Command upon the Prophet's word to do.
The year was made upon Your own command,
And in its cycle by prophetic hand
In every age there are such feasts that turn
The minds of men from moon and sun that burn
To know that You are one, to You return
All faces that a body may discern.
I turn to You from day to day and year
To year as long as I have to appear,
And find beyond the wax and wane of tide
That You are always standing at my side.

9 Then YHWH spoke to Moses, saying
10 "Speak to Israel's folk, saying
'If anyone of you or your
Posterity is unclean for
A corpse, or is far away on
A journey, he may still keep drawn
YHWH's Passover. 11 'On fourteenth day
Of second month, at twilight, they
May keep it. They shall eat it with
Unleavened bread and bitter withe.
12 'They shall leave none of it until
Morning, nor break one of its still
Bones. According to all the laws
Of Passover they'll keep its cause.
13 'But the man who's clean and is not
On a journey, and still does not
Keep the Passover, that same one
Shall be cut off from among son
Of his people, because he did
Not bring the offering that YHWH did
Appoint to its time, that man shall
Bear his sin. 14 'And if stranger dwell
Among you, to keep YHWH's Passover,
He must do so according to
The rite of Passover moreover
And according to its law due,
You shall have single ordinance,
Both for the stranger and the grants
Of native born in land to dance.'"

The Passover occurs upon the day
Of the month that the divine, sovereign way
Demands, the evening of the fourteenth night.
To miss the first month brings into the sight
The second month, so none may go astray.
Prophetic feasts may oft be set aside
And postponed for trip with or without guide,
But meeting You is not subject to such,
For every Sabbath comes to say as much
And is not tallied on the day to come
But has to make only the seventh sum.
And coming of Your breath and holy touch
Is never set off to a future date:
I am here on this day and here I wait.

15 Now on the day the tent was set
Up, the covering cloud the tent met,
The tent of testimony, from
Evening until morning it's come
Above the tabernacle like
Appearance of a fire to strike.
16 So it was always, the cloud covered
It by day, and appearance hovered
With fire by night. 17 But when the cloud
Was taken up above the crowd
And from the tent, after that then
The folk of Israel would unpen
And journey, and in the place where
The cloud settled, Israel's folk there
Would pitch their tents. 18 At the command
Of YHWH Israel's folk would stand
To journey, and at the command
Of YHWH they would encamp, as long
As the cloud stayed above the throng
And tabernacle they remained
Camped. 19 Even when the cloud refrained,
Continued long, many days there
Above the tabernacle where
The folk of Israel kept the charge
Of YHWH, did not journey at large.
20 So it was, when the cloud stood fast
Above the tabernacle past
A few days: according to word
Of YHWH they would remain unstirred,
And according to YHWH's command
They would journey. 21 So it was, when
The cloud remained only from eve
Until the morning: and then when
The cloud was taken up to leave
In the morning, then they would journey,
Whether by day or night's attorney,
Whenever cloud was taken up,
They would journey for the world cup.
22 Whether it was two days, or yet,
A month, or year the cloud was set
Above the tabernacle stamped,
The folk of Israel'd stay encamped
And not journey, but when it was
Taken up, they'd journey abuzz.
23 At the command of YHWH they stayed
Encamped, and at YHWH's word relayed
They journeyed, kept the charge of YHWH,
At the command of YHWH and made
By the hand of Moses to do.

Moses is the appointed guide and true,
And yet the one that really guides is You.
Each morning on awaking all looked out
To see the cloud above the tent about,
And if it rose and moved then with a shout
Or silent acquiescence, everyone
Got ready to take journey under sun.
So day by day Your guidance went above
The word of Moses toward the land of love.
I too each morning look to You alone
To see if I shall remain in the bone
Or take my flight to other world and zone.
Beloved, I look to You for cloud and light
To lead me through the forest and the night.

NUMBERS 10

1 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying
2 "Make two silver trumpets to sing
For yourself, you shall make them of
Hammered work, you shall use in love
Trumpets for calling the assembly
And for directing movement trembly
Of the camps. 3 "When they blow them both,
All the assembly that's not sloth
Shall gather to you at the door
Of meeting tent to hear the score.
4 "But if they blow only one, then
The leaders, the heads of the men,
Divisions of Israel, shall come
Gathered to you to hear the sum.

By silver trumpets Your divine guide, proof
Commands the people not to be aloof.
He blows the one to summon leading men,
He blows them both to find the folk again
To gather all before the royal tent
Where hides the bright shekinah from You sent.
The leading ones hear only one clear sound
And know where they should gather on the ground.
But all the people hear a symphony,
An interval of two notes blown sweetly.
Who knows if a third or a fourth was heard,
Or if the voice was of the quavering bird
Whose music is beyond the call of ear
To analyse according to the peer.

5 "When you sound the advance, the camps
That lie on the east side of damps
Shall then begin their journey out.
6 "When you sound the advance with shout
The second time, then the camps lying
On the south side without defying
Shall start their journey, they shall sound
The call for them to start their round.
7 "When the assembly is to be
Gathered together, you'll decree
To blow, but not sound the advance.
8 "The sons of Aaron , in their dance,
The priests, shall blow the trumpets, and
These shall be to you as command,
Forever through your generations.
9 "When you go to war in your stations
Against the enemy oppressing
You, then you shall sound an addressing
Alarm with the trumpets, and you
Will be remembered before YHWH
Your God, and you will be saved from
Your enemies before they come.
10 "Also in the day of your gladness,
In your appointed feasts not sadness,
And at the start of your months, you
Shall blow the trumpets with their cue
Over your burnt offerings and over
The sacrifices of moreover
Your peace offerings, and they shall be
Memorial for you and Me
Before your God: for I am YHWH
Your God who sees all that you do."

Although each eye can see the blessèd cloud
That guides by day and night, the trump aloud
Must sound before the footsteps can advance.
Obedience is order in the dance,
Despite the showing of the right and wrong
To every eye awaiting in the throng.
No one is called to run out all alone
To find the path to water from the stone.
Even when Your cloud of light and fire come
You still rely upon appointed's sum.
Beloved, let me not run beyond the course
Of Your will upon golden ass or horse.
I wait for the call of Your sent, Beloved,
Stand coated, hatted and well leather-gloved.

11 It happened on the twentieth day
Of the second month, in the sway
Of second year, the cloud was taken
From testimony tent unshaken.
12 And the children of Israel set
Out from Sinai's wilderness' sweat
On their journeys, then the cloud set
Down in the wilderness of Paran.
13 So they started out not to err on
For the first time according to
The commandment given by YHWH
And by the hand of Moses come.
14 The standard of the camp in sum
Of Judah's folk set out first by
Their armies, over their army
Was Nahshon Amminadab's son.
15 Over the army of the one
Tribe of Issachar's folk was one
Nethanel the son of Zuar. 16 And
Over the army by command
Of the tribe of Zebulon's folk
Was Eliab son of Helon.
17 Then the tent of the meeting broke
Camp, and all the sons of Gershon
And the sons of Merari set
Out, carrying the tabernacle.
18 The standard of Reuben's camp set
Out according to armies' tackle,
Over their army Elizur
Who was the son of Shedeur.

The command was set forth that when the cloud
Should rise from tent, then all would be allowed
To strike their tents and set off toward the land
Of promise, of milk and the honey band.
And yet a full year passed without a motion
Of the cloud on the tent for magic potion.
Each morning both the righteous and the dumb
Got up to see if sign to move had come,
And each at evening lay him down to sleep
As patiently as any farmer's sheep.
I thank You, my Beloved, I wait no sign
To get up and be marching to the fine.
I thank You that my patience is not tried
A year before I start to make a stride.

19 Over the army of the tribe
Of Simeon's folk we might describe
Shelumiel Zurishaddai's son.
20 And over the army begun
By the tribe of the folk of Gad
Was Eliasaph Deuel's son.
21 The Kohathites set out not sad
To carry the holy things after.
The tent would be prepared to rafter
For their arrival. 22 And the flag
Of the camp of Ephraim's ragtag
Set out according to armies,
Over their army set to please,
Elishama Ammihud's son.
23 Over the army of the tribe
Of Manasseh's folk was the scribe
Gamaliel Pedahzur's son.
24 And over the army of tribe
Of Benjamin's folk Abidan
The son of Gideoni, man.
25 And then the standard of the camp
Of the children of Dan, revamp
In the rear guard of all the folk
Set out by their armies in stroke,
Over their army was Ahiezer
Who was son of Ammishaddai, sir.
26 Over the army of the tribe
Of Asher's folk we may describe
Pagiel the son of Ocran.
27 And over the army of tribe
Of Naphtali Ahira, man
And the foremost son of Enan.
28 Thus was the order of the march
Of Israel's folk and not to parch,
According to their armies, when
They began their journey as men.

The order that the lads heard when the march
Was made in clockwise circuit of the arch,
Which shows them leaving circle in the way
Counter to the sun at the start of day.
I also rise after the year's reproach
To whirl against the daylight and the coach,
With feet bare on the shadow of the plain
Where sacrifices are still made amain.
Follow the leader, whirling like the sun,
I step out on the dergah till I'm done.
Beloved, I hear the trumpet and the drum
And wending through the crowds, to You I come.
My creaking bones and tendons feel the weight
Of unaccustomed footsteps to Your gate.

29 Now Moses said to Hobab son
Of Reuel the Midianite gun,
And Moses's father-in-law,
"We're setting out for place of awe
Of which YHWH said 'I’ll give it you.'
Come with us, we'll treat you well, YHWH
Has promised good things to Israel."
30 And he told him, "I'll not go well,
But I'll depart to my own land
And to my relatives at hand."
31 So Moses said "Please do not leave,
Since you know how to camp and weave
In wilderness, and you can be
Our eyes. 32 "And it shall surely be,
If you go with us, it shall be
That whatever good YHWH will do
To us, the same we'll do to you."
33 So they departed from the mount
Of YHWH in trip of three days' count,
And the ark of the covenant
Of YHWH went before them puissant
For the three days' journey, to search
Out a resting place for their perch.
34 And the cloud of YHWH was above
Them by day when they went out of
The camp. 35 So it was, whenever
Ark set out, Moses would aver,
"Rise up, O YHWH! And let Your foes
Be scattered, and let all of those
Who hate You flee before You." 36 And
When it rested, he made command,
"Return, O YHWH, to myriads of
The folk of Israel whom You love."

Moses dared to command You in his song
As though without his voice You might do wrong,
And yet he himself needed Reuel's advice
How to get from Sinai to Paradise.
So I say "Rise up" and "Return" to You
By recitation of Your name of YHWH,
And see the cloud and ark before my door,
And kiss the threshold as I did before.
Three days I seek a resting place to be
Where only You and I each other see,
And as I seek I find Your leading round
Is best of all the criers to be found.
Beloved, I turn my back on Goshen's ground
And follow You, Beloved, invisibly.

NUMBERS 11

1 Now when the people complained, it
Displeased YHWH, for YHWH had heard it,
And His wrath was aroused, the fire
Of YHWH burned among their desire,
And consumed some in the outskirts
Of the camp. 2 Then in dire deserts
The people cried out to Moses,
And when Moses prayed YHWH for this,
The fire was quenched. 3 And so he called
The name of the place Taberah,
Because the fire of YHWH appalled
Had burned among their camera.

Here my complaint, Beloved, I enter fire
And seek Your love above all my desire.
I wrinkle dying in the sweet abode
Of fire upon the fringes of the mode.
No company share with me my retreat,
No battalion joins me with treading feet
Around the outskirts of the temple stair.
Look, I'm the only one who's dancing there.
Who come out from the floors of the noon prayer
Look in disgust to see my ecstasy
Go up in smoke before the summer tree.
Beloved, burn me to nothing is my will,
And I shall have but You upon my bill,
You only, my Beloved, eternally.

4 Now the mixed multitude who were
Among them yielded lustier
To hankerings, so Israel's folk
Also wept once more and then spoke,
"Who'll give us meat to eat? 5 "We mind
The fish we ate in Egypt lined,
The cucumbers, melons, the leeks,
The onions, and garlic for weeks,
6 "But now our whole being is dried
Up, there's nothing at all beside
This manna before our eyes!" 7 Now
The manna was like anyhow
Coriander seed, its colour like
The colour of bdellium strike.
8 The people went about and gathered
It, ground it on millstones or tethered,
Beat it in the mortar, cooked it
In pans, and made them cakes of it,
And its taste was like taste of pasty
Prepared with oil, but not too hasty.
9 And when the dew fell on the camp
At night, manna fell on it damp.
10 Then Moses heard the people weeping
Throughout their families, each keeping
At the door of his tent, the wrath
Of YHWH went on the great warpath,
And Moses also was displeased.
11 So Moses said to YHWH uneased,
"Why have You afflicted Your slave?
And why have I not found the brave
Favour in Your sight, that You have
Laid the burden and half the salve
Of all these people on my breast?
12 "Did I conceive these people best?
Did I beget them, that You should
Say to me, 'Carry as you could
Them in your bosom, as a guard
Carries a nursing child well-starred,'
To the land You swore to their fathers?
13 "Where am I to get meat, such bothers,
To give all these people? For they
Weep all over me, saying 'Nay,
Give us meat, we may eat today.'
14 "I am not able to bear all
These people alone, for the call
Of the burden's too great for me.
15 "If You treat me so and suchly,
Please kill me here and now, if I
Have found favour before Your eye,
And do not let me continue
To see wretchedness before You."

The cry eternal goes toward the sky,
Give meat to eat, we cannot live on pie.
Did You create the veils of human sum
To laugh at the irrational and dumb
That we espouse so eagerly before
We will sniff daintily to find the door
To manna? Yes or no, I think I know
Your humour glows beneath the clowning toe
Upon the footstool of the earth below.
Just tap Your foot a bit and we will show
You why we prefer garlic to the fare
You would grant us to season everywhere.
If manna were addicting, I would eat
The stuff each day I found it as a treat.

16 YHWH said to Moses "Gather to
Me seventy men elders and true
Of Israel, whom you know to
Be elders of the people and
Officers over Israel's band,
Bring them before the meeting tent,
That they may stand with you present.
17 "Then I will come down and I'll talk
With you there. I will take a stalk
Of the spirit that's upon you
And put the same upon them too,
And they shall bear the burden of
The people with you, in the shove,
That you may not bear it yourself
Alone without the help of elf.
18 "Then you shall say unto the folk,
'Consecrate yourselves, go for broke,
For on tomorrow you shall eat
Meat, for you've wept to have the treat
In hearing of YHWH, saying "Who
Will give us meat to eat a few?
For it was well with us in land
Of Egypt." Therefore YHWH by hand
Will give you meat, and you shall eat.
19 'You shall eat, not one day the treat,
Nor two days, nor five days, nor ten,
Nor twenty days, 20 'but till you ken
A whole month, and until it comes
Out of your nostrils, in your gums
Loathsome to you, since you've despised
YHWH who's among you well apprised,
And have wept before Him, and said
"Why did we leave Egyptian bread?"'"
21 And Moses said "The people whom
I am among are in their room
Six hundred thousand men on foot,
Yet You have said 'I shall now put
Before them meat, that they may eat
For a whole month, it's such a feat.'
22 "Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for
Them, to provide enough in store?
Or shall all the fish of the sea
Be gathered together to be
Provision enough for their spree?"
23 And YHWH said to Moses, "Has YHWH's
Arm been shortened? Now you'll not lose
To see if what I say's a plot
To happen to you all or not."

You give, Beloved, to every one that prays
The gift of poison and death, which he stays
With hope and thanks to get in hand from You.
You know better what I need than I do.
I ask for no meat, ask for nothing true,
But willingly eat manna with the dew.
Avoiding every slaughter at the door,
I let the knife go rusty in the store,
And rest my lazy bones from every chore
But gathering the morning manna from
The stony ground upon which it has come.
It looks like frost I know, it looks like snow
That in the night in silence came to glow
Upon the granite slopes in touch and go.

24 And Moses went out, told the folk
The words of YHWH, and what He spoke
And he gathered the seventy men
Of the folk's elders, placed again
Them all around the meeting tent.
25 Then YHWH came down in the cloud sent,
And spoke to him, and took the spirit
That was upon him and to fear it,
And placed the same upon the men,
The seventy elders, and again,
It happened, when the spirit rested
Upon them, that they were invested
To prophesy, although they did
Not do so again while they hid.
26 But two men had remained in camp:
The name of one was Eldad, scamp,
And the name of the other was
Medad. And also spirit was
Resting on them, who were among
Those mentioned, but who had not strung
Out to the tabernacle, yet
They prophesied in the camp set.
27 And a young man ran up to tell
Moses, and said "Eldad as well
As Medad are prophesying
In the camp where no man should sing."
28 So Joshua the son of Nun, who
Was Moses' servant, helper too,
Of his choice men, answered and said
"Moses my lord, forbid instead!"
29 Then Moses said to him, "Are you
Zealous for my sake? Oh, that all
YHWH's folk were prophets at the call,
That YHWH would put His spirit too
On them!" 30 And Moses returned to
Camp, he and Israel's elders too.

The book of Numbers carefully outlines
The demarcations and hidden landmines
In knowing how to step around the plot
Of the authority that You have wrought
On earth among humans and what they've got.
Who tries to take the seat of Moses may
Be put down in the heavy, sacred fray,
But who refuses to go up to take
The spirit gifts before the public stake
But hides within his chamber well-confined
Is greatly vindicated out of mind.
Though some may criticize my single load
Reciting all alone Your names' abode,
I drink Your spirit here and where bestowed.

31 Now a spirit went out from YHWH,
And it brought quail from the sea too
And let them fall around the camp,
A day's journey without a lamp
On this side and about a day's
Journey on to the other haze,
And all around the camp, about
Two cubits deep above the clout.
32 And the people stayed up all day,
All night, and then all the next day,
And gathered up the quail to slay,
He who gathered least gathered ten
Homers, and they spread them again
Out for themselves around the camp.
33 But while the meat was still in clamp
Between their teeth, and before chewed,
The wrath of YHWH aroused in feud
Against the people, and YHWH struck
The folk with a very great muck.
34 So he called the name of that place
Kibroth Hattaavah, of their race
They buried there all in the dust
Who had weakly yielded to lust.
35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the folk
Moved to Hazeroth, and awoke
To camp at Hazeroth and croak.

The people I have seen who claim Your spirit
Falls on them in their ecstasies or near it
Give proof in falling on the floor in trance,
Or sweeping round the room in hideous dance,
Or babbling nonsense in the tongue it seems
Of Canaan, heaven, or nightmarish dreams.
This is original to say the least
That Your spirit when come moves bird or beast
Into the line of slaughter and of lust.
Your spirit gives to every human dust
By which we make salvation or our doom.
Let Your spirit fall in my quiet room
And I shall move or stand still as I must.

NUMBERS 12

1 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke
Against Moses because the bloke
Had married a woman that came
From Ethiopia in name,
He had married a woman who
Wore an Ethiopian shoe.
2 So they said "Has YHWH indeed spoken
Only through Moses for a token?
Has He not spoken through us too?"
And YHWH heard that the thing was true.
3 Now the man Moses he was meek,
More than all men who showed a beak
Upon the face of all the earth,
Such a man was Moses in worth.

In fault or purpose, my Beloved, You chose
Moses to wear representative clothes.
You made the meekest of men Your caliph
Who had in charismatic charm no whiff.
If no one followed him, the fault was Yours
For choosing one who could not inspire bores
To Your obedience. If You had taken
Instead a Pharaoh or a pop star shaking,
The crowd would have been wild to do his will.
But even brother and sister wax shrill
That Moses has no push or shove to fill
The shoes of divine guide in heaven or earth.
Your choosing Moses was a thing not worth,
I'd say, so many deaths for one man's birth.

Watch this, Beloved, the purpose of the pair
Is to depose inheritance of heir.
But instead of saying the man's not fit
Because of lack of aplomb and of wit,
They take advantage of perennial bloom
Of racist outrage to make out the room
Of their political ambition's blight.
They say that Moses took a nigger wife
And so he ought to step down from the right
Of ruling white folks with a hand of strife.
But watch again! Racist philosophy
Is shaped in terms of bright democracy:
All by whom You have spoken in the race
Are equal, so give me Moses's place.

4 And said YHWH suddenly to him,
To Moses, Aaron, and Miriam,
"Come out, you three, before the tent
Of tabernacle!" The three went.
5 Then YHWH came down in pillar cloud
And stood in the tent door in shroud,
And called Aaron and Miriam. And
They both went forward by command.
6 Then He said "Hear now My words: if
There is a prophet in your skiff,
I, YHWH, make Myself known to him
In a vision, I speak to him
In a dream. 7 Not so with My servant
Moses, he's faithful and he's fervent
In all My house. 8 I speak with him
Face to face, even plainly trim,
And not in dark sayings, and he
Sees the form of YHWH, which is Me.
Why then were you not frightened to
Speak against My slave Moses true?"
9 The anger of YHWH was aroused
Against them, He departed housed.

You give the reason Moses' role is great
And unique not because You chose his fate
Or because he's appointed to the task
But because when the futile critics ask
It turns out You speak to him face to face.
Ah yes, indeed the face to face in grace
Is all authority in heaven and earth.
That's why I seek, Beloved, Your face of worth.
In every cloud of fire and light I trace
The hidden features and divine repair.
In every seam of granite, lichen crusted,
I see the lines of divine natures dusted.
Beloved, the newly sprung crocus tears out
The snow veils and You finely peer about.

10 And when the cloud departed from
Above the tabernacle some,
Then suddenly Miriam's become
One leprous, and as white as snow.
Then Aaron turned toward Miriam's show,
And there she was, a leper. 11 So
Aaron said to Moses, "My lord!
Please do not lay this sin by sword
On us, in which we've foolishly
Done and in which sinning have we
Sinned. 12 "Please do not let her now be
As one dead, whose flesh half consumed
Is coming from his mother's womb!"

Hold on, Beloved, let's get this right.
When Aaron sins, the woman gets the blight.
Did not both Aaron and Miriam unfold
Dissatisfaction for Your being bold
In letting Moses take to wife a wench
His family thought did not fit the bench?
And if then both, then why lay blame on one?
And if on one, why is the woman done?
Male chauvinism's one thing, but when You
Evince the same in a divine to do,
It's too much for political correctness
And for race and sex corrective selectness.
Beloved, shame on Your judgement cavalier!
Give Aaron too leprosy on his ear!

13 So Moses cried out to YHWH, saying
"Please heal her, O El God, I'm praying!"
14 Then YHWH said to Moses, "If her
Father had but spit on the fur
Of her face, would she not be shamed
Seven days? Let her be so blamed
And shut out of the camp seven days,
And afterward received from daze."
15 So Miriam was shut out of camp
Seven days long, and in the damp
The people did not journey till
Miriam was brought back, paid her bill.
16 And afterward the people moved
From Hazeroth and camped reproved
In Paran's desert by the hill.

Humanity is often in a state
Of surprising compassion before fate.
That's why, Beloved, I guess You made at all
The universe, the earth, and on that ball
The human witness to Your grace, though small.
We're capable, though all unfairly in it,
To have compassion once we do begin it.
Justice would say that they should wait of any
Who had been put outside the camp for penny.
I wonder, did You lift the cloud to lead
The people on their way to follow feed,
Or did You acquiesce to their fond need
To wait for Miriam on the tortured mead?
Sometimes we recompense our human greed.


AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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