Numbers 9 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Yahweh spoke to Moses in the Sinai wilderness, in the first month of the second year after they'd come out of Egypt. He said:

"The people of Israel are to observe the Passover at its appointed time.

On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you are to observe it at its appointed time. You must follow all its rules and regulations."

So Moses told the people of Israel to observe the Passover.

And they observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, in the Sinai wilderness. The people of Israel did everything exactly as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

But there were some men who had become ritually contaminated by contact with a dead body, so they couldn't observe the Passover on that day. They came to Moses and Aaron that same day

and said to him, "We've been contaminated by contact with a dead body. Why should we be excluded from bringing Yahweh's offering at the appointed time along with the rest of Israel?"

Moses answered them, "Wait here while I find out what Yahweh's instructions are for your situation."

Yahweh said to Moses:

"Tell the people of Israel: When any of you or your descendants become ritually contaminated by contact with a dead body, or are away on a distant journey, you may still observe Yahweh's Passover.

You are to observe it on the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight. You must eat it with unleavened flatbread and bitter herbs.

They must not leave any of it until morning, and they must not break any of its bones. They are to observe it following every rule of the Passover.

But anyone who is ritually fit and not on a journey, and still fails to observe the Passover — that person will be cut off from their people, because they did not bring Yahweh's offering at its appointed time. That person will bear the consequences of their failure."

"If a foreigner living among you wants to observe Yahweh's Passover, they must follow the same rules and regulations. There is one standard for the foreigner and the native-born alike."

On the day the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered it — specifically the Tent of the Testimony. From evening until morning, it appeared over the Tabernacle like fire.

That's how it always was: the cloud covered it by day, and it looked like fire by night.

Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the people of Israel would set out. And wherever the cloud settled, that's where the people of Israel would make camp.

At Yahweh's command the people of Israel would set out, and at Yahweh's command they would make camp. As long as the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle, they stayed in camp.

When the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle for a long stretch of days, the people of Israel followed Yahweh's lead and did not set out.

Sometimes the cloud would stay over the Tabernacle for just a few days. At Yahweh's command they would camp, and at Yahweh's command they would set out.

Sometimes the cloud would stay only from evening until morning. When it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether it was day or night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out.

Whether it was two days, a month, or even longer that the cloud lingered over the Tabernacle, the people of Israel would stay in camp and not set out. But when it lifted, they would go.

At Yahweh's command they camped, and at Yahweh's command they set out. They followed Yahweh's lead, just as Yahweh had instructed through Moses.