17 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites set up camp.
18 At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they set up camp. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.
19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out.
20 Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle for only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would set up camp, and then at his command they would set out.
21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out.
22 Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out.
23 At the Lord’s command they set up camp, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.