Verses 16-18 summarize and repeat the most important points of the story. They unify various elements in the chapter (so Ashley, page 524; Cole, page 445).

And the LORD said to Moses: In Hebrew this quote frame is exactly the same as the one in verse 10 (see the comments there), and, similarly, begins a new paragraph.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .