katapi New Study Bible: Holy Bible with URL bible reference links.

- katapi - New Study Bible ... by URL bible references - | DB1 | New Jerusalem Bible

Numbers 20:1-25:18

Kadesh. (Nu.20.1-13)

20¹The Israelites, the whole community, arrived in the first month at the desert of Zin. The people settled at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. ²There was no water for the community, so they banded together against Moses and Aaron. ³The people laid the blame on Moses. 'We would rather have died', they said, 'as our brothers died before Yahweh! ⁴Why have you brought Yahweh's community into this desert, for us and our livestock to die here? ⁵Why did you lead us out of Egypt, only to bring us to this wretched place? It is a place unfit for sowing, it has no figs, no vines, no pomegranates, and there is not even water to drink!' ⁶Leaving the assembly, Moses and Aaron went to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. They threw themselves on their faces, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them. ⁷Yahweh then spoke to Moses and said, ⁸'Take the branch and call the community together, you and your brother Aaron. Then, in full view of them, order this rock to release its water. You will release water from the rock for them and provide drink for the community and their livestock.' ⁹Moses took up the branch from before Yahweh, as he had directed him. ¹⁰Moses and Aaron then called the assembly together in front of the rock. He then said to them, 'Listen now, you rebels. Shall we make water gush from this rock for you?' ¹¹Moses then raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the branch; water gushed out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank. ¹²Yahweh then said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not believe that I could assert my holiness before the Israelites' eyes, you will not lead this assembly into the country which I am giving them.' ¹³These were the Waters of Meribah, where the Israelites laid the blame on Yahweh and where, by their means, he asserted his holiness.

Israel refused passage through Edom. (Nu.20.14-21)

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh: 'To the king of Edom. Your brother Israel says this: You are aware of the great hardships we have encountered. ¹⁵Our ancestors went down to Egypt and there we stayed for a long time. But the Egyptians treated us badly, as they had our ancestors. ¹⁶When we appealed to Yahweh, he heard our cry and, sending an angel, brought us out of Egypt, and here we are, now, at Kadesh, a town on the borders of your territory. ¹⁷We ask permission to pass through your country. We shall not go through the fields or vineyards; we shall not drink the water from the wells; we shall keep to the king's highway without turning to right or left until we have passed through your territory.' ¹⁸To which, Edom replied, 'You will not pass through my country; if you do, I shall oppose you by force of arms.' ¹⁹To which the Israelites replied, 'We shall keep to the high road; if I and my flocks drink any of your water, I am willing to pay for it. All I am asking is to pass through on foot.' ²⁰Edom replied: 'You shall not pass,' and Edom opposed them in great numbers and great force. ²¹At Edom's refusal to grant Israel passage through his territory, Israel turned away.

Death of Aaron. (Nu.20.22-29)

²²They set out from Kadesh, and the Israelites, the whole community, came to Mount Hor. ²³Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the frontier of Edom, and said, ²⁴'Aaron is to be gathered to his people; he will not enter the country which I have given to the Israelites, since you both disobeyed my order at the Waters of Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up Mount Hor. ²⁶Then take Aaron's robes off him and dress his son Eleazar in them. Aaron will then be gathered to his people; that is where he will die.' ²⁷Moses did as Yahweh ordered. With the whole community watching, they went up Mount Hor. ²⁸Moses took Aaron's robes off him and dressed his son Eleazar in them, and there Aaron died, on the mountain-top. Moses and Eleazar then came back down the mountain. ²⁹The whole community saw that Aaron had died, and for thirty days the whole House of Israel mourned for Aaron.

Hormah: victory over Arad. (Nu.21.1-3)

21¹The king of Arad, the Canaanite living in the Negeb, learned that Israel was coming by way of Atharim. He attacked Israel and took some prisoners. ²Israel then made this vow to Yahweh, 'If you deliver this people into my power, I shall curse their towns with destruction.' ³Yahweh heard Israel's words and delivered the Canaanites into their power, and they destroyed them in accordance with their curse. Hence the place was given the name Hormah.

The brazen serpent. (Nu.21.4-9)

⁴They left Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Suph, to skirt round Edom. On the way the people lost patience. ⁵They spoke against God and against Moses, 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? For there is neither food nor water here; we are sick of this meagre diet.' ⁶At this, God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. ⁷The people came and said to Moses, 'We have sinned by speaking against Yahweh and against you. Intercede for us with Yahweh to save us from these serpents.' Moses interceded for the people, ⁸and Yahweh replied, 'Make a fiery serpent and raise it as a standard. Anyone who is bitten and looks at it will survive.' ⁹Moses then made a serpent out of bronze and raised it as a standard, and anyone who was bitten by a serpent and looked at the bronze serpent survived.

On the march. (Nu.21.10-20)

¹⁰The Israelites set out and camped at Oboth. ¹¹Then they left Oboth and camped at Iye-Abarim, in the desert on the eastern border of Moab. ¹²They set out from there and camped in the gorge of the Zered. ¹³They set out from there and camped on the other side of the Arnon. This gorge in the desert begins in the territory of the Amorites. For the Arnon is the frontier of Moab, between the Moabites and the Amorites. ¹⁴That is why it says in the Book of the Wars of Yahweh: '. . .Waheb near Suphah and the gorges of the Arnon ¹⁵and the slope of the ravine running down to the site of Ar and over against the frontier of Moab.' ¹⁶And from there they went to Beer, that being the well in connection with which Yahweh had said to Moses, 'Call the people together and I will give them water.' ¹⁷Then it was that Israel sang this song: Spring up, well! Sing out for the well, ¹⁸sunk by the princes, dug by the people's leaders with the sceptre, with their staves! -and from the desert to Mattanah, ¹⁹and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley that opens into the country of Moab, towards the heights of Pisgah overlooking the desert.

Defeat of Sihon and Og. (Nu.21.21-35)

²¹Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites, ²²'I wish to pass through your country. We shall not stray into the fields or vineyards; we shall not drink the water from the wells; we shall keep to the king's highway until we have passed through your territory.' ²³But Sihon would not give Israel leave to pass through his country. He assembled all his people, marched into the desert to meet Israel, and reached Jahaz, where he gave battle to Israel. ²⁴Israel defeated him by force of arms and conquered his country from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for Jazer marked the Ammonite frontier. ²⁵Israel took all these towns. Israel occupied all the Amorite towns, Heshbon and all its dependencies, ²⁶Heshbon being the capital of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had made war on the first king of Moab and captured all his territory as far as the Arnon. ²⁷Hence the poets say: Come to Heshbon! Let the city of Sihon be rebuilt on firm foundations! ²⁸For fire has burst from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon, devouring Ar of Moab, engulfing the heights of the Arnon. ²⁹Oh, unhappy Moab! People of Chemosh, you are lost! He has resigned his sons as fugitives, and his daughters as prisoners to Sihon king of the Amorites. ³⁰Their posterity has been destroyed from Heshbon all the way to Dibon, and we have lit a fire all the way from Nophah to Medeba. ³¹Thus Israel occupied the Amorites' territory. ³²Moses then sent men to reconnoitre Jazer, and Israel took it and its dependencies, evicting the Amorites who lived there. ³³They then turned and marched on Bashan. Og king of Bashan and all his people marched to meet them and give battle at Edrei. ³⁴Yahweh said to Moses, 'Do not be afraid of him, for I have put him, all his people and his country at your mercy. Treat him as you treated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.' ³⁵So they pressed their attack against him, his sons and all his people until there was no one left alive. And they took possession of his country.

Balaam. (Nu.22.1-40)

22¹The Israelites then set out and pitched their camp in the Plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho. ²Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, ³and Moab was terrified of the people, because there were so many of them. Moab was afraid of the Israelites; ⁴he said to the elders of Midian, 'This horde will soon have cropped everything round us as closely as an ox crops grass in the countryside.' Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at the time. ⁵He sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, at Pethor on the River, in the territory of the Amawites, saying, 'Look, a people coming from Egypt has overrun the whole countryside; they have halted at my very door. ⁶I beg you come and curse this people for me, for they are stronger than I am. We may then be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For this I know: anyone you bless is blessed, anyone you curse is accursed.' ⁷The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian set out, taking the fee for the divination with them. They found Balaam and gave him Balak's message. ⁸He said to them, 'Stay the night here, and I will answer as Yahweh directs me.' So the chiefs of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹God came to Balaam and said, 'Who are these men staying with you?' ¹⁰Balaam said to God, 'Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message, ¹¹'Look, a people coming from Egypt has overrun the whole countryside. Come now and curse them for me; I may then be able to defeat them and drive them out.' ' ¹²God said to Balaam, 'You are not to go with them. You are not to curse the people, for they are blessed.' ¹³In the morning Balaam got up and said to the chiefs sent by Balak, 'Go back to your country, for Yahweh will not let me go with you.' ¹⁴So the chiefs of Moab got up, went back to Balak and said, 'Balaam refuses to come with us.' ¹⁵And again Balak sent chiefs, more numerous and more renowned than the first. ¹⁶They came to Balaam and said, 'A message from Balak son of Zippor, 'Now do not refuse to come to me. ¹⁷I will load you with honours and do whatever you say. I beg you come and curse this people for me.' ' ¹⁸In reply, Balaam said to Balak's envoys, 'Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the order of Yahweh my God in anything, great or small. ¹⁹Now please stay the night here yourselves, and I will learn what else Yahweh has to tell me.' ²⁰God came to Balaam during the night and said to him, 'Have not these men come to summon you? Get up, go with them, but do only what I tell you to do.' ²¹Balaam got up and saddled his donkey and set out with the chiefs of Moab. ²²His going kindled Yahweh's anger, and the angel of Yahweh took his stand on the road to bar his way. Balaam was riding his donkey and his two servants were with him. ²³Now the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, and she turned off the road into the open country. Balaam then struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. ²⁴The angel of Yahweh then went and stood on a narrow path among the vineyards, with a wall to the right and a wall to the left. ²⁵The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh and scraped against the wall, scraping Balaam's foot against it, so he struck her again. ²⁶The angel of Yahweh then moved and stood in a place so narrow that there was no room to pass either to right or left. ²⁷When the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, she lay down under Balaam. Balaam flew into a rage and struck the donkey with his stick. ²⁸Yahweh then gave the donkey the power to talk, and she said to Balaam, 'What harm have I done you, for you to strike me three times like this?' ²⁹Balaam answered the donkey, 'Because you have been making a fool of me! If I had been carrying a sword, I should have killed you by now.' ³⁰The donkey said to Balaam, 'Am I not your donkey, and have I not been your mount all your life? Have I ever behaved like this with you before?' 'No,' he replied. ³¹Yahweh then opened Balaam's eyes and he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head and threw himself on his face. ³²And the angel of Yahweh said to him, 'Why did you strike your donkey three times like that? I myself had come to bar your way; while I am here your road is blocked. ³³The donkey saw me and turned aside because of me three times. You are lucky she did turn aside, or I should have killed you by now, though I would have spared her.' ³⁴Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, 'I have sinned. I did not know you were standing in the road to stop me. But if what I am doing displeases you, I will go home again.' ³⁵The angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, 'Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.' So Balaam went on with the chiefs sent by Balak. ³⁶Balak learned that Balaam was coming and went out to meet him, in the direction of Ar in Moab, at the Arnon frontier on the country's furthest boundary. ³⁷Balak said to Balaam, 'Did I not send messengers to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Did you think, perhaps, I could confer no honours on you?' ³⁸Balaam said to Balak, 'I have come to you after all. I suppose you know I cannot say anything on my own? The words God puts into my mouth are what I shall say.' ³⁹Balaam set out with Balak. They came to Kiriath-Huzoth. ⁴⁰Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and offered portions to Balaam and the chiefs who were with him.

Balaam's first prophecy. (Nu.22.41-23.12)

⁴¹Next morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-Baal, from where he could see the edge of the camp. 23¹Balaam said to Balak, 'Build me seven altars here and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.' ²Balak did as Balaam said and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar. ³Balaam then said to Balak, 'Stand beside your burnt offerings while I go away. Perhaps Yahweh will come and meet me. If he does, I shall tell you whatever he reveals to me.' And he withdrew to a bare hill. ⁴God came to meet Balaam, who said to him, 'I have prepared the seven altars and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar.' ⁵Yahweh then put a prophecy into his mouth and said to him, 'Go back to Balak, and that is what you must say to him.' ⁶So Balaam went back to him, and found him still standing beside his burnt offering, with all the chiefs of Moab. ⁷He then declaimed his poem as follows: Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the hills of Kedem: 'Come and curse Jacob for me, come and denounce Israel!' ⁸How shall I curse someone whom God has not cursed, how denounce someone God has not denounced? ⁹Yes, from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I descry him: a people that dwells on its own, not to be reckoned among other nations! ¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob? Who can number the cloud of Israel? May I die the death of the just, and may my future be like theirs! ¹¹Balak said to Balaam, 'What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, and you have heaped blessings on them!' ¹²Balaam replied, 'Am I to depart from what Yahweh puts into my mouth?'

Balaam's second prophecy. (Nu.23.13-26)

¹³Balak then said, 'Please come somewhere else. From here you can see only the fringe of them, you cannot see them all. Curse them for me over there.' ¹⁴He led him to the Lookouts' Field on the top of Pisgah. There he built seven altars and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar. ¹⁵Balaam said to Balak, 'Stand here beside your burnt offerings while I wait over there.' ¹⁶God came to meet Balaam, he put a prophecy into his mouth and said to him, 'Go back to Balak, and that is what you must say to him.' ¹⁷So Balaam went to him and found him still standing beside his burnt offering and all the chiefs of Moab with him. 'What did Yahweh say?' Balak said to him. ¹⁸Balaam then declaimed his poem, as follows: Stand up, Balak, and listen, give ear to me, son of Zippor. ¹⁹God is no human being that he should lie, no child of Adam to change his mind. Is it his to say and not to do, is it his to speak and not fulfil? ²⁰The charge laid on me is to bless, I shall bless, and I cannot reverse it. ²¹I have perceived no guilt in Jacob, have seen no perversity in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him, and a royal acclamation to greet him. ²²God has brought him out of Egypt, is like the wild ox's horns to him. ²³There is no omen whatever against Jacob, no augury at all against Israel. Well may people say of Jacob, of Israel, 'What has God achieved?' ²⁴for here is a people like a lioness rising, poised like a lion to spring; nor will he lie down till he has devoured his prey and drunk the blood of his slain. ²⁵Balak said to Balaam, 'Very well! Do not curse them. But at least do not bless them!' ²⁶Balaam retorted to Balak, 'Did I not tell you? Whatever Yahweh says, I must do.'

Balaam's third prophecy. (Nu.23.27-24.13)

²⁷Balak then said to Balaam, 'Come with me now and I shall take you somewhere else. From there perhaps it will please God to curse them for me.' ²⁸So Balak led Balaam to the summit of Peor, overlooking the wastelands. ²⁹Balaam then said to Balak, 'Build me seven altars here and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.' ³⁰Balak did as Balaam said and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar. 24¹Balaam then saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel. He did not go as before to seek omens but turned towards the desert. ²Raising his eyes Balaam saw Israel settled tribe by tribe; the spirit of God came on him ³and he declaimed his poem, as follows: The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of the man with far-seeing eyes, ⁴the prophecy of one who hears the words of God. He sees what Shaddai makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened. ⁵How fair your tents are, Jacob, how fair your dwellings, Israel, ⁶like valleys that stretch afar, like gardens by the banks of a river, like aloes planted by Yahweh, like cedars beside the waters! ⁷A hero arises from their stock, he reigns over countless peoples. His king is greater than Agag, and his kingship held in honour. ⁸God has brought him out of Egypt, is like the wild ox's horns to him. He devours the corpses of his enemies, breaking their bones, piercing them with his arrows. ⁹He has crouched, he has lain down, like a lion, like a lioness; who dare rouse him? Blessed be those who bless you, and accursed be those who curse you! ¹⁰Balak flew into a rage with Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to Balaam, 'I brought you to curse my enemies, and you have insisted on blessing them three times over! ¹¹So now go home as fast as your legs can carry you. I promised to load you with honours. Yahweh himself has deprived you of them.' ¹²Balaam retorted to Balak, 'Did I not tell the messengers you sent me, ¹³'Even if Balak gave me his house full of gold and silver I could not go against Yahweh's order and do anything of my own accord, whether for good or ill; whatever Yahweh says is what I shall say'?

Balaam's final prophecies. (Nu.24.14-25)

¹⁴Now that I am going back to my own folk, let me warn you what this people will do to your people, in days to come.' ¹⁵He then declaimed his poem, as follows: The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of the man with far-seeing eyes, ¹⁶the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, of one who knows the knowledge of the Most High. He sees what Shaddai makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened. ¹⁷I see him—but not in the present. I perceive him—but not close at hand: a star is emerging from Jacob, a sceptre is rising from Israel, to strike the brow of Moab, the skulls of all the children of Seth. ¹⁸Edom too will be a conquered land, Seir too will be a conquered land, when Israel exerts his strength, ¹⁹when Jacob tramples on his enemies and destroys the last survivors of Ar. ²⁰Balaam then looked at Amalek and declaimed his poem, as follows: Amalek, the earliest of nations! But his posterity will perish forever. ²¹He then looked at the Kenites and declaimed his poem, as follows: Your dwelling was firm, Kain, your nest perched high in the rock. ²²But the nest belongs to Beor; how long will you be Asshur's captive? ²³He then declaimed his poem, as follows: The Sea-people are gathering in the north, ²⁴the vessels from the coasts of Kittim. They will bear down on Asshur, bear down on Eber; he too will perish forever. ²⁵Balaam then got up, left and went home, and Balak too went his way.

PEOR. (Nu.25.1-18)

25¹Israel settled at Shittim. The people gave themselves over to prostitution with Moabite women. ²These invited them to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down before their gods. ³With Israel thus committed to the Baal of Peor, Yahweh's anger was aroused against them. ⁴Yahweh said to Moses, 'Take all the leaders of the people. Impale them facing the sun, for Yahweh, to deflect his burning anger from Israel.' ⁵Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Each of you will put to death those of his people who have committed themselves to the Baal of Peor.' ⁶One of the Israelites came along, bringing the Midianite woman into his family, under the very eyes of Moses and the whole community of Israelites as they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁷The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, on seeing this, stood up, left the assembly, seized a lance, ⁸followed the Israelite into the alcove, and there ran them both through, the Israelite and the woman, through the stomach. Thus the plague which had struck the Israelites was arrested. ⁹In the plague twenty-four thousand of them had died. ¹⁰Yahweh then spoke and said, ¹¹'The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron has deflected my wrath from the Israelites, he being the only one of them to have the same zeal as I have; for which reason, I did not make an end of the Israelites in my zeal. ¹²For this reason I say: To him I grant my covenant of peace. ¹³To him and his descendants after him, this covenant will assure the priesthood for ever. In reward for his zeal for his God, he will have the right to perform the ritual of expiation for the Israelites.' ¹⁴The Israelite who had been killed (the one who was killed with the Midianite woman) was called Zimri son of Salu, leader of one of the Simeonite families. ¹⁵The woman, the Midianite who was killed, was called Cozbi, daughter of Zur, chief of a clan, of a family, in Midian. ¹⁶Yahweh then spoke to Moses and said, ¹⁷'Harass the Midianites, strike them down, ¹⁸for harassing you with their guile in the Peor affair and in the affair of their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, the woman who was killed the day the plague came on account of the business of Peor.'