Numbers 24–26

Chapter 24

And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord that he should bless Israel, he went not as he had gone before, to seek divination: but setting his face towards the desert,

²And lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel abiding in their tents by their tribes: and the spirit of God rushing upon him,

³He took up his parable and said: Balaam the son of Beor hath said: The man hath said, whose eye is stopped up:

⁴The bearer of the words of God hath said, he that hath beheld the vision of the Almighty, he that falleth, and so his eyes are opened:

⁵How beautiful are thy tabernacles O Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel!

⁶As woody valleys, as watered gardens near the rivers, as tabernacles which the Lord hath pitched, as cedars by the waterside.

⁷Water shall flow out of his bucket, and his seed shall be in many waters. For Agag his king shall be removed, and his kingdom shall be taken away.

⁸God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the rhinoceros. They shall devour the nations that are his enemies, and break their bones, and pierce them with arrows.

⁹Lying down he hath slept as a lion, and as a lioness, whom none shall dare to rouse. He that blesseth thee, shall also himself be blessed: he that curseth thee shall be reckoned accursed.

¹⁰And Balac being angry against Balaam, clapped his hands together and said: I called thee to curse my enemies, and thou on the contrary hast blessed them three times.

¹¹Return to thy place. I had determined indeed greatly to honour thee, but the Lord hath deprived thee of the honour designed for thee.

¹²Balaam made answer to Balac: Did I not say to thy messengers, whom thou sentest to me:

¹³If Balac would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to utter any thing of my own head either good or evil: but whatsoever the Lord shall say, that I will speak?

¹⁴But yet going to my people, I will give thee counsel, what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.

¹⁵Therefore taking up his parable, again he said: Balaam the son of Beor hath said: The man whose eye is stopped up, hath said:

¹⁶The hearer of the words of God hath said, who knoweth the doctrine of the Highest, and seeth the visions of the Almighty, who falling hath his eyes opened:

¹⁷I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near. A STAR SHALL RISE out of Jacob and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel: and shall strike the chiefs of Moab, and shall waste all the children of Seth

¹⁸And he shall possess Idumea: the inheritance of Seir shall come to their enemies, but Israel shall do manfully.

¹⁹Out of Jacob shall he come that shall rule, and shall destroy the remains of the city.

²⁰And when he saw Amalec, he took up his parable, and said: Amalec the beginning of nations, whose latter ends shall be destroyed.

²¹He saw also the Cinite: and took up his parable, and said: Thy habitation indeed is strong: but though thou build thy nest in a rock,

²²And thou be chosen of the stock of Cin, how long shalt thou be able to continue? For Assur shall take thee captive.

²³And taking up his parable, again he said: Alas, who shall live when God shall do these things?

²⁴They shall come in galleys from Italy, they shall overcome the Assyrians, and shall waste the Hebrews, and at the last they themselves also shall perish.

²⁵And Balaam rose, and returned to his place: Balac also returned the way that he came.

Chapter 25

And Israel at that time abode in Settim, and the people committed fornication with the daughters of Moab,

²Who called them to their sacrifices. And they ate of them, and adored their gods.

³And Israel was initiated to Beelphegor: upon which the Lord being angry,

⁴Said to Moses: Take all the princes of the people, and hang them up on gibbets against the sun: that my fury may be turned away from Israel.

⁵And Moses said to the judges of Israel: Let every man kill his neighbours, that have been initiated to Beelphegor.

⁶And behold one of the children of Israel went in before his brethren to a harlot of Madian, in the sight of Moses and of all the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle.

⁷And when Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest saw it, he rose up from the midst of the multitude, and taking a dagger,

⁸Went in after the Israelite into the brothel house, and thrust both of them through together, to wit, the man and the woman in the genital parts. And the scourge ceased from the children of Israel.

⁹And there were slain four and twenty thousand men.

¹⁰And the Lord said to Moses:

¹¹Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned away my wrath from the children of Israel: because he was moved with my zeal against them, that I myself might not destroy the children of Israel in my zeal.

¹²Therefore say to him: behold I give him the peace of my covenant,

¹³And the covenant of the priesthood for ever shall be both to him and his seed, because he hath been zealous for his God, and hath made atonement for the wickedness of the children of Israel.

¹⁴And the name of the Israelite, that was slain with the woman of Madian, was Zambri the son of Salu, a prince of the kindred and tribe of Simeon.

¹⁵And the Madianite woman, that was slain with him, was called Cozbi the daughter of Sur, a most noble prince among the Madianites.

¹⁶And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

¹⁷Let the Madianites find you their enemies, and slay you them:

¹⁸Because they also have acted like enemies against you, and have guilefully deceived you by the idol Phogor, and Cozbi their sister, a daughter of a prince of Madian, who was slain in the day of the plague for the sacrilege of Phogor.

Chapter 26

After the blood of the guilty was shed, the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest:

²Number the whole sum of the children of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their houses and kindreds, all that are able to go forth to war.

³Moses therefore and Eleazar the priest, being in the plains of Moab upon the Jordan over against Jericho, spoke to them that were

⁴From twenty years old and upward, as the Lord had commanded: and this is the number of them:

⁵Ruben the firstborn of Israel. His sons were Henoch, of whom is the family of the Henochites: and Phallu, of whom is the family of the Phalluites:

⁶And Hesron, of whom is the family of the Hesronites: and Charmi, of whom is the family of the Charmites.

⁷These are the families of the stock of Ruben: whose number was found to be forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.

⁸The son of Phallu was Eliab.

⁹His sons, were Namuel and Dathan and Abiron. These are Dathan and Abiron the princes of the people, that rose against Moses and Aaron in the sedition of Core, when they rebelled against the Lord:

¹⁰And the earth opening her mouth swallowed up Core, many others dying, when the fire burned two hundred and fifty men. And there was a great miracle wrought,

¹¹That when Core perished, his sons did not perish.

¹²The sons of Simeon by their kindreds: Namuel, of him is the family of the Namuelites: Jamin, of him is the family of the Jaminites: Jachim, of him is the family of the Jachimites:

¹³Zare, of him is the family of the Zarites: Saul, of him is the family of the Saulites.

¹⁴These are the families of the stock of Simeon, of which the whole number was twenty-two thousand two hundred.

¹⁵The sons of Gad by their kindreds: Sephon, of him is the family of the Sephonites: Aggi, of him is the family of the Aggites: Suni, of him is the family of the Sunites:

¹⁶Ozni, of him is the family of the Oznites: Her, of him is the family of the Herites:

¹⁷Arod, of him is the family of the Arodites: Ariel, of him is the family of the Arielites.

¹⁸These are the families of Gad, of which the whole number was forty thousand five hundred.

¹⁹The sons of Juda, Her and Onan, who both died in the land of Chanaan.

²⁰And the sons of Juda by their kindreds were: Sela, of whom is the family of the Selaites: Phares, of whom is the family of the Pharesites: Zare, of whom is the family of the Zarites.

²¹Moreover the sons of Phares were: Hesron, of whom is the family of the Hesronites: and Hamul, of whom is the family of the Hamulites.

²²These are the families of Juda, of which the whole number was seventy-six thousand five hundred.

²³The sons of Issachar, by their kindreds: Thola of whom is the family of the Tholaites: Phua, of whom is the family of the Phuaites:

²⁴Jasub, of whom is the family of the Jasubites: Semran, of whom is the family of the Semranites.

²⁵These are the kindreds of Issachar, whose number was sixty-four thousand three hundred.

²⁶The sons of Zabulon by their kindreds: Sared, of whom is the family of the Saredites: Elon, of whom is the family of the Elonites: Jalel, of whom is the family of the Jalelites.

²⁷These are the kindreds of Zabulon, whose number was sixty thousand five hundred.

²⁸The sons of Joseph by their kindred, Manasses and Ephraim.

²⁹Of Manasses was born Machir, of whom is the family of the Machirites. Machir begot Galaad, of whom is the family of the Galaadites.

³⁰Galaad had sons: Jezer, of whom is the family of the Jezerites: and Helec, of whom is the family of the Helecites:

³¹And Asriel, of whom is the family of the Asrielites: and Sechem, of whom is the family of the Sechemites:

³²And Semida, of whom is the family of the Semidaites: and Hepher, of whom is the family of the Hepherites.

³³And Hepher was the father of Salphaad, who had no sons, but only daughters, whose names are these: Maala, and Noa, and Hegla, and Melcha, and Thersa.

³⁴These are the families of Manasses, and the number of them fifty-two thousand seven hundred.

³⁵And the sons of Ephraim by their kindreds were these: Suthala, of whom is the family of the Suthalaites: Becher, of whom is the family of the Becherites: Thehen, of whom is the family of the Thehenites.

³⁶Now the son of Suthala was Heran, of whom is the…