Numbers 24–25

¹And Balaam seeth that it is good in the eyes of Jehovah to bless Israel, and he hath not gone as time by time to meet enchantments, and he setteth towards the wilderness his face; ²and Balaam lifteth up his eyes, and seeth Israel tabernacling, by its tribes, and the Spirit of God is upon him, ³and he taketh up his simile, and saith: ‘An affirmation of Balaam son of Beor—And an affirmation of the man whose eyes are shut— ⁴An affirmation of him who is hearing sayings of God—Who a vision of the Almighty seeth, Falling—and eyes uncovered: ⁵How good have been thy tents, O Jacob, Thy tabernacles, O Israel; ⁶As valleys they have been stretched out, As gardens by a river; As aloes Jehovah hath planted, As cedars by waters; ⁷He maketh water flow from his buckets, And his seed is in many waters; And higher than Agag is his king, And exalted is his kingdom. ⁸God is bringing him out of Egypt; As the swiftness of a Reem is to him, He eateth up nations his adversaries, And their bones he breaketh, And with his arrows he smiteth, ⁹He hath bent, he hath lain down as a lion, And as a lioness: who doth raise him up? He who is blessing thee is blessed, And he who is cursing thee is cursed.’

¹⁰And the anger of Balak burneth against Balaam, and he striketh his hands; and Balak saith unto Balaam, ‘To pierce mine enemies I called thee, and lo, thou hast certainly blessed—these three times; ¹¹and now, flee for thyself unto thy place; I have said, I do greatly honour thee, and lo, Jehovah hath kept thee back from honour.’ ¹²And Balaam saith unto Balak, ‘Did I not also unto thy messengers whom thou hast sent unto me, speak, saying, ¹³If Balak doth give to me the fulness of his house of silver and gold, I am not able to pass over the command of Jehovah, to do good or evil of mine own heart—that which Jehovah speaketh—it I speak? ¹⁴and, now, lo, I am going to my people; come, I counsel thee concerning that which this people doth to thy people, in the latter end of the days.’

¹⁵And he taketh up his simile, and saith: ‘An affirmation of Balaam son of Beor—And an affirmation of the man whose eyes are shut— ¹⁶An affirmation of him who is hearing sayings of God—And knowing knowledge of the Most High; A vision of the Almighty he seeth, Falling—and eyes uncovered: ¹⁷I see it, but not now; I behold it, but not near; A star hath proceeded from Jacob, And a sceptre hath risen from Israel, And hath smitten corners of Moab, And hath destroyed all sons of Sheth. ¹⁸And Edom hath been a possession, And Seir hath been a possession, for its enemies, And Israel is doing valiantly; ¹⁹And one doth rule out of Jacob, And hath destroyed a remnant from Ar.’ ²⁰And he seeth Amalek, and taketh up his simile, and saith: ‘A beginning of the Goyim is Amalek; And his latter end—for ever he perisheth.’ ²¹And he seeth the Kenite, and taketh up his simile, and saith: ‘Enduring is thy dwelling, And setting in a rock thy nest, ²²But the Kenite is for a burning; Till when doth Asshur keep thee captive?’ ²³And he taketh up his simile, and saith: ‘Alas! who doth live when God doth this? ²⁴And—ships are from the side of Chittim, And they have humbled Asshur, And they have humbled Eber, And it also for ever is perishing.’ ²⁵And Balaam riseth, and goeth, and turneth back to his place, and Balak also hath gone on his way.

Chapter 25

¹And Israel dwelleth in Shittim, and the people begin to go a-whoring unto daughters of Moab, ²and they call for the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people eat, and bow themselves to their gods, ³and Israel is joined to Baal-Peor, and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel. ⁴And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them before Jehovah—over-against the sun; and the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah doth turn back from Israel.’ ⁵And Moses saith unto the judges of Israel, ‘Slay ye each his men who are joined to Baal-Peor.’

⁶And lo, a man of the sons of Israel hath come, and bringeth in unto his brethren the Midianitess, before the eyes of Moses, and before the eyes of all the company of the sons of Israel, who are weeping at the opening of the tent of meeting; ⁷and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, seeth, and riseth from the midst of the company, and taketh a javelin in his hand, ⁸and goeth in after the man of Israel unto the hollow place, and pierceth them both, the man of Israel and the woman—unto her belly, and the plague is restrained from the sons of Israel; ⁹and the dead by the plague are four and twenty thousand. ¹⁰And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, ¹¹‘Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, hath turned back My fury from the sons of Israel, by his being zealous with My zeal in their midst, and I have not consumed the sons of Israel in My zeal.

¹²‘Therefore say, Lo, I am giving to him My covenant of peace, ¹³and it hath been to him and to his seed after him a covenant of a priesthood age-during, because that he hath been zealous for his God, and doth make atonement for the sons of Israel.’ ¹⁴And the name of the man of Israel who is smitten, who hath been smitten with the Midianitess, is Zimri son of Salu, prince of the house of a father of the Simeonite; ¹⁵and the name of the woman who is smitten, the Midianitess, is Cozbi daughter of Zur, head of a people—of the house of a father in Midian is he.

¹⁶And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, ¹⁷‘Distress the Midianites, and ye have smitten them, ¹⁸for they are adversaries to you with their frauds, with which they have acted fraudulently to you, concerning the matter of Peor, and concerning the matter of Cozbi, daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who is smitten in the day of the plague for the matter of Peor.’

Chapter 26