6 Strong is thy dwelling-place, 'And thou puttest thy nest in a rock. And he took up his parable, and said— 'Alas! who shall live 'When GOD doeth this? And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, ' And shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, 'And he also shall perish for ever.' And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place and Balak also went his way. : And the LORD said unto Moses 'Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land ' which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when 'thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered. For ye re'belled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in 'the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water 'before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.' And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying, 'Let the LORD, 'the GOD of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which may 6 6 go in before them, and which may lead them out, and 'which may bring them in; that the congregation of the 'LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.' And the LORD said unto Moses 'Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and 'give him a charge in their sight. And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation ' of the children of Israel may be obedient. And he shall 'stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for 'him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his 'word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come 'in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even ' all the congregation.' And Moses did as the LORD commanded him and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: and he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses. 6 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying 'Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward 'shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.' And Moses spake unto the people, saying, 'Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against 'the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, 'shall ye send to the war.' So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts. And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho. And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses: and they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are 'under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us. We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, 'what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an ' atonement for our souls before the LORD.' And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels. And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD. Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, 'Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nim6 rah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, ' and Beon, even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy 'servants have cattle: wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy 'servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.' And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and 'shall ye sit here? And wherefore discourage ye the heart ' of the children of Israel from going over into the land'which the LORD hath given them? Thus did your 'fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, ' and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the 'children of Israel, that they should not go into the land ' which the LORD had given them. And the LORD'S anger was kindled the same time, and HE sware, saying, "Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware 'unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD." And the LORD'S anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them 'wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was con'sumed. And, behold, ye are risen up in your father's 'stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the 6 6 6 6 'fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel. For if ye turn ́ away from after him, HE will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.' 6 And they came near unto him, and said, 'We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: but we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their 'place and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities ' because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not re' turn unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan ' eastward.' And Moses said unto them, 'If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war, and will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until HE hath driven out his enemies from before him, and the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD and be sure your sin will find you Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.' Cout. : And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, 'Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, ' and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: 'but thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, 'before the LORD to battle, as my lord saith.' So con |