Chapter 28

20:8. Take the rod, and assemble the people together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall yield waters. And when thou hast brought forth water out of the rock, all the multitude and their cattle shall drink.

20:9. Moses therefore took the rod, which was before the Lord, as he had commanded him,

20:10. And having gathered together the multitude before the rock, he said to them: Hear, ye rebellious and incredulous: Can we bring you forth water out of this rock?

20:11. And when Moses had lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank,

The rock.... This rock was a figure of Christ, and the water that issued out from the rock, of his precious blood, the source of all our good.

20:12. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you have not believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall not bring these people into the land, which I will give them.

You have not believed, etc.... The fault of Moses and Aaron, on this occasion, was a certain diffidence and weakness of faith; not doubting of God’s power or veracity; but apprehending the unworthiness of that rebellious and incredulous people, and therefore speaking with some ambiguity.

20:13. This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of Israel strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

The Water of contradiction.... Or strife. Hebrew, Meribah.

20:14. In the mean time Moses sent messengers from Cades to the king of Edom, to say: Thus saith thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all the labour that hath come upon us:

20:15. In what manner our fathers went down into Egypt, and there we dwelt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers.

20:16. And how we cried to the Lord, and he heard us, and sent an angel, who hath brought us out of Egypt. Lo, we are now in the city of Cades, which is in the uttermost of thy borders,

20:17. And we beseech thee that we may have leave to pass through thy country. We will not go through the fields, nor through the vineyards, we will not drink the waters of thy wells, but we will go by the common highway, neither turning aside to the right hand, nor to the left, till we are past thy borders.

20:18. And Edom answered them: Thou shalt not pass by me: if thou dost I will come out armed against thee.

20:19. And the children of Israel said: We will go by the beaten way: and if we and our cattle drink of thy waters, we will give thee what is just: there shall be no difficulty in the price, only let us pass speedily.

20:20. But he answered: Thou shalt not pass. And immediately he came forth to meet them with an infinite multitude, and a strong hand,

20:21. Neither would he condescend to their desire to grant them passage through his borders. Wherefore Israel turned another way from him.

20:22. And when they had removed the camp from Cades, they came to mount Hor, which is in the borders of the land of Edom:

20:23. Where the Lord spoke to Moses:

20:24. Let Aaron, saith he, go to his people: for he shall not go into the land which I have given the children of Israel, because he was incredulous to my words, at the waters of contradiction.

20:25. Take Aaron and his son with him, and bring them up into mount Hor:

20:26. And when thou hast stripped the father of his vesture, thou shalt vest therewith Eleazar his son: Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and die there.

20:27. Moses did as the Lord had commanded: and they went up into mount Hor before all the multitude.

20:28. And when he had stripped Aaron of his vestments, he vested Eleazar his son with them.

20:29. And Aaron being dead in the top of the mountain, he came down with Eleazar.

20:30. And all the multitude seeing that Aaron was dead, mourned for him thirty days throughout all their families.

Numbers Chapter 21

King Arad is overcome. The people murmur and are punished with fiery serpents: they are healed by the brazen serpent. They conquer the kings Sehon and Og.

21:1. And when king Arad the Chanaanite, who dwelt towards the south, had heard this, to wit, that Israel was come by the way of the spies, he fought against them, and overcoming them carried off their spoils.

21:2. But Israel binding himself by vow to the Lord, said: If thou wilt deliver this people into my hand, I will utterly destroy their cities.

21:3. And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and delivered up the Chanaanite, and they cut them off and destroyed their cities: and they called the name of that place Horma, that is to say, Anathema.

Anathema.... That is, a thing devoted to utter destruction.

21:4. And they marched from mount Hor, by the way that leadeth to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom. And the people began to be weary of their journey and labour:

21:5. And speaking against God and Moses, they said: Why didst thou bring us out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, nor have we any waters: our soul now loatheth this very light food.

Very light food.... So they call the heavenly manna: thus worldlings loathe the things of heaven, for which they have no relish.

21:6. Wherefore the Lord sent among the people fiery serpents, which bit them and killed many of them.

Fiery serpents.... They are so called, because they that were bitten by them were burnt with a violent heat.

21:7. Upon which they came to Moses, and said; We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and thee: pray that he may take away these serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

21:8. And the Lord said to him: Make a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: whosoever being struck shall look on it, shall live.

21:9. Moses therefore made a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were healed.

A brazen serpent.... This was a figure of Christ crucified, and of the efficacy of a lively faith in him, against the bites of the hellish serpent. John 3.14.

21:10. And the children of Israel setting forwards camped in Oboth.

21:11. And departing thence they pitched their tents in Jeabarim, in the wilderness, that faceth Moab toward the east.

21:12. And removing from thence, they came to the torrent Zared:

21:13. Which they left and encamped over against Arnon, which is in the desert and standeth out on the borders of the Amorrhite. For Arnon is the border of Moab, dividing the Moabites and the Amorrhites.

21:14. Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord: As he did in the Red Sea, so will he do in the streams of Arnon.

The book of the wars, etc.... An ancient book, which, like several others quoted in scripture, has been lost.

21:15. The rocks of the torrents were bowed down that they might rest in Ar, and lie down in the borders of the Moabites.

21:16. When they went from that place, the well appeared whereof the Lord said to Moses: Gather the people together, and I will give them water.

21:17. Then Israel sung this song: Let the well spring up. They sung thereto:

21:18. The well, which the princes dug, and the chiefs of the people prepared by the direction of the lawgiver, and with their staves. And they marched from the wilderness to Mathana.

21:19. From Mathana unto Nahaliel: from Nahaliel unto Bamoth.

21:20. From Bamoth, is a valley in the country of Moab, to the top of Phasga, which looked towards the desert.

21:21. And Israel sent messengers to Sehon king of the Amorrhites, saying:

21:22. I beseech thee that I may have leave to pass through thy land: we will not go aside into the fields or the vineyards, we will not drink waters of the wells, we will go the king’s highway, till we be past thy borders.

21:23. And he would not grant that Israel should pass by his borders: but rather gathering an army, went forth to meet them in the desert, and came to Jasa and fought against them.

21:24. And he was slain by them with the edge of the sword, and they possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jeboc, and to the confines of the children of Ammon: for the borders of the Ammonites, were kept with a strong garrison.

21:25. So Israel took all his cities, and dwelt in the cities of the Amorrhite, to wit, in Hesebon, and in the villages thereof.

21:26. Hesebon was the city of Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, who fought against the king of Moab: and took all the land, that had been of his dominion, as far as the Arnon.

21:27. Therefore it is said in the proverb: Come into Hesebon, let the city of Sehon be built and set up:

21:28. A fire is gone out of Hesebon, a flame from the city of Sehon, and hath consumed Ar of the Moabites, and the inhabitants of the high places of the Arnon.

21:29. Woe to thee Moab: thou art undone, O people of Chamos. He hath given his sons to flight, and his daughters into captivity to Sehon the king of the Amorrhites.

21:30. Their yoke is perished from Hesebon unto Dibon, they came weary to Nophe, and unto Medaba.

21:31. So Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorrhite.

21:32. And Moses sent some to take a view of Jazer: and they took the villages of it, and conquered the inhabitants.

21:33. And they turned themselves, and went up by the way of Basan, and Og the king of Basan came against them with all his people, to fight in Edrai.

21:34. And the Lord said to Moses: Fear him not, for I have delivered him and all his people, and his country into thy hand: and thou shalt do to him as thou didst to Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, the inhabitant of Hesebon.

21:35. So they slew him also with his sons, and all his people, not letting any one escape, and they possessed his land.

Numbers Chapter 22

Balac, king of Moab, sendeth twice for Balaam to curse Israel. In his way Balaam is rebuked by an angel.

22:1. And they went forward and encamped in the plains of Moab, over against where Jericho is situate beyond the Jordan.

22:2. And Balac the son of Sephor, seeing all that Israel had done to the Amorrhite,

22:3. And that the Moabites were in great fear of him, and were not able to sustain his assault,

22:4. He said to the elders of Madian: So will this people destroy all that dwell in our borders, as the ox is wont to eat the grass to the very roots. Now he was at that time king in Moab.

22:5. He sent therefore messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, a soothsayer, who dwelt by the river of the land of the children of Ammon, to call him, and to say: Behold a people is come out of Egypt, that hath covered the face of the earth, sitting over against me.

22:6. Come therefore, and curse this people, because it is mightier than I: if by any means I may beat them and drive them out of my land: for I know that he whom thou shalt bless is blessed, and he whom thou shalt curse is cursed.

22:7. And the ancients of Moab, and the elders of Madian, went with the price of divination in their hands. And where they were come to Balaam, and had told him all the words of Balac:

22:8. He answered: Tarry here this night and I will answer whatsoever the Lord shall say to me. And while they stayed with Balaam, God came and said to him:

22:9. What mean these men that are with thee?

22:10. He answered: Balac the son of Sephor king of the Moabites hath sent to me,

22:11. Saying: Behold a people that is come out of Egypt, hath covered the face of the land: come and curse them, if by any means I may fight with them and drive them away.

22:12. And God said to Balaam: Thou shalt not go with them, nor shalt thou curse the people: because it is blessed.

22:13. And he rose in the morning and said to the princes: Go into your country, because the Lord hath forbid me to come with you.

22:14. The princes returning, said to Balac: Balaam would not come with us.

22:15. Then he sent many more and more noble than he had sent before:

22:16. Who, when they were come to Balaam, said: Thus saith Balac the son of Sephor, Delay not to come to me:

22:17. For I am ready to honour thee, and will give thee whatsoever thou wilt: come and curse this people.

22:18. Balaam answered: If Balac would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot alter the word of the Lord my God, to speak either more or less.

22:19. I pray you to stay here this night also, that I may know what the Lord will answer me once more.

To stay.... His desiring them to stay, after he had been fully informed already that it was not God’s will he should go, came from the inclination he had to gratify Balac, for the sake of worldly gain. And this perverse disposition God punished by permitting him to go (though not to curse the people as he would willingly have done), and suffering him to fall still deeper and deeper into sin, till he came at last to give that abominable counsel against the people of God, which ended in his own destruction. So sad a thing it is to indulge a passion for money.

22:20. God therefore came to Balaam in the night, and said to him: If these men be come to call thee, arise and go with them: yet so, that thou do what I shall command thee.

22:21. Balaam arose in the morning, and saddling his ass went with them.

22:22. And God was angry. And an angel of the Lord stood in the way against Balaam, who sat on the ass, and had two servants with him.

22:23. The ass seeing the angel standing in the way, with a drawn sword, turned herself out of the way, and went into the field. And when Balaam beat her, and had a mind to bring her again to the way,

22:24. The angel stood in a narrow place between two walls, wherewith the vineyards were enclosed.

22:25. And the ass seeing him, thrust herself close to the wall, and bruised the foot of the rider. But he beat her again:

22:26. And nevertheless the angel going on to a narrow place, where there was no way to turn aside either to the right hand or to the left, stood to meet him.

22:27. And when the ass saw the angel standing, she fell under the feet of the rider: who being angry beat her sides more vehemently with a staff.

22:28. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said: What have I done to thee? Why strikest thou me, lo, now this third time?

Opened the mouth, etc.... The angel moved the tongue of the ass, to utter these speeches, to rebuke, by the mouth of a brute beast, the brutal fury and folly of Balaam.

22:29. Balaam answered: Because thou hast deserved it, and hast served me ill: I would I had a sword that I might kill thee.

22:30. The ass said: Am not I thy beast, on which thou hast been always accustomed to ride until this present day? tell me if I ever did the like thing to thee. But he said: Never.

22:31. Forthwith the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel standing in the way with a drawn sword, and he worshipped him falling flat on the ground.

22:32. And the angel said to him: Why beatest thou thy ass these three times? I am come to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse, and contrary to me:

Perverse.... Because thy inclinations are wicked in being willing for the sake of gain to curse the people of whom I am the guardian.

22:33. And unless the ass had turned out of the way, giving place to me who stood against thee, I had slain thee, and she should have lived.

22:34. Balaam said: I have sinned, not knowing that thou didst stand against me: and now if it displease thee that I go, I will return.

22:35. The angel said: Go with these men, and see thou speak no other thing than what I shall command thee. He went therefore with the princes.

22:36. And when Balac heard it he came forth to meet him in a town of the Moabites, that is situate in the uttermost borders of Arnon.

22:37. And he said to Balaam: I sent messengers to call thee, why didst thou not come immediately to me? was it because I am not able to reward thy coming?

22:38. He answered him: Lo, here I am: shall I have power to speak any other thing but that which God shall put in my mouth?

22:39. So they went on together, and came into a city, that was in the uttermost borders of his kingdom.

22:40. And when Balac had killed oxen and sheep, he sent presents to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.

22:41. And when morning was come, he brought him to the high places of Baal, and he beheld the uttermost part of the people.

Numbers Chapter 23

Balaam, instead of cursing Israel, is obliged to bless them, and prophesy good things of them.

23:1. And Balaam said to Balac: Build me here seven altars, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.

23:2. And when he had done according to the word of Balaam, they laid together a calf and a ram upon every altar.

23:3. And Balaam said to Balac: Stand a while by thy burnt offering, until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet me, and whatsoever he shall command, I will speak to thee.

23:4. And when he was gone with speed, God met him. And Balaam speaking to him, said: I have erected seven altars, and have laid on everyone a calf and a ram.

23:5. And the Lord put the word in his mouth, and said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.

23:6. Returning he found Balac standing by his burnt offering, with all the princes of the Moabites:

23:7. And taking up his parable, he said: Balac king of the Moabites hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, said he, and curse Jacob: make haste and detest Israel.

23:8. How shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed? By what means should I detest him, whom the Lord detesteth not?

23:9. I shall see him from the tops of the rocks, and shall consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

23:10. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and know the number of the stock of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be like to them.

23:11. And Balac said to Balaam: What is this that thou dost? I sent for thee to curse my enemies: and thou contrariwise blessest them.

23:12. He answered him: Can I speak any thing else but what the Lord commandeth?

23:13. Balac therefore said: Come with me to another place from whence thou mayest see part of Israel, and canst not see them all: curse them from thence.

23:14. And when he had brought him to a high place, upon the top of mount Phasga, Balaam built seven altars, and laying on every one a calf and a ram,

23:15. He said to Balac: Stand here by thy burnt offering while I go to meet him.

23:16. And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his mouth, he said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou say to him.

23:17. Returning he found him standing by his burnt sacrifice, and the princes of the Moabites with him. And Balac said to him: What hath the Lord spoken?

23:18. But he taking up his parable, said: Stand, O Balac, and give ear: hear, thou son of Sephor:

23:19. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor is the son of man, that he should be changed. Hath he said then, and will he not do? hath he spoken, and will he not fulfil?

23:20. I was brought to bless, the blessing I am not able to hinder.

23:21. There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there an image god to be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the sound of the victory of the king in him.

23:22. God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the rhinoceros.

23:23. There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor divination in Israel. In their times it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God hath wrought.

23:24. Behold the people shall rise up as a lioness, and shall lift itself up as a lion: it shall not lie down till it devour the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

23:25. And Balac said to Balaam: Neither curse, nor bless him.

23:26. And he said: Did I not tell thee, that whatsoever God should command me, that I would do?

23:27. And Balac said to him: Come and I will bring thee to another place; if peradventure it please God that thou mayest curse them from thence.

23:28. And when he had brought him upon the top of mount Phogor, which looketh towards the wilderness,

23:29. Balaam said to him: Build me here seven altars, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.

23:30. Balac did as Balaam had said: and he laid on every altar, a calf and a ram.

Numbers Chapter 24

Balaam still continues to prophesy good things in favour of Israel.

24:1. 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,

24:2. And lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel abiding in their tents by their tribes: and the spirit of God rushing upon him,

24:3. He took up his parable and said: Balaam the son of Beor hath said: The man hath said, whose eye is stopped up:

24:4. The hearer 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:

24:5. How beautiful are thy tabernacles O Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel!

24:6. As woody valleys, as watered gardens near the rivers, as tabernacles which the Lord hath pitched, as cedars by the waterside.

24:7. Water 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.

24:8. God 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.

24:9. Lying 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.

24:10. And 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.

24:11. Return to thy place. I had determined indeed greatly to honour thee, but the Lord hath deprived thee of the honour designed for thee.

24:12. Balaam made answer to Balac: Did I not say to thy messengers, whom thou sentest to me:

24:13. If 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?

24:14. But yet going to my people, I will give thee counsel, what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.

24:15. Therefore taking up his parable, again he said: Balaam the son of Beor hath said: The man whose eye is stopped up, hath said:

24:16. The 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:

24:17. I 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

24:18. And he shall possess Idumea: the inheritance of Seir shall come to their enemies, but Israel shall do manfully.

24:19. Out of Jacob shall he come that shall rule, and shall destroy the remains of the city.

24:20. And when he saw Amalec, he took up his parable, and said: Amalec the beginning of nations, whose latter ends shall be destroyed.

24:21. He 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,

24:22. And thou be chosen of the stock of Cin, how long shalt thou be able to continue? For Assur shall take thee captive.

24:23. And taking up his parable, again he said: Alas, who shall live when God shall do these things?

24:24. They 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.

24:25. And Balaam rose, and returned to his place: Balac also returned the way that he came.

Numbers Chapter 25