Chapter 28

And Balam said unto Balac: build me here seven altars and provide here seven oxen and seven rams. And Balac did as Balam said. And Balac and Balam offered on every altar an ox and a ram. And Balam said unto Balac: stond by the sacrifice, while I go to wete whether the LORD will come and meet me, and whatsoever he sheweth me, I will tell thee, and he went forthwith. And God came unto Balam, and Balam said unto him: I have prepared seven altars, and have offered upon every altar, an ox and a ram. And the LORD put a saying in Balam's mouth and said: go again to Balac and say on this wise. And he went again unto him and lo, he stood by his sacrifice, both he and all the lords of Moab. And he began his parable and said: Balac the king of Moab hath fetched me from Mesopotamia out of the mountains of the east saying: come and curse me Iacob, come and defy me Israel. How shall I curse whom God curseth not and how shall I defy whom the LORD defieth not? from the top of the rocks I see him and from the hills I behold him: Lo, the people shall dwell by himself and shall not be reckoned among other nations. Who can tell the dust of Iacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel. I pray God that my soul, may die the death of the righteous, and that my last end may be like his. And Balac said unto Balam, what hast thou done unto me? I fetched thee to curse mine enemies: and behold, thou blessest them. And he answered and said: must I not keep that and speak it, which the LORD hath put in my mouth? And Balac said unto him: Come I pray thee with me unto another place, whence thou shalt see them, and shalt see but the utmost part of them and shalt not see them all and curse me them there. And he brought him into a plain field where men might see far, even to the top of Pisga, and built seven altars and offered an ox and a ram on every altar. And he said unto Balac: stond here by thy sacrifice while I go yonder. And the LORD met Balam and put words in his mouth and said: go again unto Balac and thus say. And when he came to him: behold, he stood by his sacrifice and the lords of Moab with him; And Balac said unto him: what sayeth the LORD? And he took up his parable and said: rise up Balac and hear, and hearken unto me thou son of Ziphor. The Lorde {|God|} is not a man, that he can lie, neither the son of a man that he can repent: should he say and not do, or should he speak and not make it good? behold, I have begun to bless and have blessed, and can not go back therefrom. He beheld no wickedness in Iacob nor saw Idolatry in Israel: The LORD his God is with him, and the tromp {triumph} of a king among them. God that brought them out of Egypt, is as the strength of an unicorn unto them, for there is no sorcerer, in Iacob, nor soothsayer in Israel. When the time cometh, it will be said of Iacob and of Israel, what God hath wrought. Behold, the people shall rise up as a lioness and heave up himself as a lion, and shall not lie down again, until he have eaten of the prey and drunk of the blood of them that are slain. And Balac said unto Balam: neither curse them nor bless them. And Balam answered and said unto Balac: told not I thee saying, all that the LORD biddeth me, that I must do? And Balac said unto Balam: come I pray thee, I will bring thee yet unto another place: so peradventure it shall please God, that thou mayst curse them there. And Balac brought Balam unto the top of Peor, that boweth toward the wilderness. And Balam said unto Balac: make me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. And Balac did as Balam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

Chapter .xxiiij.

When Balam saw that it pleased the LORD that he should bless Israel, he went not as he did twice before to fetch soothsaying, but set his face toward the wilderness, and lift up his eyes and looked upon Israel as he lay with his tribes, and the spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his parable and said: Balam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eye is open hath said: he hath said which heareth the words of God and seeth the visions of the almighty, which falleth down and his eyes are opened. How goodly are the tents of Iacob and thine habitations Israel, even as the broad valleys and as gardens by the river's side, as the tents which the LORD hath pitched and as cypress trees upon the water. The water shall flow out of his bucket and his seed shall be many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag; And his kingdom shall be exalted. God that brought him out of Egypt is as the strength of an unicorn unto him, and he shall eat the nations that are his enemies and break their bones and pierce them thorow with his arrows. He couched himself and lay down as a lion and as a lioness, who shall stir him up? blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. And Balac was wroth with Balam and smote his hands together, and said unto him: I sent for thee to curse mine enemies: and behold, thou hast blessed them this three times, and now get thee quickly unto thy place. I thought that I would promote thee unto honour, but the LORD hath kept thee back from worship. And Balam said unto Balac: told I not thy messengers which thou sentest unto me saying: If Balac would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can not pass the mouth of the LORD, to do either good or bad of mine own mind. What the LORD sayeth, that must I speak. And now behold, I go unto my people: come let me shew thee, what this people shall do to thy folk in the latter days. And he began his parable and said: Balam the son of Beor hath said, and the man that hath his eye open hath said, and he hath said that heareth the words of God and hath the knowledge of the most high and beholdeth the vision of the almighty, and when he falleth down hath his eyes opened. I see him but not now, I behold him but not nye. There shall come a star of Iacob and rise a scepter of Israel, which shall smite the coasts of Moab and undermine all the children of Seth. And Edom shall be his possession, and the possession of Seir shall be their enemies, and Israel shall do manfully. And out of Iacob shall come he that shall destroy the remnant of the cities. And he looked on Amalek and began his parable and said: Amalek is the first of the nations, but his latter end shall perish utterly. And he looked on the Kenites, and took his parable and said: strong is thy dwelling place and put thy nest upon a rock. Neverthelater thou shalt be a burning to Kain, until Assur take thee prisoner. And he took his parable and said: Alas, who shall live when God doeth this? The ships shall come out of the coast of Cittim and subdue Assur and subdue Eber, and he himself shall perish at the last. And Balam rose up and went and dwelt in his place: and Balac also went his way.

Chapter .xxv.

And Israel dwelt in Sittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, which called the people unto the sacrifice of their gods. And the people ate and worshipped their gods, and Israel coupled himself unto Baal Peor. Then the LORD was angry with Israel, and said unto Moses: take all the heads of the people, and hang them up unto the LORD against the son, that the wrath of the LORD may turn away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel: go and slay those men that joined them selves unto Baal Peor. And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren, a Madianitish wife even in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the multitude of the children of Israel, as they were weeping in the door of the tabernacle of witness. And when Phineas the son of Eleazer the son of Aaron the priest saw it, he rose up out of the company and took a weapon in his hand, and went after the man of Israel into the whorehouse, and thrust them thorow: both the man of Israel and also the woman even thorow the belly of her. And the plague ceased from the children of Israel. And there died in the plague twenty four thousand. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying: Phineas the son of Eleazer the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned mine anger away from the children of Israel, because he was jealous for my sake among them, that I had not consumed the children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say: behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it and his seed after him, even the covenant of the priest's office for ever, because he was jealous for his God's {goddes} sake and made an atonement for the children of Israel. The name of the Israelite which was smitten with the Madianitish wife, was Simri the son of Salu, a lord of an ancient house among the Simeonites. And the name of the Madianitish wife, was Cosbi the daughter of Zur and head over the people of an ancient house in Madian. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying: vex the Madianites and smite them, for they have troubled you with their wiles with thee which they have beguiled you, thorow Peor and thorow their sister Cosbi the daughter of a lord in Madian, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.

Chapter .xxvi.

And after the plague, the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Eleazer saying: take the number of all the multitude of the children of Israel from twenty years and above thorowout their fathers' houses, all that are able to go to war in Israel. And Moses and Eleazer the priest told them in the fields of Moab, by Iordan fast by Iericho, from twenty years and above, as the LORD commanded Moses. And the children of Israel that came of Egypt were: Ruben the eldest son of Israel. The children of Ruben were, Hanoch, of whom cometh the kindred of the Hanochites: and of Palu, cometh the kindred of the Paluites: And of Hesron, cometh the kindred of the Hesronites: and of Carmi, cometh the kindred of the Carmites. These are the kindreds of the Rubenites, which were in number forty three thousand seven hundred and thirty. And the sons of Palu were Eliab. And the sons of Eliab were: Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram councillors in the congregation, which strove against Moses and Aaron in the company of Corah, when they strove against the LORD. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them and Corah also, when the multitude died, what time the fire consumed two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign: Notwithstanding, the children of Corah died not. And the children of Simeon in their kindreds were: Nemuel, of whom cometh the kindred of the Nemuelites: Iamin, of whom cometh the kindred of the Iaminites: Iachin, of whom cometh the kindred of the Iachinites: Serah of whom cometh the kindred of the Serahites: Saul of whom cometh the kindred of the Saulites. These are the kindreds of the Simeonites: in number twenty two thousand and two hundred. And the children of Gad in their kindreds were: Zephon, of whom cometh the kindred of the Zephonites: and of Haggi, cometh the kindred of the Haggites: and of Suni, cometh the kindred of the Sunites: and of Aseni, cometh the kindred of the Asenites: and of Eri cometh the kindred of the Erites: and of Arod cometh the kindred of the Arodites: and of Ariel cometh the kindred of the Arielites. These are the kindreds of the children of Gad, in number forty thousand and five hundred. The children of Iuda: Er and Onan, which died in the land of Canaan. But the children of Iuda in their kindred were: Sela of whom cometh the kindred of the Selamites: and of Phares cometh the kindred of the Pharesites: and of Serah cometh the kindred of the Serahites. And the children of Phares were Hesron, of whom cometh the kindred of the Hesronites: and of Hamul cometh the kindred of the Hamulites. These are the kindreds of Iuda, in number seventy six thousand and five hundred. And the children of Isachar in their kindreds were: Tola, of whom cometh the kindred of the Tolaites: and Phuva, of whom cometh the kindred of the Phuvaites: and of Iasub cometh the kindred of the Iasubites: and of Simron cometh the kindred of the Simronites. These are the kindreds of Isachar in number sixty four thousand and three hundred. The children of Zabulon in their kindreds were: Sered, of whom cometh the kindred of the Seredites: and Elon, of whom cometh the kindred of the Elonites: and of Iaheliel, cometh the kindred of the Iahelelites. These are the kindreds of Zabulon: in number sixty thousand and five hundred. The children of Ioseph in their kindreds were: Manasse and Ephraim. The children of Manasse: Machir, of whom cometh the kindred of the Machirites. And Machir begat Gilead, of whom cometh the kindred of the Gileadites. And these are the children of Gilead: Hieser, of whom cometh the kindred of the Hieserites: and of Helech cometh the kindred of the Helechites: and of Asriel the kindred of the Asrielites: and of Sichem cometh the kindred of the Sichemites: and of Simida cometh the kindred of the Simidites: and of Hepher cometh the kindred of the Hepherites. And Zelaphead the son of Hepher had no sons but daughters. And the names of the daughters of Zelaphead were: Mahela, Noa, Hagla, Milcha and Thirza. These are the kindreds of Manasse, in number fifty two thousand and seven hundred. These are the children of Ephraim in their kindreds: Suthelah, of whom cometh the kindred of the Suthelahites: and Becher, of whom cometh the kindred of the Becherites: and of Thaha cometh the kindred of the Thahanites. And these are the children of Suthelah: Eran, of whom cometh the kindred of the Eranites. These are the kindreds of the children of Ephraim in number thirty two thousand and five hundred. And these are the children of Ioseph in their kindreds. These are the children of BenIamin in their kindreds: Bela, of whom cometh the kindred of the Belaites: and of Asbel cometh the kindred of the Asbelites: and of Ahiram, the kindred of the Ahiramites: and of Supham the kindred of the Suphamites: and of Hupham the kindred of the Huphamites. And the children of Bela were Ard and Naaman from whence come the kindreds of the Ardites and of the Naamites. These are the children of BenIamin in their kindreds, and in number forty five thousand and six hundred. These are the children of Dan in their kindreds: Suham, of whom cometh the kindred of the Suhamites. These are the kindreds of Dan in their generations. And all the kindreds of the Suhamites were in number sixty four thousand and four hundred. The children of Asser in their kindreds were: Iemna, of whom cometh the kindred of the Iemnites: and Iesui, of whom cometh the kindred of the Iesuites: and of Bria cometh the kindred of Brites. And the children of Bria were Heber, of whom cometh the kindred of the Heberites: and of Malchiel came the kindred of the Malchielites. And the daughter of Aser was called Sarah. These are the kindreds of Aser in number fifty three thousand and four hundred. The children of Nephthali in their kindreds were: Iaheziel, of whom came the kindred of the Iahezielites: and Guni, of whom came the kindred of the Gunites: and of Iezer, came the kindred of the Iezerites: and of Selem the kindred of Selemites. These are the kindreds of Naphthali in their generations in number forty five thousand and four hundred. These are the numbers of the children of Israel: six hundred thousand, and a thousand seven hundred and thirty. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying: unto these the land shall be divided to inherit, according to the number of names: to many thou shalt give the more inheritance and to few the less: to every tribe shall the inheritance be given according to the number thereof. Notwithstanding, the land shall be divided by lot, and according to the names of the tribes of their fathers, they shall inherit: and according to their lot thou shalt divide their land, both to the many and to the few. These are the sums of the Levites in their kindreds: of Gerson, came the kindred of the Gersonites: and of Cahath came the kindred of the Cahathites: and of Merari came the kindred of the Merarites. These are the kindreds of Levi: the kindred of the Libnites, the kindred of the Hebronites, the kindred of the Mahelites, the kindred of the Musites, the kindred of the Karahites. Kahath begat Amram, and Amram's wife was called Iochebed a daughter of Levi, which was born him in Egypt. And she bare unto Amram, Aaron, Moses and Miriam their sister. And unto Aaron were born, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazer and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu died, as they offered strange fire before the LORD. And the number of them was twenty three thousand, of all the males from a month old and above. For they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel. These are the numbers of the children of Israel which Moses and Eleazer the priest numbered in the fields of Moab, fast by Iordan nye to Iericho. And among these there was not a man of the number of the children of Israel which Moses and Aaron told in the wilderness of Sinai. For the LORD said unto them, that they should die in the wilderness and that there should not be left a man of them: save Caleb the son of Iephune and Iosua the son of Nun.

Chapter .xxvij.

And the daughters of Zelaphead the son of Heber the son of Gilead, the son of Machir the son of Manasse, of the kindreds of Manasse the son of Ioseph (whose names were Mahela, Noha, Hagla, Melcha and Thirza) came and stood before Moses and Eleazer the priest and before the lords and all the multitude in the door of the tabernacle of witness saying: our father died in the wilderness, and was not among the company of them that gathered them selves together against the LORD in the congregation of Corah: But died in his own sin, and had no sons. Wherefore should the name of our father's be taken away from among his kindred, because he had no son? Give unto us a possession among the brethren of our father. And Moses brought their cause before the LORD. And the LORD spake unto Moses saying: The daughters of Zelaphead speak right: thou shalt give them a possession to inherit among their father's brethren, and shalt turn the inheritance of their father unto them. And speak unto the children of Israel saying: If a man die and have no son, ye shall turn his inheritance unto his daughter. If he have no daughter, ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. If he have no brethren, ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren. If he have no father's brethren, ye shall give his inheritance unto him that is next to him of his kindred, and let him possess it. And this shall be unto the children of Israel an ordinance, and a law, as the LORD hath commanded Moses. And the LORD said unto Moses: get thee up into this mount Abarim, and behold, the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou shalt be gathered unto thy people also, as Aaron thy brother was gathered unto his people. For ye were disobedient unto my mouth in the desert of Zin in the strife of the congregation, that ye sanctified me not in the water before their eyes. That is the water of strife in Cades in the wilderness of Zin. And Moses spake unto the LORD saying: let the LORD God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which may go in and out before them, and to lead them in and out, that the congregation of the LORD be not as a flock of sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said unto Moses: take Iosua the son of Nun in whom there is spirit, and put thine hands upon him, and set him before Eleazer the priest and before all the congregation and give him a charge in their sight. And put of thy praise upon him that all the company of the children of Israel may hear. And he shall stond before Eleazar the priest which shall ask counsel {councell} for him after the manner of the light {judgement of Urim} before the LORD: And at the mouth of Eleazer shall both he and all the children of Israel with him and all the congregation, go in and out. And Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and he took Iosua and set him before Eleazer the priest and before all the congregation, and put his hands upon him and give him a charge, as the LORD commanded thorow the hand of Moses.

Chapter .xxviij.