Day 133 of 365

¹The children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month: and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

²There was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

³The people strove with Moses, and spoke, saying, "We wish that we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!

⁴Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals?

⁵Why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in to this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink."

⁶Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

⁷The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁸"Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink."

⁹Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

¹⁰Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring you water out of this rock for you?"

¹¹Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

¹²The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

¹³These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the travail that has happened to us:

¹⁵how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and our fathers:

¹⁶and when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt: and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of your border.

¹⁷"Please let us pass through your land: we will not pass through field or through vineyard, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go along the king's highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your border."

¹⁸Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through me, lest I come out with the sword against you."

¹⁹The children of Israel said to him, "We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then will I give its price: let me only, without doing anything else, pass through on my feet."

²⁰He said, "You shall not pass through." Edom came out against him with many people, and with a strong hand.

²¹Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, so Israel turned away from him.

²²They traveled from Kadesh: and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

²³The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,

²⁴"Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor;

²⁶and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be taken, and shall die there."

²⁷Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

²⁸Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

²⁹When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

¹The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.

²Israel vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, "If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities."

³The Lord listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and the name of the place was called Hormah.

⁴They traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

⁵The people spoke against God, and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this light bread."

⁶The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died.

⁷The people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord, and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us." Moses prayed for the people.

⁸The Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard: and it shall happen, that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."

⁹Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it on the standard: and it happened, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the serpent of brass, he lived.

¹⁰The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in Oboth.

¹¹They traveled from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrise.

¹²From there they traveled, and encamped in the valley of Zered.

¹³From there they traveled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that comes out of the border of the Amorites: for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of the Lord, "Vaheb in Suphah, the valleys of the Arnon,

¹⁵the slope of the valleys that incline toward the dwelling of Ar, leans on the border of Moab."

¹⁶From there they traveled to Beer: that is the well of which the Lord said to Moses, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water."

¹⁷Then sang Israel this song: "Spring up, well; sing to it:

¹⁸the well, which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter, and with their poles." From the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;

¹⁹and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;

²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert.

²¹Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

²²"Let me pass through your land: we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard; we will not drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's highway, until we have passed your border."

²³Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz; and he fought against Israel.

²⁴Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

²⁵Israel took all these cities: and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its towns.

²⁶For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon.

²⁷Therefore those who speak in proverbs say, "Come to Heshbon. Let the city of Sihon be built and established;

²⁸for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon.

²⁹Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites.

³⁰We have shot at them. Heshbon has perished even to Dibon. We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba."

³¹Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.

³²Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took its towns, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

³³They turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

³⁴The Lord said to Moses, "Do not fear him: for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people, and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon."

³⁵So they struck him, and his sons and all his people, until there was none left him remaining: and they possessed his land.

¹The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.

²Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

³Moab was very afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

⁴Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Now this multitude will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field." Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.

⁵He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, "Behold, there is a people who came out from Egypt. Behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying opposite me.

⁶Please come now therefore curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: perhaps I shall prevail, that we may strike them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed."

⁷The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak.

⁸He said to them, "Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak to me." The princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

⁹God came to Balaam, and said, "Who are these men with you?"

¹⁰Balaam said to God, "Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has said to me,

¹¹'Behold, the people that has come out of Egypt, it covers the surface of the earth: now, come curse me them; perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.'"

¹²God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people; for they are blessed."

¹³Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, "Go to your land; for the Lord refuses to permit me to go with you."

¹⁴The princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, "Balaam refuses to come with us."

¹⁵Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable than they.

¹⁶They came to Balaam, and said to him, "Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, 'Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me:

¹⁷for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.'"

¹⁸Balaam answered the servants of Balak, "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.

¹⁹Now therefore, please wait also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will speak to me more."

²⁰God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do."

²¹Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

²²God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the Lord placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

²³The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the way.

²⁴Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.

²⁵The donkey saw the angel of the Lord, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he struck her again.

²⁶The angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.

²⁷The donkey saw the angel of the Lord, and she lay down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff.

²⁸The Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?"

²⁹Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you."

³⁰The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Was I ever in the habit of doing so to you?" He said, "No."

³¹Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face.

³²The angel of the Lord said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come forth as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me:

³³and the donkey saw me, and turned aside before me these three times. Unless she had turned aside from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive."

³⁴Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned; for I did not know that you stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases you, I will go back again."

³⁵The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, "Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border.

³⁷Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not earnestly send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able indeed to promote you to honor?"

³⁸Balaam said to Balak, "Behold, I have come to you: have I now any power at all to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak."

³⁹Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth.

⁴⁰Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him.

⁴¹It happened in the morning, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw from there the utmost part of the people.

¹See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!

²It is like the precious oil on the head, that ran down on the beard, even Aaron's beard; that came down on the edge of his robes;

³like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion: for there the Lord gives the blessing, even life forevermore.

¹Wisdom has built her house. She has carved out her seven pillars.

²She has prepared her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table.

³She has sent out her maidens. She cries from the highest places of the city:

⁴"Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,

⁵"Come, eat some of my bread, Drink some of the wine which I have mixed!

⁶Leave your simple ways, and live. Walk in the way of understanding."

⁷He who corrects a mocker invites insult. He who reproves a wicked man invites abuse.

⁸Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

⁹Instruct a wise man, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied. The years of your life will be increased.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it.

¹³The foolish woman is loud, Undisciplined, and knows nothing.

¹⁴She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,

¹⁵To call to those who pass by, who go straight on their ways,

¹⁶"Whoever is simple, let him turn in here." as for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,

¹⁷"Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant."

¹⁸But he doesn't know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.