The Living Bible (53 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
Balaam realized by now that Jehovah planned to bless Israel, so he didn’t even go to meet the Lord as he had earlier. Instead, he went at once and looked out toward the camp of Israel
2
which stretched away across the plains, divided by tribal areas.
Then the Spirit of God came upon him,
3-9
and he spoke this prophecy concerning them:
“Balaam the son of Beor says—
The man whose eyes are open says—
‘I have listened to the word of God,
I have seen what God Almighty showed me;
I fell, and my eyes were opened:
Oh, the joys awaiting Israel,
Joys in the homes of Jacob.
I see them spread before me as green valleys,
And fruitful gardens by the riverside;
As aloes planted by the Lord himself;
As cedar trees beside the waters.
They shall be blessed with an abundance of water,
And they shall live in many places.
Their king will be greater than Agag;
Their kingdom is exalted.
God has brought them from Egypt.
Israel has the strength of a wild ox,
And shall eat up the nations that oppose him;
He shall break their bones in pieces,
And shall shoot them with many arrows.
Israel sleeps as a lion or a lioness—
Who dares arouse him?
Blessed is everyone who blesses you, O Israel,
And curses shall fall upon everyone who curses you.’”
10
King Balak was livid with rage by now. Striking his hands together in anger and disgust he shouted, “I called you to curse my enemies and instead you have blessed them three times.
11
Get out of here! Go back home! I had planned to promote you to great honor, but Jehovah has kept you from it!”
12
Balaam replied, “Didn’t I tell your messengers
13
that even if you gave me a palace filled with silver and gold, I could not go beyond the words of Jehovah, and could not say a word of my own? I said that I would say only what Jehovah says!
14
Yes, I shall return now to my own people. But first, let me tell you what the Israelites are going to do to your people!”
15-19
So he spoke this prophecy to him:
“Balaam the son of Beor is the man
Whose eyes are open!
He hears the words of God
And has knowledge from the Most High;
He sees what Almighty God has shown him;
He fell, and his eyes were opened:
I see in the future of Israel,
Far down the distant trail,
That there shall come a star from Jacob!
This ruler of Israel
Shall smite the people of Moab,
And destroy the sons of Sheth.
Israel shall possess all Edom and Seir.
They shall overcome their enemies.
Jacob shall arise in power
And shall destroy many cities.”
20
Then Balaam looked over at the homes of the people of Amalek and prophesied:
“Amalek was the first of the nations,
But its destiny is destruction!”
21-22
Then he looked over at the Kenites:
“Yes, you are strongly situated,
Your nest is set in the rocks!
But the Kenites shall be destroyed,
And the mighty army of the king of Assyria shall deport you from this land!”
23-24
He concluded his prophecies by saying:
“Alas, who can live when God does this?
Ships shall come from the coasts of Cyprus,
And shall oppress both Eber and Assyria.
They too must be destroyed.”
25
So Balaam and Balak returned to their homes.
*
While Israel was camped at Acacia, some of the young men began going to wild parties with the local Moabite girls.
2
These girls also invited them to attend the sacrifices to their gods, and soon the men were not only attending the feasts, but also bowing down and worshiping the idols.
3
Before long all Israel was joining freely in the worship of Baal, the god of Moab; and the anger of the Lord was hot against his people.
4
He issued the following command to Moses:
“Execute all the tribal leaders of Israel. Hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that his fierce anger will turn away from the people.”
5
So Moses ordered the judges to execute all who had worshiped Baal.
6
But one of the Israeli men insolently brought a Midianite girl into the camp, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as they were weeping at the door of the Tabernacle.
7
When Phinehas (son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest) saw this, he jumped up, grabbed a spear,
8
and rushed after the man into his tent, where he had taken the girl. He thrust the spear all the way through the man’s body and into her stomach. So the plague was stopped,
9
but only after 24,000 people had already died.
10-11
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas (son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest) has turned away my anger for he was angry with my anger, and would not tolerate the worship of any God but me. So I have stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended.
12-13
Now because of what he has done—because of his zeal for his God, and because he has made atonement for the people of Israel by what he did—I promise that he and his descendants shall be priests forever.”
14
The name of the man who was killed with the Midianite girl was Zimri, son of Salu, a leader of the tribe of Simeon.
15
The girl’s name was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, a Midianite prince.
16-17
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Destroy the Midianites,
18
for they are destroying you with their wiles. They are causing you to worship Baal, and they are leading you astray, as you have just seen by the death of Cozbi.”
After the plague had ended, Jehovah said to Moses and to Eleazar (son of Aaron the priest),
2
“Take a census of all the men of Israel who are twenty years old or older, to find out how many of each tribe and clan are able to go to war.”
3-4
So Moses and Eleazar issued census instructions to the leaders of Israel. (The entire nation was camped in the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, opposite Jericho.) Here are the results of the census:
5-11
The tribe of Reuben:
43,730.
(Reuben was Israel’s oldest son.) In this tribe were the following clans, named after Reuben’s sons:
The Hanochites, named after their ancestor Hanoch.
The Palluites, named after their ancestor Pallu. (In the subclan of Eliab—who was one of the sons of Pallu—were the families of Nemuel, Abiram, and Dathan. This Dathan and Abiram were the two leaders who conspired with Korah against Moses and Aaron, and in fact challenged the very authority of God! But the earth opened and swallowed them; and 250 men were destroyed by fire from the Lord that day, as a warning to the entire nation.)
The Hezronites, named after their ancestor Hezron.
The Carmites, named after their ancestor Carmi.
12-14
The tribe of Simeon:
22,200.
In this tribe were the following clans, founded by Simeon’s sons:
The Nemuelites, named after their ancestor Nemuel.
The Jaminites, named after their ancestor Jamin.
The Jachinites, named after their ancestor Jachin.
The Zerahites, named after their ancestor Zerah.
The Shaulites, named after their ancestor Shaul.
15-18
The tribe of Gad:
40,500.
In this tribe were the following clans founded by the sons of Gad:
The Zephonites, named after their ancestor Zephon.
The Haggites, named after their ancestor Haggi.
The Shunites, named after their ancestor Shuni.
The Oznites, named after their ancestor Ozni.
The Erites, named after their ancestor Eri.
The Arodites, named after their ancestor Arod.
The Arelites, named after their ancestor Areli.
19-22
The tribe of Judah:
76,500.
In this tribe were the following clans named after the sons of Judah—but not including Er and Onan who died in the land of Canaan:
The Shelanites, named after their ancestor Shelah.
The Perezites, named after their ancestor Perez.
The Zerahites, named after their ancestor Zerah.
This census also included the subclans of Perez:
The Hezronites, named after their ancestor Hezron.
The Hamulites, named after their ancestor Hamul.
23-25
The tribe of Issachar:
64,300.
In this tribe were the following clans named after the sons of Issachar:
The Tolaites, named after their ancestor Tola.
The Punites, named after their ancestor Puvah.
The Jashubites, named after their ancestor Jashub.
The Shimronites, named after their ancestor Shimron.
26-27
The tribe of Zebulun:
60,500.
In this tribe were the following clans named after the sons of Zebulun:
The Seredites, named after their ancestor Sered.
The Elonites, named after their ancestor Elon.
The Jahleelites, named after their ancestor Jahleel.
28-37
The tribe of Joseph:
32,500
in the half-tribe of Ephraim; and
52,700
in the half-tribe of Manasseh.
In the half-tribe of Manasseh was the clan of Machirites, named after their ancestor Machir.
The subclan of the Machirites was the Gileadites, named after their ancestor Gilead.
The tribes of the Gileadites:
The Jezerites, named after their ancestor Jezer.
The Helekites, named after their ancestor Helek.
The Asrielites, named after their ancestor Asriel.
The Shechemites, named after their ancestor Shechem.
The Shemidaites, named after their ancestor Shemida.
The Hepherites, named after their ancestor Hepher. (Hepher’s son, Zelophehad, had no sons. Here are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, Tirzah.)
The 32,500 registered in the half-tribe of Ephraim included the following clans, named after the sons of Ephraim:
The Shuthelahites, named after their ancestor Shuthelah. (A subclan of the Shuthelahites was the Eranites, named after their ancestor Eran, a son of Shuthelah.)
The Becherites, named after their ancestor Becher.
The Tahanites, named after their ancestor Tahan.
38-41
The tribe of Benjamin:
45,600.
In this tribe were the following clans named after the sons of Benjamin:
The Belaites, named after their ancestor Bela.
Subclans named after sons of Bela were:
The Ardites, named after their ancestor Ard.
The Naamites, named after their ancestor Naaman.
The Ashbelites, named after their ancestor Ashbel.
The Ahiramites, named after their ancestor Ahiram.
The Shuphamites, named after their ancestor Shephupham.
The Huphamites, named after their ancestor Hupham.
42-43
The tribe of Dan:
64,400.
In this tribe was the clan of the Shuhamites, named after Shuham, the son of Dan.
44-47
The tribe of Asher:
53,400.
In this tribe were the following clans named after the sons of Asher:
The Imnites, named after their ancestor Imnah.
The Ishvites, named after their ancestor Ishvi.
The Beriites, named after their ancestor Beriah.
Subclans named after the sons of Beriah were:
The Heberites, named after their ancestor Heber.
The Malchielites, named after their ancestor Malchiel.
Asher also had a daughter named Serah.
48-50
The tribe of Naphtali:
45,400.
In this tribe were the following clans, named after the sons of Naphtali:
The Jahzeelites, named after their ancestor Jahzeel.
The Gunites, named after their ancestor Guni.
The Jezerites, named after their ancestor Jezer.
The Shillemites, named after their ancestor Shillem.
51
So the total number of the men of draft age throughout Israel was 601,730.
52-53
Then the Lord told Moses to divide the land among the tribes in proportion to their population, as indicated by the census—
54
the larger tribes to be given more land, the smaller tribes less land.
55-56
“Let the representatives of the larger tribes have a lottery, drawing for the larger sections,” the Lord instructed, “and let the smaller tribes draw for the smaller sections.”
57
These are the clans of the Levites numbered in the census:
The Gershonites, named after their ancestor Gershon.
The Kohathites, named after their ancestor Kohath.
The Merarites, named after their ancestor Merari.
58-59
These are the families of the tribe of Levi: the Libnites, the Hebronites, the Mahlites, the Mushites, the Korahites.
While Levi was in Egypt, a daughter, Jochebed, was born to him and she became the wife of Amram, son of Kohath. They were the parents of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam.
60
To Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
61
But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized incense before the Lord.
62
The total number of Levites in the census was 23,000, counting all the males a month old and upward. But the Levites were not included in the total census figure of the people of Israel, for the Levites were given no land when it was divided among the tribes.
63
So these are the census figures as prepared by Moses and Eleazar the priest, in the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
64-65
Not one person in this entire census had been counted in the previous census
*
taken in the wilderness of Sinai! For all who had been counted then had died, as the Lord had decreed when he said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” The only exceptions were Caleb (son of Jephunneh) and Joshua (son of Nun).