THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL ENCAMP ON THE PLAINS OF MOAB. BALAK SENDS FOR BALAAM TO COME AND CURSE THEM. THEY SIN AGAINST GOD AND ARE PUNISHED BY A PLAGUE. THEY COME TO JORDAN. TWO AND A HALF TRIBES ASK PERMISSION TO STAY ON THAT SIDE THE RIVER.
THE children of Israel journeyed again, and came to the plains of Moab. A people called the Moabites, lived there, whose king was named Balak. When Balak saw the children of Israel he was afraid, because he thought they had come to make war against him, and there were too many of them for his soldiers to fight with. Therefore he sent for a man named Balaam to come and curse them. We curse a person when we ask God to send some great evil upon him. The king of the Moabites wanted some great evil sent upon the children of Israel, and he thought that if Balaam asked for it, God would send it, because Balaam pretended to have power with God.
So the king sent for Balaam, and told him that he would give him silver and gold, and make him rich and great, if he would come and curse the children of Israel. Now Balaam loved riches, and although the children of Israel had done him no harm, he was willing to curse them for the silver and gold which the king promised to give him. Therefore he rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and started to go with the men whom the king had sent for him.
And God was angry with Balaam for going, and sent his angel to stand before him in the way, with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam could not see the angel, but the ass saw him, and she turned out of the way into the field. And Balaam struck the ass to make her go back. And the angel went on further, and stood in Balaam's path, at a place where there was a wall on each side of it. When the ass came to the place, she pressed up very close to the wall, to get by, but she hurt Balaam's foot, and he struck her again. And the angel went on further still, and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn to the right hand, or the left. Then the ass, because she was afraid, fell down upon the ground under Balaam. And Balaam was very angry, and struck her with the staff that was in his hand.
And the Lord made the ass to speak like a man, and say, What have I done to thee that thou hast struck me these three times? Balaam answered, that it was because she had disobeyed him, and turned out of the way when he wanted her to go on. And Balaam said, I wish there was a sword in my hand, for now would I kill thee. And the ass spoke to him again, saying, Hast thou not ridden upon me ever since I was thine, until this day, and have I ever done so before? He answered, No.
Then the Lord made Balaam see the angel standing before him, with the sword in his hand, and Balaam bowed down with his face to the ground. And the angel said to him, Why hast thou struck thine ass these three times? Behold I have come out against thee, because thy way is wicked before me. And the ass saw me and turned out of the path; unless she had turned from me, surely now I had slain thee and saved her alive. Then the angel commanded Balaam to go with the men whom the king had sent, but to speak to the king only those things which the angel should tell him.
So Balaam went with the men, and when the king heard of it he came out to meet him. The next day the king took him up on a high place, from which Balaam could look down and see all the camp of the children of Israel. And Balaam told the king to build seven altars in that place, and get ready seven bullocks and seven rams, to offer up as burnt offerings. And the king did as Balaam said; he built seven altars, and they offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. Then Balaam asked the king to stay by the burnt offering while he went away to a place alone, that he might see whether the Lord would speak with him, and let him curse the children of Israel.
And Balaam went away to a place alone, and the Lord came and met him there. Then Balaam told him of the altars he had built, and of the animals he had offered. But the Lord would not let him curse the children of Israel; he sent him back to the king and made him speak good things of them.
Then the king told Balaam to come to another place; and he took him up to the top of a mountain, and there he built seven more altars, and made ready seven bullocks and seven rams, and they offered a bullock and a ram on every altar. For Balaam thought that, by building so many altars and offering up so many sacrifices, he might persuade the Lord to let him curse the people. But it was wicked in Balaam to think so, for the Lord would not be persuaded to let any one do wrong, no matter how often he should ask, or how many offerings he should bring him.
And Balaam told the king again, to stay by his burnt offerings, while he went away. alone, that the Lord might speak with him. And Balaam went away, and the Lord came and spoke to him, yet he would not let him curse the children of Israel.
And the king said to Balaam, Come, I will bring thee yet to another place; perhaps the Lord will let thee curse them from there. Then he took him to a mountain called Peor, and built seven altars, and they offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar, as they had done before. Still the Lord would not let Balaam curse the people, for when he came to speak with the king, the Lord made him say good things of them and bless them. And the king was angry at Balaam, and said, I sent for thee to curse my enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them these three times. Then he told him to make haste and go back to his own home. And he sent him away, without any of the silver and gold which Balaam wanted so much.
When the Moabites found that they could not bring evil upon the children of Israel, by seeking permission for Balaam to curse them, they tried another way to do them harm. They tempted them to sin and offend God. Balaam taught the Moabites how to do this. He told them, and another people of that country, called the Midianites, to invite the children of Israel to the feasts which they held to their idols. And the Moabites and Midianites did as Balaam said. They invited the children of Israel to their feasts, and the children of Israel came and ate with them, and bowed down to their idols. Then the Lord was angry with the children of Israel, and sent a pestilence which killed many thousands of them.
And the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness forty years. When those forty years were ended God brought them near to the land of Canaan again, and he commanded Moses and Eleazar to number them, and count how many of the men were able to be soldiers, and go to war, as Moses and Aaron had done while their camp was at mount Sinai. And when Moses and Eleazar went out among the people, to number them, they found that all those men who had refused to go into Canaan the first time, had died in the wilderness, as the Lord said they should. But Caleb and Joshua, the good spies, were living still, for he had promised that they should live, to go with the people into the land.
And the Lord commanded Moses to make war against the Midianites, because they had tempted the children of Israel to sin and worship idols. Then Moses sent twelve thousand men, a thousand from each tribe, against them. And the men of Israel gained the victory over them and slew their kings, and Balaam also, who had taught the Midianites how to tempt the people. And the men of Israel took away all the goods that belonged to the Midianites, and all their cattle; seventy-two thousand oxen, sixty-one thousand asses, and six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep. And they burned their cities and their great castles with fire. After the battle was over, the officers of the children of Israel came to Moses, and said, We have counted the men that went out with us to fight, and all of them are here, not one has been slain. Therefore we have brought to thee, for the Lord, the gold and the jewels which we took from the Midianites. And Moses, and Eleazar the high priest, took the gold, and the jewels, and carried them into the tabernacle as an offering to the Lord.
And the Lord brought the people near to the river Jordan; there they made their camp. And they waited until he should command them to pass over, for on the other side was the land of Canaan. But while they were waiting there, two of the tribes of the children of Israel came to Moses and told him, that they-did not want to pass over Jordan. They wanted to stay in the land where they were then (which was called the land of Gilead), because it was a good land for feeding cattle, and they had a great many cattle.
And Moses was displeased with them, for he thought they wanted to stay there, because they were afraid to fight against the wicked nations in Canaan. He said to them, Shall your brethren go over to war, while you rest here? They answered him, We will build sheep-folds here for our cattle, and houses for our wives and little children to live in; but we, who are men, will go over Jordan with our brethren, and help them fight against the nations who live there, until those nations shall be driven out and our brethren shall have the land for their own. After that we will come back, and have our homes on this side the river. And Moses said, if they would do this, it should be as they wished. And he spoke to the rest of the people, and told them to let the two tribes have the land that they asked for. So the people gave them the land of Gilead.
And the men of the two tribes built folds for their sheep, and houses for their families to live in, till they should come back to that land again. These two tribes were the tribes of Reuben and Gad. And half of the tribe of Manasseh, also, asked permission to stay and have their homes on that side of Jordan.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, and told him that when the children of Israel should go over into Canaan, they must drive out all the heathen nations that lived there. They must break down their idols, and destroy the places they had built to worship their idols in. They must take the land from those wicked nations and keep it for themselves, because the Lord meant to give it to them. Every man among the children of Israel was to have a part of the land given him, where he might build his house, and sow his grain, and feed his cattle. But if they would not obey the Lord, and drive out all the heathen nations, then, the Lord said, those that were left would cause the children of Israel also, to sin, and to worship idols, so that after a while the Lord would drive them out too, as he was now going to drive out those wicked nations.
And the Lord told Moses how large the land was that he would give to the children of Israel, and how far it would reach. And he named the men who should divide it among the people, and give to each tribe the part it was to have. But the priests and the Levites were to have no land given them. Yet they would need houses to live in; therefore the Lord commanded the people to give them some of the cities of Canaan. They were to give them forty-eight cities, which should belong to them. And the priests and Levites were to take their wives, and their sons and their daughters, into those cities, and have their homes there.