Death of Miriam

20 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the ^(A)wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.

^2 (B)There was no water for the congregation, ^(C)and they assembled against Moses and Aaron. ^3 (D)Then the people argued with Moses and spoke, saying, “^(E)If only we had perished ^(F)when our brothers perished before the Lord! ^4 (G)Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our livestock to die ^[a]here? ⁵ Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? ^(H)It is not a place of ^[b]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink!” ⁶ Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and ^(I)fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them; ⁷ then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

The Waters of Meribah

⁸ “Take ^(J)the staff; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it shall yield its water. So you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and have the congregation and their livestock drink.”

⁹ So Moses took the staff ^(K)from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; ¹⁰ and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them, “^(L)Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and ^(M)water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. ¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “^(N)Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” ¹³ Those were called the waters of ^[c](O)Meribah, ^[d]because the sons of Israel argued with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.

¹⁴ From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to ^(P)the king of Edom to say, “This is what your brother Israel has said: ‘You ^(Q)know all the hardship that has ^[e]overtaken us; ¹⁵ that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. ¹⁶ But ^(R)when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent ^(S)an angel, and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please ^(T)let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s road, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”

^18 (U)Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through ^[f]us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” ¹⁹ Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the road, and if I and ^(V)my livestock do drink any of your water, ^(W)then I will ^[g]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, ^[h]nothing more.” ²⁰ But he said, “^(X)You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy ^[i]force and a strong hand. ^21 (Y)So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; ^(Z)then Israel turned away from him.

²² Now when they set out from ^(AA)Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

Death of Aaron

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at ^(AB)Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ “Aaron will be ^(AC)gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because ^(AD)you rebelled against My ^[j]command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and his son ^(AE)Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Hor. ²⁶ Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be ^(AF)gathered to his people and will die there.” ²⁷ So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸ And after Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and ^(AG)put them on his son Eleazar, ^(AH)Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, the whole house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty ^(AI)days.

Arad Conquered

21 When the Canaanite, the king of ^(AJ)Arad, who lived in the ^[k]Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ² So ^(AK)Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed hand over this people to me, then I will ^[l]utterly destroy their cities.” ³ The Lord heard the voice of Israel and turned over the Canaanites; then they ^[m]utterly destroyed them and their cities. And the place was named ^[n](AL)Hormah.

⁴ Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the ^[o]Red Sea, to ^(AM)go around the land of Edom; and the ^[p]people became impatient because of the journey. ⁵ So the people spoke against God and Moses: “^(AN)Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no ^[q]food and no water, and ^[r](AO)we are disgusted with ^[s]this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

^6 (AP)Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and ^(AQ)they bit the people, so that ^(AR)many people of Israel died. ^7 (AS)So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; ^(AT)intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. ⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^[t]Make a ^(AU)fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.” ⁹ So Moses made a ^(AV)bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

^10 (AW)Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth. ¹¹ Then they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the ^[u]east. ^12 (AX)From there they set out and camped in ^[v]Wadi Zered. ¹³ From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; ^(AY)for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ For that reason it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,

^16 (BA)From there they continued to ^[x]Beer, that is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”

^17 (BB)Then Israel sang this song:

And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah, ¹⁹ and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the ^[y]desert.

Two Victories

^21 (BC)Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, ²² “^(BD)Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s road until we have passed through your border.” ^23 (BE)But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to ^(BF)Jahaz and fought against Israel. ²⁴ Then ^(BG)Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the ^(BH)border of the sons of Ammon was ^[z]Jazer. ²⁵ Israel took all these cities, and ^(BI)Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her ^[aa]villages. ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. ²⁷ For that reason those who use proverbs say,

³¹ So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ³² Now Moses sent men to spy out ^(BR)Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

^33 (BS)Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them ^[ad]with all his people, for battle at ^(BT)Edrei. ³⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “^(BU)Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” ³⁵ So ^(BV)they ^[ae]killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land.

Balak Sends for Balaam

22 ^(BW)Then the sons of Israel journeyed on, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.

² Now ^(BX)Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ^3 (BY)So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel. ⁴ Moab said to the elders of ^(BZ)Midian, “Now this ^[af]horde will eat up all that is around us, as the ox eats up the grass of the field!” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ So he sent messengers to ^(CA)Balaam the son of Beor, at ^(CB)Pethor, which is near the Euphrates River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call for him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they have covered the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me. ^6 (CC)Now, therefore, please come, ^(CD)curse this people for me since they are too ^[ag]mighty for me; perhaps I will be able to ^[ah]defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left with the fees for ^(CE)divination in their hands; and they came to Balaam and ^[ai]repeated Balak’s words to him. ⁸ And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you just as the Lord may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹ Then ^(CF)God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent word to me: ¹¹ ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” ¹² But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; ^(CG)you shall not curse the people, for they ^(CH)are blessed.” ¹³ So Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak’s representatives, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” ¹⁴ And the representatives from Moab got up and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵ Then Balak sent representatives once again, more numerous and more distinguished than ^[aj]the previous. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak the son of Zippor says: ‘I beg you, let nothing keep you from coming to me; ¹⁷ for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you tell me. ^(CI)Please come then, curse this people for me.’” ¹⁸ But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “^(CJ)Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the ^[ak]command of the Lord my God. ¹⁹ Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the Lord will say to me.” ²⁰ And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do ^(CK)only the thing that I tell you.”

^21 (CL)So Balaam arose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab.

The Angel and Balaam

²² But God was angry that he was going, ^(CM)and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand, the donkey turned off from the road and went into the field; and Balaam struck the donkey to guide her back onto the road. ²⁴ Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a stone wall on this side and on that side. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again. ²⁶ Then the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so ^(CN)Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸ Then ^(CO)the 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?” ²⁹ And Balaam said to the donkey, “It is because you have made a mockery of me! If only there had been a sword in my hand! For ^(CP)I would have killed you by now!” ³⁰ But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been in the habit of doing such a thing to you?” And he said, “No.”

³¹ Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw ^(CQ)the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed ^[al]all the way to the ground. ³² Then the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was ^(CR)reckless and contrary to me. ³³ But the donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I certainly would have killed you just now, and let her live.” ³⁴ So Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “^(CS)I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back.” ³⁵ But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but ^(CT)you shall speak only the word that I ^[am]tell you.” So Balaam went along with the representatives of Balak.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, ^[an]at the extreme end of the border. ³⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send word to you to call for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you?” ³⁸ So Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you now! ^(CU)Am I really able to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that only shall I speak.” ³⁹ And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.

⁴¹ Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to ^[ao](CV)the high places of Baal, and he saw from there ^[ap]a ^(CW)portion of the people.

Followers of Tradition

7 ^(A)The Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered to Him after they came ^(B)from Jerusalem, ² and saw that some of His disciples were eating their bread with ^[a](C)unholy hands, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they ^[b]carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the ^(D)tradition of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they ^[c]completely cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received as traditions to firmly hold, such as the ^[d]washing of ^(E)cups, pitchers, and copper pots.) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk in accordance with the ^(F)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with ^(G)[e]unholy hands?” ⁶ But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the ^(J)tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your ^(K)tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘^(L)Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘^(M)The one who speaks evil of father or mother, is ^[f]certainly to be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a person says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is ^(N)Corban (that is, ^[g]given to God),’ ¹² you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thereby invalidating the word of God by your ^(O)tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”