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Numbers 20

Water from a Rock

(Exodus 17.1-7)

    ¹²But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, " Because you refused to believe in my power, these people did not respect me. And so, you will not be the ones to lead them into the land I have promised."

    ¹³The Israelites had complained against the LORD, and he had shown them his holy power by giving them water to drink. So they named the place Meribah, which means " Complaining."

Israel Isn't Allowed To Go through Edom

   We are Israelites, your own relatives, and we're sure you have heard the terrible things that have happened to us. ¹⁵Our ancestors settled in Egypt and lived there a long time. But later the Egyptians were cruel to us, ¹⁶and when we begged our LORD for help, he answered our prayer and brought us out of that land.

   Now we are camped at the border of your territory, near the town of Kadesh. ¹⁷Please let us go through your country. We won't go near your fields and vineyards, and we won't drink any water from your wells. We will stay on the main road ^[e] until we leave your territory. ¹⁸But the Edomite king answered, " No, I won't let you go through our country! And if you try, we will attack you."

    ¹⁹Moses sent back this message: " We promise to stay on the main road, and if any of us or our livestock drink your water, we will pay for it. We just want to pass through."

    ²⁰But the Edomite king insisted, " You can't go through our land!"

   Then Edom sent out its strongest troops ²¹to keep Israel from passing through its territory. So the Israelites had to go in another direction.

Aaron Dies

    ²⁷Moses obeyed, and everyone watched as he and Aaron and Eleazar walked to the top of Mount Hor. ²⁸Moses then took the priestly robe from Aaron and placed it on Eleazar. Aaron died there.

   When Moses and Eleazar came down, ²⁹the people knew that Aaron had died, and they mourned his death for thirty days.

Numbers 21

Israel Defeats the Canaanites at Hormah

    ²The Israelites prayed, " Our LORD, if you will help us defeat these Canaanites, we will completely destroy their towns and everything in them, to show that they belong to you." ^{[f] 3}The LORD answered their prayer and helped them wipe out the Canaanite army and completely destroy their towns. That's why one of the towns is named Hormah, which means " Destroyed Place."

Moses Makes a Bronze Snake

    ⁷Some of the people went to Moses and admitted, " It was wrong of us to insult you and the LORD. Now please ask him to make these snakes go away."

   Moses prayed, ⁸and the LORD answered, " Make a snake out of bronze and place it on top of a pole. Anyone who gets bitten can look at the snake and won't die."

    ⁹Moses obeyed the LORD. And all of those who looked at the bronze snake lived, even though they had been bitten by the poisonous snakes.

Israel's Journey to Moab

    ¹⁷That's also the same well the Israelites sang about in this song:

   Let's celebrate!

   The well has given us water.

    ¹⁸With their royal scepters,

   our leaders pointed out

   where to dig the well.

   The Israelites left the desert and camped near the town of Mattanah, ¹⁹then at Nahaliel, and then at Bamoth. ²⁰Finally, they reached Moabite territory, where they camped near Mount Pisgah ^[i] in a valley overlooking the desert north of the Dead Sea.

Israel Defeats King Sihon the Amorite

(Deuteronomy 2.26-37)

    ²²Please let us pass through your territory. We promise to stay away from your fields and vineyards, and we won't drink any water from your wells. As long as we're in your land, we won't get off the main road. ^{[j] 23}But Sihon refused to let Israel travel through his land. Instead, he called together his entire army and marched into the desert to attack Israel near the town of Jahaz. ²⁴Israel defeated them and took over the Amorite territory from the Arnon River gorge in the south to the Jabbok River gorge in the north. Beyond the Jabbok was the territory of the Ammonites, who were much stronger than Israel.

    ²⁵The Israelites settled in the Amorite towns, including the capital city of Heshbon with its surrounding villages. ²⁶King Sihon had ruled from Heshbon, after defeating the Moabites and taking over their land north of the Arnon River gorge. ²⁷That's why the Amorites had written this poem about Heshbon:

   Come and rebuild Heshbon,

   King Sihon's capital city!

    ²⁸His armies marched out

   like fiery flames,

   burning down the town of Ar

   and destroying ^[k] the hills along the Arnon River.

    ²⁹You Moabites are done for!

   Your god Chemosh

   deserted your people;

   they were captured, taken away

   by King Sihon the Amorite.

    ³⁰We completely defeated Moab.

   The towns of Heshbon and Dibon,

   of Nophah and Medeba

   are ruined and gone. ^{[l] 31}After the Israelites had settled in the Amorite territory, ³²Moses sent some men to explore the town of Jazer. Later, the Israelites captured the villages surrounding it and forced out the Amorites who lived there.

Israel Defeats King Og of Bashan

(Deuteronomy 3.1-11)

    ³⁴The LORD said to Moses, " Don't be afraid of Og. I will help you defeat him and his army, just as you did King Sihon who ruled in Heshbon. Og's territory will be yours."

    ³⁵So the Israelites wiped out Og, his family, and his entire army--there were no survivors. Then Israel took over the land of Bashan.

Numbers 22

King Balak of Moab Hires Balaam To Curse Israel

   I need your help. A huge group of people has come here from Egypt and settled near my territory. ⁶They are too powerful for us to defeat, so would you come and place a curse on them? Maybe then we can run them off. I know that anyone you bless will be successful, but anyone you curse will fail.

    ⁷The leaders of Moab and Midian left and took along money to pay Balaam for his work. When they got to his house, they gave him Balak's message.

    ⁸" Spend the night here," Balaam replied, " and tomorrow I will tell you the LORD's answer." So the officials stayed at his house.

    ⁹During the night, God asked Balaam, " Who are these people at your house?"

    ¹⁰" They are messengers from King Balak of Moab," Balaam answered. " He sent them ¹¹to ask me to go to Moab and place a curse on the people who have come there from Egypt. They have settled everywhere around him, and he wants to run them off."

    ¹²But God replied, " Don't go with Balak's messengers. I have blessed those people who have come from Egypt, so don't curse them."

    ¹³The next morning, Balaam said to Balak's officials, " Go on back home. The LORD says I cannot go with you."

    ¹⁴The officials left and told Balak that Balaam refused to come.

    ¹⁵Then Balak sent a larger group of officials, who were even more important than the first ones. ¹⁶They went to Balaam and told him that Balak had said, " Balaam, if you come to Moab, ¹⁷I'll pay you very well and do whatever you ask. Just come and place a curse on these people."

    ¹⁸Balaam answered, " Even if Balak offered me a palace full of silver or gold, I wouldn't do anything to disobey the LORD my God. ¹⁹You are welcome to spend the night here, just as the others did. I will find out if the LORD has something else to say about this."

    ²⁰That night, God said, " Balaam, I'll let you go to Moab with Balak's messengers, but do only what I say."

    ²¹So Balaam got up the next morning and saddled his donkey, then left with the Moabite officials.

Balaam and His Donkey Meet an Angel

    ²⁴Then the angel stood between two vineyards, in a narrow path with a stone wall on each side. ²⁵When the donkey saw the angel, it walked so close to one of the walls that Balaam's foot scraped against the wall. Balaam beat the donkey again.

    ²⁶The angel moved once more and stood in a spot so narrow that there was no room for the donkey to go around. ²⁷So it just lay down. Balaam lost his temper, then picked up a stick and smacked the donkey.

    ²⁸When that happened, the LORD told the donkey to speak, and it asked Balaam, " What have I done to you that made you beat me three times?"

    ²⁹" You made me look stupid!" Balaam answered. " If I had a sword, I'd kill you here and now!"

    ³⁰" But you're my owner," replied the donkey, " and you've ridden me many times. Have I ever done anything like this before?"

   " No," Balaam admitted.

    ³¹Just then, the LORD let Balaam see the angel standing in the road, holding a sword, and Balaam bowed down.

    ³²The angel said, " You had no right to treat your donkey like that! I was the one who blocked your way, because I don't think you should go to Moab. ^{[n] 33}If your donkey had not seen me and stopped those three times, I would have killed you and let the donkey live." ³⁴Balaam replied, " I was wrong. I didn't know you were trying to stop me. If you don't think I should go, I'll return home right now."

    ³⁵" It's all right for you to go," the LORD's angel answered. " But you must say only what I tell you." So Balaam went on with Balak's officials.

King Balak Meets Balaam

    ³⁸" I'm here now," Balaam answered. " But I will say only what God tells me to say."

    ³⁹They left and went to the town of Kiriath-Huzoth, ⁴⁰where Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep and gave some of the meat to Balaam and the officials who were with him.

    ⁴¹The next morning, Balak took Balaam to the town of Bamoth-Baal. From there, Balaam could see some of the Israelites. ^[o]

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Mark 7

The Teaching of the Ancestors

(Matthew 15.1-9)

    ³The Pharisees and many other Jewish people obey the teachings of their ancestors. They always wash their hands in the proper way ^[b] before eating. ⁴None of them will eat anything they buy in the market until it is washed. They also follow a lot of other teachings, such as washing cups, pitchers, and bowls. ^[c]

    ⁵The Pharisees and teachers asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? Why do they eat without washing their hands?"

    ⁶Jesus replied:

   You are nothing but show-offs! The prophet Isaiah was right when he wrote that God had said,

   "All of you praise me

   with your words,

   but you never really

   think about me.

    ⁷It is useless for you

   to worship me,

   when you teach rules

   made up by humans."

    ⁸You disobey God's commands in order to obey what humans have taught. ⁹You are good at rejecting God's commands so that you can follow your own teachings! ¹⁰Didn't Moses command you to respect your father and mother? Didn't he tell you to put to death all who curse their parents? ¹¹But you let people get by without helping their parents when they should. You let them say that what they own has been offered to God. ^{[d] 12}You won't let those people help their parents. ¹³And you ignore God's commands in order to follow your own teaching. You do a lot of other things that are just as bad.