The Waters of Meribah

20 And the people of Israel, 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.

² Now there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ³ And the people contended with Moses, and said, “Would that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! ⁴ Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? ⁵ And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink.” ⁶ Then Moses 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, ⁷ and the Lord said to Moses, ⁸ “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water; so you shall bring water out of the rock for them; so you shall give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” ⁹ And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. ¹² And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” ¹³ These are the waters of Mer′ibah,^[a] where the people of Israel contended with the Lord, and he showed himself holy among them.

Passage through Edom Refused

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the adversity that has befallen us: ¹⁵ how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers; ¹⁶ and when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel and brought us forth out of Egypt; and here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Now let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, neither will we drink water from a well; we will go along the King’s Highway, we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left, until we have passed through your territory.” ¹⁸ But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.” ¹⁹ And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of your water, I and my cattle, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” ²⁰ But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with many men, and with a strong force. ²¹ Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

The Death of Aaron

²² And they journeyed from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. ²³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, ²⁴ “Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Mer′ibah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and Elea′zar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; ²⁶ and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Elea′zar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there.” ²⁷ Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸ And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Elea′zar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Elea′zar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus

²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. ²¹ So these came to Philip, who was from Beth-sa′ida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus. ²³ And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.

Jesus Speaks about His Death

²⁷ “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify thy name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd standing by heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; ³² and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” ³³ He said this to show by what death he was to die. ³⁴ The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?” ³⁵ Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

When Jesus had said this, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷ Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him; ³⁸ it was that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

³⁹ Therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah again said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke of him. ⁴² Nevertheless many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: ⁴³ for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Summary of Jesus’ Teaching

⁴⁴ And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. ⁴⁵ And he who sees me sees him who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ If any one hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ⁴⁸ He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. ⁴⁹ For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me.”

Balak Summons Balaam to Curse Israel

22 Then the people of Israel set out, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. ² And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many; Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. ⁴ And Moab said to the elders of Mid′ian, “This horde will now lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, ⁵ sent messengers to Balaam the son of Be′or at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of Amaw to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. ⁶ Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from 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 Mid′ian departed with the fees for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and gave him Balak’s message. ⁸ And he said to them, “Lodge here this night, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me”; so the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹ And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰ And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, ¹¹ ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” ¹² God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” ¹³ So Balaam rose in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land; for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” ¹⁴ So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

¹⁵ Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than they. ¹⁶ And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me; ¹⁷ for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do; come, curse this people for me.’” ¹⁸ But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God, to do less or more. ¹⁹ Pray, now, tarry here this night also, that I may know what more 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, go with them; but only what I bid you, that shall you do.”

Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel

²¹ So Balaam rose in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. ²² But God’s anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the ass, and his two servants were with him. ²³ And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the road, and went into the field; and Balaam struck the ass, to turn her into the road. ²⁴ Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. ²⁵ And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall, and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again. ²⁶ Then the angel of the Lord went ahead, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the ass with his staff. ²⁸ Then the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, 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 ass, “Because you have made sport of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” ³⁰ And the ass said to Balaam, “Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Was I ever accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”

³¹ Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. ³² And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your ass these three times? Behold, I have come forth to withstand you, because your way is perverse before me; ³³ and the ass saw me, and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have slain you and let her live.” ³⁴ Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that thou didst stand in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in thy sight, I will go back again.” ³⁵ And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word which I bid you, that shall you speak.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

Godlessness in the Last Days

3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people. ⁶ For among them are those who make their way into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and swayed by various impulses, ⁷ who will listen to anybody and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith; ⁹ but they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

Paul’s Charge to Timothy

¹⁰ Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹ my persecutions, my sufferings, what befell me at Antioch, at Ico′nium, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. ¹² Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All scripture is inspired by God and^[a] profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.