Numbers 24-25
1599 Geneva Bible
24 5 Balaam prophesieth of the great prosperity that should come unto Israel. 17 Also of the coming of Christ. 20 The destruction of the Amalekites, and of the Kenites.
1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, then he went not, (A)as certain times before, to set divinations, but set his face toward the [a]wilderness.
2 And Balaam lift up his eyes, and looked upon Israel, which dwelt according to their tribes, and the Spirit of God came upon him,
3 (B)And he uttered his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes [b]were shut up, hath said,
4 He hath said which heard the words of God, and saw the vision of the Almighty, and [c]falling in a trance had his eyes opened:
5 ¶ How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thine habitations, O Israel!
6 As the valleys are they stretched forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the [d]aloe trees, which the Lord hath planted, as the cedars beside the waters.
7 The [e]water droppeth out of his bucket, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his King shall be higher than [f]Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 God brought him out of Egypt: his strength shall be as an unicorn: he shall eat the nations his enemies, and bruise their bones, and shoot them through with his arrows.
9 (C)He coucheth, and lieth down as a young Lion, and as a Lion: Who shall stir him up? blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.
10 Then Balak was very angry with Balaam, and [g]smote his hands together: so Balak said unto Balaam, I sent for thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them now three times.
11 Therefore now flee unto thy place: I thought surely to promote thee unto honor, but lo, the [h]Lord hath kept thee back from honor.
12 Then Balaam answered Balak, Told I not also thy messengers, which thou sentest unto me, saying,
13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot pass the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind? what the Lord shall command, that same will I speak.
14 And now behold, I go unto my people: come, I will [i][j]advertise thee what this people shall do to thy folk in the latter days.
15 And he uttered his parable, and said Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes were shut up hath said,
16 He hath said that heard the words of God, and hath the knowledge of the most High, and saw the vision of the Almighty, and falling in a trance had his eyes opened:
17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near: there shall come a [k]Star of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise of Israel and shall smite the [l]coasts of Moab, and destroy all the sons of [m]Sheth.
18 And Edom shall be possessed, and Seir shall be a possession to their enemies: but Israel shall do valiantly.
19 He also that shall have dominion shall be of Jacob, and shall destroy the remnant of the [n]city.
20 ¶ And when he looked on Amalek, he uttered his parable, and said, Amalek was the [o]first of the nations: but his latter end shall come to destruction.
21 And he looked on the [p]Kenites, and uttered his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwelling place, and [q]put thy nest in the rock:
22 Nevertheless, [r]the Kenite shall be spoiled, until Asshur carry thee away captive.
23 Again he uttered his parable, and said, Alas, [s]who shall live when God doeth this?
24 The ships also shall come from the coasts of [t]Kittim, and subdue Asshur, and shall subdue Eber, and [u]he also shall come to destruction.
25 Then Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.
25 2 The people committeth fornication with the daughters of Moab. 9 Phinehas killeth Zimri and Cozbi. 11 God maketh his covenant with Phinehas. 17 God commandeth, to kill the Midianites.
1 Now while Israel abode in (D)Shittim, the people began to commit whoredom with the [v]daughters of Moab:
2 Which called the people unto the sacrifice of their gods, and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods.
3 And Israel [w]coupled himself unto Baal of Peor: wherefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel:
4 And the Lord said unto Moses, (E)Take all the heads of the people and hang them up [x]before the Lord [y]against the Sun, that the indignation of the Lord’s wrath may be turned from Israel.
5 Then Moses said unto the Judges of Israel, Everyone slay his [z]men that were joined unto Baal of Peor.
6 ¶ And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the Congregation of the children of Israel, [aa]who wept before the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
7 (F)And when Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the Priest saw it, he rose up from the midst of the Congregation, and took a [ab]spear in his hand,
8 And followed the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust them both through: to wit, the man of Israel, and the woman, [ac]through her belly: so the plague ceased from the children of Israel.
9 (G)And there died in that plague four and twenty thousand.
10 Then the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
11 (H)Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the Priest, hath turned mine anger away from the children of Israel, while he [ad]was zealous for my sake among them: therefore I have not consumed the children of Israel in my jealousy.
12 Wherefore say to him, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace.
13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of the Priest’s office forever, because he was zealous for his God, and hath made an [ae]atonement for the children of Israel.
14 And the name of the Israelite thus slain, which was killed with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, prince [af]of the family of the Simeonites.
15 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain, was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was head over the people of his father’s house in Midian.
16 ¶ Again the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
17 (I)Vex the Midianites, and smite them:
18 For they trouble you with their [ag]wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you as concerning Peor, and as concerning their sister Cozbi daughter of a prince of Midian, which was slain in the day of the plague because of Peor.
Footnotes
- Numbers 24:1 Where the Israelites camped.
- Numbers 24:3 His eyes were shut up before in respect of the clear visions which he saw after: some read, were open.
- Numbers 24:4 Though he lay as in a sleep, yet the eyes of his mind were open.
- Numbers 24:6 Or, tents.
- Numbers 24:7 His prosperity and posterity shall be very great.
- Numbers 24:7 Which name was common to the kings of Amalek.
- Numbers 24:10 In token of anger.
- Numbers 24:11 Thus the wicked burden God when they cannot compass their wicked enterprises.
- Numbers 24:14 Hebrew, counsel.
- Numbers 24:14 He gave also wicked counsel to cause the Israelites to sin, that thereby God might forsake them, Num. 31:16.
- Numbers 24:17 Meaning, Christ.
- Numbers 24:17 That is, the princes.
- Numbers 24:17 He shall subdue all that resist: for of Sheth came Noah, and of Noah all the world.
- Numbers 24:19 Of the Edomites.
- Numbers 24:20 The Amalekites first made war against Israel, as Num. 14:45.
- Numbers 24:21 Or, Midianites.
- Numbers 24:21 Make thyself as strong as thou canst.
- Numbers 24:22 Or, thou Kain shalt.
- Numbers 24:23 Some read, Oh who shall not perish when the enemy that is, Antichrist, shall set himself up as God?
- Numbers 24:24 The Grecians and Romans.
- Numbers 24:24 Meaning, Eber, or the Jews for rebelling against God.
- Numbers 25:1 With the women.
- Numbers 25:3 Worshipped the idol of the Moabites, which was in the hill Peor.
- Numbers 25:4 Or, to the Lord.
- Numbers 25:4 Openly in the sight of all.
- Numbers 25:5 Let him see execution done of them that are under his charge.
- Numbers 25:6 Repenting that they had offended God.
- Numbers 25:7 Or, javelin.
- Numbers 25:8 Or, in her tent. Chalde and Greek, in her secrets.
- Numbers 25:11 He was zealous to maintain my glory.
- Numbers 25:13 He hath pacified God’s wrath.
- Numbers 25:14 Hebrew, of the house of the father.
- Numbers 25:18 Causing you to commit both corporal and spiritual fornication by Balaam’s counsel, Num. 31:16; Rev. 2:14.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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