1 And when Balaam had seen that it was pleasing to the Lord that he should bless Israel, he by no means went out as he had gone before, to seek divination. But directing his face opposite the desert,
2 and lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel dwelling in tents by their tribes. And with the Spirit of God rushing into him,
3 taking up his parable, he said: “Balaam, the son of Beor, the man whose eye has been obstructed,
4 the hearer of the sermon of God, he who has gazed upon a vision of the Almighty, he who falls down and so his eyes are opened, has declared:
5 ‘How beautiful are your tabernacles, O Jacob, and your tents, O Israel!
6 They are like forested valleys, like gardens irrigated next to rivers, like tabernacles which the Lord has fixed, like cedars close to waters.
7 Water shall flow from his jar, and his offspring shall be amid many waters, because Agag, his king, shall be taken, and his kingdom shall be removed.
8 Away from Egypt, God has led him, whose strength is like the rhinoceros. They shall devour the nations that are his enemies, and break their bones, and pierce them with arrows.
9 Lying down, he has slept like a lion, and like a lioness, whom no one would dare to awaken. He who blesses you, shall himself also be blessed. He who curses you, shall be considered cursed.”
10 And Balak, being angry against Balaam, clapped his hands together and said: “I called you to curse my enemies, and, to the contrary, you have blessed them three times.
11 Return to your place. I had decided, indeed, to honor you greatly, but the Lord has deprived you of the designated honor.”
12 Balaam responded to Balak: “Did I not say to your messengers, whom you sent to me:
13 Even if Balak would give me his house, filled with silver and gold, I still could not go away from the word of the Lord my God, so as to offer anything, either good or evil, from my own heart; but whatever the Lord will speak, this, too, I shall speak.
14 Yet truly, as I continue on to my own people, I will give you counsel as to what this people shall do to your people in the end times.”
15 Therefore, taking up his parable, he again spoke: “Balaam the son of Beor, the man whose eye has been obstructed,
16 the hearer of the sermon of God, he who knows the doctrine of the Most High, and who sees the visions of the Almighty, who, falling down, has his eyes opened, has declared:
17 I shall see him, but not presently. I shall gaze upon him, but not soon. A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a rod shall spring up from Israel. And he shall strike down the commanders of Moab, and he shall devastate all the sons of Seth.
18 And he shall possess Idumea; the inheritance of Seir shall fall to their enemies. Yet truly, Israel shall act with strength.
19 From Jacob will be he who shall be ruler. And he shall perish the remnants of the city.”
20 And when he saw Amalek, taking up his parable, he said: “Amalek, first among the Gentiles, whose very end shall be perdition.”
21 Likewise, he saw the Kainites, and taking up his parable, he said: “Robust, indeed, is your habitation. But though you will set your nest in a rock,
22 and you will be elect among the stock of Kain, how long will you be able to remain? For Assur shall take you captive.”
23 And taking up his parable once more he said: “Alas! Who will be able to survive, when God will do these things?
24 They shall arrive in Greek warships from Italy. They shall overcome the Assyrians, and they shall devastate the Hebrews, and yet, at the very end, even they themselves shall perish.”
25 And Balaam rose up, and he returned to his place. Likewise, Balak went back, along the way by which he had arrived.
1 Now Israel, at that time, dwelt in Shittim, and the people were fornicating with the daughters of Moab,
2 who called them to their sacrifices. And they ate, and they adored their gods.
3 And Israel was initiated into Baal of Peor. And so the Lord, being angry,
4 said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people, and hang them on gallows against the sun, so that my fury may be averted from Israel.”
5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Let each one kill his neighbors, who have been initiated into Baal of Peor.”
6 And behold, one of the sons of Israel entered, in the sight of his brothers, to a prostitute of Midian, within view of Moses and of all the crowd of the sons of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle.
7 And when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, had seen it, he rose up from the midst of the multitude, and, seizing a dagger,
8 he entered after the Israelite man, into the brothel, and he pierced both of them at the same time, specifically, the man and the woman at the location of their genitals. And the scourge ceased from among the sons of Israel.
9 And there were slain twenty-four thousand men.
10 And the Lord said to Moses:
11 Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has averted my wrath from the sons of Israel. For he was moved against them by my zeal, so that I myself, in my zeal, might not wipe away the sons of Israel.
12 Because of this, say to him: Behold, I give to him the peace of my covenant.
13 And the covenant of the everlasting priesthood shall be as much for him as for his offspring. For he was zealous on behalf of his God, and he has made expiation for the wickedness of the sons of Israel.”
14 Now the name of the Israelite man, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader from the kinship and tribe of Simeon.
15 Moreover, the Midianite woman, who was put to death together with him, was called Cozbi the daughter of Zur, a most noble leader among the Midianites.
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
17 Let the Midianites perceive you as enemies, and strike them down,
18 for they, too, have behaved with hostility against you, and they have deceived you insidiously by means of the idol Peor, and by Cozbi, the daughter of a commander of Midian, their sister, who was struck down in the day of the scourge because of the sacrilege of Peor.”
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25 I have heard what the prophets have said, prophesying falsehoods in my name, and also saying: ‘I have dreamed! I have dreamed!’
26 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who predict what is false, and who prophesy deceptions from their own heart?
27 They want to cause my people to forget my name, by means of their dreams, which each of them describes to his neighbor, just as their fathers forgot my name for the sake of Baal.
28 The prophet who has had a dream, let him describe the dream. And he who receives my word, let him speak my word in truth. For what has the chaff to do with the wheat, says the Lord?
29 Are not my words like a fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer crushing rock?
30 Therefore, behold: I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal my words, each one from his neighbor.
31 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who take up their tongues and say: ‘The Lord says it.’
32 Behold, I am against the prophets, who dream what is false, says the Lord; who explain and so seduce my people with their falsehoods and with their miracles, though I did not send them, nor did I command them. They have offer nothing beneficial to this people, says the Lord.
33 Therefore, if this people, or a prophet, or a priest questions you, saying, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden. And certainly I will cast you away, says the Lord.’
34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ I will visit upon that man and upon his house.
35 And then you will speak in this way, each one to his neighbor and to his brother: ‘What has the Lord answered? And what has the Lord said?’
36 And the burden of the Lord will be no longer be called to mind. For each one’s own word will be a burden. For you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts, our God.
37 And then you will speak in this way to the prophet: ‘What has the Lord answered you? And what has the Lord spoken?’
38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ then because of this, thus says the Lord: Since you have spoken this word, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ though I sent to you telling you not to say: ‘The burden of the Lord,’
39 because of this, behold, I will take you away, like a burden, and I will forsake you, as well as the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, before my face.
40 And I will give you over to an everlasting reproach and an eternal disgrace, which shall never be wiped away into oblivion.”
1 Unto the end, understanding for the sons of Core.
2 As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God.
3 My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?
1 Now it happened that, on the second first Sabbath, as he passed through the grain field, his disciples were separating the ears of grain and eating them, by rubbing them in their hands.
2 Then certain Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbaths?”
3 And responding to them, Jesus said: “Have you not read this, what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him?
4 How he entered into the house of God, and took the bread of the Presence, and ate it, and gave it to those who were with him, though it is not lawful for anyone to eat it, except the priests alone?”
5 And he said to them, “For the Son of man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”
6 And it happened that, on another Sabbath, he entered into the synagogue, and he taught. And there was a man there, and his right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and Pharisees observed whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might thereby find an accusation against him.
8 Yet truly, he knew their thoughts, and so he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Rise up and stand in the middle.” And rising up, he stood still.
9 Then Jesus said to them: “I ask you if it is lawful on the Sabbaths to do good, or to do evil? To give health to a life, or to destroy it?”
10 And looking around at everyone, he said to the man, “Extend your hand.” And he extended it. And his hand was restored.
11 Then they were filled with madness, and they discussed with one another, what, in particular, they might do about Jesus.
12 And it happened that, in those days, he went out to a mountain to pray. And he was in the prayer of God throughout the night.
13 And when daylight had arrived, he called his disciples. And he chose twelve out of them (whom he also named Apostles):
14 Simon, whom he surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
15 Matthew and Thomas, James of Alphaeus, and Simon who is called the Zealot,
16 and Jude of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was a traitor.
17 And descending with them, he stood in a level place with a multitude of his disciples, and a copious multitude of people from all of Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast, and Tyre and Sidon,
18 who had come so that they might listen to him and be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled by unclean spirits were cured.
19 And the entire crowd was trying to touch him, because power went out from him and healed all.
20 And lifting up his eyes to his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who are weeping now, for you shall laugh.
22 Blessed shall you be when men will have hated you, and when they will have separated you and reproached you, and thrown out your name as if evil, because of the Son of man.
23 Be glad in that day and exult. For behold, your reward is great in heaven. For these same things their fathers did to the prophets.
24 Yet truly, woe to you who are wealthy, for you have your consolation.
25 Woe to you who are satisfied, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
