To The Word – Day 40

₁By now Balaam knew that the LORD wanted him to bless the people of Israel, so he did not go to look for omens, as he had done before. He turned towards the desert ₂and saw the people of Israel camped tribe by tribe. The Spirit of God took control of him, ₃and he uttered this prophecy:

₁₀Balak clenched his fists in anger and said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but three times now you have blessed them instead. ₁₁Now go off home! I promised to reward you, but the LORD has kept you from getting the reward.”

₁₂Balaam answered, “I told the messengers you sent to me that ₁₃even if you gave me all the silver and gold in your palace, I could not disobey the command of the LORD by doing anything of myself. I will say only what the LORD tells me to say.”

₁₄Balaam said to Balak, “Now I am going back to my own people, but before I go, I am warning you what the people of Israel will do to your people in the future.” ₁₅Then he uttered this prophecy:

₂₀Then in his vision Balaam saw the Amalekites and uttered this prophecy:

₂₁In his vision he saw the Kenites, and uttered this prophecy:

₂₃Balaam uttered this prophecy:

₂₅Then Balaam got ready and went back home, and Balak went on his way.

₁When the Israelites were camped in the Valley of Acacia, the men began to have sexual intercourse with the Moabite women who were there. ₂These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshipped. The Israelites ate the food and worshipped the god ₃Baal of Peor. So the LORD was angry with them ₄and said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of Israel and, in obedience to me, execute them in broad daylight, and then I will no longer be angry with the people.” ₅Moses said to the officials, “Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshipper of Baal of Peor.”

₆One of the Israelites took a Midianite woman into his tent in the sight of Moses and the whole community, while they were mourning at the entrance of the Tent of the LORD's presence. ₇When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up and left the assembly. He took a spear, ₈followed the man and the woman into the tent, and drove the spear through both of them. In this way the epidemic that was destroying Israel was stopped, ₉but it had already killed 24,000 people.

₁₀The LORD said to Moses, ₁₁“Because of what Phinehas has done, I am no longer angry with the people of Israel. He refused to tolerate the worship of any god but me, and that is why I did not destroy them in my anger. ₁₂So tell him that I am making a covenant with him that is valid for all time to come. ₁₃He and his descendants are permanently established as priests, because he did not tolerate any rivals to me and brought about forgiveness for the people's sin.”

₁₄The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the head of a family in the tribe of Simeon. ₁₅The woman's name was Cozbi. Zur, her father, was chief of a group of Midianite clans.

₁₆The LORD commanded Moses, ₁₇“Attack the Midianites and destroy them, ₁₈because of the evil they did to you when they deceived you at Peor, and because of Cozbi, who was killed at the time of the epidemic at Peor.”

₁After the epidemic the LORD said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, ₂“Take a census by families of the whole community of Israel, of all men twenty years old or older who are fit for military service.” _3-4Moses and Eleazar obeyed, and called together all the men of that age group. They assembled in the plains of Moab across the River Jordan from Jericho.

These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:

₅The tribe of Reuben (Reuben was the eldest son of Jacob): the clans of Hanoch, Pallu, ₆Hezron, and Carmi. ₇These clans numbered 43,730 men. ₈The descendants of Pallu were Eliab ₉and his sons Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. (These are the Dathan and Abiram who were chosen by the community. They defied Moses and Aaron and joined the followers of Korah when they rebelled against the LORD. ₁₀The ground opened and swallowed them, and they died with Korah and his followers when fire destroyed 250 men; they became a warning to the people. ₁₁But the sons of Korah were not killed.)

₁₂The tribe of Simeon: the clans of Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, ₁₃Zerah, and Shaul. ₁₄These clans numbered 22,200 men.

₁₅The tribe of Gad: the clans of Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, ₁₆Ozni, Eri, ₁₇Arod, and Areli. ₁₈These clans numbered 40,500 men.

_19-21The tribe of Judah: the clans of Shelah, Perez, Zerah, Hezron, and Hamul. (Two of Judah's sons, Er and Onan, had died in the land of Canaan.) ₂₂These clans numbered 76,500 men.

₂₃The tribe of Issachar: the clans of Tola, Puah, ₂₄Jashub, and Shimron. ₂₅These clans numbered 64,300 men.

₂₆The tribe of Zebulun: the clans of Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ₂₇These clans numbered 60,500 men.

₂₈The tribes of Joseph, who was the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

₂₉The tribe of Manasseh: Machir son of Manasseh was the father of Gilead, and the following clans traced their ancestry to Gilead: ₃₀the clans of Iezer, Helek, ₃₁Asriel, Shechem, ₃₂Shemida, and Hepher. ₃₃Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ₃₄These clans numbered 52,700 men.

₃₅The tribe of Ephraim: the clans of Shuthelah, Becher, and Tahan. ₃₆The clan of Eran traced its descent from Shuthelah. ₃₇These clans numbered 32,500 men.

These are the clans descended from Joseph.

₃₈The tribe of Benjamin: the clans of Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, ₃₉Shephupham, and Hupham. ₄₀The clans of Ard and Naaman traced their descent from Bela. ₄₁These clans numbered 45,600 men.

₄₂The tribe of Dan: the clan of Shuham, ₄₃which numbered 64,400 men.

₄₄The tribe of Asher: the clans of Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah. ₄₅The clans of Heber and Malchiel traced their descent from Beriah. ₄₆Asher had a daughter named Serah. ₄₇These clans numbered 53,400 men.

₄₈The tribe of Naphtali: the clans of Jahzeel, Guni, ₄₉Jezer, and Shillem. ₅₀These clans numbered 45,400 men.

₅₁The total number of the Israelite men was 601,730.

₅₂The LORD said to Moses, ₅₃“Divide the land among the tribes, according to their size. _54-56Divide the land by drawing lots, and give a large share to a large tribe and a small one to a small tribe.”

₅₇The tribe of Levi consisted of the clans of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ₅₈Their descendants included the sub-clans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah. Kohath was the father of Amram, ₅₉who was married to Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born in Egypt. She bore Amram two sons, Aaron and Moses, and a daughter, Miriam. ₆₀Aaron had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ₆₁Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unholy fire to the LORD. ₆₂The male Levites who were one month old or older numbered 23,000. They were listed separately from the rest of the Israelites, because they were not given any property in Israel.

₆₃All these clans were listed by Moses and Eleazar when they took a census of the Israelites in the plains of Moab across the River Jordan from Jericho. ₆₄There was not even one man left among those whom Moses and Aaron had listed in the first census in the Sinai Desert. ₆₅The LORD had said that all of them would die in the wilderness, and except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun they all did.

₁Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah were the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph. ₂They went and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the whole community at the entrance of the Tent of the LORD's presence and said, ₃“Our father died in the wilderness without leaving any sons. He was not among the followers of Korah, who rebelled against the LORD; he died because of his own sin. ₄Just because he had no sons, why should our father's name disappear from Israel? Give us property among our father's relatives.”

₅Moses presented their case to the LORD, ₆and the LORD said to him, ₇“What the daughters of Zelophehad request is right; give them property among their father's relatives. Let his inheritance pass on to them. ₈Tell the people of Israel that whenever a man dies without leaving a son, his daughter is to inherit his property. ₉If he has no daughter, his brothers are to inherit it. ₁₀If he has no brothers, his father's brothers are to inherit it. ₁₁If he has no brothers or uncles, then his nearest relative is to inherit it and hold it as his own property. The people of Israel are to observe this as a legal requirement, just as I, the LORD, have commanded you.”

₁₂The LORD said to Moses, “Go up the Abarim Mountains and look out over the land that I am giving to the Israelites. ₁₃After you have seen it, you will die, as your brother Aaron did, ₁₄because both of you rebelled against my command in the wilderness of Zin. When the whole community complained against me at Meribah, you refused to acknowledge my holy power before them.” (Meribah is the spring at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

₁₅Moses prayed, ₁₆“LORD God, source of all life, appoint, I pray, a man who can lead the people ₁₇and can command them in battle, so that your community will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

₁₈The LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a capable man, and place your hands on his head. ₁₉Make him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the whole community, and there before them all proclaim him as your successor. ₂₀Give him some of your own authority, so that the whole community of Israel will obey him. ₂₁He will depend on Eleazar the priest, who will learn my will by using the Urim and Thummim. In this way Eleazar will direct Joshua and the whole community of Israel in all their affairs.” ₂₂Moses did as the LORD had commanded him. He made Joshua stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole community. ₂₃As the LORD had commanded, Moses put his hands on Joshua's head and proclaimed him as his successor.

₁Now, to deal with the matters you wrote about.

A man does well not to marry. ₂But because there is so much immorality, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband. ₃A man should fulfil his duty as a husband, and a woman should fulfil her duty as a wife, and each should satisfy the other's needs. ₄A wife is not the master of her own body, but her husband is; in the same way a husband is not the master of his own body, but his wife is. ₅Do not deny yourselves to each other, unless you first agree to do so for a while in order to spend your time in prayer; but then resume normal marital relations. In this way you will be kept from giving in to Satan's temptation because of your lack of self-control.

₆I tell you this not as an order, but simply as a concession. ₇Actually I would prefer that all of you were as I am; but each one has a special gift from God, one person this gift, another one that gift.

₈Now, to the unmarried and to the widows I say that it would be better for you to continue to live alone as I do. ₉But if you cannot restrain your desires, go ahead and marry — it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

₁₀For married people I have a command which is not my own but the Lord's: a wife must not leave her husband; ₁₁but if she does, she must remain single or else be reconciled to her husband; and a husband must not divorce his wife.

₁₂To the others I say (I, myself, not the Lord): if a Christian man has a wife who is an unbeliever and she agrees to go on living with him, he must not divorce her. ₁₃And if a Christian woman is married to a man who is an unbeliever and he agrees to go on living with her, she must not divorce him. ₁₄For the unbelieving husband is made acceptable to God by being united to his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made acceptable to God by being united to her Christian husband. If this were not so, their children would be like pagan children; but as it is, they are acceptable to God. ₁₅However, if the one who is not a believer wishes to leave the Christian partner, let it be so. In such cases the Christian partner, whether husband or wife, is free to act. God has called you to live in peace. ₁₆How can you be sure, Christian wife, that you will not save your husband? Or how can you be sure, Christian husband, that you will not save your wife?

₁₇Each of you should go on living according to the Lord's gift to you, and as you were when God called you. This is the rule I teach in all the churches. ₁₈If a circumcised man has accepted God's call, he should not try to remove the marks of circumcision; if an uncircumcised man has accepted God's call, he should not get circumcised. ₁₉For whether or not a man is circumcised means nothing; what matters is to obey God's commandments. ₂₀Each of you should remain as you were when you accepted God's call. ₂₁Were you a slave when God called you? Well, never mind; but if you have a chance to become free, use it. ₂₂For a slave who has been called by the Lord is free for the Lord; in the same way a free person who has been called by Christ is his slave. ₂₃God bought you for a price; so do not become slaves of human beings. ₂₄My friends, each of you should remain in fellowship with God in the same condition as you were when you were called.

₂₅Now, concerning what you wrote about unmarried people: I do not have a command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is worthy of trust.

₂₆Considering the present distress, I think it is better for a man to stay as he is. ₂₇Have you got a wife? Then don't try to get rid of her. Are you unmarried? Then don't look for a wife. ₂₈But if you do marry, you haven't committed a sin; and if an unmarried woman marries, she hasn't committed a sin. But I would rather spare you the everyday troubles that married people will have.

₂₉What I mean, my friends, is this: there is not much time left, and from now on married men should live as though they were not married; ₃₀those who weep, as though they were not sad; those who laugh, as though they were not happy; those who buy, as though they did not own what they bought; ₃₁those who deal in material goods, as though they were not fully occupied with them. For this world, as it is now, will not last much longer.

₃₂I would like you to be free from worry. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord's work, because he is trying to please the Lord. ₃₃But a married man concerns himself with worldly matters, because he wants to please his wife; ₃₄and so he is pulled in two directions. An unmarried woman or a virgin concerns herself with the Lord's work, because she wants to be dedicated both in body and spirit; but a married woman concerns herself with worldly matters, because she wants to please her husband.

₃₅I am saying this because I want to help you. I am not trying to put restrictions on you. Instead, I want you to do what is right and proper, and to give yourselves completely to the Lord's service without any reservation.

₃₆In the case of an engaged couple who have decided not to marry: if the man feels that he is not acting properly towards the young woman and if his passions are too strong and he feels that they ought to marry, then they should get married, as he wants to. There is no sin in this. ₃₇But if a man, without being forced to do so, has firmly made up his mind not to marry, and if he has his will under complete control and has already decided in his own mind what to do — then he does well not to marry the young woman. ₃₈So the man who marries does well, but the one who doesn't marry does even better.

₃₉A married woman is not free as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, then she is free to be married to any man she wishes, but only if he is a Christian. ₄₀She will be happier, however, if she stays as she is. That is my opinion, and I think that I too have God's Spirit.

₁Now, concerning what you wrote about food offered to idols.

It is true, of course, that “all of us have knowledge”, as they say. Such knowledge, however, puffs a person up with pride; but love builds up. ₂Those who think they know something really don't know as they ought to know. ₃But the person who loves God is known by him.

₄So then, about eating the food offered to idols: we know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist; we know that there is only the one God. ₅Even if there are so-called “gods”, whether in heaven or on earth, and even though there are many of these “gods” and “lords”, ₆yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live.

₇But not everyone knows this truth. Some people have been so used to idols that to this day when they eat such food they still think of it as food that belongs to an idol; their conscience is weak, and they feel they are defiled by the food. ₈Food, however, will not improve our relations with God; we shall not lose anything if we do not eat, nor shall we gain anything if we do eat.

₉Be careful, however, not to let your freedom of action make those who are weak in the faith fall into sin. ₁₀Suppose a person whose conscience is weak in this matter sees you, who have so-called “knowledge”, eating in the temple of an idol; will not this encourage him to eat food offered to idols? ₁₁And so this weak person, your brother for whom Christ died, will perish because of your “knowledge”! ₁₂And in this way you will be sinning against Christ by sinning against your Christian brothers and sisters and wounding their weak conscience. ₁₃So then, if food makes my brother or sister sin, I will never eat meat again, so as not to make my brother or sister fall into sin.