The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 4: Numbers
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19:19. And in this manner he that is clean shall purify the unclean on
the third and on the seventh day. And being expiated the seventh day, he
shall wash both himself and his garments, and be unclean until the
evening.
19:20. If any man be not expiated after this rite, his soul shall perish
out of the midst of the church: because he hath profaned the sanctuary
of the Lord, and was not sprinkled with the water of purification.
19:21. This precept shall be an ordinance for ever. He also that
sprinkled the water, shall wash his garments. Every one that shall touch
the waters of expiation, shall be unclean until the evening.
19:22. Whatsoever a person toucheth who is unclean, he shall make it
unclean: and the person that toucheth any of these things, shall be
unclean until the evening.
Numbers Chapter 20
The death of Mary the sister of Moses. The people murmur for want of
water: God giveth it them from the rock. The death of Aaron.
20:1. And the children of Israel, and all the multitude came into the
desert of Sin, in the first month: and the people abode in Cades. And
Mary died there, and was buried in the same place.
20:2. And the people wanting water, came together against Moses and
Aaron:
20:3. And making a sedition, they said: Would God we had perished among
our brethren before the Lord.
20:4. Why have you brought out the church of the Lord into the
wilderness, that both we and our cattle should die?
20:5. Why have you made us come up out of Egypt, and have brought us
into this wretched place which cannot be sowed, nor bringeth forth figs,
nor vines, nor pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink?
20:6. And Moses and Aaron leaving the multitude, went into the
tabernacle of the covenant, and fell flat upon the ground, and cried to
the Lord, and said. O Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to
them thy treasure, a fountain of living water, that being satisfied,
they may cease to murmur. And the glory of the Lord appeared over them.
20:7. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
20:8. Take the rod, and assemble the people together, thou and Aaron thy
brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall yield waters.
And when thou hast brought forth water out of the rock, all the
multitude and their cattle shall drink.
20:9. Moses therefore took the rod, which was before the Lord, as he had
commanded him,
20:10. And having gathered together the multitude before the rock, he
said to them: Hear, ye rebellious and incredulous: Can we bring you
forth water out of this rock?
20:11. And when Moses bad lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice
with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the
people and their cattle drank,
The rock... This rock was a figure of Christ, and the water that issued
out from the rock, of his precious blood, the source of all our good.
20:12. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you have not
believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall not
bring these people into the land, which I will give them.
You have not believed, etc... The fault of Moses and Aaron, on this
occasion, was a certain diffidence and weakness of faith; not doubting
of God's power or veracity; but apprehending the unworthiness of that
rebellious and incredulous people, and therefore speaking with some
ambiguity.
20:13. This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of Israel
strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.
The Water of contradiction... Or strife. Hebrew, Meribah.
20:14. In the mean time Moses sent messengers from Cades to the king of
Edom, to say: Thus saith thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all the labour
that hath come upon us:
20:15. In what manner our fathers went down into Egypt, and there we
dwelt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers.
20:16. And how we cried to the Lord, and he heard us, and sent an angel,
who hath brought us out of Egypt. Lo, we are now in the city of Cades,
which is in the uttermost of thy borders,
20:17. And we beseech thee that we may have leave to pass through thy
country. We will not go through the fields, nor through the vineyards,
we will not drink the waters of thy wells, but we will go by the common
highway, neither turning aside to the right hand, nor to the left, till
we are past thy borders.
20:18. And Edom answered them: Thou shalt not pass by me: if thou dost I
will come out armed against thee.
20:19. And the children of Israel said: We will go by the beaten way:
and if we and our cattle drink of thy waters, we will give thee what is
just: there shall be no difficulty in the price, only let us pass
speedily.
20:20. But he answered: Thou shalt not pass. And immediately he came
forth to meet them with an infinite multitude, and a strong hand,
20:21. Neither would he condescend to their desire to grant them passage
through his borders. Wherefore Israel turned another way from him.
20:22. And when they had removed the camp from Cades, they came to mount
Hor, which is in the borders of the land of Edom:
20:23. Where the Lord spoke to Moses:
20:24. Let Aaron, saith he, go to his people: for he shall not go into
the land which I have given the children of Israel, because he was
incredulous to my words, at the waters of contradiction.
20:25. Take Aaron and his son with him, and bring them up into mount
Hor:
20:26. And when thou hast stripped the father of his vesture, thou shalt
vest therewith Eleazar his son: Aaron shall be gathered to his people,
and die there.
20:27. Moses did as the Lord had commanded: and they went up into mount
Hor before all the multitude.
20:28. And when he had stripped Aaron of his vestments, he vested
Eleazar his son with them.
20:29. And Aaron being dead in the top of the mountain, he came down
with Eleazar.
20:30. And all the multitude seeing that Aaron was dead, mourned for him
thirty days throughout all their families.
Numbers Chapter 21
King Arad is overcome. The people murmur and are punished with fiery
serpents: they are healed by the brazen serpent. They conquer the kings
Sehon and Og.
21:1. And when king Arad the Chanaanite, who dwelt towards the south,
had heard this, to wit, that Israel was come by the way of the spies, he
fought against them, and overcoming them carried off their spoils.
21:2. But Israel binding himself by vow to the Lord, said: If thou wilt
deliver thus people into my hand, I will utterly destroy their cities.
21:3. And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and delivered up the
Chanaanite, and they cut them off and destroyed their cities: and they
called the name of that place Horma, that is to say, Anathema.
Anathema... That is, a thing devoted to utter destruction.
21:4. And they marched from mount Hor, by the way that leadeth to the
Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom. And the people began to be weary
of their journey and labour:
21:5. And speaking against God and Moses, they said: Why didst thou
bring us out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, nor
have we any waters: our soul now loatheth this very light food.
Very light food... So they call the heavenly manna: thus worldlings
loathe the things of heaven, for which they have no relish.
21:6. Wherefore the Lord sent among the people fiery serpents, which bit
them and killed many of them.
Fiery serpents... They are so called, because they that were bitten by
them were burnt with a violent heat.
21:7. Upon which they came to Moses, and said; We have sinned, because
we have spoken against the Lord and thee: pray that he may take away
these serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
21:8. And the Lord said to him: Make a brazen serpent, and set it up for
a sign: whosoever being struck shall look on it, shall live.
21:9. Moses therefore made a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign:
which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were healed.
A brazen serpent... This was a figure of Christ crucified, and of the
efficacy of a lively faith in him, against the bites of the hellish
serpent. John 3.14.
21:10. And the children of Israel setting forwards camped in Oboth.
21:11. And departing thence they pitched their tents in Jeabarim, in the
wilderness, that faceth Moab toward the east.
21:12. And removing from thence, they came to the torrent Zared:
21:13. Which they left and encamped over against Arnon, which is in the
desert and standeth out on the borders of the Amorrhite. For Arnon is
the border of Moab, dividing the Moabites and the Amorrhites.
21:14. Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord: As he
did in the Red Sea, so will he do in the streams of Arnon.
The book of the wars, etc... An ancient book, which, like several others
quoted in scripture, has been lost.
21:15. The rocks of the torrents were bowed down that they might rest in
Ar, and lie down in the borders of the Moabites.
21:16. When they went from that place, the well appeared whereof the
Lord said to Moses: Gather the people together, and I will give them
water.
21:17. Then Israel sung this song: Let the well spring up. They sung
thereto:
21:18. The well, which the princes dug, and the chiefs of the people
prepared by the direction of the lawgiver, and with their staves. And
they marched from the wilderness to Mathana.
21:19. From Mathana unto Nahaliel: from Nahaliel unto Bamoth.
21:20. From Bamoth, is a valley in the country of Moab, to the top of
Phasga, which looked towards the desert.
21:21. And Israel sent messengers to Sehon king of the Amorrhites,
saying:
21:22. I beseech thee that I may have leave to pass through thy land: we
will not go aside into the fields or the vineyards, we will not drink
waters of the wells, we will go the king's highway, till we be past thy
borders.
21:23. And he would not grant that Israel should pass by his borders:
but rather gathering an army, went forth to meet them in the desert, and
came to Jasa and fought against them.
21:24. And he was slain by them with the edge of the sword, and they
possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jeboc, and to the confines of
the children of Ammon: for the borders of the Ammonites, were kept with
a strong garrison.
21:25. So Israel took all his cities, and dwelt in the cities of the
Amorrhite, to wit, in Hesebon, and in the villages thereof.
21:26. Hesebon was the city of Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, who
fought against the king of Moab: and took all the land, that had been of
his dominion, as far as the Arnon.
21:27. Therefore it is said in the proverb: Come into Hesebon, let the
city of Sehon be built and set up:
21:28. A fire is gone out of Hesebon, a flame from the city of Sehon,
and hath consumed Ar of the Moabites, and the inhabitants of the high
places of the Arnon.
21:29. Woe to thee Moab: thou art undone, O people of Chamos. He hath
given his sons to flight, and his daughters into captivity to Sehon the
king of the Amorrhites.
21:30. Their yoke is perished from Hesebon unto Dibon, they came weary
to Nophe, and unto Medaba.
21:31. So Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorrhite.
21:32. And Moses sent some to take a view of Jazer: and they took the
villages of it, and conquered the inhabitants.
21:33. And they turned themselves, and went up by the way of Basan, and
Og the king of Basan came against them with all his people, to fight in
Edrai.
21:34. And the Lord said to Moses: Fear him not, for I have delivered
him and all his people, and his country into thy hand: and thou shalt do
to him as thou didst to Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, the inhabitant
of Hesebon.
21:35. So they slew him also with his sons, and all his people, not
letting any one escape, and they possessed his land.
Numbers Chapter 22
Balac, king of Moab, sendeth twice for Balaam to curse Israel. In his
way Balaam is rebuked by an angel.
22:1. And they went forward and encamped in the plains of Moab, over
against where Jericho is situate beyond the Jordan.
22:2. And Balac the son of Sephor, seeing all that Israel had done to
the Amorrhite,
22:3. And that the Moabites were in great fear of him, and were not able
to sustain his assault,
22:4. He said to the elders of Madian: So will this people destroy all
that dwell in our borders, as the ox is wont to eat the grass to the
very roots. Now he was at that time king in Moab.
22:5. He sent therefore messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, a
soothsayer, who dwelt by the river of the land of the children of Ammon,
to call him, and to say: Behold a people is come out of Egypt, that hath
covered the face of the earth, sitting over against me.
22:6. Come therefore, and curse this people, because it is mightier than
I: if by any means I may beat them and drive them out of my land: for I
know that he whom thou shalt bless is blessed, and he whom thou shalt
curse is cursed.
22:7. And the ancients of Moab, and the elders of Madian, went with the
price of divination in their hands. And where they were come to Balaam,
and had told him all the words of Balac:
22:8. He answered: Tarry here this night and I will answer whatsoever
the Lord shall say to me. And while they stayed with Balaam, God came
and said to him:
22:9. What mean these men that are with thee?
22:10. He answered: Balac the son of Sephor king of the Moabites hath
sent to me,
22:11. Saying: Behold a people that is come out of Egypt, hath covered
the face of the land: come and curse them, if by any means I may fight
with them and drive them away.
22:12. And God said to Balaam: Thou shalt not go with them, nor shalt
thou curse the people: because it is blessed.
22:13. And he rose in the morning and said to the princes: Go into your
country, because the Lord hath forbid me to come with you.
22:14. The princes returning, said to Balac: Balaam would not come with
us.
22:15. Then he sent many more and more noble than he had sent before:
22:16. Who, when they were come to Balaam, said: Thus saith Balac the
son of Sephor, Delay not to come to me:
22:17. For I am ready to honour thee, and will give thee whatsoever thou
wilt: come and curse this people.
22:18. Balaam answered: If Balac would give me his house full of silver
and gold, I cannot alter the word of the Lord my God, to speak either
more or less.
22:19. I pray you to stay here this night also, that I may know what the
Lord will answer me once more.
To stay... His desiring them to stay, after he had been fully informed
already that it was not God's will he should go, came from the
inclination he had to gratify Balac, for the sake of worldly gain. And
this perverse disposition God punished by permitting him to go (though
not to curse the people as he would willingly have done), and suffering
him to fall still deeper and deeper into sin, till he came at last to
give that abominable counsel against the people of God, which ended in
his own destruction. So sad a thing it is to indulge a passion for
money.
22:20. God therefore came to Balaam in the night, and said to him: If
these men be come to call thee, arise and go with them: yet so, that
thou do what I shall command thee.
22:21. Balaam arose in the morning, and saddling his ass went with them.
22:22. And God was angry. And an angel of the Lord stood in the way
against Balaam, who sat on the ass, and had two servants with him.
22:23. The ass seeing the angel standing in the way, with a drawn sword,
turned herself out of the way, and went into the field. And when Balaam
beat her, and had a mind to bring her again to the way,
22:24. The angel stood in a narrow place between two walls, wherewith
the vineyards were enclosed.
22:25. And the ass seeing him, thrust herself close to the wall, and
bruised the foot of the rider. But he beat her again:
22:26. And nevertheless the angel going on to a narrow place, where
there was no way to turn aside either to the right hand or to the left,
stood to meet him.
22:27. And when the ass saw the angel standing, she fell under the feet
of the rider: who being angry beat her sides more vehemently with a
staff.
22:28. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said: What have
I done to thee? Why strikest thou me, lo, now this third time?
Opened the mouth, etc... The angel moved the tongue of the ass, to utter
these speeches, to rebuke, by the mouth of a brute beast, the brutal
fury and folly of Balaam.
22:29. Balaam answered: Because thou hast deserved it, and hast served
me ill: I would I had a sword that I might kill thee.
22:30. The ass said: Am not I thy beast, on which thou hast been always
accustomed to ride until this present day? tell me if I ever did the
like thing to thee. But he said: Never.
22:31. Forthwith the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the
angel standing in the way with a drawn sword, and he worshipped him
falling flat on the ground.
22:32. And the angel said to him: Why beatest thou thy ass these three
times? I am come to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse, and
contrary to me:
Perverse... Because thy inclinations are wicked in being willing for the
sake of gain to curse the people of whom I am the guardian.
22:33. And unless the ass had turned out of the way, giving place to me
who stood against thee, I had slain thee, and she should have lived.
22:34. Balaam said: I have sinned, not knowing that thou didst stand
against me: and now if it displease thee that I go, I will return.
22:35. The angel said: Go with these men, and see thou speak no other
thing than what I shall command thee. He went therefore with the
princes.
22:36. And when Balac heard it he came forth to meet him in a town of
the Moabites, that is situate in the uttermost borders of Arnon.
22:37. And he said to Balaam: I sent messengers to call thee, why didst
thou not come immediately to me? was it because I am not able to reward
thy coming?
22:38. He answered him: Lo, here I am: shall I have power to speak any
other thing but that which God shall put in my mouth?
22:39. So they went on together, and came into a city, that was in the
uttermost borders of his kingdom.
22:40. And when Balac had killed oxen and sheep, he sent presents to
Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.
22:41. And when morning was come, he brought him to the high places of
Baal, and he beheld the uttermost part of the people.
Numbers Chapter 23
Balaam, instead of cursing Israel, is obliged to bless them, and
prophesy good things of them.
23:1. And Balaam said to Balac: Build me here seven altars, and prepare
as many calves, and the same number of rams.
23:2. And when he had done according to the word of Balaam, they laid
together a calf and a ram upon every altar.
23:3. And Balaam said to Balac: Stand a while by thy burnt offering,
until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet me, and whatsoever he
shall command, I will speak to thee.
23:4. And when he was gone with speed, God met him. And Balaam speaking
to him, said: I have erected seven altars, and have laid on everyone a
calf and a ram.
23:5. And the Lord put the word in his mouth, and said: Return to Balac,
and thus shalt thou speak.
23:6. Returning he found Balac standing by his burnt offering, with all
the princes of the Moabites:
23:7. And taking up his parable, he said: Balac king of the Moabites
hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, said
he, and curse Jacob: make haste and detest Israel.
23:8. How shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed? By what means
should I detest him, whom the Lord detesteth not?
23:9. I shall see him from the tops of the rocks, and shall consider him
from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned
among the nations.
23:10. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and know the number of the stock
of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be
like to them.
23:11. And Balac said to Balaam: What is this that thou dost? I sent for
thee to curse my enemies: and thou contrariwise blessest them.
23:12. He answered him: Can I speak any thing else but what the Lord
commandeth?
23:13. Balac therefore said: Come with me to another place from whence
thou mayest see part of Israel, and canst not see them all: curse them
from thence.
23:14. And when he had brought him to a high place, upon the top of
mount Phasga, Balaam built seven altars, and laying on every one a calf
and a ram,
23:15. He said to Balac: Stand here by thy burnt offering while I go to
meet him.
23:16. And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his mouth,
he said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou say to him.
23:17. Returning he found him standing by his burnt sacrifice, and the
princes of the Moabites with him. And Balac said to him: What hath the
Lord spoken?
23:18. But he taking up his parable, said: Stand, O Balac, and give ear:
hear, thou son of Sephor:
23:19. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor is the son of man, that
he should be changed. Hath he said then, and will he not do? hath he
spoken, and will he not fulfil?
23:20. I was brought to bless, the blessing I am not able to hinder.
23:21. There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there an image god to be
seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the sound of the
victory of the king in him.
23:22. God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the
rhinoceros.
23:23. There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor divination in Israel. In
their times it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God hath
wrought.
23:24. Behold the people shall rise up as a lioness, and shall lift
itself up as a lion: it shall not lie down till it devour the prey, and
drink the blood of the slain.
23:25. And Balac said to Balaam: Neither curse, nor bless him.
23:26. And he said: Did I not tell thee, that whatsoever God should
command me, that I would do?
23:27. And Balac said to him: Come and I will bring thee to another
place; if peradventure it please God that thou mayest curse them from
thence.
23:28. And when he had brought him upon the top of mount Phogor, which
looketh towards the wilderness,
23:29. Balaam said to him: Build me here seven altars, and prepare as
many calves, and the same number of rams.
23:30. Balac did as Balaam had said: and he laid on every altar, a calf
and a ram.
Numbers Chapter 24
Balaam still continues to prophesy good things in favour of Israel.
24:1. And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord that he should bless
Israel, he went not as he had gone before, to seek divination: but
setting his face towards the desert,
24:2. And lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel abiding in their tents by
their tribes: and the spirit of God rushing upon him,
24:3. He took up his parable and said: Balaam the son of Beor hath said:
The man hath said, whose eye is stopped up:
24:4. The bearer of the words of God hath said, he that hath beheld the
vision of the Almighty, he that falleth, and so his eyes are opened:
24:5. How beautiful are thy tabernacles O Jacob, and thy tents, O
Israel!
24:6. As woody valleys, as watered gardens near the rivers, as
tabernacles which the Lord hath pitched, as cedars by the waterside.
24:7. Water shall flow out of his bucket, and his seed shall be in many
waters. For Agag his king shall be removed, and his kingdom shall be
taken away.
24:8. God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the
rhinoceros. They shall devour the nations that are his enemies, and
break their bones, and pierce them with arrows.
24:9. Lying down he hath slept as a lion, and as a lioness, whom none
shall dare to rouse. He that blesseth thee, shall also himself be
blessed: he that curseth thee shall be reckoned accursed.
24:10. And Balac being angry against Balaam, clapped his hands together
and said: I called thee to curse my enemies, and thou on the contrary
hast blessed them three times.
24:11. Return to thy place. I had determined indeed greatly to honour
thee, but the Lord hath deprived thee of the honour designed for thee.
24:12. Balaam made answer to Balac: Did I not say to thy messengers,
whom thou sentest to me:
24:13. If Balac would give me his house full of silver and gold, I
cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to utter any thing of my
own head either good or evil: but whatsoever the Lord shall say, that I
will speak?
24:14. But yet going to my people, I will give thee counsel, what this
people shall do to thy people in the latter days.
24:15. Therefore taking up his parable, again he said: Balaam the son of
Beor hath said: The man whose eye is stopped up, hath said:
24:16. The hearer of the words of God hath said, who knoweth the
doctrine of the Highest, and seeth the visions of the Almighty, who
falling hath his eyes opened:
24:17. I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near. A
STAR SHALL RISE out of Jacob and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel:
and shall strike the chiefs of Moab, and shall waste all the children of
Seth
24:18. And he shall possess Idumea: the inheritance of Seir shall come
to their enemies, but Israel shall do manfully.
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