Numbers 23; Numbers 24; Numbers 25; Mark 7:14-37

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Numbers 23

1 He said to Balak, "Build seven altars here for me, and bring me seven bulls and seven rams."
2 Balak did as he was told, and he and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, while I go to see whether or not the Lord will meet me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me." So he went alone to the top of a hill,
4 and God met him. Balaam said to him, "I have built the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each.
5 The Lord told Balaam what to say and sent him back to Balak to give him his message.
6 So he went back and found Balak still standing by his burnt offering with all the leaders of Moab.
7 Balaam uttered this prophecy: "Balak king of Moab has brought me From Syria, from the eastern mountains. "Come speak for me,' he said. "Put a curse on the people of Israel.'
8 How can I curse what God has not cursed, Or speak of doom when the Lord has not?
9 From the high rocks I can see them; I can watch them from the hills. They are a nation that lives alone; They know they are blessed more than other nations.
10 The descendants of Israel are like the dust - There are too many of them to be counted. Let me end my days like one of God's people; Let me die in peace like the righteous."
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but all you have done is bless them."
12 He answered, "I can say only what the Lord tells me to say."
13 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come with me to another place from which you can see only some of the Israelites. Curse them for me from there."
14 He took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Mount Pisgah. There also he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each of them
15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, and I will meet God over there."
16 The Lord met Balaam, told him what to say, and sent him back to Balak to give him his message.
17 So he went back and found Balak still standing by his burnt offering, with the leaders of Moab. Balak asked what the Lord had said,
18 and Balaam uttered this prophecy: "Come, Balak son of Zippor, And listen to what I have to say.
19 God is not like people, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever he promises, he does; He speaks, and it is done
20 I have been instructed to bless, And when God blesses, I cannot call it back.
21 I foresee that Israel's future Will bring her no misfortune or trouble. The Lord their God is with them; They proclaim that he is their king
22 God has brought them out of Egypt; He fights for them like a wild ox.
23 There is no magic charm, no witchcraft, That can be used against the nation of Israel. Now people will say about Israel, "Look what God has done!'
24 The nation of Israel is like a mighty lion: It doesn't rest until it has torn and devoured, Until it has drunk the blood of those it has killed."
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "You refuse to curse the people of Israel, but at least don't bless them!"
26 Balaam answered, "Didn't I tell you that I had to do everything that the Lord told me?"
27 Balak said, "Come with me, and I will take you to another place. Perhaps God will be willing to let you curse them for me from there."
28 So he took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor overlooking the desert.
29 Balaam said to him, "Build seven altars for me here and bring me seven bulls and seven rams."
30 Balak did as he was told, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Numbers 24

1 By 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 toward the desert
2 and saw the people of Israel camped tribe by tribe. The spirit of God took control of him,
3 and he uttered this prophecy: "The message of Balaam son of Beor, The words of the man who can see clearly,
4 Who can hear what God is saying. With staring eyes I see in a trance A vision from Almighty God.
5 The tents of Israel are beautiful,
6 Like long rows of palms Or gardens beside a river, Like aloes planted by the Lord Or cedars beside the water.
7 They will have abundant rainfall And plant their seed in well-watered fields. Their king shall be greater than Agag, And his rule shall be extended far and wide.
8 God brought them out of Egypt; He fights for them like a wild ox. They devour their enemies, Crush their bones, smash their arrows.
9 The nation is like a mighty lion; When it is sleeping, no one dares wake it. Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed, And whoever curses Israel will be cursed."
10 Balak 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.
11 Now get on home! I promised to reward you, but the Lord has kept you from getting the reward."
12 Balaam answered, "I told the messengers you sent to me that
13 even 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."
14 Balaam 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."
15 Then he uttered this prophecy: "The message of Balaam son of Beor, The words of the man who can see clearly,
16 Who can hear what God is saying And receive the knowledge that comes from the Most High. With staring eyes I see in a trance A vision from Almighty God.
17 I look into the future, And I see the nation of Israel. A king, like a bright star, will arise in that nation. Like a comet he will come from Israel. He will strike the leaders of Moab And beat down all the people of Seth.
18 He will conquer his enemies in Edom And make their land his property, While Israel continues victorious.
19 The nation of Israel will trample them down And wipe out the last survivors."
20 Then in his vision Balaam saw the Amalekites and uttered this prophecy: "Amalek was the most powerful nation of all, But at the end it will perish forever."
21 In his vision he saw the Kenites, and uttered this prophecy: "The place where you live is secure, Safe as a nest set high on a cliff,
22 But you Kenites will be destroyed When Assyria takes you captive."
23 Balaam uttered this prophecy: "Who are these people gathering in the north?
24 Invaders will sail from Cyprus; They will conquer Assyria and Eber, But they, in turn, will perish forever."
25 Then Balaam got ready and went back home, and Balak went on his way.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Numbers 25

1 When the Israelites were camped at Acacia Valley, the men began to have sexual intercourse with the Moabite women who were there.
2 These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshiped. The Israelites ate the food and worshiped the god
3 Baal of Peor. So the Lord was angry with them
4 and 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."
5 Moses said to the officials, "Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshiper of Baal of Peor."
6 One 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.
7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up and left the assembly. He took a spear,
8 followed 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,
9 but it had already killed twenty-four thousand people.
10 The 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.
12 So tell him that I am making a covenant with him that is valid for all time to come.
13 He 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."
14 The 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.
15 The woman's name was Cozbi. Zur, her father, was chief of a group of Midianite clans.
16 The Lord commanded Moses,
17 "Attack the Midianites and destroy them,
18 because 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."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Mark 7:14-37

14 Then Jesus called the crowd to him once more and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand.
15 There is nothing that goes into you from the outside which can make you ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean."
17 When he left the crowd and went into the house, his disciples asked him to explain this saying.
18 "You are no more intelligent than the others," Jesus said to them. "Don't you understand? Nothing that goes into you from the outside can really make you unclean,
19 because it does not go into your heart but into your stomach and then goes on out of the body." (In saying this, Jesus declared that all foods are fit to be eaten.)
20 And he went on to say, "It is what comes out of you that makes you unclean.
21 For from the inside, from your heart, come the evil ideas which lead you to do immoral things, to rob, kill,
22 commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly -
23 all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean."
24 Then Jesus left and went away to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden.
25 A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet.
26 The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 But Jesus answered, "Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."
28 "Sir," she answered, "even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!"
29 So Jesus said to her, "Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!"
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her.
31 Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre and went on through Sidon to Lake Galilee, going by way of the territory of the Ten Towns.
32 Some people brought him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged Jesus to place his hands on him.
33 So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue.
34 Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan, and said to the man, ["Ephphatha,"] which means, "Open up!"
35 At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble.
36 Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they told it.
37 And all who heard were completely amazed. "How well he does everything!" they exclaimed. "He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!"
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.