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

1 Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."

2 Balak did what Balaam told him, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

3 Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your burnt offering while I'm gone. Maybe the LORD will come and meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me." Then Balaam went off to a higher place where there were no trees.

4 God came to him, and Balaam said, "I have set up seven altars, and I offered a bull and a ram on each altar."

5 The LORD told Balaam, "Go back to Balak, and give him my message."

6 So he went back to Balak and found him standing beside his burnt offering with all the princes of Moab.

7 Then Balaam delivered this message: "Balak brought me from Aram. The king of Moab summoned me from the eastern mountains. 'Come, curse Jacob for me,' he said. 'Come, condemn Israel.'

8 How can I curse those whom God hasn't cursed? How can I condemn those whom the LORD hasn't condemned?

9 I see them from the top of rocky cliffs, I look at them from the hills. I see a nation that lives by itself, people who do not consider themselves to be like other nations.

10 The descendants of Jacob are like specks of dust. Who can count them or number even one-fourth of the people of Israel? Let me die the death of innocent people. Let my end be like theirs."

11 Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but all you've done is bless them!"

12 Balaam answered, "I must say what the LORD tells me to say."

13 Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place, where you can see the Israelites. You will see only some of them, not all of them. Curse them for me from there."

14 So he took him to the Field of Zophim on top of Mount Pisgah, where he built seven altars. He offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet with God over there."

16 The LORD came to Balaam and told him, "Go back to Balak, and give him my message."

17 He came to Balak and found him standing beside his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?"

18 Then Balaam delivered this message: "Stand up, Balak, and listen! Hear me, son of Zippor!

19 God is not like people. He tells no lies. He is not like humans. He doesn't change his mind. When he says something, he does it. When he makes a promise, he keeps it.

20 I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can't change it.

21 He doesn't want any trouble for the descendants of Jacob. He sees no misfortune for the people of Israel. The LORD their God is with them, praised as their king.

22 The God who brought them out of Egypt has the strength of a wild bull.

23 No spell can curse the descendants of Jacob. No magic can harm the people of Israel. Now it will be said of Jacob and Israel: 'See what God has done!'

24 Here is a nation that attacks like a lioness and is as ferocious as a lion. It doesn't lie down until it eats its prey and drinks the blood of its victim."

25 Balak said to Balaam, "If you won't curse them, then at least don't bless them!"

26 Balaam answered, "Didn't I tell you that I must do whatever the LORD says?"

27 Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me take you to another place. Maybe God wants you to curse them for me from there."

28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which overlooks Jeshimon.

29 Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."

30 Balak did what Balaam told him, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

1 When Balaam saw that the LORD wanted to bless Israel, he didn't look for omens as he had done before. He turned toward the desert,

2 looked up, and saw Israel's camp grouped by tribes. The Spirit of God entered him,

3 and he delivered this message: "This is the message of Balaam, son of Beor. This is the message of the man whose eyesight is clear.

4 This is the message of the one who hears the words of God, has a vision from the Almighty, and falls [into a trance] with his eyes open:

5 How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, and the places where you live, Israel.

6 Your tents spread out like rivers, like gardens by a river, like aloes planted by the LORD, like cedars by the water.

7 Water will flow from their buckets, and their crops will have plenty of water. Their king will be greater than Agag, and their kingdom will be considered the best.

8 The God who brought them out of Egypt has the strength of a wild bull. He will devour nations that are his enemies, crush their bones, and pierce them with arrows.

9 His people lie down [and] rest like a lion. They are like a lioness. Who dares to disturb them? Those who bless you will be blessed! Those who curse you will be cursed!"

10 Balak became angry with Balaam. He clapped his hands and said, "I summoned you to curse my enemies, and now you have blessed them three times.

11 Get out of here! Go home! I said I'd reward you richly, but the LORD has made you lose your reward."

12 Balaam answered Balak, "I told the messengers you sent me,

13 'Even if Balak would give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I couldn't disobey the LORD's command no matter how good or bad the request might seem to me. I must say only what the LORD says.'

14 Even though I'm going back to my people, I'll give you some advice. I'll tell you what these people will do to your people in the days to come."

15 Then Balaam delivered this message: "This is the message of Balaam, son of Beor. This is the message of the man whose eyesight is clear.

16 This is the message of the one who hears the words of God, receives knowledge from the Most High, has a vision from the Almighty, and falls [into a trance] with his eyes open:

17 I see someone who is not here now. I look at someone who is not nearby. A star will come from Jacob. A scepter will rise from Israel. He will crush the heads of the Moabites and destroy all the people of Sheth.

18 Edom will be conquered, and Seir, his enemy, will be conquered. So Israel will become wealthy.

19 He will rule from Jacob and destroy whoever is left in their cities."

20 Then Balaam saw the Amalekites and delivered this message: "Amalek was first among the nations, but in the end it will be destroyed."

21 Then he saw the Kenites and delivered this message: "You have a permanent place to live. Your nest is built in a rock.

22 But it is destined to be burned, you [descendants of] Cain, when Assyria takes you as prisoners of war."

23 He delivered this message: "Oh no! Who will live when God decides to do this?

24 Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus. They will conquer Assyria and Eber. But they, too, will be totally destroyed."

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

1 While Israel was staying at Shittim, the men began to have sex with Moabite women

2 who invited the people to the sacrifices offered to their gods. The people ate the meat from the sacrifices and worshiped these gods.

3 Since the Israelites joined in worshiping the god Baal of Peor, the LORD became angry with Israel.

4 The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people, and execute them in broad daylight in the LORD's presence. This will turn the LORD's anger away from Israel."

5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Each of you must kill the men who have joined in worshiping the god Baal of Peor."

6 One of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman to his brothers. He did this right in front of Moses and the whole community of Israel while they were crying at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

7 Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of the priest Aaron, saw this. So he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand,

8 and went into the tent after the Israelite man. He drove the spear through the man and into the woman's body. Because of this, the plague that the Israelites were experiencing stopped.

9 However, 24,000 people died from that plague.

10 Then the LORD said to Moses,

11 "Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of the priest Aaron, turned my fury away from the Israelites. Since he stood up for me, I didn't have to stand up for myself and destroy them.

12 So tell Phinehas that I'm making a promise of peace to him.

13 My promise is that he and his descendants will be priests permanently because he stood up for his God and he made peace with the LORD for the Israelites."

14 The name of the Israelite man who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri, son of Salu. (Salu was the leader of a family from Simeon.)

15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, daughter of Zur. (Zur was the head of a family from the Midianite tribes.)

16 The LORD said to Moses,

17 "Treat the Midianites as your enemies, and kill them

18 because they treated you as enemies. They plotted to trick you in the incident that took place at Peor. They used their sister Cozbi, daughter of a Midianite leader, who was killed on the day of the plague caused by the incident at Peor."

14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand!

15 Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. It's what comes out of a person that makes him unclean.

16 Let the person who has ears listen!"

17 When he had left the people and gone home, his disciples asked him about this illustration.

18 Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand? Don't you know that whatever goes into a person from the outside can't make him unclean?

19 It doesn't go into his thoughts but into his stomach and then into a toilet." (By saying this, Jesus declared all foods acceptable.)

20 He continued, "It's what comes out of a person that makes him unclean.

21 Evil thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder,

22 adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, cursing, arrogance, and foolishness come from within a person.

23 All these evils come from within and make a person unclean."

24 Jesus left that place and went to the territory of Tyre. He didn't want anyone to know that he was staying in a house there. However, it couldn't be kept a secret.

25 A woman whose little daughter had an evil spirit heard about Jesus. She went to him and bowed down.

26 The woman happened to be Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She asked him to force the demon out of her daughter.

27 Jesus said to her, "First, let the children eat all they want. It's not right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."

28 She answered him, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat some of the children's scraps."

29 Jesus said to her, "Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter."

30 The woman went home and found the little child lying on her bed, and the demon was gone.

31 Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre. He went through Sidon and the territory of the Ten Cities to the Sea of Galilee.

32 Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and who also had a speech defect. They begged Jesus to lay his hand on him.

33 Jesus took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. He put his fingers into the man's ears, and after spitting, he touched the man's tongue.

34 Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and said to the man, "Ephphatha!" which means, "Be opened!"

35 At once the man could hear and talk normally.

36 Jesus ordered the people not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them, the more they spread the news.

37 Jesus completely amazed the people. They said, "He has done everything well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute talk."