Through the Bible – Day 54

₁While the Israelites were camped at Acacia, some of the men had sex with Moabite women. ₂These women then invited the men to ceremonies where sacrifices were offered to their gods. The men ate the meat from the sacrifices and worshipped the Moabite gods.

₃The LORD was angry with Israel because they had worshipped the god Baal-Peor. ₄So he said to Moses, “Take the Israelite leaders who are responsible for this and have them killed in front of my sacred tent where everyone can see. Perhaps then I will stop being angry with the Israelites.”

₅Moses told Israel's officials, “Each of you must put to death any of your men who worshipped Baal.”

₆Later, Moses and the people were at the sacred tent, crying, when one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman to meet his family. ₇Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron the priest, saw the couple and left the crowd. He found a spear ₈and followed the man into his tent, where he ran the spear through the man and into the woman's stomach. The LORD immediately stopped punishing Israel with a deadly disease, ₉but twenty-four thousand Israelites had already died.

₁₀The LORD said to Moses, ₁₁“In my anger, I would have wiped out the Israelites if Phinehas had not been faithful to me. _12-13But instead of punishing them, I forgave them. So because of the loyalty that Phinehas showed, I solemnly promise that he and his descendants will always be my priests.”

₁₄The Israelite man that was killed was Zimri son of Salu, who was one of the leaders of the Simeon tribe. ₁₅And the Midianite woman killed with him was Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite clan leader named Zur.

₁₆The LORD told Moses, _17-18“The Midianites are now enemies of Israel, so attack and defeat them! They tricked the people of Israel into worshipping their god at Peor, and they are responsible for the death of Cozbi, the daughter of one of their own leaders.”

₁After the LORD had stopped the deadly disease from killing the Israelites, he said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, ₂“I want you to find out how many Israelites are in each family. And list every man twenty years and older who is able to serve in Israel's army.”

₃Israel was now camped in the hills of Moab across the River Jordan from the town of Jericho. Moses and Eleazar told them ₄what the LORD had said about counting the men twenty years and older, just as Moses and their ancestors had done when they left Egypt.

_5-7There were 43,730 men from the tribe of Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob. These men were from the clans of Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ₈Pallu was the father of Eliab ₉and the grandfather of Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram who had been chosen by the people, but who followed Korah and rebelled against Moses, Aaron, and the LORD. ₁₀That's when the LORD made the earth open up and swallow Dathan, Abiram, and Korah. At the same time, fire destroyed two hundred and fifty men as a warning to the other Israelites. ₁₁But the Korahite clan wasn't destroyed.

_12-14There were 22,200 men from the tribe of Simeon; they were from the clans of Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, Zerah, and Shaul.

_15-18There were 40,500 men from the tribe of Gad; they were from the clans of Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ozni, Eri, Arod, and Areli.

_19-22There were 76,500 men from the tribe of Judah; they were from the clans of Shelah, Perez, Zerah, Hezron, and Hamul. Judah's sons Er and Onan had died in Canaan.

_23-25There were 64,300 men from the tribe of Issachar; they were from the clans of Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron.

_26-27There were 60,500 men from the tribe of Zebulun; they were from the clans of Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

_28-34There were 52,700 men from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph; they were from the clan of Machir, the clan of Gilead his son, and the clans of his six grandsons: Iezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Shemida, and Hepher. Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but he had five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

_35-37There were 32,500 men from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph; they were from the clans of Shuthelah, Becher, Tahan, and Eran the son of Shuthelah.

_38-41There were 45,600 men from the tribe of Benjamin; they were from the clans of Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, Shephupham, Hupham, as well as from Ard and Naaman, the two sons of Bela.

_42-43There were 64,400 men from the tribe of Dan; they were all from the clan of Shuham.

_44-47There were 53,400 men from the tribe of Asher; they were from the clans of Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and from the two clans of Heber and Malchiel, the sons of Beriah. Asher's daughter was Serah.

_48-50There were 45,400 men from the tribe of Naphtali; they were from the clans of Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

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

₅₂The LORD said to Moses, ₅₃“Divide the land of Canaan among these tribes, according to the number of people in each one, ₅₄so the larger tribes have more land than the smaller ones. _55-56I will show you what land to give each tribe, and they will receive as much land as they need, according to the number of people in it.”

₅₇The tribe of Levi included the clans of the Gershonites, Kohathites, Merarites, ₅₈as well as the clans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah. Kohath the Levite was the father of Amram, ₅₉the husband of Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born in Egypt. Amram and Jochebed's three children were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. ₆₀Aaron was the father of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ₆₁But Nadab and Abihu had died when they offered fire that was unacceptable to the LORD.

₆₂In the tribe of Levi there were 23,000 men and boys at least a month old. They were not listed with the other tribes, because they would not receive any land in Canaan.

₆₃Moses and Eleazar counted the Israelites while they were camped in the hills of Moab across the River Jordan from Jericho. ₆₄None of the people that Moses and Aaron had counted in the Sinai Desert were still alive, ₆₅except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. The LORD had said that everyone else would die there in the desert.

₁Zelophehad was from the Manasseh tribe, and he had five daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

₂One day his daughters went to the sacred tent, where they met with Moses, Eleazar, and some other leaders of Israel, as well as a large crowd of Israelites. The young women said:

₅Moses asked the LORD what should be done, ₆and the LORD answered:

₁₂The LORD said to Moses, “One day you will go up into the Abarim Mountains, and from there you will see the land I am giving the Israelites. ₁₃After you have seen it, you will die, just like your brother Aaron, ₁₄because both of you disobeyed me at Meribah near the town of Kadesh in the Zin Desert. When the Israelites insulted me there, you didn't believe in my holy power.”

₁₅Moses replied, ₁₆“You are the LORD God, and you know what is in everyone's heart. So I ask you to appoint a leader for Israel. ₁₇Your people need someone to lead them into battle, or else they will be like sheep wandering around without a shepherd.”

₁₈The LORD answered, “Joshua son of Nun can do the job. Place your hands on him to show that he is the one to take your place. ₁₉Then go with him and make him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the Israelites. Appoint Joshua as their new leader ₂₀and tell them they must now obey him, just as they obey you. ₂₁But Joshua must depend on Eleazar to find out from me what I want him to do as he leads Israel into battle.”

₂₂Moses followed the LORD's instructions and took Joshua to Eleazar and the people, ₂₃then he placed his hands on Joshua and appointed him Israel's leader.

₁₃Jesus decided to ask some of his disciples to go up on a mountain with him, and they went. ₁₄Then he chose twelve of them to be his apostles, so that they could be with him. He also wanted to send them out to preach ₁₅and to force out demons. ₁₆Simon was one of the twelve, and Jesus named him Peter. ₁₇There were also James and John, the two sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them Boanerges, which means “Thunderbolts”. ₁₈Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus were also apostles. The others were Simon, known as the Eager One, ₁₉and Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Jesus.

₂₀Jesus went back home, and once again such a large crowd gathered that there was no chance even to eat. ₂₁When Jesus' family heard what he was doing, they thought he was mad and went to get him under control.

₂₂Some teachers of the Law of Moses came from Jerusalem and said, “This man is under the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons! He is even forcing out demons with the help of Beelzebul.”

₂₃Jesus told the people to gather around him. Then he spoke to them in riddles and said:

₃₀Jesus said this because the people were saying that he had an evil spirit in him.

₃₁Jesus' mother and brothers came and stood outside. Then they sent someone with a message for him to come out to them. ₃₂The crowd that was sitting around Jesus told him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside and want to see you.”

₃₃Jesus asked, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” ₃₄Then he looked at the people sitting around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. ₃₅Anyone who obeys God is my brother or sister or mother.”