FAVORITE PASSAGES
THE
AARONIC BENEDICTION
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to
Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'Thus you shall bless
the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: "The LORD
bless you, and keep you; the LORD make His face
shine on you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift
up His countenance on you, and give you peace."'
So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel,
and I then will bless them." -- 6:22-27
THE BLOWING OF TRUMPETS
When
you go to war in your land against the
adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound
an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be
remembered before the LORD your God, and be
saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your
gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on
the first days of your months, you shall blow the
trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the
sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall
be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the
LORD your God." -- 10:9-10
THE ARK
Then
it came about when the ark set out that Moses
said, "Rise up, O LORD! And let Your enemies be
scattered, and let those who hate You flee before
You." When it came to rest, he said, "Return, O
LORD, to the myriad thousands of Israel." -- 10:35-36
THE PEOPLE GRUMBLED
All
the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and
Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them,
"Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or
would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is
the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the
sword? Our wives and our little ones will become
plunder; would it not be better for us to return to
Egypt?" So they said to one another, "Let us appoint
a leader and return to Egypt." Then Moses and
Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the
assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.
Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of
Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land,
tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the
congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, "The
land which we passed through to spy out is an
exceedingly good land. If the LORD is pleased
with us, then He will bring us into this land and
give it to us -- a land which flows with milk and
honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD; and
do not fear the people of the land, for they will be
our prey. Their protection has been removed from
them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."
-- 14:2-9
THE JUSTICE OF GOD
But
now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great,
just as You have declared, the LORD is slow to
anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving
iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means
clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on
the children to the third and the fourth generations.
Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according
to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You
also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until
now. -- 14:17-19
MERIBAH -- WATER FROM THE
ROCK
There
was no water for the congregation, and they
assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron.
The people thus contended with Moses and spoke,
saying, "If only we had perished when our brothers
perished before the LORD! Why then have you
brought the LORD'S assembly into this wilderness,
for us and our beasts to die here? Why have you
made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this
wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or
vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink."
Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence
of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting
and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the LORD
appeared to them; and the LORD spoke to Moses,
saying, "Take the rod; and you and your brother
Aaron
assemble the congregation and speak to the
rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water.
You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the
rock and let the congregation and their beasts
drink." So Moses took the rod from before the
LORD, just as He had commanded him; and Moses
and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock.
And he said to them, "Listen now, you rebels; shall
we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" Then
Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice
with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and
the congregation and their beasts drank. But the
LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have
not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of
the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this
assembly into the land which I have given them."
Those were the waters of Meribah, because the
sons of Israel contended with the LORD, and He
proved Himself holy among them. -- 20:2-13
THE FIERY SERPENTS
Then
they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the
Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the
people became impatient because of the journey.
The people spoke against God and Moses, "Why
have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the
wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and
we loathe this miserable food." The LORD sent fiery
serpents among the people and they bit the people,
so that many people of Israel died. So the people
came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because
we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede
with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents
from us." And Moses interceded for the people.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery
serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come
about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks
at it, he will live." And Moses made a bronze serpent
and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if
a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze
serpent, he lived. -- 21:4-9
SPRING UP, O WELL
The
LORD said to Moses, "Assemble the people,
that I may give them water." Then Israel sang this
song: "Spring up, O well! Sing to it! The well, which
the leaders sank, which the nobles of the people
dug, with the scepter and with their staffs." -- 21:16-18
BALAAM'S DONKEY
When
the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she
lay down under Balaam; so Balaam was angry and
struck the donkey with his stick. And the LORD
opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to
Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have
struck me these three times?" Then Balaam said
to the donkey, "Because you have made a mockery
of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would
have killed you by now." The donkey said to
Balaam, "Am I not your donkey on which you have
ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been
accustomed to do so to you?" And he said, "No."
Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he
saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with
his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed all the
way to the ground. The angel of the LORD said to
him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three
times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary,
because your way was contrary to me. But the
donkey saw me and turned aside from me these
three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I
would surely have killed you just now, and let her
live." -- 22:27-33
BALAAM'S PROPHECIES
How
shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And
how can I denounce whom the LORD has not
denounced? As I see him from the top of the rocks,
and I look at him from the hills; behold, a people who
dwells apart, and will not be reckoned among the
nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, or
number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the
death of the upright, and let my end be like his!"
-- 23:8-10
How
fair are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O
Israel! Like valleys that stretch out, like gardens
beside the river, like aloes planted by the LORD,
like cedars beside the waters. Water will flow from
his buckets, and his seed will be by many waters,
and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his
kingdom shall be exalted. God brings him out of
Egypt, He is for him like the horns of the wild ox.
He will devour the nations who are his adversaries,
and will crush their bones in pieces, and shatter
them with his arrows. He couches, he lies down as
a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him? Blessed
is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone
who curses you. -- 24:5-9
I
see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near;
a star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall
rise from Israel, and shall crush through the
forehead of Moab, and tear down all the sons of
Sheth. Edom shall be a possession, Seir, its enemies,
also will be a possession, while Israel performs
valiantly. One from Jacob shall have dominion, and
will destroy the remnant from the city." -- 24:17-19
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