321 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for cattle. 2 So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Elea'zar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, 3 "At'aroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elea'leh, Sebam, Nebo, and Be'on, 4 the land which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle." 5 And they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not take us across the Jordan." 6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, "Shall your brethren go to the war while you sit here? 7 Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Ka'desh-bar'nea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, 11 'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me; 12 none except Caleb the son of Jephun'neh the Ken'izzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.' 13 And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed. 14 And behold, you have risen in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel! 15 For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people."
16 Then they came near to him, and said, "We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and cities for our little ones, 17 but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until the people of Israel have inherited each his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond; because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east." 20 So Moses said to them, "If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the Lord for the war, 21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him 22 and the land is subdued before the Lord; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. 23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do what you have promised." 25 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, "Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall remain there in the cities of Gilead; 27 but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord orders."
28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Elea'zar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. 29 And Moses said to them, "If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the Lord, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; 30 but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan." 31 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, "As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do. 32 We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan." 33 And Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manas'seh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country. 34 And the sons of Gad built Dibon, At'aroth, Aro'er, 35 At'roth-sho'phan, Jazer, Jog'behah, 36 Beth-nim'rah and Beth-har'an, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37 And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elea'leh, Kiriatha'im, 38 Nebo, and Ba'al-me'on (their names to be changed), and Sibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 39 And the sons of Machir the son of Manas'seh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40 And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manas'seh, and he settled in it. 41 And Ja'ir the son of Manas'seh went and took their villages, and called them Hav'voth-ja'ir. 42 And Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
331 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the Lord; and these are their stages according to their starting places. 3 They set out from Ram'eses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the passover the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their first-born, whom the Lord had struck down among them; upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments. 5 So the people of Israel set out from Ram'eses, and encamped at Succoth. 6 And they set out from Succoth, and encamped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7 And they set out from Etham, and turned back to Pi-hahi'roth, which is east of Ba'al-ze'phon; and they encamped before Migdol. 8 And they set out from before Hahi'roth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped at Marah. 9 And they set out from Marah, and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there. 10 And they set out from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea. 11 And they set out from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 And they set out from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped at Dophkah. 13 And they set out from Dophkah, and encamped at Alush. 14 And they set out from Alush, and encamped at Reph'idim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15 And they set out from Reph'idim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16 And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped at Kib'roth-hatta'avah. 17 And they set out from Kib'roth-hatta'avah, and encamped at Haze'roth. 18 And they set out from Haze'roth, and encamped at Rithmah. 19 And they set out from Rithmah, and encamped at Rim'mon-per'ez. 20 And they set out from Rim'mon-per'ez, and encamped at Libnah. 21 And they set out from Libnah, and encamped at Rissah. 22 And they set out from Rissah, and encamped at Kehela'thah. 23 And they set out from Kehela'thah, and encamped at Mount Shepher. 24 And they set out from Mount Shepher, and encamped at Hara'dah. 25 And they set out from Hara'dah, and encamped at Makhe'loth. 26 And they set out from Makhe'loth, and encamped at Tahath. 27 And they set out from Tahath, and encamped at Terah. 28 And they set out from Terah, and encamped at Mithkah. 29 And they set out from Mithkah, and encamped at Hashmo'nah. 30 And they set out from Hashmo'nah, and encamped at Mose'roth. 31 And they set out from Mose'roth, and encamped at Bene-ja'akan. 32 And they set out from Bene-ja'akan, and encamped at Hor-haggid'gad. 33 And they set out from Hor-haggid'gad, and encamped at Jot'bathah. 34 And they set out from Jot'bathah, and encamped at Abro'nah. 35 And they set out from Abro'nah, and encamped at E'zion-ge'ber. 36 And they set out from E'zion-ge'ber, and encamped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh). 37 And they set out from Kadesh, and encamped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. 38 And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39 And Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor. 40 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel. 41 And they set out from Mount Hor, and encamped at Zalmo'nah. 42 And they set out from Zalmo'nah, and encamped at Punon. 43 And they set out from Punon, and encamped at Oboth. 44 And they set out from Oboth, and encamped at I'ye-ab'arim, in the territory of Moab. 45 And they set out from I'yim, and encamped at Dibon-gad. 46 And they set out from Dibon-gad, and encamped at Al'mon-diblatha'im. 47 And they set out from Al'mon-diblatha'im, and encamped in the mountains of Ab'arim, before Nebo. 48 And they set out from the mountains of Ab'arim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; 49 they encamped by the Jordan from Beth-jes'himoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.
50 And the Lord said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, 51 "Say to the people of Israel, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places; 53 and you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them."
341 The Lord said to Moses, 2 "Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan in its full extent), 3 your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern boundary shall be from the end of the Salt Sea on the east; 4 and your boundary shall turn south of the ascent of Akrab'bim, and cross to Zin, and its end shall be south of Ka'desh-bar'nea; then it shall go on to Ha'zar-ad'dar, and pass along to Azmon; 5 and the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the sea. 6 "For the western boundary, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast; this shall be your western boundary. 7 "This shall be your northern boundary: from the Great Sea you shall mark out your line to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you shall mark it out to the entrance of Hamath, and the end of the boundary shall be at Zeded; 9 then the boundary shall extend to Ziphron, and its end shall be at Ha'zar-e'nan; this shall be your northern boundary. 10 "You shall mark out your eastern boundary from Ha'zar-e'nan to Shepham; 11 and the boundary shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of A'in; and the boundary shall go down, and reach to the shoulder of the sea of Chin'nereth on the east; 12 and the boundary shall go down to the Jordan, and its end shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its boundaries all round." 13 Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, "This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe; 14 for the tribe of the sons of Reuben by fathers' houses and the tribe of the sons of Gad by their fathers' houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manas'seh; 15 the two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise."
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 "These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Elea'zar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one leader of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephun'neh. 20 Of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Shemu'el the son of Ammi'hud. 21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Eli'dad the son of Chislon. 22 Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23 Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manas'seh a leader, Han'niel the son of Ephod. 24 And of the tribe of the sons of E'phraim a leader, Kemu'el the son of Shiphtan. 25 Of the tribe of the sons of Zeb'ulun a leader, Eli-za'phan the son of Parnach. 26 Of the tribe of the sons of Is'sachar a leader, Pal'tiel the son of Azzan. 27 And of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahi'hud the son of Shelo'mi. 28 Of the tribe of the sons of Naph'tali a leader, Pedah'el the son of Ammi'hud. 29 These are the men whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan."
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise." 32 But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him.
33 And they came to Caper'na-um; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" 34 But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them, "If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." 36 And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me."
38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us." 39 But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. 40 For he that is not against us is for us.
41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.
42 "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 44 * [No text] 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 46 * [No text] 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. 49 For every one will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."
(Read Mark 9:30-40)
The time of Christ's suffering drew nigh. Had he been delivered into the hands of devils, and they had done this, it had not been so strange; but that men should thus shamefully treat the Son of man, who came to redeem and save them, is wonderful. Still observe that when Christ spake of his death, he always spake of his resurrection, which took the reproach of it from himself, and should have taken the grief of it from his disciples. Many remain ignorant because they are ashamed to inquire. Alas! that while the Saviour teaches so plainly the things which belong to his love and grace, men are so blinded that they understand not his sayings. We shall be called to account about our discourses, and to account for our disputes, especially about being greater than others. Those who are most humble and self-denying, most resemble Christ, and shall be most tenderly owned by him. This Jesus taught them by a sign; whoever shall receive one like this child, receives me. Many have been like the disciples, ready to silence men who have success in preaching to sinners repentance in Christ's name, because they follow not with them. Our Lord blamed the apostles, reminding them that he who wrought miracles in his name would not be likely to hurt his cause. If sinners are brought to repent, to believe in the Saviour, and to live sober, righteous, and godly lives, we then see that the Lord works by the preacher.
(Read Mark 9:41-50)
It is repeatedly said of the wicked, Their worm dieth not, as well as, The fire is never quenched. Doubtless, remorse of conscience and keen self-reflection are this never-dying worm. Surely it is beyond compare better to undergo all possible pain, hardship, and self-denial here, and to be happy for ever hereafter, than to enjoy all kinds of worldly pleasure for a season, and to be miserable for ever. Like the sacrifices, we must be salted with salt; our corrupt affections must be subdued and mortified by the Holy Spirit. Those that have the salt of grace, must show they have a living principle of grace in their hearts, which works out corrupt dispositions in the soul that would offend God, or our own consciences.
