Through the Bible – Day 54

Bible text(s)

Numbers 25

The people are unfaithful

The Israelites worship Baal

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.”

Numbers 26

The people of Israel are counted a second time

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.

Numbers 27

The daughters of Zelophehad are given land

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:

3You know that our father died in the desert. But it was for something he did wrong, not for joining with Korah in rebelling against the LORD.

Our father left no sons 4to carry on his family name. But why should his name die out for that reason? Give us some land like the rest of his relatives in our clan, so our father's name can live on.

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

7Zelophehad's daughters are right. They should each be given part of the land their father would have received.

8Tell the Israelites that when a man dies without a son, his daughter will inherit his land. 9If he has no daughter, his brothers will inherit the land. 10But if he has no brothers, his father's brothers will inherit the land. 11And if his father has no brothers, the land must be given to his nearest relative in the clan. This is my law, and the Israelites must obey it.

Joshua is appointed Israel's leader

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.

Numbers 25:1-27:23CEVOpen in Bible reader

Mark 3

Jesus chooses his twelve apostles

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.

Jesus and the ruler of demons

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:

How can Satan force himself out? 24A nation whose people fight each other won't last very long. 25And a family that fights won't last long either. 26So if Satan fights against himself, that will be the end of him.

27How can anyone break into the house of a strong man and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can take everything.

28I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. 29But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you for ever.

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

Jesus' mother and brothers

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.”

Mark 3:13-35CEVOpen in Bible reader
Canadian Bible Societyv.4.23.1
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