For fire went out from Heshbon,
A flame from the city of Sihon;
It devoured Ar of Moab,

The lords of the heights of Arnon.
Woe unto you, O Moab!

Undone are you, people of Chemosh,
Who let his sons become fugitives,
Gave up his daughters as captives
To Sihon the king of the Amorites.

So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. Jair the son of Manasseh also went and captured their tent-villages and called them the Tent-villages of Jair.

51. BALAAM'S OBLIGATION TO TELL THE TRUTH

Now Moab began to be afraid of the Israelites. Therefore Moab said to the leaders of Midian, "This multitude will devour all that is around us, as the ox devours the grass of the field.' Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time, and he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor on the river, to the land of the Ammonites, saying, ‘A people has come out from Egypt; they have spread over the earth and have settled next to me. Come, I beg of you, curse this people for me (for they are too strong for me), so that I shall be able to withstand them and drive them out of the land, for I know that whoever you bless is blessed and whoever you curse is cursed.' Then the leaders of Moab and leaders of Midian departed with the fee for cursing in their hands; and when they came to Balaam, they repeated to him

Balak's words: 'I will confer great honor upon you, and whatever you tell me I will do. Come therefore, curse this people for me.' Balaam answered the servants of Balak, ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do more or less than what Jehovah my God commands me.'

Then he saddled his ass and went with them. But God's anger was aroused because he was going, and the angel of Jehovah placed himself in the way to oppose him. Balaam was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him; and when the ass saw the angel of Jehovah standing in the road with his drawn sword in his hand, she turned aside out of the way and went into the field. Then Balaam struck the ass in order to turn her into the road. But the angel stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, where there was a wall on each side. When the ass saw the angel of Jehovah, she pressed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall; so he struck her again.

Then the angel of Jehovah went further and stocd in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or the left. When the ass saw the angel of Jehovah, she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam's anger was aroused, and he struck the ass with his staff. Then Jehovah opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, 'What have I done to you, that you should have struck me these three times?' Balaam said to the ass, 'Because you have made sport of me; I would that there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you.' The ass said to Balaam, 'Am I not your ass on which you have ridden all your life long until to-day? Have I ever been in the habit of treating you in this way?' He answered, 'No.'

Then Jehovan opened Balaam's eyes, and when he saw the angel of Jehovah standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, he bowed his head and fell on his face. The angel of Jehovah also said to him, 'Why have you struck your ass these three times? See, it is I who have come to oppose you; you rushed forward against me, but the ass saw me and turned aside before me these three times. Unless she had turned aside from me, surely now I would have killed you and saved her life.' Then Balaam said to the angel of Jehovah, 'I have sinned; for I did not know that you stood in the way against me. Now therefore if my going displeases you, I will return home.' But the angel of Jehovah said to Balaam, 'Go with the men; but only speak what I tell you!' So Balaam went with Balak's officers.

52. AN EARLY IDEAL OF NATIONAL GLORY

When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at Ir of Moab, which is on the extreme boundary formed by the Arnon, and said to him, 'Did I not send to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?' Then Balaam said to Balak, 'See, I have come to you. Have I now any power to speak anything? I will speak the word which God puts in my mouth.'

So Balaam went with Balak, who took him to the top of Peor, which looks out over the wilderness of Judah. When Balaam saw that Jehovah was pleased to bless Israel, he did not go to consult omens, as he was accustomed to do, but turned toward the wilderness; and as he looked, he saw the Israelites camped according to their tribes. And the spirit of God came upon him and he uttered this oracle:

The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
The oracle of him whose eye is opened,
The oracle of him who hears God's words,
Who sees the vision of God Almighty,
He who though prostrate has open eyes:

How beautiful your tents, O Jacob,
Your dwelling-places, O Israel !
Like valleys they are spread out,
Like gardens by the river side,
Like aloes which Jehovah has planted,
Like cedars beside the waters.

God who brought him forth out of Egypt
Is for him like the strength of the wild-ox.
He shall devour the nations, his adversaries,
And shall break their bones in pieces,
Piercing them through with his arrows.

He crouches, lies down like a lioness;
Like a lion; who dares stir him up?
Blessed are all who bless you,

And accursed are all who curse you!

Then Balak's anger was aroused against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, 'I called you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them repeatedly. Now therefore, hasten back to your home. I intended to confer great honor upon you; but, as it is, Jehovah has kept you from receiving honor.' But Balaam said to Balak, 'Did I not say to your messengers whom you sent to me, "If Balak should give his house full of silver and gold, I could not go contrary to the word of Jehovah, to do either good or bad of my own will? I must speak what Jehovah says." Now I am going to my people. Come, let me tell you what this people

shall do to your people in days to come.' So he uttered his oracle and said:

The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
The oracle of him whose eye is opened,
The oracle of him who hears God's word,

And possesses the knowledge of the Most High,
Who sees the vision of God Almighty,

He who though prostrate has open eyes:

I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not near;

A star comes forth out of Jacob,
And a sceptre arises from Israel,
And shatters the temples of Moab,
And the skulls of the sons of pride.
Of Edom he shall take possession,
And Seir, his foe, shall be conquered,
Through Israel's deeds of valor.

Out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
And destroy those who flee from the city.

53. THE LOYALTY OF THE EAST-JORDAN TRIBES

Now the Reubenites and the Gadites had a great number of cattle. So, when they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was adapted to cattle, the Gadites and the Reubenites went to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the heads of the congregation and said, 'If we are favorably regarded by you, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan.' But Moses said to the Gadites and to the Reubenites, 'Shall your kinsmen go to war while you remain here? Why should you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land which Jehovah has given them? This is what your