Neither is there any divination against Israel:

According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel,

What hath God wrought!

Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion,

And lift up himself as a young lion:

He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,

And drink the blood of the slain.

And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do? And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will

bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence. And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon. And Bala a m said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar. And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his parable, and said,

Balaam the son of Beor hath said,

And the man whose eyes are open hath said:

He hath said, which heard the words of God,

Which saw the vision of the Almighty,

Falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,

And thy tabernacles, O Israel!

As the valleys are they spread forth,

As gardens by the river's side,

As the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted,

And as cedar trees beside the waters.

He shall pour the water out of his buckets,

And his seed shall be in many waters,

And his king shall be higher than Agag,
And his kingdom shall be exalted.

God brought him forth out of Egypt;

He hath as it were the strength of an unicorn:
He shall eat up the nations his enemies,

And shall break their bones,

And pierce them through with his arrows.

He couched, he lay down as a lion,

And as a great lion: who shall stir him up?
Blessed is he that blesseth thee,

And cursed is he that curseth thee.

And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour. And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the LORD saith, that will I speak? And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. And he took up his parable, and said,

Balaam the son of Beor hath said,

And the man whose eyes are open hath said:
He hath said, which heard the words of God,
And knew the knowledge of the Most High,
Which saw the vision of the Almighty,

Falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
I shall see him, but not now:

I shall behold him, but not nigh:
There shall come a Star out of Jacob,

And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,

And shall smite the corners of Moab,

And destroy all the children of Sheth.*

And Edom shall be a possession,

Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies;

And Israel shall do valiantly.

Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion,

And shall destroy him that remaineth in the city. . .

And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.-Numbers XXII., XXIII., XXIV. 1-19, 25.

*Or "the sons of tumult." (Revised Version, margin.)

LAST WORDS OF MOSES.

THE children of Israel were in the plains of Jordan on the east side of the river, where Balaam saw them "abiding according to their tribes." It was the eleventh month of the fortieth year since the people came out of Egypt. In a few weeks they would cross the Jordan and keep the Passover in the promised land. But before that, Moses would die. He spoke these last earnest words to the people, repeating again the law which the Lord had given them at Sinai,

In the promised land: the spring at Cæsarea Philippi, one of the main sources of the Jordan.

entreating them to keep it faithfully in the land which was about to be their home. See the old man, now a hundred and twenty years old, talking as with his little children.

These are some of the words that the Lord gave him to say to the people.

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: that thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that

thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

... Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.*

And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; then beware lest thou forget

the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (for the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you;) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.†

* Some of the Jews wrote parts of the law on little strips of parchment and folded them up in little boxes called phylacteries, which they tied upon their foreheads and on their arms. They also put words from the law into little boxes and nailed them to the door-posts. Was this what the Lord meant that they should do, and what He wants us to do?

The first time that the Lord gave the people water from the rock. They tempted Him by doubting His good care, and demanding that He should do what they asked. "Massah" means "proving" or tempting."

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Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.

And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these

statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us. . . .

All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD Sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and