CHAPTER XIV.

NUMBERS, xxi., xxii., xxvii., xxxi., xxxii.
DEUTERONOMY, v., vi., ix., x., xxxiv.

CONQUEST OF GILEAD.

The Battle of Jahaz-Song of Heshbon-Battle of Edrei-Plague of Peor-War with Midian-Reuben and Gad-Law of InheritanceWarnings of Moses-Death of Moses-Joshua Made Leader.

THEN Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying: Let me pass through thy land; we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard; we will not drink of the water of the wells; we will go by the king's highway, until we have passed thy border. But Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border. And Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. And Israel smote him with. the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, unto the land of the children of Ammon, (for Jazer was the border of the children of Ammon). And Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.

Now Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon. Therefore the poets say:

SONG OF HESHBON.

Come to Heshbon;

Built and founded is the city of Sihon.

Yea, a fire went out from Heshbon,

A flame from Sihon's fortress;

It ate up Ar of Moab,

Lord of the heights of Arnon.

Woe to thee, Moab!

Thou art lost, folk of Chemosh.
His sons are put to flight;

His daughters are made captive

To the king of the Amorites, Sihon.

We shot at them;

From Heshbon to Dibon they perished.

We wasted them

With flames of fire to Medeba.

123

Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they took its villages, and drove out the Amorites that were there. Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. And Jehovah said to Moses: Fear him not; for into thy hand have I delivered him, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon. So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive; and they possessed his land.

And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in the Plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. And the people began to go astray after the daughters of Moab, and they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people of Israel ate at their sacri

ficial feasts, and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself unto Baal of Peor, and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel. And Moses said to the judges of Israel: Slay ye every one his men that have yoked themselves unto Baal of Peor. And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting. And when Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand, and went after the man of Israel, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman. So the plague was stayed

from the children of Israel.

war.

Then Jehovah spake to Moses, saying: Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. And Moses spake to the people, saying: Arm ye men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Jehovah's vengeance on Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, ⚫ throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the So there were numbered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, and with them Phineas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah commanded Moses; and slew every male. And they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain; Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. And the

REUBEN AND GAD.

125

children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey. And all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire. And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and beast. And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the Plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.

Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying: The land which Jehovah hath smitten before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle. And they said: If we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given to thy servants for a possession; bring us not over Jordan. And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: Shall your brethren go to the war, and shall ye sit here? Wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Jehovah hath given them? Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.

And they came near unto him, and said: We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones; but we ourselves will march armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place. We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his in

heritance. For we will not inherit with them on the other side Jordan westward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward. So Moses gave to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan.

Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph. And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the Tent of Meeting, saying: Our father died in the wilderness, and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among the brethren of our father. And Moses brought their cause before Jehovah. And Jehovah spake to Moses, saying: The daughters of Zelophehad speak right thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them. And thou shalt speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance to his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance to his father's brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance to his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. And it became to the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as Jehovah commanded Moses.

Then Moses spake to Jehovah, saying: Let Jehovah, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over