24 ¹ And when Balaam saw that it pleased Jehovah to bless Israel, he went not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. ² And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. ³ And he took up his parable, and said,

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Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye was closed saith;
⁴ He saith, who heareth the words of God,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
⁵ How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
Thy tabernacles, O Israel!
⁶ As valleys are they spread forth,
As gardens by the river-side,
As lign-aloes which Jehovah hath planted,
As cedar-trees beside the waters.
⁷ Water shall flow from his buckets,
And his seed shall be in many waters,
And his king shall be higher than Agag,
And his kingdom shall be exalted.
⁸ God bringeth him forth out of Egypt;
He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox:
He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,
And shall break their bones in pieces,
And smite them through with his arrows.
⁹ He couched, he lay down as a lion,
And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
Blessed be every one that blesseth thee,
And cursed be every one that curseth thee.

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¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honor; but, lo, Jehovah hath kept thee back from honor. ¹² And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers that thou sentest unto me, saying, ¹³ If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; what Jehovah speaketh, that will I speak? ¹⁴ And now, behold, I go unto my people: come, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. ¹⁵ And he took up his parable, and said,

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Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye was closed saith;
¹⁶ He saith, who heareth the words of God,
And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
¹⁷ I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not nigh:
There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smite through the corners of Moab,
And break down all the sons of tumult.
¹⁸ And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir also shall be a possession, who were his enemies;
While Israel doeth valiantly.
¹⁹ And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
And shall destroy the remnant from the city.

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²⁰ And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said,

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Amalek was the first of the nations;
But his latter end shall come to destruction.

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²¹ And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said,

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Strong is thy dwelling-place,
And thy nest is set in the rock.
²² Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted,
^‍Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.

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²³ And he took up his parable, and said,

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Alas, who shall live when God doeth this?
²⁴ But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber;
And he also shall come to destruction.

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²⁵ And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.

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25 And Israel abode in Shittim; and the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab: ² for they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. ³ And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel. ⁴ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up unto Jehovah before the sun, that the fierce anger of Jehovah may turn away from Israel. ⁵ And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that have joined themselves unto Baal-peor.

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⁶ 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. ⁷ And when Phinehas, 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; ⁸ and he went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. ⁹ And those that died by the plague were twenty and four thousand.

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¹⁰ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, ¹¹ Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. ¹² Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: ¹³ and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.

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¹⁴ Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers’ house among the Simeonites. ¹⁵ And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a fathers’ house in Midian.

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¹⁶ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, ¹⁷ Vex the Midianites, and smite them; ¹⁸ for they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.

2 Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all ^‍the world should be enrolled. ² This was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city. ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; ⁵ to enrol himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child. ⁶ And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered. ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

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⁸ And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: ¹¹ for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

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¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.

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¹⁵ And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. ¹⁶ And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known concerning the saying which was spoken to them about this child. ¹⁸ And all that heard it wondered at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them.

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²¹ And when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising him, his name was called Jesus, which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

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²² And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. ²⁵ And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do concerning him after the custom of the law, ²⁸ then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

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²⁹ Now lettest thou thy servant depart, ^‍Lord,
According to thy word, in peace;
³⁰ For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
³¹ Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples;
³² A light for revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of thy people Israel.

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³³ And his father and his mother were marvelling at the things which were spoken concerning him; ³⁴ and Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; ³⁵ yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul; that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.

Prayer for deliverance from enemies.

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For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.

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59 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God:
Set me on high from them that rise up against me.
² Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from the bloodthirsty men.
³ For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul;
The mighty gather themselves together against me:
Not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Jehovah.
⁴ They run and prepare themselves without my fault:
Awake thou to help me, and behold.
⁵ Even thou, O Jehovah God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Arise to visit all the nations:
Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
⁶ They return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And go round about the city.
⁷ Behold, they belch out with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips:
For who, say they, doth hear?
⁸ But thou, O Jehovah, wilt laugh at them;
Thou wilt have all the nations in derision.
⁹ Because of his strength I will give heed unto thee;
For God is my high tower.
¹⁰ My God with his lovingkindness will meet me:
God will let me see my desire upon ^‍mine enemies.
¹¹ Slay them not, lest my people forget:
^‍Scatter them by thy power, and bring them down,
O Lord our shield.
¹² For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for cursing and lying which they speak.
¹³ Consume them in wrath, consume them, so that they shall be no more:
And let them know that God ruleth in Jacob,
Unto the ends of the earth. Selah
¹⁴ And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog,
And go round about the city.
¹⁵ They shall wander up and down for food,
And tarry all night if they be not satisfied.
¹⁶ But I will sing of thy strength;
Yea, I will sing aloud of thy lovingkindness in the morning:
For thou hast been my high tower,
And a refuge in the day of my distress.
¹⁷ Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing praises:
For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.

‍¹⁴ Where no wise guidance is, the people falleth;
But in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.