May 26 Reading
Numbers 30 | Numbers 31 | Psalm 125
Numbers 30
Men and Vows
1Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the Lord has commanded. 2If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
Women and Vows
3“If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house in her youth, 4and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her.
6“If she marries a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. 8But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. And the Lord will forgive her. 9(But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.) 10And if she vowed in her husband’s house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, 11and her husband heard of it and said nothing to her and did not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. 12But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the Lord will forgive her. 13Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself, her husband may establish, or her husband may make void. 14But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them. 15But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity.”
16These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses about a man and his wife and about a father and his daughter while she is in her youth within her father’s house.
Numbers 31
Vengeance on Midian
1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. 4You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, 11and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. 12Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
13Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. 17Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. 19Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”
21Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses: 22only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. 24You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.”
25The Lord said to Moses, 26“Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation, 27and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. 30And from the people of Israel’s half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.” 31And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 3372,000 cattle, 3461,000 donkeys, 35and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. 36And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, 37and the Lord’s tribute of sheep was 675. 38The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 72. 39The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord’s tribute was 61. 40The persons were 16,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 32 persons. 41And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.
42From the people of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army— 43now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, 4436,000 cattle, 45and 30,500 donkeys, 46and 16,000 persons— 47from the people of Israel’s half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
48Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses 49and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. 50And we have brought the Lord’s offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” 51And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. 52And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels. 53(The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) 54And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord.
Psalm 125
The Lord Surrounds His People
A Song ofAscents.
1Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
from this time forth and forevermore.
3For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts!
5But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
the Lord will lead away with evildoers!
Peace be upon Israel!
