Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year.
Today's reading is from Numbers chapters 29 to 31.
Chapter 29
And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation.
You shall do no customary work.
For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets.
You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the Lord.
One young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year without blemish.
Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an effa for the bull,
two-tenths for the ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs.
Also one kid of the goats as a sin offering to make atonement for you.
Besides the burnt offering, with its grain offering for the new moon, the regular burnt
offering, with its grain offering and their drink offerings according to their ordinance,
as a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
On the tenth day of this seventh month, you shall have a holy convocation.
You shall afflict your souls.
You shall not do any work.
You shall present a burnt offering to the Lord as a sweet aroma.
One young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year.
Be sure they are without blemish.
Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an effa for the
bull, two-tenths for the one ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs.
Also one kid of the goats as a sin offering.
Besides the sin offering for atonement, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering
and their drink offerings.
On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you shall have a holy convocation.
You shall do no customary work, and you shall keep a feast to the Lord seven days.
You shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord.
Thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year.
They shall be without blemish.
Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an effa for
each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams, and one-tenth for each
of the fourteen lambs.
Also one kid of the goats as a sin offering.
Besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.
On the second day, present twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs in their first year
without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for
the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance.
Also one kid of the goats as a sin offering.
Besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and their drink offerings.
On the third day, present eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs in their first year without
blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams,
and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance.
Also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering,
and its drink offering.
On the fourth day, present ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year
without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for
the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance.
Also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain
offering, and its drink offering.
On the fifth day, present nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year without
blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams,
and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance.
Also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering,
and its drink offering.
On the sixth day, present eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year
without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for
the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance.
Also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering,
and its drink offering.
On the seventh day, present seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year
without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for
the rams, and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance.
Also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering,
and its drink offering.
On the eighth day, you shall have a sacred assembly, you shall do no customary work,
you shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord,
one bull, one ram, seven lambs in their first year without blemish, and their grain offering
and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by their number
according to the ordinance.
Also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering,
and its drink offering.
These you shall present to the Lord at your appointed feasts, besides your vowed offerings
and your free will offerings, as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, as your
drink offerings and your peace offerings.
So Moses told the children of Israel everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.
Chapter 30 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes
concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord has commanded.
If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement,
he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
Or if a woman makes a vow to the Lord and binds herself by some agreement while in her
father's house in her youth, and her father hears her vow, an agreement by which she has
bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement
with which she has bound herself shall stand.
But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her
agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand, and the Lord will release her,
because her father overruled her.
If indeed she takes a husband while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her
lips by which she bound herself, and her husband hears it and makes no response to her on the
day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself
shall stand.
But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow
which she took and what she uttered with her lips by which she bound herself, and the Lord
will release her.
Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman by which she has bound herself shall stand
against her.
If she vowed in her husband's house or bound herself by an agreement with an oath, and
her husband hears it and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all
her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand.
But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded
from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand.
Her husband has made them void and the Lord will release her.
Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her
husband may make it void.
Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all
her vows or all the agreements that bind her.
He confirms them because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them.
But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.
These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses between a man and his wife, and between
a father and his daughter in her youth in her father's house.
Chapter 31
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children
of Israel.
Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.
So Moses spoke to the people saying, Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against
the Midianites to take vengeance for the Lord on Midian.
A thousand from each tribe, of all the tribes of Israel, you shall send to the war.
So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel, one thousand from each tribe, twelve
thousand armed for war.
Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe.
He sent them to the war with Phineas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles
and the signal trumpets in his hand.
And they warred against the Midianites just as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed
all the males.
They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed.
Evie, Rekem, Zor, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian.
Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.
And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captive, with their little ones,
and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods.
They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts.
And they took all the spoil, and all the booty, of man and beast.
Then they brought the captives, the booty and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest,
and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab
by the Jordan across from Jericho.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet
them outside the camp.
But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands, and
captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.
And Moses said to them, Have you kept all the women alive?
Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the council of Balaam, to trespass
against the Lord in incidents of Peor.
And there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a
man intimately.
But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately.
And as for you, remain outside the camp seven days.
Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and
your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.
Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats hair, and everything
made of wood.
Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, This is the
ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses.
Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead.
Everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean,
and it shall be purified with the water of purification.
But all that cannot endure fire, you shall put through water, and you shall wash your
clothes on the seventh day and be clean.
And afterward you may come into the camp.
Now the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Count up the plunder that was taken of man and beast,
you and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation.
And divide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out
to battle, and all the congregation.
And levy a tribute for the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle, one of every
five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep.
Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the Lord.
And from the children of Israel's half, you shall take one of every fifty, drawn from
the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give
them to the Levites, who keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.
So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
The booty remaining from the plunder, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred
and seventy-five thousand sheep, seventy-two thousand cattle, sixty-one thousand donkeys,
and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately.
And the half, the portion of those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred
and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, and the Lord's tribute of the sheep was six
hundred and seventy-five.
The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the Lord's tribute was seventy-two.
The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the Lord's tribute was sixty-one.
The persons who were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's tribute was thirty-two persons.
So Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord's heave offering to Eleazar the priest, as the
Lord commanded Moses.
And from the children of Israel's half, which Moses separated from the men who fought, now
the half belonging to the congregation, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five
hundred sheep, thirty-six thousand cattle, thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, and
sixteen thousand persons.
And from the children of Israel's half, Moses took one of every fifty drawn from man and
beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the
Lord commanded Moses.
Then the officers, who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, the
captains of hundreds, came near to Moses.
And they said to Moses, Your servants have taken account of the men of war, who are under
our command, and not a man of us is missing.
Therefore we have brought an offering for the Lord, what every man found of ornaments
of gold, armlets and bracelets, and signet rings and earrings and necklaces, to make
atonement for ourselves before the Lord.
So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashion ornaments,
and all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord.
From the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds was sixteen thousand seven hundred
and fifty shekels.
The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and
of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of meeting, as a memorial for the children
of Israel before the Lord.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.