Faith Counted as Righteousness, Jealousy Among God's People

1. Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab; 2. for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3. Israel joined himself to Baal Peor. Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel. 4. Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to Yahweh before the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.” 5. Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.” 6. Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite 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. When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. 8. 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. Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand. 10. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 11. “Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I didn’t consume the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. 13. It shall be to him, and to his offspring after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’” 14. Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers’ house among the Simeonites. 15. The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur. He was head of the people of a fathers’ house in Midian. 16. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17. “Harass the Midianites, and strike them, 18. for they harassed you with their wiles, wherein they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the incident regarding Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.” 1. After the plague, Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, 2. “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all who are able to go out to war in Israel.” 3. Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4. “Take a census, from twenty years old and upward; as Yahweh commanded Moses and the children of Israel.” These are those that came out of the land of Egypt. 5. Reuben, the firstborn of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; 6. of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. 7. These are the families of the Reubenites; and those who were counted of them were forty-three thousand seven hundred thirty. 8. The sons of Pallu: Eliab. 9. The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. These are that Dathan and Abiram, who were called by the congregation, who rebelled against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they rebelled against Yahweh, 10. and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died; at the time the fire devoured two hundred fifty men, and they became a sign. 11. Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah didn’t die. 12. The sons of Simeon after their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; 13. of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. 14. These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand two hundred. 15. The sons of Gad after their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; 16. of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; 17. of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. 18. These are the families of the sons of Gad according to those who were counted of them, forty thousand and five hundred. 19. The sons of Judah: Er and Onan. Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20. The sons of Judah after their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. 21. The sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. 22. These are the families of Judah according to those who were counted of them, seventy-six thousand five hundred. 23. The sons of Issachar after their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; 24. of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. 25. These are the families of Issachar according to those who were counted of them, sixty-four thousand three hundred. 26. The sons of Zebulun after their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. 27. These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those who were counted of them, sixty thousand five hundred. 28. The sons of Joseph after their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. 29. The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir became the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. 30. These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; 31. and Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; 32. and Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. 33. Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34. These are the families of Manasseh. Those who were counted of them were fifty-two thousand seven hundred. 35. These are the sons of Ephraim after their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. 36. These are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. 37. These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were counted of them, thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph after their families. 38. The sons of Benjamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; 39. of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. 40. The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites. 41. These are the sons of Benjamin after their families; and those who were counted of them were forty-five thousand six hundred. 42. These are the sons of Dan after their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan after their families. 43. All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those who were counted of them, were sixty-four thousand four hundred. 44. The sons of Asher after their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Berites. 45. Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. 46. The name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. 47. These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those who were counted of them, fifty-three thousand and four hundred. 48. The sons of Naphtali after their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; 49. of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. 50. These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were counted of them were forty-five thousand four hundred. 51. These are those who were counted of the children of Israel, six hundred one thousand seven hundred thirty. 52. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 53. “To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. 54. To the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance. To everyone according to those who were counted of him shall his inheritance be given. 55. Notwithstanding, the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. 56. According to the lot shall their inheritance be divided between the more and the fewer.” 57. These are those who were counted of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. 58. These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. Kohath became the father of Amram. 59. The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She bore to Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. 60. To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 61. Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before Yahweh. 62. Those who were counted of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not counted among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel. 63. These are those who were counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64. But among these there was not a man of them who were counted by Moses and Aaron the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65. For Yahweh had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 1. Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph came near. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. 2. 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, 3. “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against Yahweh in the company of Korah, but he died in his own sin. He had no sons. 4. 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 brothers of our father.” 5. Moses brought their cause before Yahweh. 6. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 7. “The daughters of Zelophehad speak right. You shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers. You shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. 8. You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 9. If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10. If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11. If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. This shall be a statute and ordinance for the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses.’” 12. Yahweh said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel. 13. When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered; 14. because in the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, to honor me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) 15. Moses spoke to Yahweh, saying, 16. “Let Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, 17. who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of Yahweh may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.” 18. Yahweh said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19. Set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight. 20. You shall give authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey. 21. He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Yahweh. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.” 22. Moses did as Yahweh commanded him. He took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation. 23. He laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as Yahweh spoke by Moses.

1. What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, has found according to the flesh? 2. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God. 3. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4. Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed. 5. But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. 6. Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works, 7. “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8. Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin.” 9. Is this blessing then pronounced on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10. How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 11. He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them. 12. He is the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision. 13. For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect. 15. For the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience. 16. For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. 17. As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were. 18. Besides hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be.” 19. Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20. Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, 21. and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. 22. Therefore it also was “credited to him for righteousness.” 23. Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone, 24. but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, 25. who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification. 1. Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; 2. through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; 4. and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: 5. and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6. For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7. For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die. 8. But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. 10. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life. 11. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 12. Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned. 13. For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law. 14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come. 15. But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16. The gift is not as through one who sinned: for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification. 17. For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. 18. So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. 19. For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous. 20. The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly; 21. that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2. May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer? 3. Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4. We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. 5. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection; 6. knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin. 7. For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him; 9. knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him! 10. For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God. 11. Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12. Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13. Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14. For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace. 15. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! 16. Don’t you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? 17. But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. 18. Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness. 19. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification. 20. For when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21. What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22. But now, being made free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of eternal life. 23. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1. Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men. 2. For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 3. Oh, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill, To your tents. 4. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. I will praise you on the harp, God, my God. 5. Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him: my Savior, my helper, and my God.