Deu 6:4 שׁמע ישׂראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד׃
Deu 6:4 “Hear, O Yisra’ĕl: יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one!
Balak (בָּלָק — Hebrew for “Balak,” a name, the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 40th weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the seventh in the Book of Numbers. It constitutes Numbers 22:2–25:9. The parashah is made up of 5,357 Hebrew letters, 1,455 Hebrew words, and 104 verses, and can occupy about 178 lines in a Torah Scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, Sefer Torah).
Torah: Numbers 22:1 – 25:9
1st reading (עליה, aliyah) Bemidbar 22:1-12
Num 22:1 And the children of Yisra’ĕl set out and camped in the desert plains of Mo’aḇ beyond the Yardĕn of Yeriḥo.
Num 22:2 And Balaq son of Tsippor saw all that Yisra’ĕl had done to the Amorites.
Num 22:3 And Mo’aḇ was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Mo’aḇ was in dread because of the children of Yisra’ĕl.
Num 22:4 And Mo’aḇ said to the elders of Miḏyan, “Now this company is licking up all that is around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Now Balaq son of Tsippor was sovereign of the Mo’aḇites at that time,
Num 22:5 and he sent messengers to Bilʽam son of Beʽor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying, “See, a people has come from Mitsrayim. See, they have covered the surface of the land, and are settling next to me!
Num 22:6 “And now, please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too strong for me. It might be that I smite them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
Num 22:7 And the elders of Mo’aḇ and the elders of Miḏyan left with the fees for divination in their hand, and they came to Bilʽam and spoke the words of Balaq to him.
Num 22:8 And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I shall bring back word to you, as יהוה speaks to me.” So the heads of Mo’aḇ stayed with Bilʽam.
Num 22:9 And Elohim came to Bilʽam and said, “Who are these men with you?”
Num 22:10 And Bilʽam said to Elohim, “Balaq, son of Tsippor, sovereign of Mo’aḇ, has sent to me, saying,
Num 22:11 ‘See, a people has come out of Mitsrayim and cover the surface of the land. Come now, curse them for me. It might be that I am able to fight against them and drive them out.’ ”
Num 22:12 And Elohim said to Bilʽam, “Do not go with them. You do not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
2nd reading (עליה, aliyah) Bemidbar 22:13-20
Num 22:13 And Bilʽam rose in the morning and said to the heads of Balaq, “Go back to your land, for יהוה has refused to allow me to go with you.”
Num 22:14 And the heads of Mo’aḇ arose and went to Balaq, and said, “Bilʽam refuses to come with us.”
Num 22:15 Then Balaq again sent heads, more numerous and more esteemed than they.
Num 22:16 And they came to Bilʽam and said to him, “This is what Balaq son of Tsippor said: ‘Do not be withheld from coming to me, please,
Num 22:17 for I esteem you very greatly, and whatever you say to me, I do. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.’ ”
Num 22:18 And Bilʽam answered and said to the servants of Balaq, “Though Balaq were to give me his house filled with silver and gold, I am unable to go beyond the word of יהוה my Elohim, to do less or more.
Num 22:19 “And now, please, you also stay here tonight, and let me find out what more יהוה says to me.”
Yahweh had distinctly already given His answer in verse 12, and he should not have even allowed these men in his house to tempt him from the word Yahweh gave him.
Num 22:20 And Elohim came to Bilʽam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them, but only the word which I speak to you that you do.”
3rd reading (עליה, aliyah) Bemidbar 22:21-38
Num 22:21 And Bilʽam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey, and went with the heads of Mo’aḇ.
Num 22:22 But the displeasure of Elohim burned because he went, and the Messenger of יהוה stationed Himself in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
Num 22:23 And the donkey saw the Messenger of יהוה standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Bilʽam beat the donkey to turn her back onto the way.
Num 22:24 Then the Messenger of יהוה stood in a narrow passage between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
Num 22:25 And when the donkey saw the Messenger of יהוה, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Bilʽam’s foot against the wall, so he beat her again.
Bilʽam was a descendent of Laban. The “wall” against which Balaam’s ass crushed the prophet’s leg on his journey to the Plains of Moab to curse the Israelites (see Numbers 22:25) is the very mound of stones erected by Laban and Jacob on Mount Galed to attest to the vow which Balaam was now violating with his journey.
Laban’s father, Bethuel, was the son of Nachor, Abraham’s older brother. In addition, Laban was thrice related by marriage to Abraham’s family: his sister Rebecca married Isaac, and his two daughters, Leah and Rachel, both married Jacob. Thus Laban was Abraham’s great-nephew, Isaac’s cousin and brother-in-law, and Jacob’s uncle and father-in-law.
Laban lived in the city of Charan in Mesopotamia (Aram Naharaiim, the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers in modern-day Iraq/Syria/Turkey), where Abraham’s father and brother and their families settled after accompanying him on the first leg of his journey from Ur Casdim to the Holy Land. We first encounter Laban welcoming Abraham’s servant Eliezer when the latter comes to Charan to find a bride for Isaac. A generation later, Isaac and Rebecca send their younger son Jacob to Charan to “take a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.”
Jacob falls in love with Rachel, the younger of Laban’s daughters, and works for seven years tending Laban’s flocks to earn her hand. But Laban replaces Rachel with her older sister Leah on the wedding night, Jacob discovering the deception only the next morning. Laban consents to give him Rachel in marriage as well — in return for an additional seven years of labor. For the many deceptions that accompany this incident, as well as numerous other ways in which Laban attempts to swindle Jacob in the twenty years that his son-in-law is in his employ (Jacob works for an additional six years to earn flocks of his own), Laban is known in Midrashic literature as Laban HaRamai, “Laban the Deceiver”. Yet Jacob boasts that, in the end, he bested his father-in-law at his own game, turning his deceptions against him to earn for himself the great wealth with which he returns from Charan to the Holy Land..
Laban tries to prevent that return at all costs, or, at the very least, to compel Leah, Rachel and their children to remain with him in Charan; when Jacob and his family flee Laban’s home, he and his sons chase after them to force their return. It is for this reason that Laban is described as one of Israel’s most dangerous enemies, for he sought to nip the fledgling nation in its bud, when its entire history was concentrated in the first Jewish family. In the end, Laban and Jacob make a truce on Mount Galed, where they erect a mound of stones as a testimonial that “I will not pass over this mound to you, and that you will not pass over this mound and this pillar to me, for harm,” following which Laban returns to Charan.
Num 22:26 And the Messenger of יהוה went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn aside, right or left.
Num 22:27 And when the donkey saw the Messenger of יהוה, she lay down under Bilʽam. So Bilʽam’s displeasure burned, and he beat the donkey with his staff.
Num 22:28 Then יהוה opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Bilʽam, “What have I done to you, that you have beaten me these three times?”
Num 22:29 And Bilʽam said to the donkey, “Because you have mocked me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for I would have killed you by now!”
Num 22:30 And the donkey said to Bilʽam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever known to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”
Num 22:31 Then יהוה opened Bilʽam’s eyes, and he saw the Messenger of יהוה standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand. And he bowed his head and fell on his face.
Num 22:32 And the Messenger of יהוה said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? See, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is reckless before Me.
Num 22:33 “And the donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, I certainly would have killed you by now, and let her live.”
Num 22:34 And Bilʽam said to the Messenger of יהוה, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. And now, if evil is in Your eyes, let me turn back.”
Num 22:35 And the Messenger of יהוה said to Bilʽam, “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you speak.” Bilʽam then went with the heads of Balaq.
Num 22:36 And when Balaq heard that Bilʽam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Mo’aḇ, which is on the border at the Arnon, which was in the extremity of the border.
Num 22:37 And Balaq said to Bilʽam, “Did I not urgently send to you, calling for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to esteem you?”
Num 22:38 And Bilʽam said to Balaq, “See, I have come to you! Now, am I at all able to say somewhat? The word that Elohim puts in my mouth, that I speak.”
4th reading (עליה, aliyah) Bemidbar 22:39-23:12
Num 22:39 And Bilʽam went with Balaq, and they came to Qiryath Ḥutsoth.
Num 22:40 And Balaq slaughtered cattle and sheep, and he sent some to Bilʽam and to the heads who were with him.
Num 22:41 And it came to be the next day, that Balaq took Bilʽam and brought him up to the high places of Baʽal, and from there he saw the extremity of the camp.
Num 23:1 And Bilʽam said to Balaq, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
Num 23:2 And Balaq did as Bilʽam had spoken, and Balaq and Bilʽam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Num 23:3 Bilʽam then said to Balaq, “Stand by your burnt offering, and let me go on. It might be that יהוה does come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I shall declare to you.” And he went to a bare height.
Num 23:4 And Elohim came to Bilʽam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”
Num 23:5 And יהוה put a word in the mouth of Bilʽam, and said, “Return to Balaq, and this is what you say.”
Num 23:6 And he returned to him and saw him standing by his burnt offering, he and all the heads of Mo’aḇ.
Num 23:7 And he took up his proverb and said, “Balaq the sovereign of Mo’aḇ has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. ‘Come, curse Yaʽaqoḇ for me, and come, rage at Yisra’ĕl!’
Num 23:8 “How do I curse whom Ěl has not cursed? And how do I rage at whom יהוה has not raged?
Num 23:9 “For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I observe him. Look, a people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations.
Num 23:10 “Who shall count the dust of Yaʽaqoḇ, and the number of one-fourth of Yisra’ĕl? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”
Num 23:11 And Balaq said to Bilʽam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have kept on blessing!”
Num 23:12 And he answered and said, “Should I not take heed to speak what יהוה has put in my mouth?”
5th reading (עליה, aliyah) Bemidbar 23:13-26
Num 23:13 And Balaq said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you see them. You only see the extremity but not all of them. Curse them for me from there.”
Num 23:14 And he took him to the field of Tsophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Num 23:15 And he said to Balaq, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I meet over there.”
Num 23:16 And יהוה came to Bilʽam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balaq, and say this.”
Num 23:17 So he went to him and saw him standing by his burnt offering, and the heads of Mo’aḇ with him. And Balaq asked him, “What did יהוה say?”
Num 23:18 And he took up his proverb and said, “Rise up, Balaq, and hear! Listen to me, son of Tsippor!
Num 23:19 “Ěl is not a man, to lie; nor a son of man, to repent! Has He said, and would He not do it; or spoken, and would not confirm it?
Num 23:20 “See, I have received, to bless. And He has blessed, and I do not reverse it.
Num 23:21 “He has not looked upon wickedness in Yaʽaqoḇ, nor has He seen trouble in Yisra’ĕl. יהוה his Elohim is with him, and the shout of a Sovereign is in him.
Num 23:22 “Ěl who brought them out of Mitsrayim, is for them like the horns of a wild ox.
Num 23:23 “For there is no sorcery against Yaʽaqoḇ, nor is there any divination against Yisra’ĕl. Now it is said to Yaʽaqoḇ and to Yisra’ĕl, ‘What has Ěl done!’
Num 23:24 “Look, a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion; it lies not down until it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
Num 23:25 And Balaq said to Bilʽam, “Do not curse them at all, nor bless them at all!”
Num 23:26 And Bilʽam answered and said to Balaq, “Have I not spoken to you, saying, ‘All that יהוה speaks, that I do’?”
6th reading (עליה, aliyah) Bemidbar 23:27-24:13
Num 23:27 And Balaq said to Bilʽam, “Please come, let me take you to another place. It might be right in the eyes of Elohim that you curse them for me from there.”
Num 23:28 And Balaq took Bilʽam to the top of Peʽor, that overlooks the wasteland.
Num 23:29 And Bilʽam said to Balaq, “Build seven alters for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
Num 23:30 And Balaq did as Bilʽam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Num 24:1 And when Bilʽam saw that it pleased יהוה to bless Yisra’ĕl, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
Num 24:2 And Bilʽam lifted up his eyes and saw Yisra’ĕl encamped according to their tribes. And the Spirit of Elohim came upon him.
Num 24:3 And he took up his proverb and said, “The saying of Bilʽam, son of Beʽor, and the saying of the man whose eyes are opened,
Num 24:4 the saying of him who hears the words of Ěl, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes opened wide:
Num 24:5 “How good are your tents, O Yaʽaqoḇ, your dwellings, O Yisra’ĕl!
Num 24:6 “Like wadis that stretch out, like gardens by a river, like aloes planted by יהוה, like cedars beside waters.
Num 24:7 “He makes water flow from his buckets, and his seed is in many waters. His sovereign is higher than Aḡaḡ, and his reign is exalted.
Num 24:8 “Ěl who brought him out of Mitsrayim is for them like the horns of a wild ox; he devours nations, his enemies; and he breaks their bones, and with his arrows he smites.
Num 24:9 “He bowed down, he lay down like a lion. And, like a lion, who would rouse him? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.”
Num 24:10 Then the displeasure of Balaq burned against Bilʽam, and he struck his hands together. Balaq then said to Bilʽam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, and see, you have kept on blessing, these three times!
Num 24:11 “And now flee to your place. I said I would greatly esteem you, and see, יהוה has kept you back from esteem.”
Num 24:12 And Bilʽam said to Balaq, “Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying,
Num 24:13 ‘If Balaq should give me his house filled with silver and gold, I am unable to go beyond the word of יהוה, to do either good or evil of my own heart. What יהוה speaks, that I speak’?
7th reading (עליה, aliyah) Bemidbar 24:14-25:9
Num 24:14 “And now, see, I am going to my people. Come, let me advise you what this people is going to do to your people in the latter days.”
Num 24:15 And he took up his proverb and said, “The saying of Bilʽam, son of Beʽor, and the saying of the man whose eyes are opened,
Num 24:16 the saying of him who hears the words of Ěl, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, who falls down, with eyes opened wide:
Num 24:17 “I see Him, but not now; I observe Him, but not near. A Star shall come out of Yaʽaqoḇ, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Yisra’ĕl, and shall smite the corners of Mo’aḇ, and shall destroy all the sons of Shĕth.
Num 31:16 “Look, they are the ones who caused the children of Yisra’ĕl, through the word of Bilʽam, to trespass against יהוה in the matter of Peʽor, and there was a plague among the congregation of יהוה.
Num 25:3 Thus Yisra’ĕl was joined to Baʽal Peʽor, and the displeasure of יהוה burned against Yisra’ĕl.
2Pe 2:15 having left the right way they went astray, having followed the way of Bilʽam the son of Beʽor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,
2Pe 2:16 but he was rebuked for his transgression: a dumb donkey speaking with the voice of a man restrained the madness of the prophet.
Num 24:18 “And Eḏom shall be a possession; and Sĕʽir shall be a possession – enemies – and Yisra’ĕl is doing mightily.
Num 24:19 “And out of Yaʽaqoḇ One shall rule and destroy the remnant from Ar.”
Num 24:20 He then looked on Amalĕq, and he took up his proverb and said, “Amalĕq was first among the nations, but his latter end is to perish forever.”
Num 24:21 He then looked on the Qĕynites, and he took up his proverb and said, “Firm is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock,
Num 24:22 but Qayin is to be burned. Till when does Asshur keep you captive?”
Num 24:23 And he took up his proverb and said, “Oh, who does live when Ěl does this?
Num 24:24 And ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, and they shall afflict Asshur and afflict Ěḇer, and so shall Amalĕq, and he also perishes.”
Num 24:25 And Bilʽam arose and left, and returned to his place. And Balaq also went his way.
Num 25:1 And Yisra’ĕl dwelt in Shittim, and the people began to whore with the daughters of Mo’aḇ,
Num 25:2 and they invited the people to the slaughterings of their mighty ones, and the people ate and bowed down to their mighty ones.
Num 25:3 Thus Yisra’ĕl was joined to Baʽal Peʽor, and the displeasure of יהוה burned against Yisra’ĕl.
Num 25:4 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang them up before יהוה, before the sun, so that the burning displeasure of יהוה turns away from Yisra’ĕl.”
Num 25:5 And Mosheh said to the judges of Yisra’ĕl, “Each one of you slay his men who were joined to Baʽal Peʽor.”
Num 25:6 And see, one of the children of Yisra’ĕl came and brought to his brothers a Miḏyanite woman before the eyes of Mosheh and before the eyes of all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl, who were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
Num 25:7 And when Pineḥas, son of Elʽazar, son of Aharon the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation and took a spear in his hand,
Num 25:8 and he went after the man of Yisra’ĕl into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Yisra’ĕl, and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague among the children of Yisra’ĕl came to a stop.
Num 25:9 And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.
Prophets: Micah 5:1 – 7:20
Mic 5:1 Now you are raided, O daughter of raiders, a siege has been laid against us. They strike the Judge of Yisra’ĕl with a rod on the cheek.
Mic 5:2 “But you, Bĕyth Leḥem Ephrathah, you who are little among the clans of Yehuḏah, out of you shall come forth to Me the One to become Ruler in Yisra’ĕl. And His comings forth1 are of old, from everlasting.” Footnote: 1Or His appearances.
The Messiah is prophesied to be born in Bethlehem, the city of king David and He is Elohim and eternal as “His goings forth have been from the days of eternity”. In the Hebrew “H’Olam”, the strongest wording possible to show He has no beginning but is an eternal being.
Mic 5:3 Therefore He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labour has given birth, and the remnant of His brothers return to the children of Yisra’ĕl.
Mic 5:4 And He shall stand and shepherd1 in the strength of יהוה, in the excellency of the Name of יהוה His Elohim. And they shall dwell, for at that time He shall be great, to the ends of the earth.
Footnote: 1Ezek. 34:13-14 “And I shall bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the lands, and shall bring them to their own land. And I shall feed them on the mountains of Yisra’ĕl, in the valleys, and in all the dwellings of the land.
Eze 34:14 “In good pasture I shall feed them, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Yisra’ĕl. They shall lie there in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Yisra’ĕl.
Mic 5:5 And this shall be peace. When Ashshur comes into our land, and when he treads in our palaces, we shall raise against him seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.
Mic 5:6 And they shall shepherd the land of Ashshur with the sword, and the land of Nimroḏ at its entrances. And He shall deliver us from Ashshur, when he comes into our land and when he treads within our borders.
Mic 5:7 And the remnant of Yaʽaqoḇ shall be in the midst of many peoples, as dew from יהוה, as showers on the grass, which do not wait for man nor delay for the sons of men.
Mic 5:8 And the remnant of Yaʽaqoḇ shall be among the gentiles, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of a forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, shall both tread down and shall tear, and there is no one to deliver.
Mic 5:9 Let your hand be lifted up against your adversaries, and all your enemies be cut off.
Mic 5:10 “And it shall be in that day,” declares יהוה, “that I shall cut off your horses out of your midst, and I shall destroy your chariots.
Mic 5:11 “And I shall cut off the cities of your land, and I shall pull down all your strongholds.
Mic 5:12 “And I shall cut off witchcrafts out of your hand, and let you have no magicians.
Mic 5:13 “And I shall cut off your carved images, and your pillars from your midst, so that you no longer bow down to the work of your hands.
Mic 5:14 “And I shall pluck your Ashĕrim out of your midst, and I shall destroy your cities.
Mic 5:15 “And I shall take vengeance in wrath and rage on the gentiles who did not obey.”
Mic 6:1 Hear now what יהוה is saying, “Arise, strive with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
Mic 6:2 “Hear, O you mountains, the controversy of יהוה, and you everlasting foundations of the earth! For יהוה has a controversy with His people and He shall reprove Yisra’ĕl.
Mic 6:3 “My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Answer Me,
Mic 6:4 for I brought you up from the land of Mitsrayim, and I ransomed you from the house of bondage. And I sent Mosheh, Aharon, and Miryam before you.
Mic 6:5 “My people, remember, please, what Balaq sovereign of Mo’aḇ counselled, and what Bilʽam son of Beʽor answered him, from Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the righteousness of יהוה.”
Mic 6:6 With what shall I come before יהוה, bow myself before the high Elohim? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Mic 6:7 Is יהוה pleased with thousands of rams or ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my being?
Mic 6:8 He has declared to you, O man, what is good. And what does יהוה require of you but to do right, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your Elohim?
Mic 6:9 The voice of יהוה cries to the city – and let sound wisdom see Your Name! “Hear the Rod and Him who appointed it!
Mic 6:10 “Are there still treasures of wrongness in the house of the wrong, and the short measure that is an abomination?”
Mic 6:11 Would I be innocent with wrong scales, and with a bag of false weights?
Mic 6:12 “For her rich men are filled with cruel unrighteousness, and her inhabitants have spoken falsehood, and their tongue is deceit in their mouth.
Mic 6:13 “So I also, I shall smite you with a grievous wound, to lay you waste because of your sins:
Mic 6:14 “You shall eat but not be satisfied, and your inside be empty. And you shall store up but not save, and what you save I shall give to the sword.
Mic 6:15 “You shall sow but not reap, you shall tread the olives but not anoint yourselves with oil, and make sweet wine but not drink wine.
Mic 6:16 “For the laws of Omri are strictly observed, and all the works of the house of Aḥab, and you walk in their counsels. Therefore I give you for a ruin, and your inhabitants for a hissing, and let you bear the reproach of My people.”
Mic 7:1 Woe to me! For I am as gatherings of summer fruit, as gleanings of the grape harvest. There is no cluster to eat. My being has desired the first-ripe fruit.
Mic 7:2 The kind one has perished from the earth, and there is no one straight among men. All of them lie in wait for blood, everyone hunts his brother with a net.
Mic 7:3 Both hands are on the evil, to do it well. The prince asks for gifts, the judge seeks a bribe, and the great man speaks the desire of his being. And they weave it together.
Mic 7:4 The best of them is like a prickly plant, the most straight is sharper than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman and your punishment has come, now is their confusion.
Mic 7:5 Trust no friend, rely on no companion, guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.
Mic 7:6 For son is despising father, daughter rises up against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, the enemies of a man are the men of his own house.
Mic 7:7 As for me, I look to יהוה, I wait for the Elohim of my deliverance, my Elohim does hear me.
Mic 7:8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. When I have fallen I have risen, when I sit in darkness יהוה is a light to me.
Mic 7:9 I bear the displeasure of יהוה, for I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case, and shall execute right-ruling for me, until He brings me out into the light and I look on His righteousness.
Mic 7:10 And let my enemy see it, and let shame cover her who said to me, “Where is יהוה your Elohim?” Let my eyes look on her: now she is trampled down like mud in the streets.
Mic 7:11 The day for building your walls! Let the decree go far and wide in that day –
Mic 7:12 that day when they come to you from Ashshur and the besieged cities of Mitsrayim, and from the siege1 to the River, and from sea to sea, and mountain to mountain. Footnote: 1“Siege” in this verse could be another name for Mitsrayim.
Mic 7:13 But the earth shall become a waste because of those who dwell in it, and for the fruit of their deeds.
Mic 7:14 Shepherd Your people with Your rod, the flock of Your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest, in the midst of Karmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilʽaḏ, as in days of old.
Mic 7:15 “As in the days when you came out of the land of Mitsrayim, I shall let him see wonders.”
Mic 7:16 Let the gentiles see and be ashamed of all their might, let them put their hand over their mouth, let their ears be deaf.
Mic 7:17 Let them lick the dust like a serpent, let them come trembling from their strongholds like snakes of the earth, let them be afraid of יהוה our Elohim and fear because of You.
Mic 7:18 Who is an Ěl like You – taking away crookedness and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? He shall not retain His wrath forever, for He Himself delights in kindness.
Mic 7:19 He shall turn back, He shall have compassion on us, He shall trample upon our crookednesses! And You throw all our sins into the depths of the sea!
Mic 7:20 You give truth to Yaʽaqoḇ, kindness to Aḇraham, which You swore to our fathers from the days of old!
Brit Hadasha: Mark 11:12-25
Mar 11:12 And on the next day, when they had come out from Bĕyth Anyah, He was hungry.
Mar 11:13 And seeing at a distance a fig tree having leaves, He went to see whether He would find any fruit on it. And when He came to it, He found none but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
Mar 11:14 And יהושע, responding, said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His taught ones heard it.
Mar 11:15 And they came to Yerushalayim. יהושע, entering into the Set-apart Place, began to drive out those who bought and sold in the Set-apart Place, and overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those selling doves.
Mar 11:16 And He did not allow anyone to carry a vessel through the Set-apart Place.
Mar 11:17 And He was teaching, saying to them, “Has it not been written, ‘My House shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of robbers.’ ”
Isa 56:6 “Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to יהוה, to serve Him, and to love the Name of יהוה, to be His servants, all who guard the Sabbath, and not profane it, and hold fast to My covenant –
Isa 56:7 them I shall bring to My set-apart mountain, and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their slaughterings are accepted on My altar, for My house is called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
Jer 7:11 “Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I Myself have seen it,” declares יהוה.
Mar 11:18 And the scribes and the chief priests heard it and they were seeking how to destroy Him, for they feared Him, because all the crowd was astonished at His teaching.
Mar 11:19 And when evening came, He went out of the city.
Mar 11:20 And in the morning, passing by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
Mar 11:21 Then Kĕpha, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered.”
Mar 11:22 And יהושע answering, said to them, “Have belief in Elohim.
Mar 11:23 “For truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says, shall be done, he shall have whatever he says.
Mar 11:24 “Because of this I say to you, whatever you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.
Mar 11:25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you hold whatever against anyone, forgive, so that your Father in the heavens shall also forgive you your trespasses.
1Co 1:17 For Messiah did not send me to immerse, but to bring the Good News, not with wisdom of words, that the stake of Messiah should not be nullified.
1Co 1:18 For the word of the stake is indeed foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of Elohim.
1Co 1:19 For it has been written, “I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise, and set aside the learning of the learned ones.”1
Footnote:
Isa 29:14 “Therefore, see, I am again doing a marvellous work among this people, a marvellous work and a wonder. And the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their clever men shall be hidden.”
Mat 11:25 At that time יהושע responding, said, “I thank You, Father, Master of the heavens and earth, because You have hidden these matters from clever and learned ones and have revealed them to babes.1 Footnote: 1Lk. 10:21.
Rom 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 and changed the esteem of the incorruptible Elohim into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds and of four-footed beasts and of reptiles.
Rom 1:24 Therefore Elohim gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts, to disrespect their bodies among themselves,
Rom 1:25 who changed the truth of Elohim into the falsehood, and worshipped and served what was created rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amĕn.
1Co 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not Elohim made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of Elohim, the world through wisdom did not know Elohim, it pleased Elohim through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.
1Co 1:22 And since Yehuḏim ask a sign, and Greeks seek wisdom,
1Co 1:23 yet we proclaim Messiah impaled, to the Yehuḏim a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness,
1Co 1:24 but to those who are called – both Yehuḏim and Greeks – Messiah the power of Elohim and the wisdom of Elohim.
1Co 1:25 For the foolishness of Elohim is wiser than men, and the weakness of Elohim is stronger than men.
1Co 1:26 For look at your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.
1Co 1:27 But Elohim has chosen the foolish matters of the world to put to shame the wise, and Elohim has chosen the weak of the world to put to shame the strong.
1Co 1:28 And Elohim has chosen the low-born of the world and the despised, and the ones that are not, that He might bring to naught the ones that are,
1Co 1:29 so that no flesh should boast in His presence.
1Co 1:30 And of Him you are in Messiah יהושע, who became for us wisdom from Elohim, righteousness also, and set-apartness and redemption,
1Co 1:31 that, as it has been written, “He who boasts, let him boast in יהוה.”
Jer 9:23 Thus said יהוה, “Let not the wise boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty boast in his might, nor let the rich boast in his riches,
Jer 9:24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am יהוה, doing kindness, right-ruling, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” declares יהוה.
2Pe 2:1 But there also came to be false prophets1 among the people, as also among you there shall be false teachers, who shall secretly bring in destructive heresies, and deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.
Footnote: 1See Mt. 7:15-23 v. 7-8, and again v. 21.
Mat 7:15 “But beware of the false prophets,1 who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are savage wolves. Footnote: 1See v. 23
Mat 7:16 “By their fruits you shall know them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
Mat 7:17 “So every good tree yields good fruit, but a rotten tree yields wicked fruit.
Mat 7:18 “A good tree is unable to yield wicked fruit, and a rotten tree to yield good fruit.
Mat 7:19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mat 7:20 “So then, by their fruits you shall know them –
Mat 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens.
Mat 7:22 “Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’
Mat 7:23 “And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’
2Pe 2:2 And many shall follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of,
2Pe 2:3 and in greed, with fabricated words, they shall use you for gain. From of old their judgment does not linger, and their destruction does not slumber.
2Pe 2:4 For if Elohim did not spare the messengers who sinned, but sent them to Tartaros, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be kept for judgment,
2Pe 2:5 and did not spare the world of old, but preserved Noaḥ, a proclaimer of righteousness, and seven others, bringing in the flood on the world of the wicked,
2Pe 2:6 and having reduced to ashes the cities of Seḏom and Amorah condemned them to destruction – having made them an example to those who afterward would live wickedly,
2Pe 2:7 and rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the indecent behaviour of the lawless1
Footnote: 1The Greek word here, and in 3:17, is athesmos (not the usual one, anomos) but it also means “lawless.”
2Pe 2:8 (for day after day that righteous man, dwelling among them, tortured his righteous being by seeing and hearing their lawless works),
2Pe 2:9 then יהוה knows how to rescue the reverent ones from trial and to keep the unrighteous unto the day of judgment, to be punished,
2Pe 2:10 and most of all those walking after the flesh in filthy lust and despising authority – bold, headstrong, speaking evil of esteemed ones,
2Pe 2:11 whereas messengers who are greater in strength and power do not bring a slanderous accusation against them before the Master.
2Pe 2:12 But these, like natural unreasoning beasts, having been born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheme that which they do not know, shall be destroyed in their destruction,
2Pe 2:13 being about to receive the wages of unrighteousness, deeming indulgence in the day of pleasure, spots and blemishes, revelling in their own deceptions while they feast with you,
2Pe 2:14 having eyes filled with an adulteress, and unable to cease from sin, enticing unstable beings, having a heart trained in greed, children of a curse,
2Pe 2:15 having left the right way they went astray, having followed the way of Bilʽam the son of Beʽor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,
Eze 7:11 ‘The violence has grown into a rod of wrongdoing. There is none of them, and none of its crowd, and none of their riches, and none eminent among them.
2Pe 2:16 but he was rebuked for his transgression: a dumb donkey speaking with the voice of a man restrained the madness of the prophet.
2Pe 2:17 These are fountains without water, clouds driven by a storm, to whom the blackest darkness is kept forever.
2Pe 2:18 For speaking arrogant nonsense, they entice – through the lusts of the flesh, through indecencies – the ones who have indeed escaped from those living in delusion,
2Pe 2:19 promising them freedom, though themselves being slaves of corruption – for one is a slave to whatever overcomes him.
2Pe 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Master and Saviour יהושע Messiah, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the first.
The blood of Messiah pays the penalty of our sins, and the Holy Spirit gives us a new spirit to reject sin and walk in newness of life. If we reject this spirit from Yahweh and go back to our old way of life, then we are blaspheming the Holy Spirit and rejecting eternal life. (Heb 6:4-6)
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Set-apart Spirit,
Heb 6:5 and have tasted the good Word of Elohim and the powers of the age to come,
Heb 6:6 and fall away, to renew them again to repentance – having impaled for themselves the Son of Elohim again, and put Him to open shame.1 Footnote: 1Heb. 10:26-31.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin purposely after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a slaughter offering for sins,1 Footnote: 1See also 6:6, Heb. 9:7, Num. 15:15-28.
Heb 10:27 but some fearsome anticipation of judgment, and a fierce fire which is about to consume the opponents.
Heb 10:28 Anyone who has disregarded the Torah of Mosheh dies without compassion on the witness of two or three witnesses.
Heb 10:29 How much worse punishment do you think shall he deserve who has trampled the Son of Elohim underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was set apart as common, and insulted the Spirit of favour?
Heb 10:30 For we know Him who has said, “Vengeance is Mine, I shall repay, says יהוה.” And again, “יהוה shall judge His people.”
Heb 10:31 It is fearsome to fall into the hands of the living Elohim.
2Pe 2:21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the set-apart command1 delivered unto them.
Footnote: 1The singular “command” often means “commands” – see 1 Tim. 6:14, Dt. 17:20, Ps. 19:8.
1Ti 6:14 that you guard the command1 spotlessly, blamelessly, until the appearing of our Master יהושע Messiah, Footnote: 1Command (singular) often means commands, e.g. Dt. 17:20, Ps. 19:8.
Deu 17:20 so that his heart is not lifted up above his brothers, and so as not to turn aside from the command, right or left, so that he prolongs his days in his reign, he and his children, in the midst of Yisra’ĕl.
Psa 19:8 The orders of יהוה are straight, rejoicing the heart; The command of יהוה is clear, enlightening the eyes;
2Pe 2:22 For them the proverb has proved true, “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “A washed sow returns to her rolling in the mud.”
Pro 26:11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.
Rev 2:12 “And to the messenger of the assembly in Pergamos (Fortified) write, ‘He who has the sharp two-edged sword, says this:
Rev 2:13 “I know your works, and where you dwell, where the throne of Satan is. And you hold fast to My Name, and did not deny the belief in Me, even in the days in which Antipas was My trustworthy witness, who was killed near you, where Satan dwells.
Rev 2:14 “But I hold a few matters against you, because you have there those who adhere to the teaching of Bilʽam, who taught Balaq to put a stumbling-block before the children of Yisra’ĕl, to eat food offered to idols, and to commit whoring.
Rev 2:15 “So you also have those who adhere to the teaching of the Nikolaites, which teaching I hate.
Rev 2:16 “Repent, or else I shall come to you speedily and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Rev 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I shall give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I shall give him a white stone, and on the stone a renewed Name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’
Aharonic Blessing
Num 6:22 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Num 6:23 “Speak to Aharon and his sons, saying, ‘This is how you bless the children of Yisra’ĕl. Say to them:
Num 6:24 “יהוה bless you and guard you;
Num 6:25 יהוה make His face shine upon you, and show favour to you;
Num 6:26 יהוה lift up His face upon you, and give you peace.” ’
Num 6:27 “Thus they shall put My Name on the children of Yisra’ĕl, and I Myself shall bless them.”
Num 6:24 יברכך יהוה וישׁמרך׃
Num 6:25 יאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך׃
Num 6:26 ישׂא יהוה פניו אליך וישׂם לך שׁלום׃