The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 109

36:3. Now if men of another tribe take them to wives, their possession will follow them, and being transferred to another tribe, will be a diminis.h.i.+ng of our inheritance.

36:4. And so it shall cone to pa.s.s, that when the jubilee, the is, the fiftieth year of remission, is come, the distribution made by the lots shall be confounded, and the possession of the one shall pa.s.s to the others.

36:5. Moses answered the children of Israel, and said by the command of the Lord: The tribe of the children of Joseph hath spoken rightly.

36:6. And this is the law promulgated by the Lord touching the daughters of Salphaad: Let them marry to whom they will, only so that it be to men of their own tribe.

36:7. Lest the possession of the children of Israel be mingled from tribe to tribe. For all men shall marry wives of their own tribe and kindred:

36:8. And all women shall take husbands of the same tribe: that the inheritance may remain in the families.

36:9. And that the tribes be not mingled one with another, but remain so

36:10. As they were separated by the Lord. And the daughters of Salphaad did as was commanded:

36:11. And Maala, and Thersa, and Hegla, and Melcha, and Noa were married to the sons of their uncle by their father

36:12. Of the family of Mana.s.ses, who was the son of Joseph: and the possession that had been allotted to them, remained in the tribe and family of their father.

36:13. These are the commandments and judgment, which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses to the children of Israel, in the plains of Moab upon the Jordan over against Jericho.

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

This Book is called DEUTERONOMY, which signifies a SECOND LAW, because it repeats and inculcates the ordinances formerly given on mount Sinai, with other precepts not expressed before. The Hebrews, from the first words in the book, call it ELLE HADDEBARIM.

Deuteronomy Chapter 1

A repet.i.tion of what pa.s.sed at Sinai and Cadesbarne: and of the people's murmuring and their punishment.

1:1. These are the words, which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan, in the plain wilderness, over against the Red Sea, beetween Pharan and Thophel and Laban and Haseroth, where there is very much gold.

1:2. Eleven days' journey from h.o.r.eb by the way of mount Seir to Cadesbarne.

1:3. In the fortieth year, the eleventh month, the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel all that the Lord had commanded him to say to them:

1:4. After that he had slain Sehon king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt in Hesebon: and Og king of Basan who abode in Astaroth, and in Edrai,

1:5. Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab. And Moses began to expound the law, and to say:

1:6. The Lord our G.o.d spoke to us in h.o.r.eb, saying: You have stayed long enough in this mountain:

1:7. Turn you, and come to the mountain of the Amorrhites, and to the other places that are next to it, the plains and the hills and the vales towards the south, and by the sea sh.o.r.e, the land of the Chanaanites, and of Liba.n.u.s, as far as the great river Euphrates.

1:8. Behold, said he, I have delivered it to you: go in and possess it, concerning which the Lord swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it to them, and to their seed after them.

1:9. And I said to you at that time:

1:10. I alone am not able to bear you: for the Lord your G.o.d hath multiplied you, and you are this day as the stars of heaven, for mult.i.tude.

1:11. (The Lord G.o.d of your fathers add to this number many thousands, and bless you as he hath spoken.)

1:12. I alone am not able to bear your business, and the charge of you and your differences.

1:13. Let me have from among you wise and understanding men, and such whose conversation is approved among your tribes, that I may appoint them your rulers.

1:14. Then you answered me: The thing is good which thou meanest to do.

1:15. And I took out of your tribes men wise and honourable, and appointed them rulers, tribunes, and centurions, and officers over fifties, and over tens, who might teach you all things.

1:16. And I commanded them, saying: Hear them, and judge that which is just: whether he be one of your country, or a stranger.

1:17. There shall be no difference of persons, you shall hear the little as well as the great: neither shall you respect any man's person, because it is the judgment of G.o.d. And if any thing seem hard to you, refer it to me, and I will hear it.

1:18. And I commanded you all things that you were to do.

1:19. And departing from h.o.r.eb, we pa.s.sed through the terrible and vast wilderness, which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorrhite, as the Lord our G.o.d had commanded us. And when we were come into Cadesbarne,

1:20. I said to you: You are come to the mountain of the Amorrhite, which the Lord our G.o.d will give to us.

1:21. See the land which the Lord thy G.o.d giveth thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord our G.o.d hath spoken to thy fathers: fear not, nor be any way discouraged.

1:22. And you came all to me, and said: Let us send men who may view the land, and bring us word what way we shall go up, and to what cities we shall go.

1:23. And because the saying pleased me, I sent of you twelve men, one of every tribe:

1:24. Who, when they had set forward and had gone up to the mountains, came as far as the valley of the cl.u.s.ter: and having viewed the land,

1:25. Taking of the fruits thereof, to shew its fertility, they brought them to us, and said: The land is good, which the Lord our G.o.d will give us.

1:26. And you would not go up, but being incredulous to the word of the Lord our G.o.d,

1:27. You murmured in your tents, and said: The Lord hateth us, and therefore he hath brought us out of the land of Egypt, that he might deliver us into the hand of the Amorrhite, and destroy us.

1:28. Whither shall we go up? the messengers have terrified our hearts, saying: The mult.i.tude is very great, and taller than we: the cities are great, and walled up to the sky, we have seen the sons of the Enacims there.

Walled up to the sky... A figurative expression, signifying the walls to be very high.

1:29. And I said to you: Fear not, neither be ye afraid of them: