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So they struck him down, with his sons and all his people, until there was no one left alive; and then they took control of his land.

Then the people of Isra'el traveled on and camped in the plains of Mo'av beyond the Yarden River, opposite Yericho. Haftarah Hukkat: Shof'tim (Judges) 11:1–33 B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Hukkat: Yochanan (John) 3:9–21; 4:3–30; 12:27–50 [In regular years read with Parashah 39, in leap years read separately] Now Balak the son of Tzippor saw all that Isra'el had done to the Emori. Mo'av was very afraid of the people, because there were so many of them; Mo'av was overcome with dread because of the people of Isra'el. So Mo'av said to the leaders of Midyan, "This horde will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up grass in the field." Balak the son of Tzippor was king of Mo'av at that time. He sent messengers to Bil‘am the son of B‘or, at P'tor by the [Euphrates] River in his native land, to tell him, "Listen, a people has come out of Egypt, spread over all the land and settled down next to me. Therefore, please come, and curse this people for me, because they are stronger than I am. Maybe I will be able to strike them down and drive them out of the land, for I know that whomever you bless is in fact blessed, and whomever you curse is in fact cursed." The leaders of Mo'av and Midyan left, taking with them the payment for divining, came to Bil‘am and spoke to him the words of Balak. He said to them, "Stay here tonight, and I will bring you back whatever answer Adonai tells me." So the princes of Mo'av stayed with Bil‘am. God came to Bil‘am and said, "Who are these men with you?" Bil‘am said to God, "Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo'av, has sent me this message: ‘The people who came out of Egypt have spread over the land; now, come and curse them for me; maybe I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.'" God answered Bil‘am, "You are not to go with them; you are not to curse the people, because they are blessed." (RY: v; LY: ii) Bil‘am got up in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, "Return to your own land, because Adonai refuses to give me permission to go with you." The princes of Mo'av got up, returned to Balak and said, "Bil‘am refuses to come with us." Balak again sent princes, more of them and of higher status than the first group. They went to Bil‘am and said to him, "Here is what Balak the son of Tzippor says: ‘Please don't let anything keep you from coming to me. I will reward you very well, and whatever you say to me I will do. So please come, and curse this people for me.'" Bil‘am answered the servants of Balak, "Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Adonai my God to do anything, great or small. Now, please, you too, stay here tonight; so that I may find out what else Adonai will say to me." God came to Bil‘am during the night and said to him, "If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you." (LY: iii) So Bil‘am got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Mo'av. But God's anger flared up because he went, and the angel of Adonai stationed himself on the path to bar his way. He was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. The donkey saw the angel of Adonai standing on the road, drawn sword in hand; so the donkey turned off the road into the field; and Bil‘am had to beat the donkey to get it back on the road. Then the angel of Adonai stood on the road where it became narrow as it passed among the vineyards and had stone walls on both sides. The donkey saw the angel of Adonai and pushed up against the wall, crushing Bil‘am's foot against the wall. So he beat it again. The angel of Adonai moved ahead and stood in a place so tight that there was no room to turn either right or left. Again the donkey saw the angel of Adonai and lay down under Bil‘am, which made him so angry that he hit the donkey with his stick. But Adonai enabled the donkey to speak, and it said to Bil‘am, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?" Bil‘am said to the donkey, "It's because you've been making a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand; I would kill you on the spot!" The donkey said to Bil‘am, "I'm your donkey, right? You've ridden me all your life, right? Have I ever treated you like this before?" "No," he admitted. Then Adonai opened Bil‘am's eyes, so that he could see the angel of Adonai standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed his head and fell on his face. The angel of Adonai said to him, "Why did you hit your donkey three times like that? I have come out here to bar your way, because you are rushing to oppose me. The donkey saw me and turned aside these three times; and indeed, if she hadn't turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and saved it alive!" Bil‘am said to the angel of Adonai , "I have sinned. I didn't know that you were standing on the road to block me. Now, therefore, if what I am doing displeases you, I will go back." But the angel of Adonai said to Bil‘am, "No, go on with the men; but you are to say only what I tell you to say." So Bil‘am went along with the princes of Balak. When Balak heard that Bil‘am had come, he went out to meet him in the city of Mo'av at the Arnon border, in the farthest reaches of the territory. Balak said to Bil‘am, "I sent more than once to summon you! Why didn't you come to me? Did you think I couldn't pay you enough?" Bil‘am replied to Balak, "Here, I've come to you! But I have no power of my own to say anything. The word that God puts in my mouth is what I will say." (RY: vi, LY: iv) Bil‘am went with Balak. When they arrived at Kiryat-Hutzot, Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, then sent to Bil‘am and the princes with him. In the morning Balak took Bil‘am and brought him up to the high places of Ba‘al; from there he could see a portion of the people.

Therefore, please come, and curse this people for me, because they are stronger than I am. Maybe I will be able to strike them down and drive them out of the land, for I know that whomever you bless is in fact blessed, and whomever you curse is in fact cursed."

They went to Bil‘am and said to him, "Here is what Balak the son of Tzippor says: ‘Please don't let anything keep you from coming to me.

But ships will come from the coast of Kittim to subdue Ashur and subdue ‘Ever, but they too will come to destruction."

Just then, in the sight of Moshe and the whole community of Isra'el, as they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting, a man from Isra'el came by, bringing to his family a woman from Midyan.

nevertheless, 24,000 died in the plague. Haftarah Balak: Mikhah (Micah) 5:6(7)– 6:8 B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Balak: 2 Kefa (2 Peter) 2:1–22; Y'hudah (Jude) 11; Revelation 2:14–15 Adonai said to Moshe, "Pinchas the son of El‘azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra'el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn't destroy them in my own zeal. Therefore say, ‘I am giving him my covenant of shalom, making a covenant with him and his descendants after him that the office of cohen will be theirs forever.' This is because he was zealous on behalf of his God and made atonement for the people of Isra'el." The name of the man from Isra'el who was killed, put to death with the woman from Midyan, was Zimri the son of Salu, leader of one of the clans from the tribe of Shim‘on. The name of the woman from Midyan who was killed was Kozbi the daughter of Tzur, and he was head of the people in one of the clans of Midyan. Adonai said to Moshe, "Treat the Midyanim as enemies and attack them; because they are treating you as enemies by the trickery they used to deceive you in the P‘or incident and in the affair of their sister Kozbi, the daughter of the leader from Midyan, the woman who was killed on the day of the plague in the P‘or incident." After the plague,

because they are treating you as enemies by the trickery they used to deceive you in the P‘or incident and in the affair of their sister Kozbi, the daughter of the leader from Midyan, the woman who was killed on the day of the plague in the P‘or incident." After the plague,

and the sons of Eli'av: N'mu'el, Datan and Aviram. These are the same Datan and Aviram, men of reputation in the community, who rebelled against Moshe and Aharon in Korach's group, when they rebelled against Adonai ;

and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korach when that group died, and the fire consumed 250 men, and they became a warning sign.

but Nadav and Avihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before Adonai .

But there was not a man among them who had also been included in the census of Moshe and Aharon the cohen when they enumerated the people of Isra'el in the Sinai Desert;

because Adonai had said of them, "They will surely die in the desert." So there was not left even one of them, except Kalev the son of Y'funeh and Y'hoshua the son of Nun.

They stood in front of Moshe, El‘azar the cohen, the leaders and the whole community at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said,

He is to present himself to El‘azar the cohen, who is to find out by means of the urim what Adonai 's will is for Y'hoshua's decisions. Then, at his word they will go out, and at his word they will come in, both he and all the people of Isra'el with him, the whole community."

but present an offering made by fire, a burnt offering, to Adonai , consisting of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs in their first year (they are to be without defect for you)

You are to offer these in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering (they are to be without defect for you), with their drink offerings.

but you are to present a burnt offering to Adonai to make a fragrant aroma: one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs in their first year (they are to be without defect for you),

"‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you are to have a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work; it is a day of blowing the shofar for you. Prepare a burnt offering to make a fragrant aroma for Adonai — one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs in their first year and without defect — with their grain offering, consisting of fine flour mixed with olive oil — six quarts for the bull, four quarts for the ram, and two quarts for each of the seven lambs — also one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. This is to be in addition to the burnt offering for Rosh-Hodesh with its grain offering, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to the rule for them; this will be a fragrant aroma, an offering made by fire to Adonai . "‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you are to have a holy convocation. You are to deny yourselves, and you are not to do any kind of work; but you are to present a burnt offering to Adonai to make a fragrant aroma: one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs in their first year (they are to be without defect for you), with their grain offering, fine flour mixed with olive oil, six quarts for the bull, four quarts for the one ram, and two quarts for each of the seven lambs; also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the sin offering for atonement and the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings. (vii) "‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you are to have a holy convocation. You are not to do any kind of ordinary work, and you are to observe a feast to Adonai seven days. You are to present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, bringing a fragrant aroma to Adonai . It is to consist of thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs in their first year (they are to be without defect), with their grain offering — fine flour mixed with olive oil, six quarts for each of the thirteen bulls, four quarts for each of the two rams, and two quarts for each of the fourteen lambs; also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings. "‘On the second day you are to present twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs in their first year, without defect; with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams and lambs, according to their number, in keeping with the rule; also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and their drink offerings. "‘On the third day eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs in their first year, without defect; with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams and lambs, according to their number, in keeping with the rule; also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings. "‘On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs in their first year, without defect; with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams and lambs, according to their number, in keeping with the rule; also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings. "‘On the fifth day nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs in their first year, without defect; with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams and lambs, according to their number, in keeping with the rule; also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings. "‘On the sixth day eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs in their first year, without defect; with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams and lambs, according to their number, in keeping with the rule; also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings. "‘On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs in their first year, without defect; with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams and lambs, according to their number, in keeping with the rule; also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offerings. (Maftir) "‘On the eighth day you are to have a festive assembly: you are not to do any kind of ordinary work; but you are to present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, giving a fragrant aroma to Adonai — one bull, one ram, seven male lambs in their first year, without defect; with the grain and drink offerings for the bull, the ram and the lambs, according to their number, in keeping with the rule; also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings. "‘You are to offer these to Adonai at your designated times in addition to your vows and voluntary offerings — whether these are your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings or peace offerings.'"

Moshe said to the people, "Equip men from among yourselves for war. They are to go and fight Midyan, in order to carry out Adonai 's vengeance on Midyan.