."

And Balaam said unto Balak, "Spoke I not also to thy messengers which
thou sentest unto me, saying, 'If Balak would give me his house full
of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord, to do
either good or bad of mine own mind; what the Lord speaketh, that will
I speak'?

"And now, behold, I go unto my people: come, and I will announce to
thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days." And
he said,--

"Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye was closed saith:
He saith, who heareth the words of God,
And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
I see him, but not now:
I behold him, but not nigh:
There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
And a scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smite through the corners of Moab,
And break down all the sons of tumult.
And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir also shall be a possession, which were his enemies; {267}
While Israel doeth valiantly.
And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
And shall destroy the remnant from the city."

And he looked on Amalek, and said,--

"Amalek was the first of the nations;
But his latter end shall come to destruction."

And he looked on the Kenite, and said,--

"Strong is thy dwelling place,
And thy nest is set in the rock.
Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted,
Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive."

And he said,--

"Alas, who shall live when God doeth this?
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber,
And he also shall come to destruction."

And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his
place: and Balak also went his way.

{268}

THE DEATH OF MOSES.

_He Sees but Cannot Enter the Promised Land_.

(After the Israelites had wandered for many years in the desert, they
approached at last the river Jordan, on the borders of the promised
land. Moses, their great hero and leader, was not permitted to cross
the river, but, after giving the people his last words of advice,
climbed the rugged slopes of Mount Nebo, and was never again seen by
the eye of man.)

And Moses went and spoke these words unto all Israel. And he said to
them, "I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go
out and come in: and the Lord hath said to me, 'Thou shalt not go over
this Jordan.' The Lord