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7 their father's family in that tribe. So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inherit, ance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of 9 his fathers.* Neither shall the inheritance remove from [one] tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.

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Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daugh11 ters of Zelophehad: For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were marri 12 ed unto their fathers brothers' sons: [And] they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the fam ily of their father.

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These [are] the commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan [near] Jericho.

REFLECTION.

HE only observation we shall make on this chapter is, that

alliances are not by

the express appointment of God now, yet wisdom is profitable to direct; and it becomes us to have a due regard to the leadings of Providence in such important affairs as these. In v. 6. the Lord expressly commanded the daughters of Zelophehad to marry whom they thought best, only confining them to their father's tribe. This naturally suggests, how unreasonable it is for parents to put a force upon the inclinations of their children in those cases on which the comfort and happiness of their lives depend, And though it is of the greatest importance that children should pay a due regard to the judgment and opinion of their parents, yet they are not obliged to comply with any proposals of this kind which they may make, if they are contrary to their own judgment and affections; for parents to use any methods of compulsion, is the highest degree of cruelty imaginable. This chapter suggests to us that our eyes should ever be toward the Lord, for his direction and blessing in all our settlements and resolutions. To encourage us herein, let us often meditate on that most delightful promise, In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

*This law only extended to heiresses, for many of their great men and priests marri ed wives of other tribes and countries; and other women, who had brethren to inherit, were free to marry into any other tribe, though it seems they generally confined them. selves to their own. If their brethren died after they were married into another tribe, they could not inherit, but the estate went to the male heir. The design of this law was, to keep the tribes distinct, and hereby to fulfil the prophecies of old, particularly of the

Messiah.

The Fifth Book of MOSES,

CALLED

DEUTERONOMY.

INTRODUCTION.

THE people that came out of Egypt being all dead, except CALEB and JOSHUA; MOSES, for the instruction of the new generation that were grown up in the wilderness, and were now ready to enter into Canaan, in this Book rehearses the chief things that had befallen them, both in a way of mercy and of judgment, for forty years together; repeats the law again unto them; whence this book is called Deuteronomy, the second Law, or a repetition of the former, with some further illustrations. He confirms the whole with prom ises and threatenings; teaches them a prophetical song concerning what should befall them from that time to the latter end of the world, when they should become the people of God again, after their long rejection and desolation; he blesses the several tribes, and views the land of Canaan; his death; is buried by God; and JOSHUA made his successor. All this Book was delivered at different times, in the last two months of Moses' life, and many things are repeated in it again, tó impress the minds of the people. Those parts only of the history, which were not related in the former books, will be illustrated, and also some instructions given to Israel, which may be useful to us.

CHAPTER I.

Moses, at the end of the fortieth year, briefly rehearses the story of God's promise, and his anger for their incredulity and disobedience.

'T

Τ

HESE [be] the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan, in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red [sea,] between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ([There are] eleven day's [journey] from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto → Kadeshbarnea.) And it came to pass, in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first [day] of the month, [that] Moses spake unto the children of Israel according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them; After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth

5 in Edrei On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,

6 The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye 7 have dwelt long enough in this mount : Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all [the places] nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the & river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you : go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them, and to their seed after them.

9

And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to 10 bear you myself alone: The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye [are] this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye [are,] and bless you, as 12 he hath promised you !) How can I myself alone bear your 13 cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? Take you wise.

men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and 14 I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me,

and said, The thing which thou hast spoken [is] good [for: 15 us] to do. So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.

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And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between [every] man and his brother, and the stranger [that is] with 17 him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; [but] ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment [is] God's and the cause that is too hard for you, bring [it] unto me, and I 18 will hear it. And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

19

And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God come 20 manded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea. And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which 21 the LORD our God doth give unto us. Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up [and] possess [it,] as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, 22 neither be discouraged. And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what means we must go up, and into what cities we shall

23 come.

And the saying pleased me well and I took twelve

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24 men of you, one of a tribe: And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and 25 searched it out. And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought [it] down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, [It is] a good land which the LORD our God doth give us.

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Notwithstanding, ye would not go up, but rebelled against 27 the commandment of the LORD your God: And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us 28 into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people [is] greater and taller than we; the cities [are] great, and walled up to heaven; and, moreover, we have seen 29 the sons of the Anakims there. Then I said unto you, Dread 30 not, neither be afraid of them. The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that 31 he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye 32 went, until ye came into this place. Yet in this thing ye did 33 not believe the LORD your God, Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents [in,] in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.

34

And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was 35 wroth, and sware, saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware 36 to give unto your fathers, Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh ;

he shall see it, and to him will I give the land which he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath whol37 ly followed the LORD. Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. 38 [But] Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither encourage him : for he shall cause Israel 39 to inherit it. Moreover, your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, 40 and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. But [as for] you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

41

Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to 42 go up into the hill. And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I [am] not among you; 43 lest ye be smitten before your enemies. So I spake unto VOL. II.

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you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the 44 hill. And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed 45 you in Seir, [even] unto Hormah. And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to 46 your voice, nor give ear unto you. So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode [there.]

CHAP. II.

The story is continued; they were not to meddle with the Edomites, the Moabites, nor the Ammonites; but Sihon the Amorite was to be subdued.

1TH

HEN we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake 2 unto me and we compassed mount Seir many days. And 3 the LORD spake unto me, saying, Ye have compassed this 4 mountain long enough: turn you northward. And command thou the people, saying, Ye [are] to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto 5 yourselves therefore: Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau [for] a possession. 6 Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. 7 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand he knoweth thy walking through this great wildernes these forty years the LORD thy God [hath been] with thee; thou hast lacked nothing. And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

9

And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land [for] a possession; because I have given Ar 10 unto the children of Lot [for] a possession. The Emims

dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and 11 tall, as the Anakims; Which also were accounted giants, as 12 the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims. The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of

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