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Numbers 20

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1 And the sons of Israel, all the congregation, came·​·into the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people dwelt in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

2 And there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

3 And the people strove with Moses, and said, saying, Would·​·that we had expired when our brothers expired before Jehovah!

4 And why have you brought the assembly of Jehovah to this wilderness, that we and our brute should die there?

5 And why have you made us to go·​·up from Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; and there is no water to drink.

6 And Moses and Aaron came from the face of the assembly to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces; and the glory of Jehovah appeared to them.

7 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

8 Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak you to the rock before their eyes; and it shall give its water, and thou shalt bring·​·forth to them water out·​·of the rock; and thou shalt give·​·drink to the congregation and their brutish beast.

9 And Moses took the rod from before Jehovah, as He commanded him.

10 And Moses and Aaron assembled the assembly before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we bring·​·out water for you from this rock?

11 And Moses lifted· his hand ·high, and with his rod he smote the rock two·​·times; and much water came·​·out, and the congregation drank, and their brutes.

12 And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Because you believed Me not, to sanctify Me to the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given to them.

13 These are the waters of Meribah*; when the sons of Israel strove with Jehovah, and He was sanctified in them.

14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, Thus says thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the weariness that has found us;

15 how our fathers went·​·down unto Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt many days; and the Egyptians did·​·evil to us, and to our fathers;

16 and we cried to Jehovah, and He heard our voice, and sent an angel, and has brought· us ·out out·​·of Egypt; and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city of the end of thy border:

17 let us pass, I pray thee, through thy land; we will not pass·​·through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells; we will go by the king’s high way, we will not go·​·aside to the right nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.

18 And Edom said to him, Thou shalt not pass·​·through me, lest I come·​·out to meet thee with the sword.

19 And the sons of Israel said to him, We will go·​·up on the highway; and if I and my livestock drink of thy water, then I will give the cost of it; I will only pass·​·through on my feet, and not a thing more.

20 And he said, Thou shalt not pass·​·through. And Edom went·​·out to meet him with people heavily armed, and with a firm hand.

21 And Edom refused to give Israel passage into his border; and Israel went·​·aside from him.

22 And the sons of Israel, even all the congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came·​·to Mount Hor.

23 And Jehovah said to Moses and unto Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying,

24 Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not come into the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, for that you rebelled·​·against My mouth at the water of Meribah.

25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring· them ·up·​·to Mount Hor;

26 and strip Aaron of his garments, and clothe· Eleazar his son ·with them; and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there.

27 And Moses did as Jehovah commanded; and they went·​·up unto Mount Hor in the eyes of all the congregation.

28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and clothed Eleazar his son with them; and Aaron died there in the head of the mountain; and Moses and Eleazar came·​·down from the mountain.

29 And all the congregation saw that Aaron was expired, and they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Field

  
The Sower, by Vincent van Gogh

A "field" in the Bible usually represents the Lord's church, and more specifically the desire for good within the church. It's where good things start, take root, and grow. When you have a desire to be a good person and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?", "What should I do?", "What can I do?". You look for ideas, concepts, direction. Once you figure out something you want to do or a change you want to make in yourself, you seek specific knowledge. If you want to volunteer at a food pantry, say, you'd need to know whom to call, when they need help, where to go, what to bring. Armed with that knowhow, you're ready to get to work. That process could be compared to food production. You start with a field -- which is that desire to be good. Then you plant seeds -- those ideas and concepts. Those seeds sprout into plants -- the specific facts and knowledge needed for the task (easily seen in the food pantry example, but also true with deeper tasks like "being more tolerant of my co-workers" or "taking more time for prayer," or "consciously being a more loving spouse"). Finally, those plants produce food -- the actual good thing that you go and do. The Writings also say that in a number of cases a "field" represents the doctrine, or teachings, of the church. This sounds markedly different. The desire for good is emotional, a drive, a wanting; doctrine is a set of ideas. But for a church to be true, its doctrine must be centered on a desire for good, and must lead people toward doing what is good. So sound doctrine is actually closely bound up with the desire for good.