Bible in a Year.

On the fifty-second day, we begin the reading from Numbers with the census of the tribes of Israel, showing the organization of God's people in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 1 recalls the journey from Horeb to Kadesh-Barnea, highlighting rebellion and divine mercy. Psalm 85 echoes this theme with a cry for restoration and renewal of God's presence among His people. The readings invite us to reflect on divine faithfulness even amid human disobedience.

1. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai in the tabernacle of the covenant, the first day of the second month, the second year of their going out of Egypt, saying:

2. Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel by their families, and houses, and the names of every one, as many as are of the male sex,

3. From twenty years old and upwards, of all the men of Israel fit for war, and you shall number them by their troops, thou and Aaron.

4. And there shall be with you the princes of the tribes, and of the houses in their kindreds,

5. Whose names are these: Of Ruben, Elisur the son of Sedeur.

6. Of Simeon, Salamiel the son of Surisaddai.

7. Of Juda, Nahasson the son of Aminadab.

8. Of Issachar, Nathanael the son of Suar.

9. Of Zabulon, Eliab the son of Helon.

10. And of the sons of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elisama the son of Ammiud: of Manasses, Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.

11. Of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gedeon.

12. Of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammisaddai.

13. Of Aser, Phegiel the son of Ochran.

14. Of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Duel.

15. Of Nephtali, Ahira the son of Enan.

16. These are the most noble princes of the multitude by their tribes and kindreds, and the chiefs of the army of Israel:

17. Whom Moses and Aaron took with all the multitude of the common people:

18. And assembled them on the first day of the second month, reckoning them up by the kindreds, and houses, and families, and heads, and names of every one from twenty years old and upward,

19. As the Lord had commanded Moses. And they were numbered in the desert of Sinai.

20. Of Ruben the eldest son of Israel, by their generations and families and houses and names of every head, all that were of the male sex, from twenty years old and upward, that were able to go forth to war,

21. Were forty-six thousand five hundred.

22. Of the sons of Simeon by their generations and families, and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names and heads of every one, all that were of the male sex, from twenty years old and upward, that were able to go forth to war,

23. Fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

24. Of the sons of Gad, by their generations and families and houses of their kindreds were reckoned up by the names of every one from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

25. Forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

26. Of the sons of Juda, by their generations and families and houses of their kindreds, by the names of every one from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

27. Were reckoned up seventy-four thousand six hundred.

28. Of the sons of Issachar, by their generations and families and houses of their kindreds, by the names of every one from twenty years old and upward, all that could go forth to war,

29. Were reckoned up fifty-four thousand four hundred.

30. Of the sons of Zabulon, by the generations and families and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

31. Fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

32. Of the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, by the generations and families and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

33. Forty thousand five hundred.

34. Moreover of the sons of Manasses, by the generations and families and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one from twenty years old and upward, all that could go forth to war,

35. Thirty-two thousand two hundred.

36. Of the sons of Benjamin, by their generations and families and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

37. Thirty-five thousand four hundred.

38. Of the sons of Dan, by their generations and families and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

39. Sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

40. Of the sons of Aser, by their generations and families and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

41. Forty-one thousand and five hundred.

42. Of the sons of Nephtali, by their generations and families and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

43. Fifty-three thousand four hundred.

44. These era they who were numbered by Moses and Aaron, and the twelve princes of Israel, every one by the houses of their kindreds.

45. And the whole number of the children of Israel by their houses and families, from twenty years old and upward, that were able to go to war,

46. Were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty men.

47. But the Levites in the tribes of their families were not numbered with them.

48. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

49. Number not the tribe of Levi, neither shalt thou put down the sum of them with the children of Israel:

50. But appoint them over the tabernacle of the testimony, and all the vessels thereof, and whatsoever pertaineth to the ceremonies. They shall carry the tabernacle and all the furniture thereof: and they shall minister, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.

51. When you are to go forward, the Levites shall take down the tabernacle: when you are to camp, they shall set it up. What stranger soever cometh to it, shall be slain.

52. And the children of Israel shall camp every man by his troops and bands and army.

53. But the Levites shall pitch their tents round about the tabernacle, lest there come indignation upon the multitude of the children of Israel, and they shall keep watch, and guard the tabernacle of the testimony.

54. And the children of Israel did according to all things which the Lord had commanded Moses.

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

2. Eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Cadesbarne.

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:

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,

4. 4l And you answered me: We have sinned against the Lord: we will go up and fight, as the Lord our God hath commanded. And when you went ready armed unto the mountain,

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

6. The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: You have stayed long enough in this mountain:

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 shore, the land of the Chanaanites, and of Libanus, as far as the great river Euphrates.

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.

9. And I said to you at that time:

10. I alone am not able to bear you: for the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and you are this day as the stars of heaven, for multitude.

11. (The Lord God of your fathers add to this number many thousands, and bless you as he hath spoken.)

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

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.

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

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.

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

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 God. And if any thing seem hard to you, refer it to me, and I will hear it.

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

19. And departing from Horeb, we passed through the terrible and vast wilderness, which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorrhite, as the Lord our God had commanded us. And when we were come into Cadesbarne,

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

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

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.

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

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

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 God will give us.

26. And you would not go up, but being incredulous to the word of the Lord our God,

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.

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

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

30. The Lord God, who is your leader, himself will fight for you, as he did in Egypt in the sight of all.

31. And in the wilderness (as thou hast seen) the Lord thy God hath carried thee, as a man is wont to carry his little son, all the way that you have come, until you came to this place.

32. And yet for all this you did not believe the Lord your God,

33. Who went before you in the way, and marked out the place, wherein you should pitch your tents, in the night shewing you the way by fire, and in the day by the pillar of a cloud.

34. And when the Lord had heard the voice of your words, he was angry and swore, and said:

35. Not one of the men of this wicked generation shall see the good land, which I promised with an oath to your fathers:

36. Except Caleb the son of Jephone: for he shall see it, and to him I will give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath followed the Lord.

37. Neither is his indignation against the people to be wondered at, since the Lord was angry with me also on your account, and said: Neither shalt thou go in thither.

38. But Josue the son of Nun, thy minister, he shall go in for thee: exhort and encourage him, and he shall divide the land by lot to Israel.

39. Your children, of whom you said that they should be led away captives, and your sons who know not this day the difference of good and evil, they shall go in: and to them I will give the land, and they shall possess it.

40. But return you and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.

42. The Lord said to me: Say to them: Go not up, and fight not, for I am not with you: lest you fall before your enemies.

43. I spoke, and you hearkened not: but resisting the commandment of the Lord, and swelling with pride, you went up into the mountain.

44. And the Amorrhite that dwelt in the mountains coming out, and meeting you, chased you, as bees do: and made slaughter of you from Seir as far as Horma.

45. And when you returned and wept before the Lord, he heard you not, neither would he yield to ;your voice.

46. So you abode in Cadesbarne a long time.

1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core, a psalm.

2. Lord, thou hast blessed thy land: thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob.

3. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people: thou hast covered all their sins.

4. Thou hast mitigated all thy anger: thou best turned away from the wrath of thy indignation.

5. Convert us, O God our saviour: and turn off thy anger from us.

6. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever: or wilt thou extend thy wrath from generation to generation?

7. Thou wilt turn, O God, and bring us to life: and thy people shall rejoice in thee.

8. Shew us, O Lord, thy mercy; and grant us thy salvation.

9. I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me: for he will speak peace unto his people: And unto his saints: and unto them that are converted to the heart.

10. Surely his salvation is near to them that fear him: that glory may dwell in our land.

11. Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed.

12. Truth is sprung out of the earth: and justice hath looked down from heaven.

13. For the Lord will give goodness: and our earth shall yield her fruit.

14. Justice shall walk before him: and shall set his steps in the way.