THE WILDERNESS. 29

Lord appeared to Moses to strengthen him, telling him
not to fear, for that he had delivered Og into his hand.
So the people of Israel smote the giant and his people
till none were left alive, and got possession of the
fertile territory of Bashan, famous for its oaks, its bulls,
and its rams. They had now conquered all that part of
Palestine which lies to the east of the Jordan, and having
done so, they divided it into three parts. Reuben, you
know, was the eldest son of Jacob, his descendants got
one part; another portion was allotted to the Gadites,
who were descended from Gad, the seventh son of Jacob ;
and the third division was given to half of the tribe of
Manasseh, the eldest son of Joseph. We now come to
the prophet Balaam, of whom, I daresay, you have
heard before.

“ Yes, grandfather,” we said, “ but we do not know
his history very well, we would like to hear it again.”

“ At another time,” grandfather replied, “I may give
you all the particulars of his remarkable history, at present
I shall only tell you as much of it as is necessary to
know in order to understand the battle with which it is
connected. Balak, king of Moab, promised Balaam
great gifts and honours if he would prophesy against
the children of Israel. Balaam, covetous and ambi-
tious as he was, could not do this. He who formed the
tongue overruled his, so that he could only prophesy
good of the chosen people. Then the wicked prophet
advised the people of Moab and Midian to tempt the
children of Israel to idolatry. In this they succeeded