Numbers 1:2-3 Take you the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers… He is not worthy to be a member of a state, by whom the state is no whir bettered. The Romans well understood this, when they instituted their censors, to inquire into every man's course of life, and to note them, carbone nigro, with a character of infamy, that could not give some good account of their life. It is a thing pitiful to consider how many there are in this land of ours whose glory is their shame, the very drones and cumber-grounds of their country, the chronicle of whose life was long since summed up by the poet, Nos numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati; no better than ciphers if you respect the good they do. But let them know that God will have no mutes in His grammar, no blanks in His almanack, no dumb shows on His stage, no false lights in His house, no loiterers in His vineyard. (J. Spencer.) Parallel Verses KJV: Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; |
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