27 And Balak said to Balaam, n“Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of oPeor, which overlooks pthe desert.2 29 And Balaam said to Balak, q“Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 rAnd Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam’s Third Oracle

24 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at sother times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel tcamping tribe by tribe. And uthe Spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he vtook up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,1

4  the oracle of him who hears the words of God,

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

wfalling down with his eyes uncovered:

5  How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,

your encampments, O Israel!

6  Like palm groves2 that stretch afar,

like gardens beside a river,

xlike aloes ythat the Lord has planted,

like cedar trees beside the waters.

7  Water shall flow from his buckets,

and his seed shall be zin many waters;

his king shall be higher than aAgag,

and bhis kingdom shall be exalted.

8  God brings him out of Egypt

and is for him like the chorns of the wild ox;

he shall deat up the nations, his adversaries,

and shall ebreak their bones in pieces

and fpierce them through with his arrows.

9  He crouched, he lay down like a lion

and glike a lioness; who will rouse him up?

hBlessed are those who bless you,

and cursed are those who curse you.”

10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he istruck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, j“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, k‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 l‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad mof my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? 14 And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, nI will let you know what this people will do to your people oin the latter days.”

Balaam’s Final Oracle

15 pAnd he took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

16  the oracle of him who hears the words of God,

and knows the knowledge of qthe Most High,

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

rfalling down with his eyes uncovered:

17  sI see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not near:

ta star shall come out of Jacob,

and ua scepter shall rise out of Israel;

it shall vcrush the forehead3 of Moab

and break down all the sons of Sheth.

18  wEdom shall be dispossessed;

xSeir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.

Israel is doing valiantly.

19  And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion

and destroy the survivors of cities!”

20 Then he looked on Amalek and ytook up his discourse and said,

“Amalek was the first among the nations,

zbut its end is utter destruction.”

21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

“Enduring is your dwelling place,

and your nest is set in the rock.

22  Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned

when Asshur takes you away captive.”

23 And he took up his discourse and said,

“Alas, who shall live when God does this?

24  But ships shall come from aKittim

and shall afflict Asshur and bEber;

and he too cshall come to utter destruction.”

25 Then Balaam rose and dwent back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Baal Worship at Peor

25 While Israel lived in eShittim, fthe people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 gThese invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, h“Take all the chiefs of the people and ihang1 them in the sun before the Lord, jthat the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to kthe judges of Israel, l“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were mweeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 nWhen Phinehas othe son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, pthose who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

The Zeal of Phinehas

10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he qwas jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in rmy jealousy. 12 Therefore say, s‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to this descendants after him the covenant of ua perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’ ”

14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of vZur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 w“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their xwiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of yPeor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”

Census of the New Generation

26 zAfter the plague, the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, 2 a“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war.” 3 And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them bin the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4 “Take a census of the people,1 from twenty years old and upward,” as the Lord ccommanded Moses. The people of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were:

5 dReuben, the firstborn of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the clan of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the clan of the Palluites; 6 of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the clan of the Carmites. 7 These are the clans of the Reubenites, and those listed were e43,730. 8 And the sons of Pallu: Eliab. 9 The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram, fchosen from the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord 10 and gthe earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, and hthey became a warning. 11 But ithe sons of Korah did not die.