4 So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us like an ox eats up the green plants in the field.”

Since Balak son of Zippor was Moab’s king at that time, 5 he sent messengers to Balaamr son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people.G,H Balak said to him, “Look, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the surface of the lands and are living right across from me.