Numbers 24

24Since Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go to seek omens as on previous occasions, but turned^F toward the wilderness. ²When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God^c came on him, ³and he proclaimed his poem:

The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened,

⁴the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,^d

who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:

⁵How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,

your dwellings, Israel.

⁶They stretch out like river valleys,^A

like gardens beside a stream,

like aloes the Lord has planted,

like cedars beside the water.

⁷Water will flow from his buckets,

and his seed will be by abundant water.

His king will be greater than Agag,^e

and his kingdom will be exalted.

⁸God brought him out of Egypt;

he is like^B the horns of a wild ox for them.^f

He will feed on enemy nations

and gnaw their bones;

he will strike them with his arrows.

⁹He crouches, he lies down like a lion

or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?^g

Those who bless you will be blessed,

and those who curse you will be cursed.^h

¹⁰Then Balak became furious with Balaam, struck his hands together, and said to him, “I summoned you to put a curse on my enemies, but instead, you have blessed them these three times. ¹¹Now go to your home! I said I would reward you richly,ⁱ but look, the Lord has denied you a reward.”

¹²Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I previously tell the messengers you sent me: ¹³If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the Lord’s command, to do anything good or bad of my own will? I will say whatever the Lord says.^{j 14}Now I am going back to my people, but first, let me warn you what these people will do to your people in the future.”

BALAAM’S FOURTH ORACLE

¹⁵Then he proclaimed his poem:

The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened;

¹⁶the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God

and has knowledge from the Most High,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:^k

¹⁷I see him, but not now;

I perceive him, but not near.

A star will come from Jacob,

and a scepter will arise from Israel.^l

He will smash the forehead^C of Moab

and strike down all the Shethites.^E

¹⁸Edom will become a possession;

Seir^m will become a possession of its enemies,

but Israel will be triumphant.

¹⁹One who comes from Jacob will rule;

he will destroy the city’s survivors.

²⁰Then Balaam saw Amalek and proclaimed his poem:

Amalek was first among the nations,ⁿ

but his future is destruction.

²¹Next he saw the Kenites and proclaimed his poem:

Your dwelling place is enduring;

your nest is set in the cliffs.

²²Kain will be destroyed

when Asshur takes you captive.

²³Once more he proclaimed his poem:

Ah, who can live when God does this?

²⁴Ships will come from the coast of Kittim;^a

they will carry out raids against Asshur and Eber,^b

but they too will come to destruction.

²⁵Balaam then arose and went back to his homeland, and Balak also went his way.