Numbers 24:1–6

1 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not resort to divination as at other times, but turned his face toward the wilderness. 2 When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him 3 and he spoke his message:

“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,

the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,

4 the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

5 “How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,

your dwelling places, Israel!

6 “Like valleys they spread out,

like gardens beside a river,

like aloes planted by the Lord,

like cedars beside the waters.

1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him. 3 And he took up his parable, and said,

Balaam the son of Beor hath said,

And the man whose eyes are open hath said:

4 He hath said, which heard the words of God,

Which saw the vision of the Almighty,

Falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,

And thy tabernacles, O Israel!

6 As the valleys are they spread forth,

As gardens by the river’s side,

As the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted,

And as cedar trees beside the waters.

1 By now Balaam realized that the Lord was determined to bless Israel, so he did not resort to divination as before. Instead, he turned and looked out toward the wilderness, 2 where he saw the people of Israel camped, tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him, 3 and this is the message he delivered:

“This is the message of Balaam son of Beor,

the message of the man whose eyes see clearly,

4 the message of one who hears the words of God,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

who bows down with eyes wide open:

5 How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob;

how lovely are your homes, O Israel!

6 They spread before me like palm groves,

like gardens by the riverside.

They are like tall trees planted by the Lord,

like cedars beside the waters.

1 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times, to seek to use sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

3 Then he took up his oracle and said:

“The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,

The utterance of the man whose eyes are opened,

4 The utterance of him who hears the words of God,

Who sees the vision of the Almighty,

Who falls down, with eyes wide open:

5 “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!

Your dwellings, O Israel!

6 Like valleys that stretch out,

Like gardens by the riverside,

Like aloes planted by the Lord,

Like cedars beside the waters.

1 Balaam saw that the Lord wanted to bless Israel, so he did not try to use any magic but looked toward the desert. 2 When Balaam saw the Israelites camped in their tribes, the Spirit of God took control of him, 3 and he gave this message:

“This is the message of Balaam son of Beor,

the message of a man who sees clearly;

4 this is the message of a man who hears the words of God.

I see a vision from the Almighty,

and my eyes are open as I fall before him.

5 Your tents are beautiful, people of Jacob!

So are your homes, Israel!

6 Your tents spread out like valleys,

like gardens beside a river.

They are like spices planted by the Lord,

like cedar trees growing by the water.

1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased Jehovah to bless Israel, he went not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. 3 And he took up his parable, and said,

Balaam the son of Beor saith,

And the man whose eye was closed saith;

4 He saith, who heareth the words of God,

Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,

Falling down, and having his eyes open:

5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,

Thy tabernacles, O Israel!

6 As valleys are they spread forth,

As gardens by the river-side,

As lign-aloes which Jehovah hath planted,

As cedar-trees beside the waters.

1 And Balaam saw that it was good in the sight of Jehovah to bless Israel, and he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling in tents according to his tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. 3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor saith, and the man of opened eye saith, 4 He saith, who heareth the words of •God, who seeth the vision of the Almighty, who falleth down, and who hath his eyes open: 5 How goodly are thy tents, Jacob, and thy tabernacles, Israel! 6 Like valleys are they spread forth, like gardens by the river side, Like aloe-trees which Jehovah hath planted, like cedars beside the waters.

1 When Balaam saw that the Lord wanted to bless Israel, he didn’t look for omens as he had done before. He turned toward the desert, 2 looked up, and saw Israel’s camp grouped by tribes. The Spirit of God entered him, 3 and he delivered this message: 

“This is the message of Balaam, son of Beor. 

This is the message of the man whose eyesight is clear. 

4 This is the message of the one who hears God’s words, 

has a vision from the Almighty, 

and falls ⸤into a trance⸥ with his eyes open: 

5 How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, 

and the places where you live, Israel. 

6 Your tents spread out like rivers, 

like gardens by a river, 

like aloes planted by the Lord, 

like cedars by the water. 

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

The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened,

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

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:

5 How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,

your dwellings, Israel.

6 They stretch out like river valleys,

like gardens beside a stream,

like aloes the Lord has planted,

like cedars beside the water.

1 Now Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, so he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens but set his face toward the wilderness. 2 Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Then the spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he uttered his oracle, saying,

“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,

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

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

who falls down but with eyes uncovered:

5 How fair are your tents, O Jacob,

your encampments, O Israel!

6 Like palm groves that stretch far away,

like gardens beside a river,

like aloes that the Lord has planted,

like cedar trees beside the waters.

1 And Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, and he did not go as other times to seek out sorcery; instead, he set his face toward the desert. 2 Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to its tribes, and the spirit of God was upon him. 3 He uttered his oracle and said,

“The declaration of Balaam son Beor,

the declaration of the man whose eyes are closed,

4 the declaration of the hearer of God’s words,

who sees the revelation of Shaddai,

falling down but whose eyes are uncovered.

5 How good are your tents, O Jacob,

your dwellings, O Israel!

6 They are spread out like valleys,

like gardens on a river,

like aloes planted by Yahweh,

like cedars at the waters.

1 Balaam saw that the Lord was pleased to give his blessing to Israel. So he didn’t try to use evil magic as he had done at other times. Instead, he turned and looked toward the desert. 2 He looked out and saw Israel. They had set up their camps tribe by tribe. The Spirit of God came on him.

3 Balaam spoke the message he had received from God. He said,

“Here is the message God gave Balaam, the son of Beor.

It’s the message God gave to the one who sees clearly.

4 It’s the message God gave to the one who hears the words of God.

He sees a vision from the Mighty One.

He falls down flat with his face toward the ground.

His eyes have been opened by the Lord.

5 “People of Jacob, your tents are very beautiful.

Israel, the places where you live are very beautiful.

6 “They spread out like valleys.

They are like gardens beside a river.

They are like aloes the Lord has planted.

They are like cedar trees beside a stream.

1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek omens but he set his face toward the wilderness.

2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

3 He took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened;

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

Who sees the vision of the Almighty,

Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered,

5 How fair are your tents, O Jacob,

Your dwellings, O Israel!

6 “Like valleys that stretch out,

Like gardens beside the river,

Like aloes planted by the Lord,

Like cedars beside the waters.