Numbers 24–25

Balaam’s Third Oracle

24When 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. ²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel ^tcamping tribe by tribe. And ^uthe Spirit of God came upon him, ³and 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

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

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

^wfalling down with his eyes uncovered:

⁵How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,

your encampments, O Israel!

⁶Like palm groves² that stretch afar,

like gardens beside a river,

^xlike aloes ^ythat the Lord has planted,

like cedar trees beside the waters.

⁷Water 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.

⁸God 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.

⁹He 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.”

¹⁰And 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. ¹¹Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ^k‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” ¹²And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ^13l‘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’? ¹⁴And 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

^15pAnd he took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

¹⁶the 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:

^17sI 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.

^18wEdom shall be dispossessed;

^xSeir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.

Israel is doing valiantly.

¹⁹And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion

and destroy the survivors of cities!”

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

“Amalek was the first among the nations,

^zbut its end is utter destruction.”

²¹And 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.

²²Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned

when Asshur takes you away captive.”

²³And he took up his discourse and said,

“Alas, who shall live when God does this?

²⁴But ships shall come from ^aKittim

and shall afflict Asshur and ^bEber;

and he too ^cshall come to utter destruction.”

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

Baal Worship at Peor

25While Israel lived in ^eShittim, ^fthe people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. ^2gThese invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. ⁴And 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.” ⁵And Moses said to ^kthe judges of Israel, ^l“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

⁶And 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. ⁷ⁿWhen 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 ⁸and 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. ⁹Nevertheless, ^pthose who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

The Zeal of Phinehas

¹⁰And 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. ¹²Therefore say, ^s‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, ¹³and 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.’ ”

¹⁴The 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. ¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^17w“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, ¹⁸for 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.”