Numbers 22–25

22ND CHAPTER

Balaam Is Hired to Curse Israel

¹Then the Israelites moved and set up camp across from Jericho, on the plains of Moab east of the Jordan River. 

²Balak, son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³The Moabites were very afraid because there were so many Israelites. Besides, the Moabites couldn’t stand these people. 

⁴So the Moabites said to the leaders of Midian, “All those people will eventually eat up everything around us the same way an ox eats up the grass in a field.” 

At that time Balak, son of Zippor, was king of Moab. ⁵He sent messengers to summon Balaam, son of Beor, who was at Pethor, on the Euphrates River, in the land where his people lived. Balak’s message was, “A nation has just come here from Egypt. They’ve spread out all over the countryside and are setting up their camp here in front of me. ⁶Please come and curse these people for me, because they are too strong for me. Maybe then I’ll be able to defeat them and force them out of the country. I know that whomever you bless is blessed and whomever you curse is cursed.” 

⁷The leaders of Moab and Midian left, taking money with them to pay for Balaam’s services. They came to Balaam and told him what Balak had said. 

⁸“Spend the night here,” Balaam said to them, “and I’ll report to you what the Lord tells me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 

⁹God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?” 

¹⁰Balaam answered, “Balak, son of King Zippor of Moab, sent them with this message: ¹¹‘Some people have just come from Egypt and are spreading out all over the countryside. Now come and curse them for me. Maybe I’ll be able to fight them and force them out.’ ” 

¹²But God said to Balaam, “Don’t go with them! Don’t curse these people, because they are blessed.” 

¹³When Balaam got up in the morning, he said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your own country, because the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 

¹⁴So the Moabite princes went back to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.” 

¹⁵Balak sent a larger group of more highly respected princes. ¹⁶When they came to Balaam, they said to him, “This is what Balak, son of Zippor, says: Don’t let anything keep you from coming to me. ¹⁷I will make sure you are richly rewarded, and I will do whatever you ask. Please, come and curse these people for me.” 

¹⁸But Balaam answered Balak’s servants, “Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I couldn’t disobey the command of the Lord my God no matter whether the request was important or not. ¹⁹Now, why don’t you stay here tonight, as the others did, and I’ll find out what else the Lord may have to tell me.” 

²⁰That night God came to Balaam and said, “If these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.” 

Balaam’s Journey to Moab

²¹When Balaam got up in the morning, he saddled his donkey and left with the Moabite princes. 

²²God became angry that he was going. So the Messenger of the Lord stood in the road to stop him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants. ²³When the donkey saw the Messenger of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn, the donkey turned off the road into a field. Balaam hit the donkey to get it back on the road. 

²⁴Where the road went through the vineyards, it was narrow, with stone walls on both sides. Now the Messenger of the Lord stood there. ²⁵When the donkey saw the Messenger of the Lord, it moved over and pinned Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam hit the donkey again. 

²⁶Then the Messenger of the Lord moved ahead and stood in a narrower place where there was no room to turn to the right or the left. ²⁷When the donkey saw the Messenger of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam. Balaam became so angry he hit the donkey with his stick. ²⁸Then the Lord made the donkey speak, and it asked Balaam, “What have I done to make you hit me three times?” 

²⁹Balaam answered, “You’ve made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I’d kill you right now.” 

³⁰The donkey said to Balaam, “I’m your own donkey. You’ve always ridden me. Have I ever done this to you before?” 

“No,” he answered. 

³¹Then the Lord let Balaam see the Messenger of the Lord who was standing in the road with his sword drawn. So Balaam knelt, bowing with his face touching the ground. 

³²The Messenger of the Lord asked him, “Why have you hit your donkey three times like this? I’ve come here to stop you because the trip you’re taking is evil.³³The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, I would certainly have killed you by now but spared the donkey.” 

³⁴Balaam said to the Messenger of the Lord, “I’ve sinned. I didn’t know you were standing there in the road to stop me. If you still think this trip is evil, I’ll go back.” 

³⁵The Messenger of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but say only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s princes. 

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at Ir Moab, in the region of the Arnon Valley, right on the border of Moab. ³⁷Balak said to Balaam, “Why didn’t you come when I summoned you? You knew I’d be able to reward you.” 

³⁸Balaam replied, “Well, I’ve come to you now. But I can’t say whatever I want to. I can only say what God tells me to say.” 

³⁹Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth. ⁴⁰Balak sacrificed cattle, sheep, and goats, and sent some of the meat to Balaam and the princes who were with him. 

⁴¹The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal. From there he could see the outskirts of the Israelites’ camp. 

23RD CHAPTER

Balaam’s First Prophecy

¹Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” ²Balak did what Balaam told him, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 

³Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I’m gone. Maybe the Lord will come and meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” Then Balaam went off to a higher place where there were no trees. 

⁴God came to him, and Balaam said, “I have set up seven altars, and I offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” 

⁵The Lord told Balaam, “Go back to Balak, and give him my message.” 

⁶So he went back to Balak and found him standing beside his burnt offering with all the princes of Moab. ⁷Then Balaam delivered this message: 

“Balak brought me from Aram. 

The king of Moab summoned me from the eastern mountains. 

‘Come, curse Jacob for me,’ he said. 

‘Come, condemn Israel.’ 

⁸How can I curse those whom God hasn’t cursed? 

How can I condemn those whom the Lord hasn’t condemned? 

⁹I see them from the top of rocky cliffs, 

I look at them from the hills. 

I see a nation that lives by itself, 

people who do not consider themselves 

to be like other nations. 

¹⁰The descendants of Jacob are like specks of dust. 

Who can count them 

or number even one-fourth of the people of Israel? 

Let me die the death of innocent people. 

Let my end be like theirs.” 

¹¹Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but all you’ve done is bless them!” 

¹²Balaam answered, “I must say what the Lord tells me to say.” 

Balaam’s Second Prophecy

¹³Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you can see the Israelites. You will see only some of them, not all of them. Curse them for me from there.” 

¹⁴So he took him to the Field of Zophim^aon top of Mount Pisgah, where he built seven altars. He offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet with God over there.” 

¹⁶The Lord came to Balaam and told him, “Go back to Balak, and give him my message.” 

¹⁷He came to Balak and found him standing beside his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?” ¹⁸Then Balaam delivered this message: 

“Stand up, Balak, and listen! 

Hear me, son of Zippor! 

¹⁹God is not like people. He tells no lies. 

He is not like humans. He doesn’t change his mind. 

When he says something, he does it. 

When he makes a promise, he keeps it. 

²⁰I have received a command to bless. 

He has blessed, and I can’t change it. 

²¹He doesn’t want any trouble for the descendants of Jacob. 

He sees no misfortune for the people of Israel. 

The Lord their God is with them, 

praised as their king. 

²²The God who brought them out of Egypt 

has the strength of a wild bull. 

²³No spell can curse the descendants of Jacob. 

No magic can harm the people of Israel. 

Now it will be said of Jacob and Israel: 

‘See what God has done!’ 

²⁴Here is a nation that attacks like a lioness 

and is as ferocious as a lion. 

It doesn’t lie down until it eats its prey 

and drinks the blood of its victim.” 

²⁵Balak said to Balaam, “If you won’t curse them, then at least don’t bless them!” 

²⁶Balaam answered, “Didn’t I tell you that I must do whatever the Lord says?” 

²⁷Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place. Maybe God wants you to curse them for me from there.” ²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which overlooks Jeshimon. 

²⁹Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” ³⁰Balak did what Balaam told him, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 

24TH CHAPTER

Balaam’s Third Prophecy

¹When 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, ²looked up, and saw Israel’s camp grouped by tribes. The Spirit of God entered him, ³and he delivered this message: 

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

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

⁴This 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: 

⁵How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, 

and the places where you live, Israel. 

⁶Your tents spread out like rivers, 

like gardens by a river, 

like aloes planted by the Lord, 

…