Numbers 23–24

Chapter 23

The Prophecies of Balaam

¹Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”

²Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

³Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.

⁴Now God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.”

⁵Then the Lord ^aput a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.”

⁶So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab.

⁷He took up his ¹discourse and said,

“From ^aAram Balak has brought me,

Moab’s king from the mountains of the East,

‘^bCome curse Jacob for me,

And come, denounce Israel!’

⁸“^aHow shall I curse whom God has not cursed?

And how can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?

⁹“As I see him from the top of the rocks,

And I look at him from the hills;

^aBehold, a people who dwells apart,

And will not be reckoned among the nations.

¹⁰“^aWho can count the dust of Jacob,

Or number the fourth part of Israel?

^bLet ¹me die the death of the upright,

^cAnd let my end be like his!”

¹¹Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^aI took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!”

¹²He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak ^awhat the Lord puts in my mouth?”

¹³Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there.”

¹⁴So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

¹⁵And he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the Lord over there.”

¹⁶Then the Lord met Balaam and ^aput a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

¹⁷He came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”

¹⁸Then he took up his ¹discourse and said,

“Arise, O Balak, and hear;

Give ear to me, O son of Zippor!

¹⁹“^aGod is not a man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent;

^bHas He said, and will He not do it?

Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

²⁰“Behold, I have received a command to bless;

^aWhen He has blessed, then ^bI cannot revoke it.

²¹“^aHe has not observed ¹misfortune in Jacob;

^bNor has He seen trouble in Israel;

^cThe Lord his God is with him,

^dAnd the shout of a king is among them.

²²“^aGod brings them out of Egypt,

He is for them like the ^bhorns of the wild ox.

²³“^aFor there is no omen against Jacob,

Nor is there any divination against Israel;

At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob

And to Israel, what God has done!

²⁴“^aBehold, a people rises like a lioness,

And as a lion it lifts itself;

It will not lie down until it devours the prey,

And drinks the blood of the slain.”

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

²⁶But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘^1aWhatever the Lord speaks, that I must do’?”

²⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be ¹agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.”

²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks the ¹wasteland.

²⁹Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”

³⁰Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

Chapter 24

The Prophecy from Peor

¹When Balaam saw that it ¹pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to ²seek ^aomens but he set his face toward the ^bwilderness.

²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel ¹camping tribe by tribe; and ^athe Spirit of God came upon him.

³He took up his ¹discourse and said,

“^aThe oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened;

⁴The oracle of him who ^ahears the ¹words of God,

Who sees the ^bvision of ²the Almighty,

Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered,

⁵How fair are your tents, O Jacob,

Your dwellings, O Israel!

⁶“Like ¹valleys that stretch out,

Like gardens beside the river,

Like ^aaloes planted by the Lord,

Like ^bcedars beside the waters.

⁷“Water will flow from his buckets,

And his seed will be by many waters,

And his king shall be higher than ^aAgag,

^bAnd his kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸“^aGod brings him out of Egypt,

He is for him like the horns of the wild ox.

^bHe will devour the nations who are his adversaries,

And will crush their bones in pieces,

And shatter them with his ^carrows.

⁹“^aHe ¹couches, he lies down as a lion,

And as a ²lion, who ³dares rouse him?

^bBlessed is everyone who blesses you,

And cursed is everyone who curses you.”

¹⁰Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his ¹hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times!

¹¹“Therefore, ¹flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, the Lord has held you back from honor.”

¹²Balaam said to Balak, “^aDid I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying,

¹³‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the ¹command of the Lord, either good or bad, ^aof my own ²accord. ^bWhat the Lord speaks, that I will speak’?

¹⁴“And now, behold, ^aI am going to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the ¹days to come.”

¹⁵He took up his discourse and said,

“^aThe oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

¹⁶The oracle of him who hears the ¹words of God,

And knows the knowledge of the ²Most High,

Who sees the vision of ³the Almighty,

Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered.

¹⁷“I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not near;

A star shall come forth from Jacob,

^aA scepter shall rise from Israel,

^bAnd shall crush through the ¹forehead of Moab,

And ²tear down all the sons of ³Sheth.

¹⁸“^aEdom shall be a possession,

^bSeir, its enemies, also will be a possession,

While Israel performs valiantly.

¹⁹“One from Jacob shall have dominion,

And will destroy the remnant from the city.”

²⁰And he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said,

“Amalek was the first of the nations,

^aBut his end shall be ¹destruction.”

²¹And he looked at the ^aKenite, and took up his discourse and said,

“Your dwelling place is enduring,

And your nest is set in the cliff.

²²“Nevertheless Kain will be consumed;

How long will ^aAsshur ¹keep you captive?”

²³Then he took up his discourse and said,

“Alas, who can live except God has ordained it?

²⁴“But ships shall come from the coast of ^aKittim,

And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict ^bEber;

^cSo they also will come to destruction.”

²⁵Then Balaam arose and departed and returned to ^ahis place, and Balak also went his way.