Numbers 24–25

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.

Chapter 25

The Sin of Peor

¹While Israel remained at ^aShittim, the people began ^bto play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.

²For ^athey invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

³So ^aIsrael joined themselves to ¹Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry against Israel.

⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them ¹in broad daylight before the Lord, ^aso that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”

⁵So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you ^aslay his men who have joined themselves to ¹Baal of Peor.”

⁶Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his ¹relatives a ^aMidianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ^bwhile they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

^7aWhen Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand,

⁸and he went after the man of Israel into the ¹tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the ²body. ^aSo the plague on the sons of Israel was checked.

^9aThose who died by the plague were 24,000.

The Zeal of Phinehas

¹⁰Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹¹“^aPhinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel ^bin My jealousy.

¹²“Therefore say, ‘^aBehold, I give him My ^bcovenant of peace;

¹³and it shall be for him and his ¹descendants after him, a covenant of a ^aperpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and ^bmade atonement for the sons of Israel.’ ”

¹⁴Now the name of the ¹slain man of Israel who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites.

¹⁵The name of the Midianite woman who was ¹slain was ^aCozbi the daughter of ^bZur, ²who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.

¹⁶Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁷“^aBe hostile to the Midianites and strike them;

¹⁸for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the affair of Peor and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor.”