Numbers 22:1–25:18
22 Then athe children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho.
2 Now bBalak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And cMoab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel. 4 So Moab said to dthe elders of Midian, “Now this company will 1lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5 Then ehe sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at fPethor, which is near 2the River in the land of 3the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! 6 gTherefore please come at once, hcurse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with ithe diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 And he said to them, j“Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
9 kThen God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”
10 So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’ ”
12 And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for lthey are blessed.”
13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.”
14 And the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”
15 Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more 4honorable than they. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; 17 for I will certainly mhonor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. nTherefore please come, curse this people for me.’ ”
18 Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, o“Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, pI could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, please, you also qstay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.”
20 rAnd God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but sonly the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel
22 Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, tand the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 Now uthe donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. 24 Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again. 26 Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
28 Then the Lord vopened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have 5abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, wfor now I would kill you!”
30 xSo the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever 6disposed to do this to you?”
And he said, “No.”
31 Then the Lord yopened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. 32 And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out 7to stand against you, because your way is zperverse 8before Me. 33 The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”
34 And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, a“I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it 9displeases You, I will turn back.”
35 Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, bbut only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
36 Now when Balak heard that Balaam was coming, che went out to meet him at the city of Moab, dwhich is on the border at the Arnon, the boundary of the territory. 37 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not earnestly send to you, calling for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able eto honor you?”
38 And Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you! Now, have I any power at all to say anything? fThe word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak.” 39 So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kirjath Huzoth. 40 Then Balak offered oxen and sheep, and he sent some to Balaam and to the princes who were with him.
41 So it was, the next day, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the ghigh places of Baal, that from there he might observe 1the extent of the people.
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, a“Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
2 And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam boffered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, c“Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come dto meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a desolate height. 4 eAnd God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”
5 Then the Lord fput a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6 So he returned to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he gtook up his 1oracle and said:
“Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram,
From the mountains of the east.
h‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
And come, idenounce Israel!’
8 “How jshall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him;
There! kA people dwelling alone,
lNot reckoning itself among the nations.
10 “Who mcan count the 2dust of Jacob,
Or number one-fourth of Israel?
Let me die nthe death of the righteous,
And let my end be like his!”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? oI took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!”
12 So he answered and said, p“Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there.” 14 So he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, qand built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 And he said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I 3meet the Lord over there.”
16 Then the Lord met Balaam, and rput a word in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 17 So he came to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”
18 Then he took up his oracle and said:
s“Rise up, Balak, and hear!
Listen to me, son of Zippor!
19 “God tis not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He usaid, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless;
vHe has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 “He whas not observed iniquity in Jacob,
Nor has He seen 4wickedness in Israel.
The Lord his God is with him,
xAnd the shout of a King is among them.
22 yGod brings them out of Egypt;
He has zstrength like a wild ox.
23 “For there is no 5sorcery against Jacob,
Nor any 6divination against Israel.
It now must be said of Jacob
And of Israel, ‘Oh, awhat God has done!’
24 Look, a people rises blike a lioness,
And lifts itself up like a lion;
cIt shall not lie down until it devours the prey,
And drinks the blood of the slain.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!”
26 So Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, d‘All that the Lord speaks, that I must do’?”
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that eoverlooks 7the wasteland. 29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
24 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at aother times, to seek to use 1sorcery, but he set his …