Numbers 23:7–24:9

⁷This was the message Balaam delivered:

“Balak summoned me to come from Aram;

the king of Moab brought me from the eastern hills.

‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me!

Come and announce Israel’s doom.’

⁸But how can I curse those

whom God has not cursed?

How can I condemn those

whom the Lord has not condemned?

⁹I see them from the cliff tops;

I watch them from the hills.

I see a people who live by themselves,

set apart from other nations.

¹⁰Who can count Jacob’s descendants, as numerous as dust?

Who can count even a fourth of Israel’s people?

Let me die like the righteous;

let my life end like theirs.”

¹¹Then King Balak demanded of Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed them!”

¹²But Balaam replied, “I will speak only the message that the Lord puts in my mouth.”

Balaam’s Second Message

¹³Then King Balak told him, “Come with me to another place. There you will see another part of the nation of Israel, but not all of them. Curse at least that many!” ¹⁴So Balak took Balaam to the plateau of Zophim on Pisgah Peak. He built seven altars there and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.

¹⁵Then Balaam said to the king, “Stand here by your burnt offerings while I go over there to meet the Lord.”

¹⁶And the Lord met Balaam and gave him a message. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”

¹⁷So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. “What did the Lord say?” Balak asked eagerly.

¹⁸This was the message Balaam delivered:

“Rise up, Balak, and listen!

Hear me, son of Zippor.

¹⁹God is not a man, so he does not lie.

He is not human, so he does not change his mind.

Has he ever spoken and failed to act?

Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

²⁰Listen, I received a command to bless;

God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!

²¹No misfortune is in his plan for Jacob;

no trouble is in store for Israel.

For the Lord their God is with them;

he has been proclaimed their king.

²²God brought them out of Egypt;

for them he is as strong as a wild ox.

²³No curse can touch Jacob;

no magic has any power against Israel.

For now it will be said of Jacob,

‘What wonders God has done for Israel!’

²⁴These people rise up like a lioness,

like a majestic lion rousing itself.

They refuse to rest

until they have feasted on prey,

drinking the blood of the slaughtered!”

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “Fine, but if you won’t curse them, at least don’t bless them!”

²⁶But Balaam replied to Balak, “Didn’t I tell you that I can do only what the Lord tells me?”

Balaam’s Third Message

²⁷Then King Balak said to Balaam, “Come, I will take you to one more place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them from there.”

²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, overlooking the wasteland. ²⁹Balaam again told Balak, “Build me seven altars, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.” ³⁰So Balak did as Balaam ordered and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.

Chapter 24

By now Balaam realized that the Lord was determined to bless Israel, so he did not resort to divination as before. Instead, he turned and looked out toward the wilderness, ²where he saw the people of Israel camped, tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him, ³and this is the message he delivered:

“This is the message of Balaam son of Beor,

the message of the man whose eyes see clearly,

⁴the message of one who hears the words of God,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

who bows down with eyes wide open:

⁵How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob;

how lovely are your homes, O Israel!

⁶They spread before me like palm groves,

like gardens by the riverside.

They are like tall trees planted by the Lord,

like cedars beside the waters.

⁷Water will flow from their buckets;

their offspring have all they need.

Their king will be greater than Agag;

their kingdom will be exalted.

⁸God brought them out of Egypt;

for them he is as strong as a wild ox.

He devours all the nations that oppose him,

breaking their bones in pieces,

shooting them with arrows.

⁹Like a lion, Israel crouches and lies down;

like a lioness, who dares to arouse her?

Blessed is everyone who blesses you, O Israel,

and cursed is everyone who curses you.”