¹ Numbers 22:1 Then the sons of Israel journeyed, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho. ² Numbers 22:2 Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ Numbers 22:3 So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel. ⁴ Numbers 22:4 Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this horde will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ Numbers 22:5 So he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they cover the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me. ⁶ Numbers 22:6 “Now, therefore, please come, curse this people for me since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I may 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 Numbers 22:7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam and repeated Balak’s words to him. ⁸ Numbers 22:8 He said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you as the LORD may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹ Numbers 22:9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰ Numbers 22:10 Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me, ¹¹ Numbers 22:11 ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” ¹² Numbers 22:12 God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” ¹³ Numbers 22:13 So Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak’s leaders, “Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.” ¹⁴ Numbers 22:14 The leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.” ¹⁵ Numbers 22:15 Then Balak again sent leaders, more numerous and more distinguished than the former. ¹⁶ Numbers 22:16 They came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘Let nothing, I beg you, hinder you from coming to me; ¹⁷ Numbers 22:17 for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Please come then, curse this people for me.’” ¹⁸ Numbers 22:18 Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God. ¹⁹ Numbers 22:19 “Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the LORD will speak to me.” ²⁰ Numbers 22:20 God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you shall you do.” ²¹ Numbers 22:21 So Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab. ²² Numbers 22:22 But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. ²³ Numbers 22:23 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way. ²⁴ Numbers 22:24 Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. ²⁵ Numbers 22:25 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself to the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again. ²⁶ Numbers 22:26 The angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right hand or the left. ²⁷ Numbers 22:27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his stick. ²⁸ Numbers 22:28 And the LORD opened 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 Numbers 22:29 Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now.” ³⁰ Numbers 22:30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.” ³¹ Numbers 22:31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed all the way to the ground. ³² Numbers 22:32 The angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was contrary to me. ³³ Numbers 22:33 “But the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now, and let her live.” ³⁴ Numbers 22:34 Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back.” ³⁵ Numbers 22:35 But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word which I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak. ³⁶ Numbers 22:36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, at the extreme end of the border. ³⁷ Numbers 22:37 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you?” ³⁸ Numbers 22:38 So Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come now to you! Am I able to speak anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak.” ³⁹ Numbers 22:39 And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰ Numbers 22:40 Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him. ⁴¹ Numbers 22:41 Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, and he saw from there a portion of the people. ¹ Numbers 23:1 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ² Numbers 23:2 Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. ³ Numbers 23:3 Then 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. ⁴ Numbers 23:4 Now 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.” ⁵ Numbers 23:5 Then the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.” ⁶ Numbers 23:6 So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. ⁷ Numbers 23:7 He took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, ‘Come curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!’ ⁸ Numbers 23:8 “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? ⁹ Numbers 23:9 “As I see him from the top of the rocks, And I look at him from the hills; Behold, a people who dwells apart, And will not be reckoned among the nations. ¹⁰ Numbers 23:10 “Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my end be like his!” ¹¹ Numbers 23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” ¹² Numbers 23:12 He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?” ¹³ Numbers 23:13 Then 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.” ¹⁴ Numbers 23:14 So 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. ¹⁵ Numbers 23:15 And he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the LORD over there.” ¹⁶ Numbers 23:16 Then the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” ¹⁷ Numbers 23:17 He 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?” ¹⁸ Numbers 23:18 Then he took up his discourse and said, “Arise, O Balak, and hear; Give ear to me, O son of Zippor! ¹⁹ Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? ²⁰ Numbers 23:20 “Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it. ²¹ Numbers 23:21 “He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; The LORD his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them. ²² Numbers 23:22 “God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox. ²³ Numbers 23:23 “For 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 Numbers 23:24 “Behold, 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.” ²⁵ Numbers 23:25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” ²⁶ Numbers 23:26 But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘Whatever the LORD speaks, that I must do’?” ²⁷ Numbers 23:27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.” ²⁸ Numbers 23:28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks the wasteland. ²⁹ Numbers 23:29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ³⁰ Numbers 23:30 Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹ Numbers 24:1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek omens but he set his face toward the wilderness. ² Numbers 24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him. ³ Numbers 24:3 He took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened; ⁴ Numbers 24:4 The oracle of him who hears the words of God, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered, ⁵ Numbers 24:5 How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel! ⁶ Numbers 24:6 “Like valleys that stretch out, Like gardens beside the river, Like aloes planted by the LORD, Like cedars beside the waters. ⁷ Numbers 24:7 “Water will flow from his buckets, And his seed will be by many waters, And his king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted. ⁸ Numbers 24:8 “God brings him out of Egypt, He is for him like the horns of the wild ox. He will devour the nations who are his adversaries, And will crush their bones in pieces, And shatter them with his arrows. ⁹ Numbers 24:9 “He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, And cursed is everyone who curses you.” ¹⁰ Numbers 24:10 Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands 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 Numbers 24:11 “Therefore, flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, the LORD has held you back from honor.” ¹² Numbers 24:12 Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, ¹³ Numbers 24:13 ‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the command of the LORD, either good or bad, of my own accord. What the LORD speaks, that I will speak’? ¹⁴ Numbers 24:14 “And now, behold, I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the days to come.” ¹⁵ Numbers 24:15 He took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, ¹⁶ Numbers 24:16 The oracle of him who hears the words of God, And knows the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered. ¹⁷ Numbers 24:17 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth. ¹⁸ Numbers 24:18 “Edom shall be a possession, Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession, While Israel performs valiantly. ¹⁹ Numbers 24:19 “One from Jacob shall have dominion, And will destroy the remnant from the city.” ²⁰ Numbers 24:20 And he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, But his end shall be destruction.” ²¹ Numbers 24:21 And he looked at the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said, “Your dwelling place is enduring, And your nest is set in the cliff. ²² Numbers 24:22 “Nevertheless Kain will be consumed; How long will Asshur keep you captive?” ²³ Numbers 24:23 Then he took up his discourse and said, “Alas, who can live except God has ordained it? ²⁴ Numbers 24:24 “But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber; So they also will come to destruction.” ²⁵ Numbers 24:25 Then Balaam arose and departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way.