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Numbers 23-25
English Standard Version
Numbers 23-25
English Standard Version
Balaam's First Oracle
23 And Balaam said to Balak, (A)“Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 2 Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam (B)offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3 And Balaam said to Balak, (C)“Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come (D)to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, 4 (E)and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 And the Lord (F)put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6 And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. 7 And Balaam (G)took up his discourse and said,
“From (H)Aram Balak has brought me,
the king of Moab (I)from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, (J)curse Jacob for me,
and come, denounce Israel!’
8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the crags (K)I see him,
from the hills I behold him;
behold, (L)a people dwelling alone,
and (M)not counting itself among the nations!
10 (N)Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the fourth part[a] of Israel?
Let me die (O)the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”
11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (P)I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” 12 And he answered and said, (Q)“Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam's Second Oracle
13 And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” 14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, (R)and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam said to Balak, (S)“Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” 16 And the Lord met Balaam and (T)put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” 17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18 And Balaam took up his discourse and said,
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
19 (U)God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
20 Behold, I received a command to bless:
(V)he has blessed, and (W)I cannot revoke it.
21 (X)He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
and the shout of a king is among them.
22 (Y)God brings them out of Egypt
and is for them like (Z)the horns of the wild ox.
23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no (AA)divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
(AB)‘What has God wrought!’
24 Behold, a people! (AC)As a lioness it rises up
and as a lion it lifts itself;
(AD)it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”
25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” 26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, (AE)‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” 27 And Balak said to Balaam, (AF)“Come now, 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 (AG)Peor, which overlooks (AH)the desert.[b] 29 And Balaam said to Balak, (AI)“Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 (AJ)And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Balaam's Third Oracle
24 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at (AK)other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel (AL)camping tribe by tribe. And (AM)the Spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he (AN)took up his discourse and said,
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,[c]
4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
(AO)falling down with his eyes uncovered:
5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,
your encampments, O Israel!
6 Like palm groves[d] that stretch afar,
like gardens beside a river,
(AP)like aloes (AQ)that the Lord has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters.
7 Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall be (AR)in many waters;
his king shall be higher than (AS)Agag,
and (AT)his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 God brings him out of Egypt
and is for him like the (AU)horns of the wild ox;
he shall (AV)eat up the nations, his adversaries,
and shall (AW)break their bones in pieces
and (AX)pierce them through with his arrows.
9 He crouched, he lay down like a lion
and (AY)like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
(AZ)Blessed are those who bless you,
and cursed are those who curse you.”
10 And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he (BA)struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, (BB)“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, (BC)‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 (BD)‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad (BE)of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? 14 And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, (BF)I will let you know what this people will do to your people (BG)in the latter days.”
Balaam's Final Oracle
15 (BH)And he took up his discourse and said,
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
and knows the knowledge of (BI)the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
(BJ)falling down with his eyes uncovered:
17 (BK)I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
(BL)a star shall come out of Jacob,
and (BM)a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall (BN)crush the forehead[e] of Moab
and break down all the sons of Sheth.
18 (BO)Edom shall be dispossessed;
(BP)Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.
Israel is doing valiantly.
19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion
and destroy the survivors of cities!”
20 Then he looked on Amalek and (BQ)took up his discourse and said,
“Amalek was the first among the nations,
(BR)but its end is utter destruction.”
21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,
“Enduring is your dwelling place,
and your nest is set in the rock.
22 Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned
when Asshur takes you away captive.”
23 And he took up his discourse and said,
“Alas, who shall live when God does this?
24 But ships shall come from (BS)Kittim
and shall afflict Asshur and (BT)Eber;
and he too (BU)shall come to utter destruction.”
25 Then Balaam rose and (BV)went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.
Baal Worship at Peor
25 While Israel lived in (BW)Shittim, (BX)the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 (BY)These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, (BZ)“Take all the chiefs of the people and (CA)hang[f] them in the sun before the Lord, (CB)that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to (CC)the judges of Israel, (CD)“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”
6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were (CE)weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 (CF)When Phinehas (CG)the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, (CH)those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
The Zeal of Phinehas
10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he (CI)was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in (CJ)my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, (CK)‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to (CL)his descendants after him the covenant of (CM)a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”
14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house belonging to the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of (CN)Zur, who was the tribal head of a father's house in Midian.
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 (CO)“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their (CP)wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of (CQ)Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:10 Or dust clouds
- Numbers 23:28 Or Jeshimon
- Numbers 24:3 Or closed, or perfect; also verse 15
- Numbers 24:6 Or valleys
- Numbers 24:17 Hebrew corners [of the head]
- Numbers 25:4 Or impale
Numbers 23-25
New International Version
Numbers 23-25
New International Version
Balaam’s First Message
23 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams(A) for me.” 2 Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(B)
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me.(C) Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went off to a barren height.
4 God met with him,(D) and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”
5 The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth(E) and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”(F)
6 So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials.(G) 7 Then Balaam(H) spoke his message:(I)
“Balak brought me from Aram,(J)
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.(K)
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.’(L)
8 How can I curse
those whom God has not cursed?(M)
How can I denounce
those whom the Lord has not denounced?(N)
9 From the rocky peaks I see them,
from the heights I view them.(O)
I see a people who live apart
and do not consider themselves one of the nations.(P)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob(Q)
or number even a fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,(R)
and may my final end be like theirs!(S)”
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies,(T) but you have done nothing but bless them!”(U)
12 He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”(V)
Balaam’s Second Message
13 Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place(W) where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp.(X) And from there, curse them for me.(Y)” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah,(Z) and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(AA)
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth(AB) and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials.(AC) Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Then he spoke his message:(AD)
“Arise, Balak, and listen;
hear me, son of Zippor.(AE)
19 God is not human,(AF) that he should lie,(AG)
not a human being, that he should change his mind.(AH)
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise(AI) and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless;(AJ)
he has blessed,(AK) and I cannot change it.(AL)
21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob,(AM)
no misery observed[a] in Israel.(AN)
The Lord their God is with them;(AO)
the shout of the King(AP) is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;(AQ)
they have the strength of a wild ox.(AR)
23 There is no divination against[b] Jacob,
no evil omens(AS) against[c] Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
24 The people rise like a lioness;(AT)
they rouse themselves like a lion(AU)
that does not rest till it devours its prey
and drinks the blood(AV) of its victims.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
26 Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”(AW)
Balaam’s Third Message
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place.(AX) Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me(AY) from there.” 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor,(AZ) overlooking the wasteland.
29 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(BA)
24 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel,(BB) he did not resort to divination(BC) as at other times, but turned his face toward the wilderness.(BD) 2 When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him(BE) 3 and he spoke his message:
“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,(BF)
4 the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,(BG)
who sees a vision from the Almighty,[d](BH)
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
5 “How beautiful are your tents,(BI) Jacob,
your dwelling places, Israel!
6 “Like valleys they spread out,
like gardens beside a river,(BJ)
like aloes(BK) planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters.(BL)
7 Water will flow from their buckets;
their seed will have abundant water.
8 “God brought them out of Egypt;
they have the strength of a wild ox.
They devour hostile nations
and break their bones in pieces;(BO)
with their arrows they pierce them.(BP)
9 Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
like a lioness(BQ)—who dares to rouse them?
10 Then Balak’s anger burned(BT) against Balaam. He struck his hands together(BU) and said to him, “I summoned you to curse my enemies,(BV) but you have blessed them(BW) these three times.(BX) 11 Now leave at once and go home!(BY) I said I would reward you handsomely,(BZ) but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.”
12 Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,(CA) 13 ‘Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord(CB)—and I must say only what the Lord says’?(CC) 14 Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you of what this people will do to your people in days to come.”(CD)
Balaam’s Fourth Message
15 Then he spoke his message:
“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,
16 the prophecy of one who hears the words(CE) of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,(CF)
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
17 “I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.(CG)
A star will come out of Jacob;(CH)
a scepter will rise out of Israel.(CI)
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,(CJ)
the skulls[e](CK) of[f] all the people of Sheth.[g]
18 Edom(CL) will be conquered;
Seir,(CM) his enemy, will be conquered,(CN)
but Israel(CO) will grow strong.
19 A ruler will come out of Jacob(CP)
and destroy the survivors of the city.”
Balaam’s Fifth Message
20 Then Balaam saw Amalek(CQ) and spoke his message:
“Amalek was first among the nations,
but their end will be utter destruction.”(CR)
Balaam’s Sixth Message
21 Then he saw the Kenites(CS) and spoke his message:
“Your dwelling place is secure,(CT)
your nest is set in a rock;
22 yet you Kenites will be destroyed
when Ashur(CU) takes you captive.”
Balaam’s Seventh Message
23 Then he spoke his message:
“Alas! Who can live when God does this?[h]
24 Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus;(CV)
they will subdue Ashur(CW) and Eber,(CX)
but they too will come to ruin.(CY)”
25 Then Balaam(CZ) got up and returned home, and Balak went his own way.
Moab Seduces Israel
25 While Israel was staying in Shittim,(DA) the men began to indulge in sexual immorality(DB) with Moabite(DC) women,(DD) 2 who invited them to the sacrifices(DE) to their gods.(DF) The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel yoked themselves to(DG) the Baal of Peor.(DH) And the Lord’s anger burned against them.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders(DI) of these people, kill them and expose(DJ) them in broad daylight before the Lord,(DK) so that the Lord’s fierce anger(DL) may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death(DM) those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”(DN)
6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite(DO) woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping(DP) at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas(DQ) son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear(DR) in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;(DS) 9 but those who died in the plague(DT) numbered 24,000.(DU)
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites.(DV) Since he was as zealous for my honor(DW) among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. 12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace(DX) with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood,(DY) because he was zealous(DZ) for the honor(EA) of his God and made atonement(EB) for the Israelites.”(EC)
14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman(ED) was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.(EE) 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Kozbi(EF) daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.(EG)
16 The Lord said to Moses,(EH) 17 “Treat the Midianites(EI) as enemies(EJ) and kill them.(EK) 18 They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident(EL) involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:21 Or He has not looked on Jacob’s offenses / or on the wrongs found
- Numbers 23:23 Or in
- Numbers 23:23 Or in
- Numbers 24:4 Hebrew Shaddai; also in verse 16
- Numbers 24:17 Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Jer. 48:45); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
- Numbers 24:17 Or possibly Moab, / batter
- Numbers 24:17 Or all the noisy boasters
- Numbers 24:23 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew The people from the islands will gather from the north.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.