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Numbers 24-25
New Living Translation
Numbers 24-25
New Living Translation
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, 2 where he saw the people of Israel camped, tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him, 3 and this is the message he delivered:
“This is the message of Balaam son of Beor,
the message of the man whose eyes see clearly,
4 the message of one who hears the words of God,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who bows down with eyes wide open:
5 How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob;
how lovely are your homes, O Israel!
6 They spread before me like palm groves,[a]
like gardens by the riverside.
They are like tall trees planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters.
7 Water will flow from their buckets;
their offspring have all they need.
Their king will be greater than Agag;
their kingdom will be exalted.
8 God 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.
9 Like 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.”
10 King Balak flew into a rage against Balaam. He angrily clapped his hands and shouted, “I called you to curse my enemies! Instead, you have blessed them three times. 11 Now get out of here! Go back home! I promised to reward you richly, but the Lord has kept you from your reward.”
12 Balaam told Balak, “Don’t you remember what I told your messengers? I said, 13 ‘Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the Lord.’ I told you that I could say only what the Lord says! 14 Now I am returning to my own people. But first let me tell you what the Israelites will do to your people in the future.”
Balaam’s Final Messages
15 This is the message Balaam delivered:
“This is the message of Balaam son of Beor,
the message of the man whose eyes see clearly,
16 the message of one who hears the words of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who bows down with eyes wide open:
17 I see him, but not here and now.
I perceive him, but far in the distant future.
A star will rise from Jacob;
a scepter will emerge from Israel.
It will crush the heads of Moab’s people,
cracking the skulls[b] of the people of Sheth.
18 Edom will be taken over,
and Seir, its enemy, will be conquered,
while Israel marches on in triumph.
19 A ruler will rise in Jacob
who will destroy the survivors of Ir.”
20 Then Balaam looked over toward the people of Amalek and delivered this message:
“Amalek was the greatest of nations,
but its destiny is destruction!”
21 Then he looked over toward the Kenites and delivered this message:
“Your home is secure;
your nest is set in the rocks.
22 But the Kenites will be destroyed
when Assyria[c] takes you captive.”
23 Balaam concluded his messages by saying:
“Alas, who can survive
unless God has willed it?
24 Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus[d];
they will oppress Assyria and afflict Eber,
but they, too, will be utterly destroyed.”
25 Then Balaam left and returned home, and Balak also went on his way.
Moab Seduces Israel
25 While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove,[e] some of the men defiled themselves by having[f] sexual relations with local Moabite women. 2 These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. 3 In this way, Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the Lord’s anger to blaze against his people.
4 The Lord issued the following command to Moses: “Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the Lord in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel.”
5 So Moses ordered Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death the men under your authority who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”
6 Just then one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman into his tent, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as everyone was weeping at the entrance of the Tabernacle.[g] 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up and left the assembly. He took a spear 8 and rushed after the man into his tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man’s body and into the woman’s stomach. So the plague against the Israelites was stopped, 9 but not before 24,000 people had died.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by being as zealous among them as I was. So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger. 12 Now tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. 13 In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me.[h]”
14 The Israelite man killed with the Midianite woman was named Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a family from the tribe of Simeon. 15 The woman’s name was Cozbi; she was the daughter of Zur, the leader of a Midianite clan.
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, 17 “Attack the Midianites and destroy them, 18 because they assaulted you with deceit and tricked you into worshiping Baal of Peor, and because of Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, who was killed at the time of the plague because of what happened at Peor.”
Footnotes
- 24:6 Or like a majestic valley.
- 24:17 As in Samaritan Pentateuch; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain.
- 24:22 Hebrew Asshur; also in 24:24.
- 24:24 Hebrew Kittim.
- 25:1a Hebrew Shittim.
- 25:1b As in Greek version; Hebrew reads some of the men began having.
- 25:6 Hebrew the Tent of Meeting.
- 25:13 Or he made atonement for the people of Israel.
Numbers 24-25
New International Version
Numbers 24-25
New International Version
24 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel,(A) he did not resort to divination(B) as at other times, but turned his face toward the wilderness.(C) 2 When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him(D) 3 and he spoke his message:
“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,(E)
4 the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,(F)
who sees a vision from the Almighty,[a](G)
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
5 “How beautiful are your tents,(H) Jacob,
your dwelling places, Israel!
6 “Like valleys they spread out,
like gardens beside a river,(I)
like aloes(J) planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters.(K)
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;(N)
with their arrows they pierce them.(O)
9 Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
like a lioness(P)—who dares to rouse them?
10 Then Balak’s anger burned(S) against Balaam. He struck his hands together(T) and said to him, “I summoned you to curse my enemies,(U) but you have blessed them(V) these three times.(W) 11 Now leave at once and go home!(X) I said I would reward you handsomely,(Y) but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.”
12 Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,(Z) 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(AA)—and I must say only what the Lord says’?(AB) 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.”(AC)
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(AD) of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,(AE)
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.(AF)
A star will come out of Jacob;(AG)
a scepter will rise out of Israel.(AH)
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,(AI)
the skulls[b](AJ) of[c] all the people of Sheth.[d]
18 Edom(AK) will be conquered;
Seir,(AL) his enemy, will be conquered,(AM)
but Israel(AN) will grow strong.
19 A ruler will come out of Jacob(AO)
and destroy the survivors of the city.”
Balaam’s Fifth Message
20 Then Balaam saw Amalek(AP) and spoke his message:
“Amalek was first among the nations,
but their end will be utter destruction.”(AQ)
Balaam’s Sixth Message
21 Then he saw the Kenites(AR) and spoke his message:
“Your dwelling place is secure,(AS)
your nest is set in a rock;
22 yet you Kenites will be destroyed
when Ashur(AT) takes you captive.”
Balaam’s Seventh Message
23 Then he spoke his message:
“Alas! Who can live when God does this?[e]
24 Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus;(AU)
they will subdue Ashur(AV) and Eber,(AW)
but they too will come to ruin.(AX)”
25 Then Balaam(AY) got up and returned home, and Balak went his own way.
Moab Seduces Israel
25 While Israel was staying in Shittim,(AZ) the men began to indulge in sexual immorality(BA) with Moabite(BB) women,(BC) 2 who invited them to the sacrifices(BD) to their gods.(BE) The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel yoked themselves to(BF) the Baal of Peor.(BG) And the Lord’s anger burned against them.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders(BH) of these people, kill them and expose(BI) them in broad daylight before the Lord,(BJ) so that the Lord’s fierce anger(BK) may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death(BL) those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”(BM)
6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite(BN) woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping(BO) at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas(BP) son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear(BQ) 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;(BR) 9 but those who died in the plague(BS) numbered 24,000.(BT)
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.(BU) Since he was as zealous for my honor(BV) 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(BW) with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood,(BX) because he was zealous(BY) for the honor(BZ) of his God and made atonement(CA) for the Israelites.”(CB)
14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman(CC) was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.(CD) 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Kozbi(CE) daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.(CF)
16 The Lord said to Moses,(CG) 17 “Treat the Midianites(CH) as enemies(CI) and kill them.(CJ) 18 They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident(CK) 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 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.
Numbers 24-25
King James Version
Numbers 24-25
King James Version
24 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.
3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:
4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!
6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.
7 He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.
9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.
10 And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.
11 Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honour.
12 And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying,
13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak?
14 And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.
15 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:
16 He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
18 And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.
19 Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.
20 And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.
21 And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock.
22 Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
23 And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!
24 And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.
25 And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.
25 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.
4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.
5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.
6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;
8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.
10 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
14 Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.
15 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.
16 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
17 Vex the Midianites, and smite them:
18 For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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