Numbers 23
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Balaam’s Oracles
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 2 So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the Lord[a] will meet with me. I will tell you whatever He reveals to me.” So he went to a barren hill.
4 God[b] met with him and Balaam said to Him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”
6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab.
Balaam’s First Oracle
7 Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak brought me from Aram;(A)
the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:
“Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel!”(B)
8 How can I curse someone God has not cursed?
How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?
9 I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,
and I watch them from the hills.
There is a people living alone;(C)
it does not consider itself among the nations.
10 Who has counted the dust of Jacob
or numbered the dust clouds[c] of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright;
let the end of my life be like theirs.
11 “What have you done to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!”
12 He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth?”(D)
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.” 14 So Balak took him to Lookout Field[d] on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”
17 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak, get up and listen;
son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!
19 God is not a man who lies,
or a son of man who changes His mind.
Does He speak and not act,
or promise and not fulfill?(E)
20 I have indeed received a command to bless;
since He has blessed,[e] I cannot change it.
21 He considers no disaster for Jacob;
He sees no trouble for Israel.[f]
The Lord their God is with them,(F)
and there is rejoicing over the King among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;
He is like the horns of a wild ox for them.[g](G)
23 There is no magic curse against Jacob
and no divination against Israel.
It will now be said about Jacob and Israel,
“What great things God has done!”
24 A people rise up like a lioness;
They rouse themselves like a lion.(H)
They will not lie down until they devour the prey
and drink the blood of the slain.
25 Then Balak told Balaam, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them!”
26 But Balaam answered him, “Didn’t I tell you: Whatever the Lord says, I must do?”(I)
Balaam’s Third Oracle
27 Again Balak said to Balaam, “Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.[h](J)
29 Balaam told Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”(K) 30 So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:3 DSS, LXX, Sam read Maybe God
- Numbers 23:4 DSS, Sam read The Angel of God
- Numbers 23:10 Or numbered a fourth
- Numbers 23:14 Or to the field of Zophim
- Numbers 23:20 Sam, LXX read since I will bless
- Numbers 23:21 Or not observe sin in Jacob; not see wrongdoing
- Numbers 23:22 Or Egypt; they have the horns of a wild ox
- Numbers 23:28 Or overlooks Jeshimon
Numbers 23
The Voice
23 Balaam (to Balak): This is what I need from you. Build seven altars here, and then get seven bulls and seven rams ready to sacrifice.
2 Balak did just as Balaam had asked him to do. Then together they offered a bull and a ram on each of the seven altars.
Balaam (to Balak): 3 You stay here, close to these burnt offerings. I’m going to go a little ways away, in case the Eternal wants to meet just with me. Whatever He lets me know, I’ll be sure to pass on to you.
So Balaam went over to an exposed area on the heights, 4 and God met Balaam there.
Balaam (to the Lord): I made seven altars and set an offering of a bull and a ram on each one.
Eternal One (giving Balaam the right words to say): 5 Go back to Balak and recite what I’ve told you.
6 So Balaam walked back down and over to where Balak stood waiting next to the burnt offerings, along with the officials of Moab. 7 Balaam recited His words.
Balaam: The king of Moab got me to come here, all the way from my home in Aram.
Balak summoned me from the eastern mountains.
“Come, curse Jacob for me!”
“Come, denounce Israel!”
8 But I ask you, how can I curse any whom God has not cursed
or denounce whomever the Eternal has not denounced?
9 Here on the heights, from the rocky places where I stand,
I can see them; from these hills I observe them below.
And what do I see but a unique and solitary people
who do not have a place among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob
or even a fourth of their number?
It’s impossible to count even one quarter of Israel.
Let me die as one who has done what is right.
Let my end be like his!
Balak (to Balaam): 11 What are you doing to me? I brought you all the way out here to curse these people—my enemies—yet what have you done? You’ve blessed them!
Balaam: 12 But don’t you agree that I have to be very careful to make sure I say only and exactly what the Eternal has given me to say?
Balak: 13 Well, come over here. Admittedly, from the place where I’m bringing you, you can only see a small part of that whole congregation. But I am commanding you: from this new place, curse them!
14 So Balak brought Balaam to the fields of Zophim, on the top of Pisgah’s peak. As before, he built there seven altars on which he sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
Pisgah dominates the Abarim Mountains and is thus used as a lookout to warn of possible attack.
Balaam (to Balak): 15 You stand here, by the altars with their burnt offerings, while I go just over there to talk with the Eternal One.
16 And once again, the Eternal met Balaam and gave him the words to say.
Eternal One: Go back to Balak, and recite what I’ve told you.
17 So Balaam returned to where Balak stood waiting next to the burnt offerings along with the Moabite officials.
Balak (to Balaam): What did the Eternal say?
18 And Balaam recited His words.
Balaam: Listen up, Balak, and attend to these words:
Hear, son of Zippor, what God has to say to you.
19 God is not a man—He doesn’t lie.
God isn’t the son of a man to want to take back what He’s said,
Or say something and not follow through,
or speak and not act on it.
20 Look here, I received a word of blessing,
and He has spoken a blessing.
I cannot take it back.
21 There is no vision of wrongdoing by Jacob;
God has seen no trouble for Israel.
The Eternal One abides among them;
and the shout of a king is among them.
22 God, who leads them out of Egypt,
His splendor is like the wild bull:
23 There is no divination against Jacob
or enchantment against Israel.
Soon, people will say of Jacob and Israel,
“Look at what God has accomplished!”
24 Look at this people rise up like a lion,
like a lion who gets up and does not lie down
until it devours its prey,
even drinking the blood of the slain.
Balak (to Balaam): 25 Don’t curse them, but don’t bless them either!
Balaam: 26 Haven’t you been listening? Whatever the Eternal tells me, I must do.
Balak: 27 I think we should try a different spot. Come on and maybe God will be happy to let you curse them for me from over there.
28 So off they went again. This time, Balak took the prophet to the top of Peor, from where they could look down over the whole broad spread of Jeshimon, which some call simply “the wasteland.”
Balaam (to Balak): 29-30 You know what to do: get the seven altars ready and burn the offerings, just as you did before.
And so Balak did—he built seven altars, on each of which were sacrificed a bull and a ram.
Números 23
Nueva Biblia de las Américas
Primera profecía de Balaam
23 Entonces Balaam dijo a Balac: «Constrúyeme aquí siete altares y prepárame aquí siete novillos y siete carneros». 2 Y Balac hizo tal como Balaam le había dicho, y Balac y Balaam ofrecieron un novillo y un carnero en cada altar. 3 Luego Balaam dijo a Balac: «Ponte junto a tu holocausto, y yo iré; quizá el Señor venga a mi encuentro, y lo que me manifieste te lo haré saber». Y se fue a un cerro sin vegetación. 4 Dios salió al encuentro de Balaam, y este le dijo: «He preparado los siete altares y he ofrecido un novillo y un carnero sobre cada altar». 5 Y el Señor puso palabra en la boca de Balaam(A), y le dijo: «Vuelve a Balac y así hablarás». 6 Él entonces volvió a Balac, y él estaba junto a su holocausto con todos los jefes de Moab. 7 Y comenzó su discurso[a], y dijo:
«Desde Aram me ha traído Balac(B),
Rey de Moab, desde los montes del oriente:
“Ven, y maldíceme a Jacob;
Ven, y condena a Israel(C)”.
8 -»¿Cómo maldeciré a quien Dios no ha maldecido?
¿Cómo condenaré a quien el Señor no ha condenado(D)?
9 -»Porque desde la cumbre de las peñas lo veo,
Y desde los montes lo observo.
Este es un pueblo que mora aparte(E),
Y que no será contado entre las naciones.
10 -»¿Quién puede contar el polvo de Jacob,
O numerar la cuarta parte de Israel(F)?
Muera yo la muerte de los rectos(G),
Y sea mi fin como el suyo(H)».
Segunda profecía
11 Entonces Balac dijo a Balaam: «¿Qué me has hecho? Te he traído para maldecir a mis enemigos, pero mira, ¡los has llenado de bendiciones(I)!». 12 Y él le respondió: «¿No debo tener cuidado de hablar lo que el Señor pone en mi boca(J)?».
13 Entonces Balac le dijo: «Te ruego que vengas conmigo a otro sitio desde donde podrás verlos, aunque solo verás el extremo de ellos, y no los verás a todos; y desde allí maldícemelos». 14 Lo llevó al campo de Zofim, sobre la cumbre del Pisga, y edificó siete altares y ofreció un novillo y un carnero en cada altar. 15 Y Balaam le dijo a Balac: «Ponte aquí junto a tu holocausto, mientras voy allá a encontrarme con el Señor». 16 El Señor salió al encuentro de Balaam y puso palabra en su boca(K) y le dijo: «Vuelve a Balac y así hablarás». 17 Y él volvió a Balac, quien estaba de pie junto a su holocausto, y los jefes de Moab con él. Y Balac le preguntó: «¿Qué ha dicho el Señor?». 18 Y comenzó su discurso[b], y dijo:
«Levántate, Balac, y escucha;
Dame oídos, hijo de Zipor.
19 -»Dios no es hombre, para que mienta(L),
Ni hijo de hombre, para que se arrepienta.
¿Lo ha dicho Él, y no lo hará(M)?
¿Ha hablado, y no lo cumplirá?
20 -»Mira, he recibido orden de bendecir(N);
Si Él ha bendecido, yo no lo puedo anular(O).
21 -ȃl no ha observado iniquidad en Jacob(P),
Ni ha visto malicia en Israel(Q);
En él está el Señor su Dios(R),
Y el júbilo de un rey está en él(S).
22 -»Dios lo saca de Egipto(T);
Es para él como los cuernos del búfalo(U).
23 -»Porque no hay agüero contra Jacob,
Ni hay adivinación contra Israel(V).
A su tiempo se le dirá a Jacob
Y a Israel: “¡Vean lo que ha hecho Dios!”.
24 -»Son un pueblo que se levanta como leona,
Y se yergue como león(W);
No se echará hasta que devore la presa
Y beba la sangre de los que ha matado».
25 Entonces Balac dijo a Balaam: «¡De ninguna manera los maldigas ni los bendigas!». 26 Pero Balaam respondió a Balac: «¿No te dije que todo lo que el Señor hable, eso debo hacer(X)?».
27 Y Balac dijo a Balaam: «Ven, te ruego, te llevaré a otro lugar; quizá le plazca a Dios que me los maldigas desde allí». 28 Entonces Balac llevó a Balaam a la cumbre del monte Peor, que da hacia el desierto. 29 Y Balaam dijo a Balac: «Constrúyeme aquí siete altares y prepárame aquí siete novillos y siete carneros». 30 Balac hizo tal como Balaam le había dicho y ofreció un novillo y un carnero en cada altar.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Nueva Biblia de las Américas™ NBLA™ Copyright © 2005 por The Lockman Foundation
