民数记 24
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
巴兰第三次预言
24 巴兰见耶和华乐意赐福给以色列人，就不再像先前两次那样去求兆头，而是面向旷野， 2 举目四望，看见以色列人按支派扎营。上帝的灵降在他身上， 3 他便吟诗预言说：
“比珥之子巴兰的预言，
是眼睛明亮者的话，
4 他得听上帝之言，
俯伏在地，
得见全能者的异象。
5 雅各啊，
你的帐篷何等华美！
以色列啊，
你的居所何等佳美！
6 像连绵的山谷，
河畔的园子；
又如耶和华栽种的沉香，
水边的香柏树。
7 他们沐浴充沛的甘霖，
撒种于湿润的沃土。
他们的君王高过亚甲，
国度名震四方。
8 上帝把他们带出埃及，
祂[a]的力量如野牛之角。
他们要吞灭敌国，
打碎敌人的骨头，
用利箭射穿仇敌。
9 他们蹲伏如雄狮，
躺卧如母狮，谁敢招惹？
祝福他们的人有福了！
咒诅他们的人有祸了！”
10 巴勒听了大怒，用力击掌，对巴兰说：“我请你来咒诅我的仇敌，你竟三次祝福他们。 11 现在快回家去吧！我说过要给你重赏，但耶和华不让你得到。” 12 巴兰说：“我不是对你派来的使臣说过吗？ 13 就是你把满屋的金银都给我，我也不能违背耶和华的命令、凭自己的意思行事——无论好事坏事。我只能说耶和华让我说的话。 14 现在我要回本族去了。但我要告诉你日后以色列人会怎样对待你的人民。”
巴兰第四次预言
15 巴兰吟诗预言说：
“比珥之子巴兰的预言，
是眼睛明亮者的话，
16 他得听上帝之言，
明白至高者的旨意，
俯伏在地，
得见全能者的异象。
17 我所见的尚未发生，
我目睹的关乎将来。
一颗星要从雅各家升起，
一位君王要从以色列兴起。
他要打烂摩押的前额，
击碎舍特人的头颅。
18 他必征服以东，
占领敌疆西珥，
以色列必勇往直前。
19 雅各的后裔必掌权，
消灭城中的余民。”
巴兰最后的预言
20 巴兰观看亚玛力人，并以诗歌预言说：
“亚玛力原是列国之首，
但他的结局却是灭亡。”
21 巴兰又观看基尼人，并以诗歌预言说：
“虽然你的居所坚固，
你的巢筑在峭壁，
22 但你必遭灭顶，
被亚述掳去。”
23 巴兰又以诗歌预言说：
“唉！若非上帝许可，
谁能存活呢？
24 船只从基提驶来，
征服亚述和希伯，
但他也要灭亡。”
25 说完，巴兰动身返回家乡，巴勒也回去了。
Footnotes
- 24:8 “祂”有古卷作“他们”。
Numbers 24
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 24
1 Balaam, however, perceiving that the Lord was pleased to bless Israel, did not go aside as before to seek omens, but turned his gaze toward the wilderness. 2 When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe, the spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he recited his poem:
The oracle of Balaam, son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is true,
4 The oracle of one who hears what God says,
and knows what the Most High knows,
Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
in rapture[a] and with eyes unveiled:
5 How pleasant are your tents, Jacob;
your encampments, Israel!
6 Like palm trees spread out,
like gardens beside a river,
Like aloes the Lord planted,
like cedars beside water;
7 Water will drip from their buckets,
their seed will have plentiful water;
Their king will rise higher than Agag[b]
and their dominion will be exalted.
8 They have the like of a wild ox’s horns:
God who brought them out of Egypt.
They will devour hostile nations,
break their bones, and crush their loins.(A)
9 Crouching, they lie like a lion,
or like a lioness; who will arouse them?
Blessed are those who bless you,
and cursed are those who curse you!(B)
10 In a blaze of anger at Balaam, Balak clapped his hands[c] and said to him, “It was to lay a curse on my foes that I summoned you here; yet three times now you have actually blessed them!(C) 11 Now flee to your home. I promised to reward you richly, but the Lord has withheld the reward from you!” 12 Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not even tell the messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ‘Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not of my own accord do anything, good or evil, contrary to the command of the Lord’? Whatever the Lord says I must say.(D)
The Fourth Oracle. 14 “But now that I am about to go to my own people, let me warn you what this people will do to your people in the days to come.” 15 Then he recited his poem:
The oracle of Balaam, son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is true,
16 The oracle of one who hears what God says,
and knows what the Most High knows,
Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
in rapture and with eyes unveiled.
17 I see him, though not now;
I observe him, though not near:
A star shall advance from Jacob,
and a scepter[d] shall rise from Israel,
That will crush the brows of Moab,(E)
and the skull of all the Sethites,
18 Edom will be dispossessed,
and no survivor is left in Seir.
Israel will act boldly,
19 and Jacob will rule his foes.
20 Upon seeing Amalek, Balaam recited his poem:
21 Upon seeing the Kenites,[f] he recited his poem:
Though your dwelling is safe,
and your nest is set on a cliff;
22 Yet Kain will be destroyed
when Asshur[g] takes you captive.
23 Upon seeing[h] [the Ishmaelites?] he recited his poem:
Alas, who shall survive of Ishmael,
24 to deliver them from the hands of the Kittim?
When they have conquered Asshur and conquered Eber,
They too shall perish forever.
25 Then Balaam set out on his journey home; and Balak also went his way.
Footnotes
- 24:4 In rapture: lit., “falling,” therefore possibly “in a trance.” However, this interpretation is uncertain.
- 24:7 Agag: during Saul’s reign, king of Amalek (1 Sm 15:8), fierce enemy of Israel during the wilderness period; see v. 20 (Ex 17:8–16).
- 24:10 Balak clapped his hands: a gesture suggesting contempt or derision, apparently made in anger (cf. Jb 27:23; Lam 2:15).
- 24:17 A star…a scepter: some early Christian writers, as well as rabbinic interpreters, understood this prophecy in messianic terms. So, for example, Rabbi Akiba designates Bar Kosiba the messiah in the early second century A.D. by calling him Bar Kokhba, i.e., son of the star, alluding to this passage. Although this text is not referred to anywhere in the New Testament, in a Christian messianic interpretation the star would refer to Jesus, as also the scepter from Israel; cf. Is 11:1. But it is doubtful whether this passage is to be connected with the “star of the Magi” in Mt 2:1–12. The brows of Moab, and the skull of all the Sethites: under the figure of a human being, Moab is specified as the object of conquest by a future leader of Israel. The personification of peoples or toponyms is common enough in the Old Testament; see, e.g., Hos 11:1; Ps 98:8. In Jer 48:45, which paraphrases the latter part of our verse, Moab is depicted as someone whose boasting warrants its ruin. In view of the use of Heb. pe’ah (here “brows”) in Nm 34:3 to indicate a boundary, some see in the “brows” of Moab and the “skull” of the Sethites a representation of features of Moab’s topography, i.e., the borderlands and the interior plateau. The Sethites: cf. Gn 4:25; here probably a general designation for nomadic/tribal groups on the borders of Palestine, unless they are to be identified with the Shutu mentioned in Execration texts of the early second millennium B.C. and the fourteenth century Amarna tablets from Egypt; however, the Shutu are not attested in Moab. On the basis of Gn 4:25 and Gn 25, one might also think of a reference to humanity in general.
- 24:20 First: lit., “the beginning.” In the Bible, Amalek is a people indigenous to Palestine and therefore considered as of great antiquity. There is a deliberate contrast here between the words “first” and “end.”
- 24:21 The Kenites lived in high strongholds in the mountains of southern Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula, and were skilled in working the various metals found in their territory. Their name is connected, at least by popular etymology, with the Hebrew word for “smith”; of similar sound to qayin, i.e., “Kain” or “smith,” is the Hebrew word for “nest,” qen—hence the play on words in the present passage.
- 24:22 Asshur: the mention of Asshur, i.e., Assyria, is not likely before the ninth or eighth centuries B.C.
- 24:23–24 Upon seeing: this phrase, lacking the Hebrew text, is found in the Septuagint, but without “the Ishmaelites” designated as the subject of the oracle. The Hebrew text of the oracle itself shows considerable disarray; the translation therefore relies on reconstruction of the putative original and is quite uncertain.
Numbers 24
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.
Numbers 24
New King James Version
Balaam Foretells the Happiness of Israel
24 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at (A)other times, to seek to use [a]sorcery, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel (B)encamped according to their tribes; and (C)the Spirit of God came upon him.
3 (D)Then he took up his oracle and said:
“The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,
The utterance of the man whose eyes are opened,
4 The utterance of him who hears the words of God,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Who (E)falls down, with eyes wide open:
5 “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!
Your dwellings, O Israel!
6 Like valleys that stretch out,
Like gardens by the riverside,
(F)Like aloes (G)planted by the Lord,
Like cedars beside the waters.
7 He shall pour water from his buckets,
And his seed shall be (H)in many waters.
8 “God(K) brings him out of Egypt;
He has strength like a wild ox;
He shall (L)consume the nations, his enemies;
He shall (M)break their bones
And (N)pierce them with his arrows.
9 ‘He(O) bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?’
(P)“Blessed is he who blesses you,
And cursed is he who curses you.”
10 Then Balak’s anger was aroused against Balaam, and he (Q)struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, (R)“I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have bountifully blessed them these three times! 11 Now therefore, flee to your place. (S)I said I would greatly honor you, but in fact, the Lord has kept you back from honor.”
12 So Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, 13 ‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord, to do good or bad of my own will. What the Lord says, that I must speak’? 14 And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, (T)I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the (U)latter days.”
Balaam’s Fourth Prophecy
15 So he took up his oracle and said:
“The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened;
16 The utterance of him who hears the words of God,
And has the knowledge of the Most High,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Who falls down, with eyes wide open:
17 “I(V) see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near;
(W)A Star shall come out of Jacob;
(X)A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And [b]batter the brow of Moab,
And destroy all the sons of [c]tumult.
18 “And (Y)Edom shall be a possession;
Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession,
While Israel does [d]valiantly.
19 (Z)Out of Jacob One [e]shall have dominion,
And destroy the remains of the city.”
20 Then he looked on Amalek, and he took up his oracle and said:
“Amalek was first among the nations,
But shall be last until he perishes.”
21 Then he looked on the Kenites, and he took up his oracle and said:
“Firm is your dwelling place,
And your nest is set in the rock;
22 Nevertheless Kain shall be burned.
How long until Asshur carries you away captive?”
23 Then he took up his oracle and said:
“Alas! Who shall live when God does this?
24 But ships shall come from the coasts of (AA)Cyprus,[f]
And they shall afflict Asshur and afflict (AB)Eber,
And so shall [g]Amalek, until he perishes.”
25 So Balaam rose and departed and (AC)returned to his place; Balak also went his way.
Footnotes
- Numbers 24:1 enchantments
- Numbers 24:17 shatter the forehead
- Numbers 24:17 Heb. Sheth, Jer. 48:45
- Numbers 24:18 mightily
- Numbers 24:19 shall rule
- Numbers 24:24 Heb. Kittim
- Numbers 24:24 Lit. he or that one
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