¹³ But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.”^(A)

³⁵ The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you to speak.” So Balaam went on with the officials of Balak.^(A)

¹³ ‘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 of my own will; what the Lord says, that is what I will say’?^(A)

¹⁸ But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “Although Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God, to do less or more.^{(A) 19} You also stay here overnight, so that I may learn what more the Lord may say to me.” ²⁰ That night God came to Balaam and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but do only what I tell you to do.”^(B)

⁴ but, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals but to please God, who tests our hearts.^(A)

¹⁰ Am I now seeking human approval or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.^(A)

¹⁷ For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many,^[a] but as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God, we are speaking in Christ before God.^(A)

The Institution of the Lord’s Supper

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,^(A)

²⁷ for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.^(A)