¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam^(A) son of Bezer,^[a] who loved the wages of wickedness.

¹¹ Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain;^(A) they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error;^(B) they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.^(C)

⁴ For they did not come to meet you with bread and water^(A) on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam^(B) son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim^[a](C) to pronounce a curse on you.^{(D) 5} However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse^(E) into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves^(F) you.

¹⁶ “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice^(A) and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident,^(B) so that a plague^(C) struck the Lord’s people.

⁵ sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor,^(A) who was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River,^(B) in his native land. Balak said:

⁷ The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination.^(F) When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said.

² because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam^(A) to call a curse down on them.^(B) (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.)^(C)

¹³ They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.^(A) They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.^[a](B)