Numbers 23:27-26:18

English Standard Version

²⁷And Balak said to Balaam, ^(A)“Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” ²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of ^(B)Peor, which overlooks ^(C)the desert.^[a] ²⁹And Balaam said to Balak, ^(D)“Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ³⁰^(E)And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam's Third Oracle

24 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at ^(F)other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. ²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel ^(G)camping tribe by tribe. And ^(H)the Spirit of God came upon him, ³and he ^(I)took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
    the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,^[b]
⁴the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
    who sees the vision of the Almighty,
    ^(J)falling down with his eyes uncovered:
⁵How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,
    your encampments, O Israel!
⁶Like palm groves^[c] that stretch afar,
    like gardens beside a river,
^(K)like aloes ^(L)that the Lord has planted,
    like cedar trees beside the waters.
⁷Water shall flow from his buckets,
    and his seed shall be ^(M)in many waters;
his king shall be higher than ^(N)Agag,
    and ^(O)his kingdom shall be exalted.
⁸God brings him out of Egypt
    and is for him like the ^(P)horns of the wild ox;
he shall ^(Q)eat up the nations, his adversaries,
    and shall ^(R)break their bones in pieces
    and ^(S)pierce them through with his arrows.
⁹He crouched, he lay down like a lion
    and ^(T)like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
^(U)Blessed are those who bless you,
    and cursed are those who curse you.”

¹⁰And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he ^(V)struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, ^(W)“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. ¹¹Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ^(X)‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” ¹²And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ¹³^(Y)‘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 ^(Z)of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? ¹⁴And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, ^(AA)I will let you know what this people will do to your people ^(AB)in the latter days.”

Balaam's Final Oracle

¹⁵^(AC)And he took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
    the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
¹⁶the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
    and knows the knowledge of ^(AD)the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
    ^(AE)falling down with his eyes uncovered:
¹⁷^(AF)I see him, but not now;
    I behold him, but not near:
^(AG)a star shall come out of Jacob,
    and ^(AH)a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall ^(AI)crush the forehead^[d] of Moab
    and break down all the sons of Sheth.
¹⁸^(AJ)Edom shall be dispossessed;
    ^(AK)Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.
    Israel is doing valiantly.
¹⁹And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion
    and destroy the survivors of cities!”

²⁰Then he looked on Amalek and ^(AL)took up his discourse and said,

“Amalek was the first among the nations,
^(AM)but its end is utter destruction.”

²¹And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

“Enduring is your dwelling place,
and your nest is set in the rock.
²²Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned
when Asshur takes you away captive.”

²³And he took up his discourse and said,

“Alas, who shall live when God does this?
²⁴ But ships shall come from ^(AN)Kittim
and shall afflict Asshur and ^(AO)Eber;
and he too ^(AP)shall come to utter destruction.”

²⁵Then Balaam rose and ^(AQ)went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Baal Worship at Peor

25 While Israel lived in ^(AR)Shittim, ^(AS)the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. ²^(AT)These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. ⁴And the Lord said to Moses, ^(AU)“Take all the chiefs of the people and ^(AV)hang^[e] them in the sun before the Lord, ^(AW)that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” ⁵And Moses said to ^(AX)the judges of Israel, ^(AY)“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

⁶And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were ^(AZ)weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁷^(BA)When Phinehas ^(BB)the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand ⁸and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. ⁹Nevertheless, ^(BC)those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

The Zeal of Phinehas

¹⁰And the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he ^(BD)was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in ^(BE)my jealousy. ¹²Therefore say, ^(BF)‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, ¹³and it shall be to him and to ^(BG)his descendants after him the covenant of ^(BH)a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

¹⁴The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house belonging to the Simeonites. ¹⁵And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of ^(BI)Zur, who was the tribal head of a father's house in Midian.

¹⁶And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷^(BJ)“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, ¹⁸for they have harassed you with their ^(BK)wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of ^(BL)Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”

Census of the New Generation

26 ^(BM)After the plague, the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, ²^(BN)“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war.” ³And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them ^(BO)in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁴“Take a census of the people,^[f] from twenty years old and upward,” as the Lord ^(BP)commanded Moses. The people of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were:

⁵^(BQ)Reuben, the firstborn of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the clan of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the clan of the Palluites; ⁶of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the clan of the Carmites. ⁷These are the clans of the Reubenites, and those listed were ^(BR)43,730. ⁸And the sons of Pallu: Eliab. ⁹The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram, ^(BS)chosen from the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord ¹⁰and ^(BT)the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, and ^(BU)they became a warning. ¹¹But ^(BV)the sons of Korah did not die.

¹²The sons of ^(BW)Simeon according to their clans: of Nemuel, the clan of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the clan of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the clan of the Jachinites; ¹³of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the clan of the Shaulites. ¹⁴These are the clans of the Simeonites, ^(BX)22,200.

¹⁵The sons of ^(BY)Gad according to their clans: of Zephon, the clan of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the clan of the Haggites; of Shuni, the clan of the Shunites; ¹⁶of Ozni, the clan of the Oznites; of Eri, the clan of the Erites; ¹⁷of Arod, the clan of the Arodites; of Areli, the clan of the Arelites. ¹⁸These are the clans of the sons of Gad as they were listed, ^(BZ)40,500.