¹² I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me^(A) because Tobiah and Sanballat^(B) had hired him. ¹³ He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.^(C)

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)