24 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel,^(A) he did not resort to divination^(B) as at other times, but turned his face toward the wilderness.^{(C) 2} When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him^{(D) 3} and he spoke his message:

¹⁰ Then Balak’s anger burned^(S) against Balaam. He struck his hands together^(T) and said to him, “I summoned you to curse my enemies,^(U) but you have blessed them^(V) these three times.^{(W) 11} Now leave at once and go home!^(X) I said I would reward you handsomely,^(Y) but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.”

¹² Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,^{(Z) 13} ‘Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord^(AA)—and I must say only what the Lord says’?^{(AB) 14} Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you of what this people will do to your people in days to come.”^(AC)

Balaam’s Fourth Message

¹⁵ Then he spoke his message:

Balaam’s Fifth Message

²⁰ Then Balaam saw Amalek^(AP) and spoke his message:

Balaam’s Sixth Message

²¹ Then he saw the Kenites^(AR) and spoke his message:

Balaam’s Seventh Message

²³ Then he spoke his message:

²⁵ Then Balaam^(AY) got up and returned home, and Balak went his own way.

Moab Seduces Israel

25 While Israel was staying in Shittim,^(AZ) the men began to indulge in sexual immorality^(BA) with Moabite^(BB) women,^{(BC) 2} who invited them to the sacrifices^(BD) to their gods.^(BE) The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. ³ So Israel yoked themselves to^(BF) the Baal of Peor.^(BG) And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders^(BH) of these people, kill them and expose^(BI) them in broad daylight before the Lord,^(BJ) so that the Lord’s fierce anger^(BK) may turn away from Israel.”

⁵ So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death^(BL) those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”^(BM)

⁶ Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite^(BN) woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping^(BO) at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas^(BP) son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear^(BQ) in his hand ⁸ and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;^{(BR) 9} but those who died in the plague^(BS) numbered 24,000.^(BT)

¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites.^(BU) Since he was as zealous for my honor^(BV) among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. ¹² Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace^(BW) with him. ¹³ He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood,^(BX) because he was zealous^(BY) for the honor^(BZ) of his God and made atonement^(CA) for the Israelites.”^(CB)

¹⁴ The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman^(CC) was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.^{(CD) 15} And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Kozbi^(CE) daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.^(CF)

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses,^{(CG) 17} “Treat the Midianites^(CH) as enemies^(CI) and kill them.^{(CJ) 18} They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident^(CK) involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident.”

Psalm 81^[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] Of Asaph.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra,^(A) where a disciple named Timothy^(B) lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer^(C) but whose father was a Greek. ² The believers^(D) at Lystra and Iconium^(E) spoke well of him. ³ Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.^{(F) 4} As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders^(G) in Jerusalem^(H) for the people to obey.^{(I) 5} So the churches were strengthened^(J) in the faith and grew daily in numbers.^(K)

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

⁶ Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia^(L) and Galatia,^(M) having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.^{(N) 7} When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus^(O) would not allow them to. ⁸ So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.^{(P) 9} During the night Paul had a vision^(Q) of a man of Macedonia^(R) standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we^(S) got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel^(T) to them.

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi

¹¹ From Troas^(U) we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. ¹² From there we traveled to Philippi,^(V) a Roman colony and the leading city of that district^[a] of Macedonia.^(W) And we stayed there several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath^(X) we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira^(Y) named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart^(Z) to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵ When she and the members of her household^(AA) were baptized,^(AB) she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ Once when we were going to the place of prayer,^(AC) we were met by a female slave who had a spirit^(AD) by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.