Numbers 23

Living Bible

23 Balaam said to the king, “Build seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for sacrifice.”

²Balak followed his instructions, and a young bull and a ram were sacrificed on each altar.

^3-4Then Balaam said to the king, “Stand here by your burnt offerings and I will see if the Lord will meet me; and I will tell you what he says to me.” So he went up to a barren height, and God met him there. Balaam told the Lord, “I have prepared seven altars and have sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each.” ⁵Then the Lord gave Balaam a message for King Balak.

⁶When Balaam returned, the king was standing beside the burnt offerings with all the princes of Moab. ^7-10This was Balaam’s message:

“King Balak, king of Moab, has brought me
From the land of Aram,
From the eastern mountains.
‘Come,’ he told me, ‘curse Jacob for me!
Let your anger rise on Israel.’
But how can I curse
What God has not cursed?
How can I denounce
A people God has not denounced?
I see them from the cliff tops,
I watch them from the hills.
They live alone,
And prefer to remain distinct
From every other nation.
They are as numerous as dust!
They are beyond numbering.
If only I could die as happy as an Israelite!
Oh, that my end might be like theirs!”

¹¹“What have you done to me?” demanded King Balak. “I told you to curse my enemies, and now you have blessed them!”

¹²But Balaam replied, “Can I say anything except what Jehovah tells me to?”

¹³Then Balak told him, “Come with me to another place; there you will see only a portion of the nation of Israel. Curse at least that many!”

¹⁴So King Balak took Balaam into the fields of Zophim at the top of Mount Pisgah, and built seven altars there; and he offered up a young bull and a ram on each altar.

¹⁵Then Balaam said to the king, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I go to meet the Lord.” ¹⁶And the Lord met Balaam and told him what to say. ¹⁷So he returned to where the king and the princes of Moab were standing beside their burnt offerings.

“What has Jehovah said?” the king eagerly inquired.

^18-24And he replied,

“Rise up, Balak, and hear:
Listen to me, you son of Zippor.
God is not a man, that he should lie;
He doesn’t change his mind like humans do.
Has he ever promised,
Without doing what he said?
Look! I have received a command to bless them,
For God has blessed them,
And I cannot reverse it!
He has not seen sin in Jacob.
He will not trouble Israel!
Jehovah their God is with them.
He is their king!
God has brought them out of Egypt.
Israel has the strength of a wild ox.
No curse can be placed on Jacob,
And no magic shall be done against him.
For now it shall be said of Israel,
‘What wonders God has done for them!’
These people rise up as a lion;
They shall not lie down
Until they have eaten what they capture
And have drunk the blood of the slain!”

²⁵“If you aren’t going to curse them, at least don’t bless them!” the king exclaimed to Balaam.

²⁶But Balaam replied, “Didn’t I tell you that I must say whatever Jehovah tells me to?”

²⁷Then the king said to Balaam, “I will take you to yet another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them from there.”

²⁸So King Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, overlooking the desert. ²⁹Balaam again told the king to build seven altars, and to prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for the sacrifice. ³⁰The king did as Balaam said, and offered a young bull and ram on every altar.

Numbers 24

Living Bible

24 Balaam realized by now that Jehovah planned to bless Israel, so he didn’t even go to meet the Lord as he had earlier. Instead, he went at once and looked out toward the camp of Israel ²which stretched away across the plains, divided by tribal areas.

Then the Spirit of God came upon him, ^3-9and he spoke this prophecy concerning them:

“Balaam the son of Beor says—
The man whose eyes are open says—
‘I have listened to the word of God,
I have seen what God Almighty showed me;
I fell, and my eyes were opened:
Oh, the joys awaiting Israel,
Joys in the homes of Jacob.
I see them spread before me as green valleys,
And fruitful gardens by the riverside;
As aloes planted by the Lord himself;
As cedar trees beside the waters.
They shall be blessed with an abundance of water,
And they shall live in many places.
Their king will be greater than Agag;
Their kingdom is exalted.
God has brought them from Egypt.
Israel has the strength of a wild ox,
And shall eat up the nations that oppose him;
He shall break their bones in pieces,
And shall shoot them with many arrows.
Israel sleeps as a lion or a lioness—
Who dares arouse him?
Blessed is everyone who blesses you, O Israel,
And curses shall fall upon everyone who curses you.’”

¹⁰King Balak was livid with rage by now. Striking his hands together in anger and disgust he shouted, “I called you to curse my enemies and instead you have blessed them three times. ¹¹Get out of here! Go back home! I had planned to promote you to great honor, but Jehovah has kept you from it!”

¹²Balaam replied, “Didn’t I tell your messengers ¹³that even if you gave me a palace filled with silver and gold, I could not go beyond the words of Jehovah, and could not say a word of my own? I said that I would say only what Jehovah says! ¹⁴Yes, I shall return now to my own people. But first, let me tell you what the Israelites are going to do to your people!”

^15-19So he spoke this prophecy to him:

“Balaam the son of Beor is the man
Whose eyes are open!
He hears the words of God
And has knowledge from the Most High;
He sees what Almighty God has shown him;
He fell, and his eyes were opened:
I see in the future of Israel,
Far down the distant trail,
That there shall come a star from Jacob!
This ruler of Israel
Shall smite the people of Moab,
And destroy the sons of Sheth.
Israel shall possess all Edom and Seir.
They shall overcome their enemies.
Jacob shall arise in power
And shall destroy many cities.”

²⁰Then Balaam looked over at the homes of the people of Amalek and prophesied:

“Amalek was the first of the nations,

But its destiny is destruction!”

^21-22Then he looked over at the Kenites:

“Yes, you are strongly situated,
Your nest is set in the rocks!
But the Kenites shall be destroyed,
And the mighty army of the king of Assyria shall deport you from this land!”

^23-24He concluded his prophecies by saying:

“Alas, who can live when God does this?
Ships shall come from the coasts of Cyprus,
And shall oppress both Eber and Assyria.
They too must be destroyed.”

²⁵So Balaam and Balak returned to their homes.^[a]

Footnotes

Numbers 24:25 So Balaam and Balak returned to their homes. But not before Balaam gave insidious advice that brought about the situation described in 25:1-3. See 31:16.