¹² And he answered and said, ^(A)“Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

³⁸ Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? ^(A)The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.”

^13 (A)‘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 ^(B)of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’?

²⁶ But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ^(A)‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?”

^16 (A)They profess to know God, but they ^(B)deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^(C)unfit for any good work.

¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ^(A)their own appetites,^[a] and ^(B)by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

^20 (A)And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; ^(B)but only do what I tell you.”