Numbers 22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Balak Summons Balaam to Curse Israel
22 The Israelites set out and camped in the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho.(A) 2 Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were so numerous; Moab was overcome with fear of the Israelites.(B) 4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.(C) 5 He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is on the Euphrates,[a] in the land of Amaw,[b] to summon him, saying, “A people has come out of Egypt; they have spread over the face of the earth, and they have settled next to me.(D) 6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are stronger than I; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”(E)
7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand, and they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message.(F) 8 He said to them, “Stay here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, just as the Lord speaks to me”; so the officials of Moab stayed with Balaam.(G) 9 God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 Balaam said to God, “King Balak son of Zippor of Moab has sent me this message: 11 ‘Look, a people has come[c] out of Egypt and has spread over the face of the earth; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’ ” 12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”(H) 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the officials of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 So the officials of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”
15 Once again Balak sent officials, more numerous and more distinguished than these. 16 They came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak son of Zippor: Do not let anything hinder you from coming to me, 17 for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do; come, curse this people for me.”(I) 18 But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “Although Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God, to do less or more.(J) 19 You also stay here overnight, so that I may learn what more the Lord may say to me.” 20 That night God came to Balaam and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but do only what I tell you to do.”(K) 21 So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.(L)
Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel
22 God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand, so the donkey turned off the road and went into the field, and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn it back onto the road.(M) 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.(N) 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it scraped against the wall and scraped Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck it again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”(O) 29 Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!”(P) 30 But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?” And he said, “No.”(Q)
31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed down, falling on his face.(R) 32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary because your way is perverse[d] before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live.” 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now therefore, if it is displeasing to you, I will return home.”(S) 35 The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you to speak.” So Balaam went on with the officials of Balak.(T)
36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at Ir-moab, on the boundary formed by the Arnon, at the farthest point of the boundary. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?”(U) 38 Balaam said to Balak, “I have come to you now, but do I have power to say just anything? The word God puts in my mouth, that is what I must say.”(V) 39 Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. 40 Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep and sent them to Balaam and to the officials who were with him.
Balaam’s First Oracle
41 On the next day Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he could see part of the people of Israel.[e](W)
Numbers 22
International Standard Version
Balak Summons Balaam
22 The Israelis continued their travels, eventually[a] encamping on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River[b] opposite Jericho. 2 Zippor’s son Balak saw everything that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 As a result, Moab greatly feared the people, because they were so numerous. Because a sense of impending doom was afflicting the Moabites as they faced the Israelis, 4 the Moabites told the elders of Midian, “This horde of people is about to lick up everything around us, like an ox licks up the green ground.”
At that time, Zippor’s son Balak was the king of Moab. 5 He sent messengers to Beor’s son Balaam in Pethor, near the Euphrates[c] River, the land where the descendants of his people originated,[d] to summon his aid. He said, “Look! A group of[e] people have escaped from Egypt. They cover the surface of the whole earth, and are sitting here right in front of me. 6 So come right now and curse this people for me, because there are too many of them for me to handle.[f] Perhaps I’ll be able to strike them down and drive them out of the land, since I know that whomever you bless is blessed and whomever you curse is cursed.”
7 So the elders of Moab and Midian left to visit Balaam, bringing an honorarium with them,[g] and communicated Balak’s concerns to him. 8 In answer, Balaam[h] told them, “Stay here for the night and I’ll bring back a message[i] to you, depending on what the Lord says to me.” So the officers of Moab stayed with Balaam overnight.
God Forbids Balaam to Cooperate
9 God visited Balaam and asked him, “Who are these men with you?”
10 Then Balaam told God, “Zippor’s son Balak, king of Moab, sent them to me and said, 11 ‘Look! A group of[j] people have escaped from Egypt. They cover the surface of the whole earth! So come right now and curse them for me. Perhaps I’ll be able to fight against them and drive them out.’”
12 But God told Balaam, “Don’t go with them. Don’t curse the people, because they’re blessed.”
13 So Balaam got up the next morning and told Balak’s officials, “Go back to your homeland, because the Lord has refused me permission to go with you.”
14 So Balak’s officials got up, returned to Balak and reported, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
15 In response, Balak sent more officers—higher ranking ones, at that!— 16 who approached Balaam with this message: “This is what Zippor’s son Balak says: ‘Don’t let anything get in the way of your coming to me. 17 I’m determined to reward you generously, and I’ll do everything you tell me to do. So come right away and curse this people for me.’”
18 Balaam responded to Balak’s entourage by saying, “Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I won’t double-cross the command of the Lord my God in even the slightest way.[k] 19 Meanwhile, stay here overnight so I may learn what the Lord might say to me.”
20 God came to visit Balaam that same night and told him, “If the men come to call on you, get up and go with them, but be sure to do only what I tell you to do.” 21 The next morning, Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started to leave, accompanied by the Moabite officials.
Balaam’s Donkey Rebukes its Owner
22 At this, the anger of the Lord flared up against Balaam, because he was leaving. So the angel of the Lord stood in the way to oppose him. As Balaam[l] was riding his donkey, accompanied by two of his servants, 23 all of a sudden the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with an unsheathed sword in his hand! The donkey turned off the road and went into an open field. Balaam started beating the donkey in order to turn her back to the road, 24 but the angel of the Lord stood on a narrow path that crossed the vineyards. It had walls on both sides of the path. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she squeezed herself so close to the wall that Balaam’s foot was pressed to the wall. So he beat her again!
26 Then the angel of the Lord went along a little further and stood in a much narrower space, where it was impossible[m] to turn either right or left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she crouched down under Balaam. As a result, Balaam got so angry that he started to whip[n] the donkey with his staff.
28 That’s when the Lord enabled the donkey to speak.[o] She asked Balaam, “What did I do to you that you would beat me in the space of only[p] three footsteps?”
29 “Because you’re playing a dirty trick on me,” Balaam answered the donkey. “If only I had a sword in my hand! I’d kill you right now!”
30 But in response, the donkey asked Balaam, “I’m your donkey that you’ve ridden on in the past without incident,[q] am I not, and I’m the same donkey you’re riding on right now, am I not? Am I in the habit of treating you like this?”
“No,” he admitted.
31 Then the Lord enabled Balaam to see, so he observed the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with an unsheathed sword in his hand. So he bowed down and prostrated himself on his face.
32 Then the angel of the Lord asked him, “Why did you beat your donkey in the space of only[r] three footsteps? I’ve come to oppose you, because I say that what you’re doing is perverted. 33 The donkey saw me and turned in front of me in the space of those three footsteps. 34 If she hadn’t turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and left her alive!”
At this, Balaam replied to the angel of the Lord, “I’ve sinned! I didn’t know that you were standing to meet me on the road. So now, since it displeases you, let me go back.”[s]
35 But the angel of the Lord told Balaam, “Go with the men, but deliver only the message that I’m going to give you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s officials.
36 When Balak heard that Balaam had arrived, he went out to meet him in the city of Moab on the border of Arnon at the extreme end of his territory. 37 Balak asked Balaam, “Didn’t I repeatedly send for you to summon you? Why didn’t you come to me? I can pay you well,[t] can’t I?”
38 Balaam answered Balak, “Well, I’m here now. I’ve come to you, but I can’t just say anything, can I? I’ll speak only what God puts in my mouth to say.” 39 So accompanied by Balaam and Balak’s officials, Balak traveled to Kiriath-huzoth, 40 where he sacrificed oxen and sheep. 41 The next day, Balak brought Balaam up to Bamoth-baal, where he could see part of the community of Israel.
Footnotes
- Numbers 22:1 The Heb. lacks eventually
- Numbers 22:1 The Heb. lacks River
- Numbers 22:5 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
- Numbers 22:5 Or the river of the people of Amaw; LXX reads the river of the land
- Numbers 22:5 The Heb. lacks group of
- Numbers 22:6 The Heb. lacks to handle
- Numbers 22:7 Lit. bringing divinations in their hand
- Numbers 22:8 Lit. he
- Numbers 22:8 Lit. word
- Numbers 22:11 The Heb. lacks group of
- Numbers 22:18 Lit. God to do anything whether insignificant or great
- Numbers 22:22 Lit. he
- Numbers 22:26 Lit. there’s no way
- Numbers 22:27 Lit. struck
- Numbers 22:28 Lit. Lord opened the donkey’s mouth
- Numbers 22:28 The Heb. lacks only
- Numbers 22:30 The Heb. lacks without incident
- Numbers 22:32 The Heb. lacks only
- Numbers 22:34 Lit. let me return to me
- Numbers 22:37 Lit. can honor you
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