Font Size
Numbers 23:11-30
English Standard Version
Numbers 23:11-30
English Standard Version
11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (A)I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” 12 And he answered and said, (B)“Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam's Second Oracle
13 And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” 14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, (C)and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam said to Balak, (D)“Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” 16 And the Lord met Balaam and (E)put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” 17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18 And Balaam took up his discourse and said,
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
19 (F)God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
20 Behold, I received a command to bless:
(G)he has blessed, and (H)I cannot revoke it.
21 (I)He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
and the shout of a king is among them.
22 (J)God brings them out of Egypt
and is for them like (K)the horns of the wild ox.
23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no (L)divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
(M)‘What has God wrought!’
24 Behold, a people! (N)As a lioness it rises up
and as a lion it lifts itself;
(O)it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”
25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” 26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, (P)‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” 27 And Balak said to Balaam, (Q)“Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of (R)Peor, which overlooks (S)the desert.[a] 29 And Balaam said to Balak, (T)“Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 (U)And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 23:28 Or Jeshimon
Numbers 23:11-30
New International Version
Numbers 23:11-30
New International Version
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies,(A) but you have done nothing but bless them!”(B)
12 He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”(C)
Balaam’s Second Message
13 Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place(D) where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp.(E) And from there, curse them for me.(F)” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah,(G) and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(H)
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth(I) and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials.(J) Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Then he spoke his message:(K)
“Arise, Balak, and listen;
hear me, son of Zippor.(L)
19 God is not human,(M) that he should lie,(N)
not a human being, that he should change his mind.(O)
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise(P) and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless;(Q)
he has blessed,(R) and I cannot change it.(S)
21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob,(T)
no misery observed[a] in Israel.(U)
The Lord their God is with them;(V)
the shout of the King(W) is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;(X)
they have the strength of a wild ox.(Y)
23 There is no divination against[b] Jacob,
no evil omens(Z) against[c] Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
24 The people rise like a lioness;(AA)
they rouse themselves like a lion(AB)
that does not rest till it devours its prey
and drinks the blood(AC) of its victims.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
26 Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”(AD)
Balaam’s Third Message
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place.(AE) Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me(AF) from there.” 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor,(AG) overlooking the wasteland.
29 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(AH)
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:21 Or He has not looked on Jacob’s offenses / or on the wrongs found
- Numbers 23:23 Or in
- Numbers 23:23 Or in
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.