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Numbers 23:18-24
The Message
Numbers 23:18-24
The Message
17-24 Balaam returned and found him stationed beside his Whole-Burnt-Offering and the nobles of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What did God say?” Then Balaam spoke his message-oracle:
On your feet, Balak. Listen,
listen carefully son of Zippor:
God is not man, one given to lies,
and not a son of man changing his mind.
Does he speak and not do what he says?
Does he promise and not come through?
I was brought here to bless;
and now he’s blessed—how can I change that?
He has no bone to pick with Jacob,
he sees nothing wrong with Israel.
God is with them,
and they’re with him, shouting praises to their King.
God brought them out of Egypt,
rampaging like a wild ox.
No magic spells can bind Jacob,
no incantations can hold back Israel.
People will look at Jacob and Israel and say,
“What a great thing has God done!”
Look, a people rising to its feet, stretching like a lion,
a king-of-the-beasts, aroused,
Unsleeping, unresting until its hunt is over
and it’s eaten and drunk its fill.
Numbers 23:18-24
New International Version
Numbers 23:18-24
New International Version
18 Then he spoke his message:(A)
“Arise, Balak, and listen;
hear me, son of Zippor.(B)
19 God is not human,(C) that he should lie,(D)
not a human being, that he should change his mind.(E)
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise(F) and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless;(G)
he has blessed,(H) and I cannot change it.(I)
21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob,(J)
no misery observed[a] in Israel.(K)
The Lord their God is with them;(L)
the shout of the King(M) is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;(N)
they have the strength of a wild ox.(O)
23 There is no divination against[b] Jacob,
no evil omens(P) 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;(Q)
they rouse themselves like a lion(R)
that does not rest till it devours its prey
and drinks the blood(S) of its victims.”
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
Numbers 23:18-24
The Message
Numbers 23:18-24
The Message
17-24 Balaam returned and found him stationed beside his Whole-Burnt-Offering and the nobles of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What did God say?” Then Balaam spoke his message-oracle:
On your feet, Balak. Listen,
listen carefully son of Zippor:
God is not man, one given to lies,
and not a son of man changing his mind.
Does he speak and not do what he says?
Does he promise and not come through?
I was brought here to bless;
and now he’s blessed—how can I change that?
He has no bone to pick with Jacob,
he sees nothing wrong with Israel.
God is with them,
and they’re with him, shouting praises to their King.
God brought them out of Egypt,
rampaging like a wild ox.
No magic spells can bind Jacob,
no incantations can hold back Israel.
People will look at Jacob and Israel and say,
“What a great thing has God done!”
Look, a people rising to its feet, stretching like a lion,
a king-of-the-beasts, aroused,
Unsleeping, unresting until its hunt is over
and it’s eaten and drunk its fill.
Numbers 23:18-20
New International Version
Numbers 23:18-20
New International Version
18 Then he spoke his message:(A)
“Arise, Balak, and listen;
hear me, son of Zippor.(B)
19 God is not human,(C) that he should lie,(D)
not a human being, that he should change his mind.(E)
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise(F) and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless;(G)
he has blessed,(H) and I cannot change it.(I)
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.