Numbers 23
Lexham English Bible
Balaam’s Oracles
23 Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me this: seven altars. And prepare for me this: seven bulls and seven rams.” 2 And Balak did just as Balaam spoke, and Balak offered Balaam a bull and a ram on the altar. 3 And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself at your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell to you.” So he went to a barren height.
4 And God met with Balaam, and he said to him, “I have arranged seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on the altar.” 5 Yahweh put a word in the mouth of Balaam and said, “Return to Balak, and you must speak thus.” 6 So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. 7 And he lifted up his oracle and said,
“From Aram Balak lead me,
from the mountains of the east the king of Moab,
‘Go for me, curse Jacob,
and go, denounce Israel.’
8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed,
and how can I denounce whom Yahweh has not denounced?
9 Because from the top of the rocks I see him,
from hilltops I watch him.
Behold, a people who dwell alone,
they do not consider themselves among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob,
or as a number the fourth part of Israel?
Let my life die the death of an upright person,
and let my end be like his!”
11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have surely blessed them!” 12 He answered and said, “Should I not speak[a] what Yahweh puts in my mouth?”
13 Then Balak said, “Please walk with me to another place where you will see them, but you will only see part of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim to the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam[b] said to Balak, “Station yourself here at the burnt offering while I myself meet with Yahweh there.” 16 Then Yahweh met with Balaam, and he put a word in his mouth, and he said, “Return to Balak, and you must speak thus.” 17 He came to him, and behold, he was standing at his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?” 18 Then he uttered[c] his oracle, and said,
“Stand up, Balak, and hear;
listen to me, son of Zippor!
19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of humankind,
that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
And has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless;
when he has blessed, I cannot cause it to return.
21 He has no regard for evil in Jacob,
and he does not see trouble in Israel;
Yahweh his God is with him,
and a shout[d] of a king is among them.[e]
22 God, who brings them out from Egypt,
is like the strength[f] of a wild ox for them.[g]
23 Because there is no sorcery against Jacob,
and there is no divination against Israel.
Now[h] it will be said to Jacob and Israel,
what God has done!
24 Look! the people will rise like the lion;
he raises himself and will not lie down
until he eats the prey
and drinks the blood of the slain.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them[i] at all, nor bless them[j] at all!” 26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Whatever Yahweh speaks I will do’?”
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please, come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be acceptable to[k] God, and you will curse for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks down on the face of the Jeshimon.[l] 29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me these seven altars, and prepare for me these seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 Balak did just as Balaam said, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:12 Literally “Should I not observe to speak”
- Numbers 23:15 Hebrew “He”
- Numbers 23:18 Literally “he lifted up”
- Numbers 23:21 Or “a blast”
- Numbers 23:21 Hebrew “him”
- Numbers 23:22 Or “like the horns”
- Numbers 23:22 Hebrew “him”
- Numbers 23:23 Or “At the right time”
- Numbers 23:25 Hebrew “him”
- Numbers 23:25 Hebrew “him”
- Numbers 23:27 Literally “it will be right in the eyes of”
- Numbers 23:28 Or “the wasteland”
Numbers 23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
23 1
4 Then God met Balaam, and Balaam[b] said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”(D) 5 The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you must say.”(E) 6 So he returned to Balak,[c] who was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. 7 Then Balaam[d] uttered his oracle, saying,
“Balak has brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me.
Come, denounce Israel!’(F)
8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?(G)
9 For from the top of the crags I see him;
from the hills I behold him.
Here is a people living alone
and not reckoning itself among the nations!(H)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the dust cloud[e] of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”(I)
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them.”(J) 12 He answered, “Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth?”(K)
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13 So Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only part of them and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(L) 15 Balaam[f] said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offerings, while I meet the Lord over there.” 16 The Lord met Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say.”(M) 17 When he came to him, he was standing beside his burnt offerings with the officials of Moab. Balak said to him, “What has the Lord said?” 18 Then Balaam[g] uttered his oracle, saying,
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
listen to me, O son of Zippor:
19 God is not a human being, that he should lie,
or a mortal, that he should change his mind.
Has he promised, and will he not do it?
Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?(N)
20 See, I received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.(O)
21 He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
acclaimed as a king among them.(P)
22 God, who brings them out of Egypt,
is like the horns of a wild ox for them.(Q)
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘See what God has done!’
24 Look, a people rising up like a lioness
and rousing itself like a lion!
It does not lie down until it has eaten the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”(R)
25 Then 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 speak to you, saying, ‘Whatever the Lord says, that is what I must do’?”(S)
27 So Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”(T) 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.[h] 29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”(U) 30 So Balak did as Balaam had said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.