Numbers 23
New American Standard Bible
The Prophecies of Balaam
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 2 Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.
4 Now God met with Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 Then the Lord (A)put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” 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 took up his discourse and said,
“From (B)Aram Balak has brought me,
Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, saying,
‘(C)Come, declare Jacob cursed for me,
And come, curse Israel!’
8 (D)How am I to put a curse on him upon whom God has not put a curse?
And how am I to curse him whom the Lord has not cursed?
9 For I see him from the top of the rocks,
And I look at him from the hills;
(E)Behold, a people that lives in isolation,
And does not consider itself to be among the nations.
10 (F)Who has counted the dust of Jacob,
Or the number of the fourth part of Israel?
(G)May [a]I die the death of the upright,
(H)And may my end be like his!”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (I)I took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” 12 He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak (J)what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and put a curse on 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 offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Then he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the Lord over there.” 16 Then the Lord met Balaam and (K)put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” 17 So he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18 Then he took up his discourse and said,
“Arise, Balak, and hear;
Listen to me, son of Zippor!
19 (L)God is not a man, that He would lie,
Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind;
(M)Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless;
(N)When He has blessed, (O)I cannot revoke it.
21 (P)He has not looked at misfortune in Jacob;
(Q)Nor has He seen trouble in Israel;
(R)The Lord his God is with him,
(S)And the joyful shout of a king is among them.
22 (T)God brings them out of Egypt,
He is for them like the (U)horns of the wild ox.
23 (V)For there is no magic curse against Jacob,
Nor is there any divination against Israel;
At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob
And to Israel, what God has done!
24 (W)Behold, a people rises like a lioness,
And like a lion it raises itself;
It will not lie down until it devours the prey,
And drinks the blood of those slain.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” 26 But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘[b](X)Whatever the Lord speaks, I must do’?”
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be [c]agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the [d]desert. 29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 30 Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:10 Lit my soul
- Numbers 23:26 Lit saying, Whatever
- Numbers 23:27 Lit right in the sight of God
- Numbers 23:28 Or Jeshimon
Numbers 23
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Balaam’s Oracles
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 2 So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the Lord[a] will meet with me. I will tell you whatever He reveals to me.” So he went to a barren hill.
4 God[b] met with him and Balaam said to Him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”
6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab.
Balaam’s First Oracle
7 Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak brought me from Aram;(A)
the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:
“Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel!”(B)
8 How can I curse someone God has not cursed?
How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?
9 I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,
and I watch them from the hills.
There is a people living alone;(C)
it does not consider itself among the nations.
10 Who has counted the dust of Jacob
or numbered the dust clouds[c] of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright;
let the end of my life be like theirs.
11 “What have you done to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!”
12 He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth?”(D)
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.” 14 So Balak took him to Lookout Field[d] on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”
17 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak, get up and listen;
son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!
19 God is not a man who lies,
or a son of man who changes His mind.
Does He speak and not act,
or promise and not fulfill?(E)
20 I have indeed received a command to bless;
since He has blessed,[e] I cannot change it.
21 He considers no disaster for Jacob;
He sees no trouble for Israel.[f]
The Lord their God is with them,(F)
and there is rejoicing over the King among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;
He is like the horns of a wild ox for them.[g](G)
23 There is no magic curse against Jacob
and no divination against Israel.
It will now be said about Jacob and Israel,
“What great things God has done!”
24 A people rise up like a lioness;
They rouse themselves like a lion.(H)
They will not lie down until they devour the prey
and drink the blood of the slain.
25 Then Balak told Balaam, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them!”
26 But Balaam answered him, “Didn’t I tell you: Whatever the Lord says, I must do?”(I)
Balaam’s Third Oracle
27 Again Balak said to Balaam, “Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.[h](J)
29 Balaam told Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”(K) 30 So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:3 DSS, LXX, Sam read Maybe God
- Numbers 23:4 DSS, Sam read The Angel of God
- Numbers 23:10 Or numbered a fourth
- Numbers 23:14 Or to the field of Zophim
- Numbers 23:20 Sam, LXX read since I will bless
- Numbers 23:21 Or not observe sin in Jacob; not see wrongdoing
- Numbers 23:22 Or Egypt; they have the horns of a wild ox
- Numbers 23:28 Or overlooks Jeshimon
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