Numbers 23
New Living Translation
Balaam Blesses Israel
23 Then Balaam said to King Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.” 2 Balak followed his instructions, and the two of them sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offerings, and I will go to see if the Lord will respond to me. Then I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” So Balaam went alone to the top of a bare hill, 4 and God met him there. Balaam said to him, “I have prepared seven altars and have sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.”
5 The Lord gave Balaam a message for King Balak. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”
6 So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. 7 This was the message Balaam delivered:
“Balak summoned me to come from Aram;
the king of Moab brought me from the eastern hills.
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me!
Come and announce Israel’s doom.’
8 But how can I curse those
whom God has not cursed?
How can I condemn those
whom the Lord has not condemned?
9 I see them from the cliff tops;
I watch them from the hills.
I see a people who live by themselves,
set apart from other nations.
10 Who can count Jacob’s descendants, as numerous as dust?
Who can count even a fourth of Israel’s people?
Let me die like the righteous;
let my life end like theirs.”
11 Then King Balak demanded of Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed them!”
12 But Balaam replied, “I will speak only the message that the Lord puts in my mouth.”
Balaam’s Second Message
13 Then King Balak told him, “Come with me to another place. There you will see another part of the nation of Israel, but not all of them. Curse at least that many!” 14 So Balak took Balaam to the plateau of Zophim on Pisgah Peak. He built seven altars there and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.
15 Then Balaam said to the king, “Stand here by your burnt offerings while I go over there to meet the Lord.”
16 And the Lord met Balaam and gave him a message. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”
17 So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. “What did the Lord say?” Balak asked eagerly.
18 This was the message Balaam delivered:
“Rise up, Balak, and listen!
Hear me, son of Zippor.
19 God is not a man, so he does not lie.
He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
20 Listen, I received a command to bless;
God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!
21 No misfortune is in his plan for Jacob;
no trouble is in store for Israel.
For the Lord their God is with them;
he has been proclaimed their king.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;
for them he is as strong as a wild ox.
23 No curse can touch Jacob;
no magic has any power against Israel.
For now it will be said of Jacob,
‘What wonders God has done for Israel!’
24 These people rise up like a lioness,
like a majestic lion rousing itself.
They refuse to rest
until they have feasted on prey,
drinking the blood of the slaughtered!”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Fine, but if you won’t curse them, at least don’t bless them!”
26 But Balaam replied to Balak, “Didn’t I tell you that I can do only what the Lord tells me?”
Balaam’s Third Message
27 Then King Balak said to Balaam, “Come, I will take you to one more place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them from there.”
28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, overlooking the wasteland.[a] 29 Balaam again told Balak, “Build me seven altars, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.” 30 So Balak did as Balaam ordered and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.
Footnotes
- 23:28 Or overlooking Jeshimon.
Numbers 23
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Speaks Through Balaam
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 2 So 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 Yahweh 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 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 Yahweh (A)put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall 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 Then he took up his [a]discourse and said,
“From (B)Aram Balak has brought me,
Moab’s king from the mountains of the East,
‘(C)Come curse Jacob for me,
And come, denounce Israel!’
8 (D)How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how can I denounce whom Yahweh has not denounced?
9 For I see him from the top of the rocks,
And I look at him from the hills;
(E)Behold, a people who dwells alone,
And will not be reckoned among the nations.
10 (F)Who can number the dust of Jacob,
Or count the fourth part of Israel?
(G)Let [b]me die the death of the upright,
(H)And let my end be like his!”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (I)I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have blessed them repeatedly!” 12 And he replied, “Must I not be careful to speak (J)what Yahweh puts in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Discourse
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, but you will only see the end 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 built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 And he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet Yahweh over there.” 16 Then Yahweh met Balaam and (K)put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus 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 Yahweh spoken?” 18 Then he took up his [c]discourse and said,
“Arise, O Balak, and hear;
Give ear to me, O son of Zippor!
19 (L)God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent;
(M)Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it?
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless;
(N)When He has blessed, then (O)I cannot revoke it.
21 (P)He has not observed [d]misfortune in Jacob;
(Q)Nor has He seen trouble in Israel;
(R)Yahweh his God is with him,
(S)And the 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 omen 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 as a lion it lifts itself;
It will not lie down until it devours the prey,
And drinks the blood of the 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, saying, ‘(X)Whatever Yahweh speaks, that I must do’?”
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be right in the eyes of God that you curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks the [e]wasteland. 29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 30 And Balak did just as Balaam had said and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:7 Lit parable
- Numbers 23:10 Lit my soul
- Numbers 23:18 Lit parable
- Numbers 23:21 Or wickedness
- Numbers 23:28 Or Jeshimon
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