Numbers 24
Legacy Standard Bible
Spirit of God Comes upon Balaam
24 And Balaam saw that it was good in the eyes of Yahweh to bless Israel, so he did not go as at other times to [a]encounter (A)omens, but he set his face toward the (B)wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling tribe by tribe; and (C)the Spirit of God came upon him. 3 Then he took up his [b]discourse and said,
“(D)The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the oracle of the man whose eye is uncovered;
4 The oracle of him who (E)hears the [c]words of God,
Who beholds the (F)vision of [d]the Almighty,
Falling down, yet having his eyes opened,
5 How fair are your tents, O Jacob,
Your dwellings, O Israel!
6 Like [e]valleys that stretch out,
Like gardens beside the river,
Like (G)aloes planted by Yahweh,
Like (H)cedars beside the waters.
7 Water will flow from his buckets,
And his seed will be by many waters,
And his king shall be lifted up higher than (I)Agag,
(J)And his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 (K)God brings him out of Egypt,
He is for him like the horns of the wild ox.
(L)He will devour the nations who are his adversaries,
And will gnaw their bones in pieces,
And [f]shatter them with his (M)arrows.
9 (N)He [g]crouches, he lies down as a lion,
And as a [h]lion, who [i]dares rouse him?
(O)Blessed is everyone who blesses you,
And cursed is everyone who curses you.”
10 Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his [j]hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have blessed them repeatedly these three times! 11 So now, [k]flee to your place. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, Yahweh has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “(P)Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, 13 ‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything to trespass the [l]command of Yahweh, either good or bad, (Q)of my own [m]accord. (R)What Yahweh speaks, that I will speak’? 14 So now, behold, (S)I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the last days.”
Oracle of Balaam
15 Then he took up his discourse and said,
“(T)The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the oracle of the man whose eye is uncovered,
16 The oracle of him who hears the [n]words of God,
And knows the knowledge of the [o]Most High,
Who beholds the vision of the [p]Almighty,
Falling down, yet having his eyes opened.
17 I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near;
A star shall come forth from Jacob,
(U)A scepter shall rise from Israel,
(V)And shall crush through the [q]forehead of Moab,
And [r]tear down all the sons of [s]Sheth.
18 (W)And Edom shall be a possession,
(X)Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession,
While Israel performs valiantly.
19 And one from Jacob shall have dominion,
And will make the survivor perish from the city.”
20 Then he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said,
21 Then he looked at the (Z)Kenite and took up his discourse and said,
“Your habitation is enduring,
And your nest is set in the cliff.
22 Nevertheless Kain will be consumed;
How long will (AA)Asshur [u]keep you captive?”
23 Then he took up his discourse and said,
“Woe, who can live except when God has ordained it?
24 But ships shall come from the coast of (AB)Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict (AC)Eber;
(AD)So they also will come to destruction.”
25 Then Balaam arose and went and returned to (AE)his place, and Balak also went his way.
Footnotes
- Numbers 24:1 Or meet, cf. 21:33; 22:34, 36; 23:3
- Numbers 24:3 Lit parable, so in ch
- Numbers 24:4 Lit sayings
- Numbers 24:4 Heb Shaddai
- Numbers 24:6 Or possibly palm trees
- Numbers 24:8 Or crush, cf. 24:17
- Numbers 24:9 Lit bows down
- Numbers 24:9 Or lioness
- Numbers 24:9 Lit shall
- Numbers 24:10 Lit palms
- Numbers 24:11 Lit flee for yourself
- Numbers 24:13 Lit mouth
- Numbers 24:13 Lit heart
- Numbers 24:16 Lit sayings
- Numbers 24:16 Heb Elyon
- Numbers 24:16 Heb Shaddai
- Numbers 24:17 Lit corners
- Numbers 24:17 Or the skull of the head of
- Numbers 24:17 Lit tumult
- Numbers 24:20 Lit to destroying
- Numbers 24:22 Lit take
Numbers 24
Evangelical Heritage Version
24 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go to look for omens as he had done at the other times, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 When Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, the Spirit of God was upon him. 3 He took up his oracle and said:
The declaration of Balaam son of Beor,
the declaration of the man whose eye is open,
4 the declaration of the one who hears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
who is falling down, but his eyes are wide open:
5 How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,
and your dwelling places, O Israel!
6 Like rows of palm trees[a] they stretch out,
like gardens by the riverside,
like aloes which the Lord has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters.
7 Water will flow from his buckets.
His seed[b] will have abundant waters.
His king will be higher than Agag.
His kingdom will be lifted up.
8 God brings him out of Egypt.
God is like the horns of a wild ox for him.
He will eat up the nations who are his adversaries.
He will gnaw on their bones.
He will pierce them through with his arrows.
9 He crouches like a lion.
He lies down like a lioness.
Who will rouse him?
The one who blesses you is blessed.
The one who curses you is cursed.
10 Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he slapped his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but look, all you have done is bless them these three times. 11 Now get out of here. Go to your own place! I said I would really reward you, but look, the Lord has denied you a reward.”
12 Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I tell the messengers you sent to me, ‘I will say what the Lord says. 13 Even if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go against the command of the Lord by doing anything good or bad of my own will’?[c] 14 Yes, I am going back to my people, but pay attention now—I will tell you what this people will do to your people in days to come.”
Balaam’s Fourth Message
15 Balaam took up his oracle and said:
The declaration of Balaam son of Beor,
the declaration of the man whose eye is open,
16 the declaration of the one who hears the words of God,
who receives knowledge from the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
who is falling down, but his eyes are wide open:
17 I see him, but not now.
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob.
A scepter will rise up out of Israel.
It will smash the foreheads of Moab
and the skulls[d] of all the people of Sheth.
18 Edom will lose its territory to others.
Seir, Israel’s enemy, also will become a possession,
but Israel will display its power.
19 One who comes from Jacob will rule,
and he will destroy the survivors of the city.
Balaam’s Final Messages
20 He looked at Amalek, took up his oracle, and said:
First among the nations was Amalek,
but his end will come to destruction.
21 He looked at the Kenites, took up his oracle, and said:
Permanent is your dwelling place.
Set in stone is your nest.
22 However, you Kenites will be destroyed,
when Ashshur takes you captive.
23 He took up his oracle and said:
Ah, who will live when God does this?
24 But ships will come from the coast of Kittim.
They will oppress Ashshur.
They will oppress Eber.
But they also will come to destruction.[e]
25 Balaam got up and left to return to his place. Balak also went on his way.
Footnotes
- Numbers 24:6 Or streams
- Numbers 24:7 Here seed may refer both to literal seed and to offspring.
- Numbers 24:13 Literally of my heart
- Numbers 24:17 The translation follows the Samaritan Pentateuch, which has a clearer word than the rare word in the main Hebrew text, which could, in fact, be a copying error.
- Numbers 24:24 All the nations named in this oracle appear to be local neighbors of the Israelites near the time of Moses. Ashshur is not Assyria but the local Ashshur referred to in Genesis 25:3. The Kittim probably are the Philistines, not the Romans, who are also called Kittim. However, the principle stated in the oracle applies to the later enemies as well. All the nations of the world are subjected to the Messiah.
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