Balak Hires Balaam

22 The Israelites set out and camped on the Plains of Moab along the Jordan across from Jericho. ² Balak son of Zippor saw everything that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ So Moab was afraid of the people, because they were so numerous. Moab was terrified because of the Israelites. ⁴ Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this assembly will eat up everything around us, just as cattle eat up the grass in the field.”

Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ He sent messengers to summon Balaam, the son of Beor, from Pethor by the Euphrates River, in the land of his own people.^[a]

He said, “Look, a people came out of Egypt. They cover the surface of the land, and they are settling right across from me. ⁶ Please come now. Curse this people for me, for they are more powerful than I am. Perhaps I will succeed and strike them down, driving them out of the land, for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”

⁷ The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian went with payments for his occult practices^[b] in their hand. They came to Balaam and told him what Balak said.

⁸ Balaam said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will report to you what the Lord says to me.” So the Moabite officials stayed with Balaam.

⁹ God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”

¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent messengers to me, who said, ¹¹ ‘Look, the people that has come out of Egypt covers the surface of the land. Now, come, curse them for me. Perhaps I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’”

¹² God said to Balaam, “You are not to go with them. You are not to curse the people, for they are blessed.”

¹³ Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak’s officials, “Go back to your land, because the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

¹⁴ The officials of Moab got up and went back to Balak. They said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

¹⁵ So Balak again sent other officials, more numerous and more prestigious than the others. ¹⁶ They went to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says, ‘Do not let anything prevent you from coming to me, ¹⁷ for I will reward you very richly. Also I will do whatever you tell me. Just come and curse this people for me.’”

¹⁸ Balaam responded to Balak’s servants, “Even if Balak would give to me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go against the command of the Lord my God to do anything small or great. ¹⁹ But please, stay and spend the night here, and I will find out what else the Lord might say to me.”

²⁰ God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them. However, do only what I tell you.” ²¹ Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.

Balaam’s Donkey

²² But God’s anger burned because Balaam was going with them. So the Angel^[c] of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ The donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand. So the donkey turned off the road and went into the field. Balaam struck the donkey to make it turn back to the road. ²⁴ Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards with walls on both sides. ²⁵ The donkey saw the Angel of the Lord and pressed against the wall and squeezed Balaam’s foot against the wall. Balaam struck the donkey again. ²⁶ Then the Angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn to the right or to the left. ²⁷ The donkey saw the Angel of the Lord and lay down under Balaam. Balaam’s anger burned, and he struck the donkey with his staff.

²⁸ The Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, which said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?”

²⁹ Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me! If only there was a sword in my hand, I would kill you now!”

³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, the one you have always ridden to this day? Is this what I usually do to you?”

He said, “No.”

³¹ Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand. Balaam knelt and bowed with his face to the ground. ³² The Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Look, I myself have come out to oppose you, because your way is reckless^[d] before me. ³³ The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, I would have surely killed you by now and let the donkey live.”

³⁴ Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I didn’t know that you stood in the road to confront me. Now if this is displeasing to you, I will go back.”

³⁵ The Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you will speak only the words that I speak to you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s officials.

Balak Meets Balaam

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the Moabite town on the Arnon border at the edge of his territory. ³⁷ Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I send for you urgently when I summoned you? Why didn’t you come to me? Don’t you know that I can really reward you?”

³⁸ Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you now. But am I really able to say anything? I will speak only the words that God puts in my mouth.”

³⁹ Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep and sent for Balaam and the officials who were with him. ⁴¹ In the morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth Baal. From there, he saw the outskirts of the people.

Control Your Tongue

3 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ² To be sure, we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a fully mature man, able to bridle his whole body as well.

³ If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they will obey us, we also guide the whole animal. ⁴ And consider ships: Although they are very big and are driven by fierce winds, yet they are guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it also boasts great things.

Consider how a little flame can set a large forest on fire! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire. It is set among the parts of our body as a world of unrighteousness that stains the whole body, sets the whole course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.^{[a] 7} Indeed, every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is being tamed and has been tamed by mankind. ⁸ But no one is able to tame the human tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord^[b] and Father, and with it we curse people, who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers, these things should not be this way. ¹¹ A spring does not pour out both fresh and bitter water from the same opening, does it? ¹² Can a fig tree bear olives, my brothers, or can a grapevine produce figs? A salt spring cannot produce fresh water either.^[c]

Wisdom From Above

¹³ Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him by his good way of living show that he does things in wise humility. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and lie, contrary to the truth. ¹⁵ This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but it is worldly, unspiritual, and demonic. ¹⁶ In fact, where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and every bad practice. ¹⁷ But the wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then also peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who practice peace.

Do Not Love the World

4 Where do conflicts and quarrels among you come from? Don’t they come from your cravings for pleasure, which are at war in the parts of your body? ² You want something but do not get it, so you murder. You desire something but cannot obtain it, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask. ³ You ask, and yet do not receive, because you ask wrongly, so that you may spend it on what gives you pleasure.

⁴ Adulterers,^[d] don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or, do you think that Scripture has no reason for saying that the Spirit, who lives in us,^[e] yearns jealously?^{[f] 6} But he gives greater grace! That is why it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.”^[g]

⁷ So, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded people. ⁹ Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be changed into mourning and your joy into gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Let God Be the Judge

¹¹ Do not speak against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother is speaking against the law and judging the law. But if you judge the law, you are not one who does the law, but a judge. ¹² There is one lawgiver and judge. He is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

God’s Will Be Done

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that city, spend a year there, do business, and make a profit.” ¹⁴ You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? Indeed, it is^[h] a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears. ¹⁵ Instead, it is better for you to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live, and we will do this or that.” ¹⁶ But right now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ So, for the one who knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it, this is a sin.