Numbers 22
Good News Translation
The King of Moab Sends for Balaam
22 The Israelites moved on and set up camp in the plains of Moab east of the Jordan and opposite Jericho.
2 When the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, heard what the Israelites had done to the Amorites and how many Israelites there were, 3 he and all his people became terrified. 4 The Moabites said to the leaders of the Midianites, “This horde will soon destroy everything around us, like a bull eating the grass in a pasture.” So King Balak 5 (A)sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor near the Euphrates River in the land of Amaw. They brought him this message from Balak: “I want you to know that a whole nation has come from Egypt; its people are spreading out everywhere and threatening to take over our land. 6 They outnumber us, so please come and put a curse on them for me. Then perhaps we will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. I know that when you pronounce a blessing, people are blessed, and when you pronounce a curse, they are placed under a curse.”
7 So the Moabite and Midianite leaders took with them the payment for the curse, went to Balaam, and gave him Balak's message. 8 Balaam said to them, “Spend the night here, and tomorrow I will report to you whatever the Lord tells me.” So the Moabite leaders stayed with Balaam.
9 God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these people that are staying with you?”
10 He answered, “King Balak of Moab has sent them to tell me 11 that a people who came from Egypt has spread out over the whole land. He wants me to curse them for him, so that he can fight them and drive them out.”
12 God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them, and do not put a curse on the people of Israel, because they have my blessing.”
13 The next morning Balaam went to Balak's messengers and said, “Go back home; the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 So they returned to Balak and told him that Balaam had refused to come with them.
15 Then Balak sent a larger number of leaders, who were more important than the first. 16 They went to Balaam and gave him this message from Balak: “Please don't let anything prevent you from coming to me! 17 I will reward you richly and do anything you say. Please come and curse these people for me.”
18 But Balaam answered, “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not disobey the command of the Lord my God in even the smallest matter. 19 But please spend the night, as the others did, so that I may learn whether or not the Lord has something else to tell me.”
20 That night God came to Balaam and said, “If these men have come to ask you to go with them, get ready and go, but do only what I tell you.” 21 So the next morning Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite leaders.
Balaam and His Donkey
22 God was angry that Balaam was going, and as Balaam was riding along on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants, the angel of the Lord stood in the road to bar his way. 23 When the donkey saw the angel standing there holding a sword, it left the road and turned into the fields. Balaam beat the donkey and brought it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel stood where the road narrowed between two vineyards and had a stone wall on each side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel, it moved over against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against it. Again Balaam beat the donkey. 26 Once more the angel moved ahead; he stood in a narrow place where there was no room at all to pass on either side. 27 This time, when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down. Balaam lost his temper and began to beat the donkey with his stick. 28 Then the Lord gave the donkey the power of speech, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me these three times?”
29 Balaam answered, “Because you have made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you.”
30 The donkey replied, “Am I not the same donkey on which you have ridden all your life? Have I ever treated you like this before?”
“No,” he answered.
31 Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downward on the ground. 32 The angel demanded, “Why have you beaten your donkey three times like this? I have come to bar your way, because you should not be making this journey.[a] 33 But your donkey saw me and turned aside three times. If it hadn't, I would have killed you and spared the donkey.”
34 Balaam replied, “I have sinned. I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me; but now if you think it is wrong for me to go on, I will return home.”
35 But the angel said, “Go on with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went on with them.
Balak Welcomes Balaam
36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went to meet him at Ar, a city on the Arnon River at the border of Moab. 37 Balak said to him, “Why didn't you come when I sent for you the first time? Did you think I wasn't able to reward you enough?”
38 Balaam answered, “I came, didn't I? But now, what power do I have? I can say only what God tells me to say.” 39 So Balaam went with Balak to the town of Huzoth, 40 where Balak slaughtered cattle and sheep and gave some of the meat to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.
Balaam's First Prophecy
41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, from where Balaam could see a part of the people of Israel.
Footnotes
- Numbers 22:32 Probable text you should … journey; Hebrew unclear.
Numbers 22
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 22[a]
1 [b]Then the people of Israel traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.
Balak Summons Balaam. 2 Now Balak, the son of Zippor, had seen everything that Israel had done to the Amorites, 3 and Moab was terrified because there were so many people, and Moab was filled with dread of the people of Israel. 4 Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This mob will lick up everything around us just like an ox licks up grass in the pasture.”
Balak, the son of Zippor, was the king of the Moabites at this time. 5 He sent messengers to Pethor which is near the river[c] in his native land, to Balaam, the son of Beor, to summon him. He said, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt and they cover the surface of the earth. They are now living opposite me. 6 Please come now and curse this people for me for they are too powerful for me. Maybe then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. I know well that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”
7 The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left, carrying the fee for the divination in their hands. They came to Balaam, and they told him what Balak had said. 8 He said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring you the answer the Lord gives me.” So the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 Balaam said to God, “Balak, the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, sent for me, saying, 11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt who now covers the face of the earth. Now come and curse them for me. Perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them away.’ ” 12 But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. Do not curse the people, for they are blessed.”[d]
13 The next morning Balaam arose and said to Balak’s representatives, “Go back to your country, for the Lord refuses to allow me to go with you.”
14 The leaders of Moab returned and said to Balak, “Balaam refused to come with us.” 15 So Balak sent some more leaders, even more distinguished than the others. 16 They came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak, the son of Zippor: ‘Please, let nothing keep you from coming to me 17 for I will honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you ask of me. Please come and curse this people.’ ” 18 Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak: “If Balak were to grant me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, small or great, contrary to the word of the Lord, my God. 19 But now, please stay here this night as well, so that I may know what the Lord says to me.” 20 God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If these men have come to summon you, rise up and go with them, but do only what I tell you.”
21 Balaam’s Donkey. Balaam arose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab. 22 But God grew very angry because he had gone, and so an angel of the Lord blocked his path on the roadway. He was riding on a donkey and his two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the angel of the Lord[e] standing in the roadway with his drawn sword in his hand, and the donkey left the roadway and wandered into the field. Balaam beat the donkey to force it back onto the roadway.
24 Then an angel of the Lord stood in the narrow pathway in the vineyards, walls standing on either side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed so close to the wall that it crushed Balaam’s foot against it, so he beat it again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place that had no room to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam who became angry and beat it with a staff.
28 The Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” 29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me. If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, which you have always ridden, even til today? Have I ever done this to you before?” He said, “No.” 31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. He bowed down and fell flat on his face. 32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you for the path before you is wrong. 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. Otherwise, I would surely have killed you, but it I would have spared.”
34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I did not realize that you were standing there opposing my way. If I have displeased you, then I will go back.” 35 The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but say only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the leaders to Balak.
36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to Moab to meet him, a city which is on the Arnon border, at the farthest edge of his territory. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not summon you urgently? Why have you not come to me? Am I not able to reward you?” 38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you now. Do I have any power to say anything? I will only speak the word that God puts in my mouth.”
39 Balaam went with Balak, and they arrived in Kiriath-huzoth. 40 Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some of its meat to Balaam and the leaders who were with him. 41 The next day Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal so that he might see the outposts of the people.
Footnotes
- Numbers 22:1 Arms were unable to halt the progress of the people of God. Balak, king of Moab, seeks to mobilize magical powers against them. In order to bring down a curse upon Israel, he calls upon the famous Balaam, a man of upright conscience who acts in good faith; but the soothsayer can only submit to God, who is more powerful than any sorcery.
- Numbers 22:1 The account vividly describes negotiations and an agreement on the practice known as incubation, which consisted in consulting the divinity through dreams. For the biblical editor there is only one God; it must therefore be none other than he who responds to the consulting soothsayer.
- Numbers 22:5 The river is the Euphrates.
- Numbers 22:12 They are blessed: the people of Israel were under God’s protection as promised to Abraham (see Gen 12:2-3) their Father.
- Numbers 22:23 The donkey saw the angel of the Lord: Balaam’s magical powers did not go as far as his dumb beast’s sensitivity in recognizing the messenger of the Lord.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
