Numbers 23
King James Version
23 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.
4 And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.
5 And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?
13 And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the Lord yonder.
16 And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the Lord spoken?
18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do?
27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward jeshimon.
29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
Numbers 23
Easy-to-Read Version
Balaam’s First Message
23 Balaam said, “Build seven altars here. And prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 2 Balak did what Balaam asked. Then Balak and Balaam killed a ram and a bull on each of the altars.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here near this altar. I will go to another place. Then the Lord will come to me, and he will tell me what I must say.” Then Balaam went away to a higher place.
4 God came to Balaam at that place, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars. And I have killed a bull and a ram as a sacrifice on each altar.”
5 Then the Lord gave Balaam a message for Balak and said, “Go back to Balak and say the things that I have given you to say.”
6 So Balaam went back to Balak. Balak was still standing near the altar, and all the leaders of Moab were standing there with them. 7 Then Balaam spoke, and this was his message:
“Balak, the king of Moab,
brought me here from the eastern mountains of Aram.
Balak said to me,
‘Come, curse Jacob for me.
Come, speak against the Israelites.’
8 But God is not against them,
so I cannot speak against them either!
The Lord has not asked for bad things to happen to these people.
So I cannot do that either.
9 I see these people from the mountain.
I see them from the high hills.
They live alone.
They are not part of another nation.
10 Who can count Jacob’s people?
They are as many as the grains of dust.
No one can count even a fourth of the Israelites.
Let me die like a good man.
Let my life end as happy as theirs!”
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them!”
12 But Balaam answered, “I must say the things that the Lord tells me to say.”
13 Then Balak said to him, “So come with me to another place. At that place you can see more of these people. You cannot see all of them—you can only see part of them. Maybe from that place you can curse them for me.” 14 So Balak led Balaam to Watchmen Hills.[a] This was on top of Mount Pisgah. There Balak built seven altars and killed a bull and a ram on each altar as a sacrifice.
15 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by this altar while I go meet with God over there.”
16 So the Lord came to Balaam and told Balaam what to say. Then he told Balaam to go back to Balak and say these things. 17 So Balaam went to Balak. Balak was still standing near the altar. The leaders of Moab were there with him. Balak saw Balaam coming and said, “What did the Lord say?”
Balaam’s Second Message
18 Then Balaam said this:
“Stand up, Balak, and listen to me.
Hear me, Balak son of Zippor.
19 God is not a man;
he will not lie.
God is not a human being;
his decisions will not change.
If he says he will do something,
then he will do it.
If he makes a promise,
then he will do what he promised.
20 He told me to bless them.
He blessed them, so I cannot change that.
21 God saw no wrong in Jacob’s people.
He saw no sin in the Israelites.
The Lord is their God,
and he is with them.
The Great King is with them!
22 God brought them out of Egypt.
They are as strong as a wild ox.
23 There is no power that can defeat the people of Jacob.
There is no magic that can stop the Israelites.
People will say this about Jacob and the Israelites:
‘Look at the great things God did!’[b]
24 The people are as strong as lions,
and they fight like lions.
And a lion will not rest until it eats what it has caught,
until it drinks the blood of what it has killed.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “You didn’t ask for good things to happen to these people, but you didn’t ask for bad things to happen to them either!”
26 Balaam answered, “I told you before that I can only say what the Lord tells me to say.”
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “So come with me to another place. Maybe God will be pleased and will allow you to curse them from that place.” 28 So Balak led Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which looks out over the desert.
29 Balaam said, “Build seven altars here. Then prepare seven bulls and seven rams for the altars.” 30 Balak did what Balaam asked. Balak offered the bulls and rams on the altars.
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:14 Watchmen Hills Or “the fields of Zophim.”
- Numbers 23:23 Or “There is no fortunetelling in Jacob, no magic in Israel. God tells them immediately what he plans to do.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International