Numbers 23
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Balaam’s Oracles
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 2 So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the Lord[a] will meet with me. I will tell you whatever He reveals to me.” So he went to a barren hill.
4 God[b] met with him and Balaam said to Him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”
6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab.
Balaam’s First Oracle
7 Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak brought me from Aram;(A)
the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:
“Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel!”(B)
8 How can I curse someone God has not cursed?
How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?
9 I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,
and I watch them from the hills.
There is a people living alone;(C)
it does not consider itself among the nations.
10 Who has counted the dust of Jacob
or numbered the dust clouds[c] of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright;
let the end of my life be like theirs.
11 “What have you done to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!”
12 He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth?”(D)
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.” 14 So Balak took him to Lookout Field[d] on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”
17 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak, get up and listen;
son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!
19 God is not a man who lies,
or a son of man who changes His mind.
Does He speak and not act,
or promise and not fulfill?(E)
20 I have indeed received a command to bless;
since He has blessed,[e] I cannot change it.
21 He considers no disaster for Jacob;
He sees no trouble for Israel.[f]
The Lord their God is with them,(F)
and there is rejoicing over the King among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;
He is like the horns of a wild ox for them.[g](G)
23 There is no magic curse against Jacob
and no divination against Israel.
It will now be said about Jacob and Israel,
“What great things God has done!”
24 A people rise up like a lioness;
They rouse themselves like a lion.(H)
They will not lie down until they devour the prey
and drink the blood of the slain.
25 Then Balak told Balaam, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them!”
26 But Balaam answered him, “Didn’t I tell you: Whatever the Lord says, I must do?”(I)
Balaam’s Third Oracle
27 Again Balak said to Balaam, “Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.[h](J)
29 Balaam told Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”(K) 30 So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:3 DSS, LXX, Sam read Maybe God
- Numbers 23:4 DSS, Sam read The Angel of God
- Numbers 23:10 Or numbered a fourth
- Numbers 23:14 Or to the field of Zophim
- Numbers 23:20 Sam, LXX read since I will bless
- Numbers 23:21 Or not observe sin in Jacob; not see wrongdoing
- Numbers 23:22 Or Egypt; they have the horns of a wild ox
- Numbers 23:28 Or overlooks Jeshimon
Numbers 23
New King James Version
The Prophecies of Balaam
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, (A)“Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
2 And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam (B)offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, (C)“Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come (D)to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a desolate height. 4 (E)And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”
5 Then the Lord (F)put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6 So he returned to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he (G)took up his [a]oracle and said:
“Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram,
From the mountains of the east.
(H)‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
And come, (I)denounce Israel!’
8 “How(J) shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him;
There! (K)A people dwelling alone,
(L)Not reckoning itself among the nations.
10 “Who(M) can count the [b]dust of Jacob,
Or number one-fourth of Israel?
Let me die (N)the death of the righteous,
And let my end be like his!”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (O)I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!”
12 So he answered and said, (P)“Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Prophecy
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there.” 14 So he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, (Q)and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 And he said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I [c]meet the Lord over there.”
16 Then the Lord met Balaam, and (R)put a word in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 17 So he came to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”
18 Then he took up his oracle and said:
(S)“Rise up, Balak, and hear!
Listen to me, son of Zippor!
19 “God(T) is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He (U)said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless;
(V)He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 “He(W) has not observed iniquity in Jacob,
Nor has He seen [d]wickedness in Israel.
The Lord his God is with him,
(X)And the shout of a King is among them.
22 (Y)God brings them out of Egypt;
He has (Z)strength like a wild ox.
23 “For there is no [e]sorcery against Jacob,
Nor any [f]divination against Israel.
It now must be said of Jacob
And of Israel, ‘Oh, (AA)what God has done!’
24 Look, a people rises (AB)like a lioness,
And lifts itself up like a lion;
(AC)It shall not lie down until it devours the prey,
And drinks the blood of the slain.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!”
26 So Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, (AD)‘All that the Lord speaks, that I must do’?”
Balaam’s Third Prophecy
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that (AE)overlooks the [g]wasteland. 29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
Footnotes
- Numbers 23:7 prophetic discourse
- Numbers 23:10 Or dust cloud
- Numbers 23:15 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; Syr. call; LXX go and ask God
- Numbers 23:21 trouble
- Numbers 23:23 enchantment
- Numbers 23:23 fortune-telling
- Numbers 23:28 Heb. Jeshimon
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
