Balaam's First Oracle

23 And Balaam said to Balak, ^(A)“Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ² Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam ^(B)offered on each altar a bull and a ram. ³ And Balaam said to Balak, ^(C)“Stand beside 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.” And he went to a bare height, ^4 (E)and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” ⁵ And the Lord ^(F)put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” ⁶ And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. ⁷ And Balaam ^(G)took up his discourse and said,

¹¹ And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^(P)I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” ¹² And he answered and said, ^(Q)“Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

Balaam's Second Oracle

¹³ And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” ¹⁴ And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ^(R)and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Balaam said to Balak, ^(S)“Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” ¹⁶ And the Lord met Balaam and ^(T)put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” ¹⁷ And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” ¹⁸ And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” ²⁶ But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ^(AE)‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” ²⁷ And Balak said to Balaam, ^(AF)“Come now, 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 ^(AG)Peor, which overlooks ^(AH)the desert.^{[b] 29} And Balaam said to Balak, ^(AI)“Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ^30 (AJ)And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam's Third Oracle

24 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at ^(AK)other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. ² And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel ^(AL)camping tribe by tribe. And ^(AM)the Spirit of God came upon him, ³ and he ^(AN)took up his discourse and said,

¹⁰ And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he ^(BA)struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, ^(BB)“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. ¹¹ Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ^(BC)‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” ¹² And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ^13 (BD)‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad ^(BE)of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? ¹⁴ And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, ^(BF)I will let you know what this people will do to your people ^(BG)in the latter days.”

Balaam's Final Oracle

^15 (BH)And he took up his discourse and said,

²⁰ Then he looked on Amalek and ^(BQ)took up his discourse and said,

²¹ And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

²³ And he took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ Then Balaam rose and ^(BV)went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

The Transfiguration

^2 (A)And after six days Jesus took with him ^(B)Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was ^(C)transfigured before them, ³ and ^(D)his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one^[a] on earth could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ And Peter said to Jesus, ^(E)“Rabbi,^[b] it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^(F)tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For ^(G)he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷ And ^(H)a cloud overshadowed them, and ^(I)a voice came out of the cloud, ^(J)“This is my beloved Son;^{[c] (K)}listen to him.” ⁸ And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

^9 (L)And as they were coming down the mountain, ^(M)he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, ^(N)until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ^10 (O)So they kept the matter to themselves, ^(P)questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. ¹¹ And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say ^(Q)that first Elijah must come?” ¹² And he said to them, “Elijah does come first ^(R)to restore all things. And ^(S)how is it written of the Son of Man that he should ^(T)suffer many things and ^(U)be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I tell you that Elijah has come, and ^(V)they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

^14 (W)And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, ^(X)were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. ¹⁶ And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” ¹⁷ And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has ^(Y)a spirit that makes him mute. ¹⁸ And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and ^(Z)they were not able.” ¹⁹ And he answered them, “O ^(AA)faithless generation, ^(AB)how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” ²⁰ And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it ^(AC)convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But ^(AD)if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” ²³ And Jesus said to him, ^(AE)“‘If you can’! ^(AF)All things are possible for one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out^[d] and said, “I believe; ^(AG)help my unbelief!” ²⁵ And when Jesus saw that ^(AH)a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ^(AI)“You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” ²⁶ And after crying out and ^(AJ)convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus ^(AK)took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ²⁸ And when he had ^(AL)entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹ And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”^[e]