Numbers 23-24
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
23 1
4 Then God met Balaam, and Balaam[b] said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”(D) 5 The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you must say.”(E) 6 So he returned to Balak,[c] who was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. 7 Then Balaam[d] uttered his oracle, saying,
“Balak has brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me.
Come, denounce Israel!’(F)
8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?(G)
9 For from the top of the crags I see him;
from the hills I behold him.
Here is a people living alone
and not reckoning itself among the nations!(H)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the dust cloud[e] of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”(I)
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them.”(J) 12 He answered, “Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth?”(K)
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13 So Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only part of them and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(L) 15 Balaam[f] said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offerings, while I meet the Lord over there.” 16 The Lord met Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say.”(M) 17 When he came to him, he was standing beside his burnt offerings with the officials of Moab. Balak said to him, “What has the Lord said?” 18 Then Balaam[g] uttered his oracle, saying,
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
listen to me, O son of Zippor:
19 God is not a human being, that he should lie,
or a mortal, that he should change his mind.
Has he promised, and will he not do it?
Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?(N)
20 See, I received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.(O)
21 He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
acclaimed as a king among them.(P)
22 God, who brings them out of Egypt,
is like the horns of a wild ox for them.(Q)
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘See what God has done!’
24 Look, a people rising up like a lioness
and rousing itself like a lion!
It does not lie down until it has eaten the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”(R)
25 Then 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 speak to you, saying, ‘Whatever the Lord says, that is what I must do’?”(S)
27 So Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”(T) 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.[h] 29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”(U) 30 So Balak did as Balaam had said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Balaam’s Third Oracle
24 Now Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, so he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens but set his face toward the wilderness.(V) 2 Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Then the spirit of God came upon him,(W) 3 and he uttered his oracle, saying,
“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,[i](X)
4 the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,[j]
who falls down but with eyes uncovered:(Y)
5 How fair are your tents, O Jacob,
your encampments, O Israel!
6 Like palm groves that stretch far away,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the Lord has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters.(Z)
7 Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall have abundant water;
his king shall be higher than Agag,
and his kingdom shall be exalted.(AA)
8 God, who brings him out of Egypt,
is like the horns of a wild ox for him;
he shall devour the nations that are his foes
and break their bones.
He shall strike with his arrows.[k](AB)
9 He crouched; he lay down like a lion
and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
Blessed is everyone who blesses you,
and cursed is everyone who curses you.”(AC)
10 Then Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but instead you have blessed them these three times. 11 Now be off with you! Go home! I said, ‘I will reward you richly,’ but the Lord has denied you any reward.”(AD) 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, 13 ‘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 of my own will; what the Lord says, that is what I will say’?(AE) 14 So now, I am going to my people; let me advise you what this people will do to your people in days to come.”(AF)
Balaam’s Fourth Oracle
15 So he uttered his oracle, saying,
“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,[l]
16 the oracle of one who hears the words of God
and knows the knowledge of the Most High,[m]
who sees the vision of the Almighty,[n]
who falls down but with eyes uncovered:
17 I see him but not now;
I behold him but not near—
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the foreheads[o] of Moab
and the heads[p] of all the Shethites.(AG)
18 Edom will become a possession,
Seir a possession of its enemies,
while Israel does valiantly.(AH)
19 One out of Jacob shall rule
and destroy the survivors of Ir.”(AI)
20 Then he looked on Amalek and uttered his oracle, saying,
“First among the nations was Amalek,
but its end is to perish forever.”(AJ)
21 Then he looked on the Kenite and uttered his oracle, saying,
“Enduring is your dwelling place,
and your nest is set in the rock,
22 yet Kain is destined for burning.
How long shall Asshur take you away captive?”
23 Again he uttered his oracle, saying,
“Alas, who shall live when God does this?[q]
24 But ships shall come from Kittim
and shall afflict Asshur and Eber,
and he also shall perish forever.”(AK)
25 Then Balaam got up and went back to his place, and Balak also went his way.(AL)
Footnotes
- 23.2 Heb mss Gk: MT reads Balak and Balaam offered
- 23.4 Heb he
- 23.6 Heb him
- 23.7 Heb he
- 23.10 Or fourth part
- 23.15 Heb he
- 23.18 Heb he
- 23.28 Or overlooks Jeshimon
- 24.3 Or closed or open
- 24.4 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 24.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 24.15 Or closed or open
- 24.16 Or of Elyon
- 24.16 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
- 24.17 Or borderlands
- 24.17 Or territory
- 24.23 Meaning of Heb uncertain
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.