11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (A)I took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” 12 He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak (B)what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and put a curse on them for me from there.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Then he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the Lord over there.” 16 Then the Lord met Balaam and (C)put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” 17 So he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”

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11 “What are you doing to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, not pronounce a blessing!”

12 But in response, Balaam asked, “Shouldn’t I be careful to communicate only what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

Balaam’s Second Sacrifice

13 “Come with me to another place where you can see them,” Balak replied. “You’ll only see a portion of them, because you won’t be able to see them completely. Come and curse them from there for me.”

14 So Balak[a] took him to the field of Zophim, and from there to the top of Mount[b] Pisgah, where he built seven altars and then offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Then he told Balak, “Stand by your offering while I go alone to meet the Lord.”[c]

16 Then the Lord met with Balaam and gave a message to him. “Now go back to Balak and speak to him.” 17 So Balaam returned to where Balak had been standing, that is, next to his offerings, accompanied by the Moabite officials.

“What did the Lord say?” Balak asked him.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 23:14 Lit. he
  2. Numbers 23:14 The Heb. lacks Mount
  3. Numbers 23:15 The Heb. lacks with the Lord