Numbers 22:21-23:30
Tree of Life Version
21 So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the Moabite princes. 22 But the anger of God burned because he was going. The angel of Adonai stood in the road to oppose him—he was riding on his donkey and two of his servants were with him— 23 when the donkey saw the angel of Adonai standing in the road with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off the road and went into the field. So Balaam beat the donkey to get her back onto the road.
24 Then the angel of Adonai stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of Adonai, she pressed against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam continued beating her.
26 The angel again moved. He stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, right or left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of Adonai, she lay down under Balaam. Balaam was very angry and beat the donkey with his staff.
28 Then Adonai opened the donkey’s mouth and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”[a]
29 Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you’ve made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you now!”
30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey which you have ridden as always to this day? Have I ever been in the habit of doing this to you?”
“No,” he said.
31 Then Adonai opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of Adonai standing in the road with his drawn sword in his hand. So he fell on his face.
32 The angel of Adonai said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I came as an adversary because your way before Me is a reckless one! 33 The donkey saw Me and turned away from Me these three times. If she had not turned away from Me, by now I would have killed you indeed, but let her live!”
34 Balaam said to the angel of Adonai, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now, if this is displeasing in your eyes, I will go back home.”
35 The angel of Adonai said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s princes.
36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to greet him at the Moabite city on the border of the Arnon, the frontier of the territory. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I send you an urgent summons? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I really unable to reward you?”
38 “Look, I have come to you now!” Balaam said to Balak. “Can I just say anything? I must speak only the message which God puts into my mouth.” 39 Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-huzoth. 40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep and sent some to Balaam and the princes who were with him.
41 In the morning, Balak took Balaam with him to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw part of the people.
A Curse Turns to Blessings
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering. I will go and perhaps Adonai will meet me. Whatever message He shows me, I will tell you. Then he went to a barren height.
4 God met with Balaam and he said to Him, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I offered a bull and a ram.”
5 Adonai put a message into Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and speak this.”
6 Balaam went back to him. Behold, he was standing beside his offering with all the princes of Moab. 7 Then he uttered his oracle and said,
“From Aram, Balak brought me,
Moab’s king from the mountains of the east:
‘Come! Curse Jacob for me!
‘Come! Denounce Israel!’
8 How can I curse one
whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce one
whom Adonai has not denounced?
9 From the rocky peaks I see him.
From the heights I behold him.
Look, he lives as a nation apart,
and does not consider himself
as being like the other nations.
10 Who can count Jacob’s dust?
Who can number a fourth of Israel?
Let my soul die the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you’ve actually blessed them!”
12 But in response he said, “Mustn’t I speak whatever Adonai puts into my mouth?”
13 Then Balak said to him, “Come now with me to another place where you can see a part of them only, not all of them. Curse them for me from there.”
14 He took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah. He built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 “Stay here beside your offering,” he said to Balak, “while I am meeting over there.”
16 Adonai met Balaam there and put a message into his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak and speak thus.” 17 So he went to him, and behold, he and the princes of Moab were standing beside his offering.
Balak asked him, “What did Adonai say?”
18 So he uttered his oracle and said:
“Rise, Balak! Hear me, son of Zippor!
19 God is not a man who lies,[b]
or a son of man who changes his mind!
Does He speak and then not do it,
or promise and not fulfill it?
20 Look, I received a command to bless.
He has blessed—I cannot change it!
21 No misfortune is to be seen in Jacob,
and no misery in Israel!
Adonai their God is with them
—the King’s shout is among them!
22 God is bringing them from Egypt
with the strong horns of the wild ox!
23 There is no sorcery effective
against Jacob,
nor any divination against Israel!
Now it will be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘See what God has done!’
24 The people rise like a lioness,
like a lion who does not rest
until he eats his prey
and drinks his victim’s blood!”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them or bless them at all!”
26 Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Haven’t I told you, ‘All that Adonai says, I must do?’
27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come with me to another place. Perhaps it will be pleasing to God and you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.
29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
30 Balak did just as Balaam said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Footnotes
- Numbers 22:28 cf. 2 Pet. 2:16.
- Numbers 23:19 cf. Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18.
Luke 1:57-80
Tree of Life Version
57 Upon Elizabeth’s full term to deliver, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard how Adonai had shown her His great mercy, and they began to rejoice with her.
59 Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child,[a] and they kept trying to call him by his father’s name, Zechariah. 60 But his mother declared, “No, he will be called John.”
61 But they said to her, “No one among your relatives is called by this name.” 62 So they began making signs to his father, as to what he wanted him named.
63 Asking for a small tablet, he wrote, “John is his name.” They were all astonished! 64 And his mouth was immediately unlocked as well as his tongue, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came on all those who lived around them, and all these matters were talked about throughout the hill country of Judah. 66 Everyone who heard pondered these things in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child become?” For the hand of Adonai was on him.
The Kohen’s Song of Prophecy
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh and prophesied, saying,
68 “Blessed be Adonai,
God of Israel,
for He has looked after His people
and brought them redemption.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,[b]
70 just as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ages past,
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us!
72 So He shows mercy to our fathers
and remembers His holy covenant,[c]
73 the vow which He swore to Abraham
our father, to grant us—
74 rescued fearlessly from the hand of
our enemies[d]—to serve Him,
75 in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of Elyon.
For you will go before Adonai to prepare His ways,[e]
77 to give knowledge of salvation to His people
through removal of their sins.[f]
78 Through our God’s heart of mercy,
the Sunrise from on high will come upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,[g]
to guide our feet in the way of shalom.”
80 And the child kept growing and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Luke 1:59 cf. Gen. 17:12; Lev. 12:3.
- Luke 1:69 cf. 2 Sam. 7; 22:3; Isa. 37:35(37:35 LXX).
- Luke 1:72 cf. Mic. 7:20.
- Luke 1:74 cf. Gen. 22:16-17.
- Luke 1:76 cf. Mal. 3:1; Isa. 40:3; Mic. 1:2.
- Luke 1:77 cf. Jer. 31:34(38:34 LXX).
- Luke 1:79 cf. Isa. 9:1(2).
Psalm 58:1-11
Tree of Life Version
God Really Judges
Psalm 58
1 For the music director: “Do Not Destroy,” a Michtam of David.
2 Do you really speak of justice, O “gods”?
Do you judge with fairness, sons of man?
3 No, in heart you devise injustice.
Your hands weigh out violence on earth.
4 The wicked are strangers from the womb.
Speaking lies, they go astray from birth.
5 Their venom is like a serpent’s venom,
like a deaf cobra shutting its ear—
6 not hearing the voice of charmers,
or a cunning spell binder.
7 O God, break their teeth in their mouths.
Tear out the fangs of young lions, Adonai.
8 Let them flow away like water that runs off.
When he bends his bow, let the arrows be cut off.
9 Like a slug melting away as it slithers,
like a woman’s miscarriage,
may they never see the sun.
10 Even before your pots can feel a thorn
—whether alive or ablaze—
He will sweep the wicked away.
11 The righteous one will rejoice
when he beholds vengeance,
when he washes his feet in the blood of the wicked.
Proverbs 11:12-13
Tree of Life Version
12 One who despises his neighbor lacks sense,
but one with discernment remains silent.
13 A gossip reveals secrets,
but one who is trustworthy conceals a matter.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.