Balak Summons Balaam

Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.

And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,

So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message.

And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying,

So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these.

And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me,

But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more.

And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the border formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the border.

And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?”

Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.”

Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.

And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent for Balaam and for the princes who were with him.

And in the morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw a fraction of the people.

Balaam's First Oracle

And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.

And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height,

And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’

And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.”

Balaam's Second Oracle

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.”

Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.”

And the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.”

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?”

And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor:

And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.”

But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?”

And 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.”

So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.

And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times.

And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me,

‘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 speaks, that will I speak’?

Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,

Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them?

O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.