Beginning
Yahweh Speaks Through Balaam
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 2 So Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.
4 Now God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 Then Yahweh (A)put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.” 6 So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. 7 Then he took up his [a]discourse and said,
“From (B)Aram Balak has brought me,
Moab’s king from the mountains of the East,
‘(C)Come curse Jacob for me,
And come, denounce Israel!’
8 (D)How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how can I denounce whom Yahweh has not denounced?
9 For I see him from the top of the rocks,
And I look at him from the hills;
(E)Behold, a people who dwells alone,
And will not be reckoned among the nations.
10 (F)Who can number the dust of Jacob,
Or count the fourth part of Israel?
(G)Let [b]me die the death of the upright,
(H)And let my end be like his!”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (I)I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have blessed them repeatedly!” 12 And he replied, “Must I not be careful to speak (J)what Yahweh puts in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Discourse
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, but you will only see the end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 And he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet Yahweh over there.” 16 Then Yahweh met Balaam and (K)put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus 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 Yahweh spoken?” 18 Then he took up his [c]discourse and said,
“Arise, O Balak, and hear;
Give ear to me, O son of Zippor!
19 (L)God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent;
(M)Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it?
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless;
(N)When He has blessed, then (O)I cannot revoke it.
21 (P)He has not observed [d]misfortune in Jacob;
(Q)Nor has He seen trouble in Israel;
(R)Yahweh his God is with him,
(S)And the shout of a king is among them.
22 (T)God brings them out of Egypt,
He is for them like the (U)horns of the wild ox.
23 (V)For there is no omen against Jacob,
Nor is there any divination against Israel;
At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob
And to Israel, what God has done!
24 (W)Behold, a people rises like a lioness,
And as a lion it lifts itself;
It will not lie down until it devours the prey,
And drinks the blood of the slain.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” 26 But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘(X)Whatever Yahweh speaks, that I must do’?”
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be right in the eyes of God that you curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks the [e]wasteland. 29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 30 And Balak did just as Balaam had said and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
Spirit of God Comes upon Balaam
24 And Balaam saw that it was good in the eyes of Yahweh to bless Israel, so he did not go as at other times to [f]encounter (Y)omens, but he set his face toward the (Z)wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling tribe by tribe; and (AA)the Spirit of God came upon him. 3 Then he took up his [g]discourse and said,
“(AB)The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the oracle of the man whose eye is uncovered;
4 The oracle of him who (AC)hears the [h]words of God,
Who beholds the (AD)vision of [i]the Almighty,
Falling down, yet having his eyes opened,
5 How fair are your tents, O Jacob,
Your dwellings, O Israel!
6 Like [j]valleys that stretch out,
Like gardens beside the river,
Like (AE)aloes planted by Yahweh,
Like (AF)cedars beside the waters.
7 Water will flow from his buckets,
And his seed will be by many waters,
And his king shall be lifted up higher than (AG)Agag,
(AH)And his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 (AI)God brings him out of Egypt,
He is for him like the horns of the wild ox.
(AJ)He will devour the nations who are his adversaries,
And will gnaw their bones in pieces,
And [k]shatter them with his (AK)arrows.
9 (AL)He [l]crouches, he lies down as a lion,
And as a [m]lion, who [n]dares rouse him?
(AM)Blessed is everyone who blesses you,
And cursed is everyone who curses you.”
10 Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his [o]hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have blessed them repeatedly these three times! 11 So now, [p]flee to your place. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, Yahweh has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “(AN)Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, 13 ‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything to trespass the [q]command of Yahweh, either good or bad, (AO)of my own [r]accord. (AP)What Yahweh speaks, that I will speak’? 14 So now, behold, (AQ)I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the last days.”
Oracle of Balaam
15 Then he took up his discourse and said,
“(AR)The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the oracle of the man whose eye is uncovered,
16 The oracle of him who hears the [s]words of God,
And knows the knowledge of the [t]Most High,
Who beholds the vision of the [u]Almighty,
Falling down, yet having his eyes opened.
17 I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near;
A star shall come forth from Jacob,
(AS)A scepter shall rise from Israel,
(AT)And shall crush through the [v]forehead of Moab,
And [w]tear down all the sons of [x]Sheth.
18 (AU)And Edom shall be a possession,
(AV)Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession,
While Israel performs valiantly.
19 And one from Jacob shall have dominion,
And will make the survivor perish from the city.”
20 Then he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said,
21 Then he looked at the (AX)Kenite and took up his discourse and said,
“Your habitation is enduring,
And your nest is set in the cliff.
22 Nevertheless Kain will be consumed;
How long will (AY)Asshur [z]keep you captive?”
23 Then he took up his discourse and said,
“Woe, who can live except when God has ordained it?
24 But ships shall come from the coast of (AZ)Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict (BA)Eber;
(BB)So they also will come to destruction.”
25 Then Balaam arose and went and returned to (BC)his place, and Balak also went his way.
Israel Sacrifices to Baal
25 And Israel remained at (BD)Shittim, and the people began (BE)to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 2 Indeed (BF)they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So (BG)Israel joined themselves to [aa]Baal of Peor, and the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel. 4 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all who are the heads of the people and execute them [ab]in broad daylight before Yahweh, (BH)so that the burning anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you (BI)kill his men who have joined themselves to [ac]Baal of Peor.”
6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought near to his brothers a (BJ)Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, (BK)while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 7 (BL)And Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, so he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the [ad]tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the [ae]body. (BM)Then the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. 9 (BN)So those who died by the plague were 24,000.
The Jealousy of Phinehas
10 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “(BO)Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the sons of Israel (BP)in My jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘(BQ)Behold, I give him My (BR)covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be for him and his seed after him, a covenant of a (BS)perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and (BT)made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”
14 Now the name of the [af]slain man of Israel who was [ag]slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman, who was struck down, was (BU)Cozbi the daughter of (BV)Zur, [ah]who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.
16 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “(BW)Be hostile to the Midianites and strike them, 18 for they have been hostile to you with their deceptive tricks, with which they have deceived you in the affair of Peor and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor.”
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