The Daily Audio Bible
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(LY: iii) 21 So Bil‘am got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Mo’av. 22 But God’s anger flared up because he went, and the angel of Adonai stationed himself on the path to bar his way. He was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the angel of Adonai standing on the road, drawn sword in hand; so the donkey turned off the road into the field; and Bil‘am had to beat the donkey to get it back on the road. 24 Then the angel of Adonai stood on the road where it became narrow as it passed among the vineyards and had stone walls on both sides. 25 The donkey saw the angel of Adonai and pushed up against the wall, crushing Bil‘am’s foot against the wall. So he beat it again. 26 The angel of Adonai moved ahead and stood in a place so tight that there was no room to turn either right or left. 27 Again the donkey saw the angel of Adonai and lay down under Bil‘am, which made him so angry that he hit the donkey with his stick. 28 But Adonai enabled the donkey to speak, and it said to Bil‘am, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” 29 Bil‘am said to the donkey, “It’s because you’ve been making a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand; I would kill you on the spot!” 30 The donkey said to Bil‘am, “I’m your donkey, right? You’ve ridden me all your life, right? Have I ever treated you like this before?” “No,” he admitted. 31 Then Adonai opened Bil‘am’s eyes, so that he could see the angel of Adonai standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed his head and fell on his face. 32 The angel of Adonai said to him, “Why did you hit your donkey three times like that? I have come out here to bar your way, because you are rushing to oppose me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside these three times; and indeed, if she hadn’t turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and saved it alive!” 34 Bil‘am said to the angel of Adonai, “I have sinned. I didn’t know that you were standing on the road to block me. Now, therefore, if what I am doing displeases you, I will go back.” 35 But the angel of Adonai said to Bil‘am, “No, go on with the men; but you are to say only what I tell you to say.” So Bil‘am went along with the princes of Balak.
36 When Balak heard that Bil‘am had come, he went out to meet him in the city of Mo’av at the Arnon border, in the farthest reaches of the territory. 37 Balak said to Bil‘am, “I sent more than once to summon you! Why didn’t you come to me? Did you think I couldn’t pay you enough?” 38 Bil‘am replied to Balak, “Here, I’ve come to you! But I have no power of my own to say anything. The word that God puts in my mouth is what I will say.”
(RY: vi, LY: iv) 39 Bil‘am went with Balak. When they arrived at Kiryat-Hutzot, 40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, then sent to Bil‘am and the princes with him. 41 In the morning Balak took Bil‘am and brought him up to the high places of Ba‘al; from there he could see a portion of the people.
23 Bil‘am said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams here.” 2 Balak did as Bil‘am said; then Balak and Bil‘am offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Bil‘am said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering while I go off; maybe Adonai will come and meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went off to a bare hill. 4 God met Bil‘am, who said to him, “I prepared the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 Then Adonai put a word in Bil‘am’s mouth and said, “Go on back to Balak, and speak as I tell you.” 6 He went back to him, and there, standing by his burnt offering, he with all the princes of Mo’av, 7 he made his pronouncement:
“Balak, the king of Mo’av,
brings me from Aram, from the eastern hills, saying,
‘Come, curse Ya‘akov for me;
come and denounce Isra’el.’
8 “How am I to curse
those whom God has not cursed?
How am I to denounce
those whom Adonai has not denounced?
9 “From the top of the rocks I see them,
from the hills I behold them —
yes, a people that will dwell alone
and not think itself one of the nations.
10 “Who has counted the dust of Ya‘akov
or numbered the ashes of Isra’el?
May I die as the righteous die!
May my end be like theirs!”
11 Balak said to Bil‘am, “What have you done to me?! To curse my enemies is why I brought you; and, here, you have totally blessed them!” 12 He answered, “Mustn’t I take care to say just what Adonai puts in my mouth?”
(LY: v) 13 Balak said to him, “All right, come with me to another place where you can see them. You will see only some of them, not all; but you can curse them for me from there.” 14 He took him through the field of Tzofim to the top of the Pisgah Range, built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Bil‘am said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I go over there for a meeting.” 16 Adonai met Bil‘am, put a word in his mouth and said, “Go on back to Balak, and speak as I tell you.” 17 He came to him and stood by his burnt offering, with all the princes of Mo’av. Balak asked him, “What did Adonai say?” 18 Then Bil‘am made his pronouncement:
“Get up, Balak, and listen!
Turn your ears to me, son of Tzippor!
19 “God is not a human who lies
or a mortal who changes his mind.
When he says something, he will do it;
when he makes a promise, he will fulfill it.
20 Look, I am ordered to bless;
when he blesses, I can’t reverse it.
21 “No one has seen guilt in Ya‘akov,
or perceived perversity in Isra’el;
Adonai their God is with them
and acclaimed as king among them.
22 “God, who brought them out of Egypt,
gives them the strength of a wild ox;
23 thus one can’t put a spell on Ya‘akov,
no magic will work against Isra’el.
It can now be said of Ya‘akov and Isra’el,
‘What is this that God has done?!’
24 “Here is a people rising up like a lioness;
like a lion he rears himself up —
he will not lie down till he eats up the prey
and drinks the blood of the slain.”
25 Balak said to Bil‘am, “Obviously, you won’t curse them. But at least don’t bless them!” 26 However, Bil‘am answered Balak, “Didn’t I warn you that I must do everything Adonai says?”
(RY: vii, LY: vi) 27 Balak said to Bil‘am, “Come, I will take you now to another place; maybe it will please God for you to curse them for me from there.” 28 Balak took Bil‘am to the top of P‘or, overlooking the desert. 29 Bil‘am said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 Balak did as Bil‘am said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
57 The time arrived for Elisheva to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard how good Adonai had been to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 On the eighth day, they came to do the child’s b’rit-milah. They were about to name him Z’kharyah, after his father, 60 when his mother spoke up and said, “No, he is to be called Yochanan.” 61 They said to her, “None of your relatives has that name,” 62 and they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. 63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is Yochanan.” 64 At that moment, his power of speech returned, and his first words were a b’rakhah to God. 65 All their neighbors were awestruck; and throughout the hill country of Y’hudah, people talked about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard of them said to himself, “What is this child going to be?” For clearly the hand of Adonai was with him.
67 His father Z’kharyah was filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and spoke this prophecy:
68 “Praised be Adonai, the God of Isra’el,[a]
because he has visited and made a ransom to liberate his people
69 by raising up for us a mighty Deliverer
who is a descendant of his servant David.
70 It is just as he has spoken
through the mouth of the prophets from the very beginning —
71 that we should be delivered from our enemies
and from the power of all who hate us.
72 “This has happened so that he might show
the mercy promised to our fathers —
that he would remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore before Avraham avinu
74 to grant us that we, freed from our enemies,
would serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
76 You, child, will be called a prophet of Ha‘Elyon;
you will go before the Lord to prepare his way[b]
77 by spreading the knowledge among his people
that deliverance comes by having sins forgiven
78 through our God’s most tender mercy,
which causes the Sunrise to visit us from Heaven,
79 to shine on those in darkness, living in the shadow of death,[c]
and to guide our feet into the paths of peace.”
80 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the wilderness until the time came for him to appear in public to Isra’el.
58 (0) For the leader. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” By David, a mikhtam:
2 (1) [Rulers,] does your silence really speak justice?
Are you judging people fairly?
3 (2) [No!] In your hearts you devise wrongs,
your hands dispense violence in the land.
4 (3) From the womb, the wicked are estranged,
liars on the wrong path since birth.
5 (4) Their venom is like snake’s venom;
they are like a serpent that stops its ears,
6 (5) so as not to hear the voice of the charmer,
no matter how well he plays.
7 (6) God, break their teeth in their mouth!
Shatter the fangs of these lions, Adonai!
8 (7) May they vanish like water that drains away.
May their arrows be blunted when they aim their bows.
9 (8) May they be like a slug that melts as it moves,
like a stillborn baby that never sees the sun.
10 (9) Before your cook-pots feel the heat of the burning thorns,
may he blow them away, green and blazing alike.
11 (10) The righteous will rejoice to see vengeance done,
they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked;
12 (11) and people will say, “Yes, the righteous are rewarded;
there is, after all, a God who judges the earth.”
12 He who belittles another lacks good sense,
whereas a person of discernment stays silent.
13 A gossip goes around revealing secrets,
but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.