Old/New Testament
Balaam’s First Sacrifice
23 Balaam told Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare here for me seven bulls and seven rams.”
2 So Balak did just as Balaam instructed. Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam instructed Balak, “Stand by your offering and leave me alone by myself. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me. I’ll tell you whatever he reveals to me.”
And so he went to a high place, 4 where the Lord met with Balaam, who told him, “I’ve prepared seven altars and offered bulls and rams on an altar.”
5 Then the Lord gave Balaam this message. “Return to Balak and speak to him.”
6 So Balaam returned to where Balak had been standing, that is, next to his offerings, accompanied by all the Moabite officials.
Balaam’s First Prophecy
7 Then Balaam uttered this prophetic statement:
“King Balak of Moab brought me from Aram,
from the eastern mountains,
and told me,
‘Come and curse Jacob for me.
Come and curse Israel.’
8 But how can I curse those whom God hasn’t cursed?
How can I denounce
those whom the Lord hasn’t denounced?
9 I saw them from the top of the rocks.
I watched them from the hills.
Truly this is a people that lives by itself
and doesn’t matter[a] among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob?
Who can number the dust of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
and may I end up like him.”
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[b] took him to the field of Zophim, and from there to the top of Mount[c] 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.”[d]
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.
Balaam’s Second Prophecy
18 In response, Balaam uttered this prophetic statement:
“Stand up, Balak, and pay attention!
Listen to me, you son of Zippor!
19 God is not a human male—
he doesn’t lie,
nor is he a human being—
he never vacillates.
Once he speaks up,
he’s going to act, isn’t he?
Once he makes a promise,
he’ll fulfill it, won’t he?
20 Look! I’ve received a blessing,
and so I will bless.
I won’t withdraw it.
21 He has not responded to iniquity in Jacob
or gazed at mischief in Israel.
The Lord his God is with them,
and the triumphant cry of a king is among them.
22 From Egypt God brought them—
his strength was like a wild ox!
23 No Satanic plan against Jacob
nor divination against Israel
can ever prevail.
When the time is right,
it is to be asked about Jacob and Israel,
‘What has God accomplished?’
24 Look! The people are like lions.
Like the lion, he rises up!
He does not lie down again
until he has consumed his prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”
25 Then Balak told Balaam, “Don’t curse them or bless them!”
26 “Didn’t I tell you,” Balaam responded to Balak, “that I’ll say whatever the Lord tells me to say?”
Balaam’s Third Sacrifice
27 So Balak exhorted Balaam, “Let’s go right now! I’ll take you to another place. Maybe God will agree to have you curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount[e] Peor, which overlooks the open wilderness.[f]
29 Balaam told Balak, “Build seven altars for me right here. Then prepare seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 Balak did just what Balaam had instructed—he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Balaam’s Third Prophecy
24 When Balaam noticed that the Lord was pleased that Balaam was blessing Israel, he didn’t behave as he had time after time before, that is, to practice divination. Instead, he turned with his face to the wilderness, 2 looked up, and saw Israel encamped in their respective tribal order. Just then, the spirit of God came upon him. 3 Balaam uttered this prophetic statement:
“A declaration by Beor’s son Balaam,
a declaration by the strong, blind man.[g]
4 A declaration from one who hears what God has to say,
who saw the vision that the Almighty revealed,
who keeps stumbling
with open eyes.
5 Jacob, your tents are so fine,
as well as your dwelling places,[h] O Israel!
6 They’re spread out like valleys,
like gardens along river banks,
like aloe planted by the Lord,
or like cedars beside water.
7 He will pour water from his buckets,
and his descendants will stream forth like abundant water.
His king will be more exalted than Agag
when he exalts his own kingdom.
8 God is bringing them[i] out of Egypt
with the strength of an ox.
He’ll devour enemy nations,
break their bones,
and impale them with arrows.
9 He crouches, laying low like a lion.
Who would awaken him?
Those who bless you are blessed,
and those who curse you are cursed.”
10 Balak flew into a rage and he started hitting his fists together. “I called you to curse my enemies,” he yelled at Balaam. “But look here! You’ve blessed them three times! 11 Now get out of here! I had promised you that I would definitely honor you, but now the Lord has kept me from doing that!”
12 But Balaam replied to Balak, “I told your messengers, 13 ‘Even if Balak gives me his palace[j] full of silver and gold, I won’t double-cross the command of the Lord and do anything—whether good or evil—on my own initiative, because I’m going to say whatever the Lord says.’ 14 Meanwhile, since I have to return to my people, come and listen while I tell you what this people will be doing to your people in the last days.”
Balaam’s Final Prophecies
15 Then Balaam[k] uttered this prophetic statement:
“The declaration by Beor’s son Balaam,
a declaration by the strong, blind man.
16 A declaration from one who hears what God has to say,
who knows what the Most High knows,
who saw the vision that the Almighty revealed,
who keeps stumbling with open eyes.
17 I can see him,
but not right now.
I observe him,
but from a distance.[l]
A star streams forth from Jacob;
a scepter arises from Israel.
He will crush Moab’s forehead,
along with all of Seth’s descendants.
18 Edom will be a conquered nation
and Seir will be Israel’s[m] defeated foe,
while Israel performs valiantly.
19 He will rule over Jacob,
annihilating those who survive in the city.”
20 Next, Balaam[n] looked directly at Amalek and then uttered this prophetic statement:
“Even though Amalek is an international leader,
his future is permanent destruction.”
21 Balaam also uttered this prophetic statement about the Kenites:[o]
“Your dwelling places are stable,
because your nest is carved in solid rock.
22 Nevertheless, Kain will be incinerated.
How long will it take until Asshur[p] takes you hostage?”
23 Finally, he uttered this prophetic statement:
“Ah, who can live,
unless God makes it happen?
24 Ships under control of Kittim will devastate Asshur and Eber,
until they are permanently destroyed.”
25 Then Balaam got up, returned to his country, and Balak went on his way.
Worship of Baal of Peor
25 While Israel remained encamped in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who also invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods. So the people ate what they had sacrificed[q] and then worshipped their gods. 3 The people joined the Baal-peor cult.[r] As a result, the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel, 4 so the Lord told Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute[s] them in broad daylight for the Lord, so the Lord’s burning anger may be withdrawn from Israel.”
5 Then Moses ordered the judges of Israel, “Each one of you is to execute the men in his own tribe[t] who joined the Baal-peor cult.”
6 That very moment, one of the Israelis arrived, bringing to his brothers one of the Midianite women, right in front of Moses and the entire community of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting! 7 When Eleazar’s son Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up from the middle of the community, grabbed a javelin in his hand, 8 followed the Israeli man inside his tent,[u] and impaled the two of them—the Israeli man and the woman—right through both of them and into her abdomen. Then the plague infecting the Israelis was brought to a halt. Nevertheless, 9 24,000 people died because of the plague.
God Commends Phinehas
10 The Lord told Moses, 11 “Eleazar’s son Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from Israel. Because his zealousness reflected my own zeal for them, I didn’t consume Israel in my jealousy. 12 Therefore, I’m certainly going to be giving him my covenant of peace, 13 for him and for his descendants after him, too, a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelis.”
14 Now the name of the Israeli man who was slain, along with the Midianite woman, was Salu’s son Zimri, a leader from the tribe of Simeon. 15 The woman who was slain, that is, the Midianite woman, was named Cozbi. She was the daughter of Zur, a leader[v] of one of the ancestral houses of Midian.
God Orders the Destruction of Midian
16 Later, the Lord ordered Moses, 17 “Attack the Midianites and execute them, 18 because they’ve acted deceitfully, bringing trouble to you in this incident at Peor with Cozbi, daughter of a prince from Midian, who was killed during the plague that came about because of the incident at Peor.”
14 Then he called to the crowd again and told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand! 15 Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!”[a]
17 When he had left the crowd and gone home, his disciples began asking him about the parable. 18 He asked them, “Are you so ignorant? Don’t you know that nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean? 19 Because it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then into the sewer,[b] thereby expelling[c] all foods.” 20 Then he continued, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean, 21 because it’s from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come, as well as sexual immorality, stealing, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, slander,[d] arrogance, and foolishness. 23 All these things come from inside and make a person unclean.”
A Canaanite Woman’s Faith(A)
24 Jesus[e] left that place and went to the territory of Tyre and Sidon.[f] He went into a house, not wanting anyone to know he was there. However, it couldn’t be kept a secret. 25 In fact, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman happened to be a Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She kept asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 But he kept telling her, “First let the children be filled. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
28 But she answered him, “Yes,[g] Lord. Yet even the puppies under the table eat some of the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home and found her child lying in bed, and the demon was gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man with a Speech Impediment
31 Then Jesus[h] left the territory of Tyre and passed through Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the territory of the Decapolis.[i] 32 Some people[j] brought him a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. They begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 Jesus[k] took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. Putting his fingers into the man’s[l] ears, he touched the man’s[m] tongue with saliva.
34 Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and told him, “Ephphatha,”[n] that is, “Be opened!” 35 The man’s[o] hearing and speech were restored at once, and he began to talk normally. 36 Jesus[p] ordered the people[q] not to tell anyone, but the more he kept ordering them, the more they kept spreading the news.
37 Amazed beyond measure, they kept on saying, “He does everything well! He even makes deaf people hear and mute people talk!”
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