Numbers 22:26-25:18

Numbers 22:26-25:18 (New International Version)

 ²⁶ Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. ²⁸ Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"
 ²⁹ Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."
 ³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"
      "No," he said.
 ³¹ Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.
 ³² The angel of the LORD asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. ^[a] 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her."
 ³⁴ Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back."
 ³⁵ The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
 ³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite town on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory. ³⁷ Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why didn't you come to me? Am I really not able to reward you?"
 ³⁸ "Well, I have come to you now," Balaam replied. "But can I say just anything? I must speak only what God puts in my mouth."
 ³⁹ Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and gave some to Balaam and the princes who were with him. ⁴¹ The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, and from there he saw part of the people.

Numbers 23

Balaam's First Oracle

 ¹ Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." ² Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ³ Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went off to a barren height.
 ⁴ God met with him, and Balaam said, "I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram."
 ⁵ The LORD put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this message."
 ⁶ So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the princes of Moab. ⁷ Then Balaam uttered his oracle:
       "Balak brought me from Aram,
       the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.
       'Come,' he said, 'curse Jacob for me;
       come, denounce Israel.'
 ⁸ How can I curse
       those whom God has not cursed?
       How can I denounce
       those whom the LORD has not denounced?
 ⁹ From the rocky peaks I see them,
       from the heights I view them.
       I see a people who live apart
       and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
 ¹⁰ Who can count the dust of Jacob
       or number the fourth part of Israel?
       Let me die the death of the righteous,
       and may my end be like theirs!"
 ¹¹ Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!"
 ¹² He answered, "Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"

Balaam's Second Oracle

 ¹³ Then Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will see only a part but not all of them. And from there, curse them for me." ¹⁴ So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there."
 ¹⁶ The LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this message."
 ¹⁷ So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?"
 ¹⁸ Then he uttered his oracle:
       "Arise, Balak, and listen;
       hear me, son of Zippor.
 ¹⁹ God is not a man, that he should lie,
       nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
       Does he speak and then not act?
       Does he promise and not fulfill?
 ²⁰ I have received a command to bless;
       he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
 ²¹ "No misfortune is seen in Jacob,
       no misery observed in Israel. ^[b]
       The LORD their God is with them;
       the shout of the King is among them.
 ²² God brought them out of Egypt;
       they have the strength of a wild ox.
 ²³ There is no sorcery against Jacob,
       no divination against Israel.
       It will now be said of Jacob
       and of Israel, 'See what God has done!'
 ²⁴ The people rise like a lioness;
       they rouse themselves like a lion
       that does not rest till he devours his prey
       and drinks the blood of his victims."
 ²⁵ Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"
 ²⁶ Balaam answered, "Did I not tell you I must do whatever the LORD says?"

Balaam's Third Oracle

 ²⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there." ²⁸ And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland. ²⁹ Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." ³⁰ Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 24

 ¹ Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not resort to sorcery as at other times, but turned his face toward the desert. ² When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him ³ and he uttered his oracle:
       "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
       the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,
 ⁴ the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
       who sees a vision from the Almighty, ^[c]
       who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
 ⁵ "How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,
       your dwelling places, O Israel!
 ⁶ "Like valleys they spread out,
       like gardens beside a river,
       like aloes planted by the LORD,
       like cedars beside the waters.
 ⁷ Water will flow from their buckets;
       their seed will have abundant water.
       "Their king will be greater than Agag;
       their kingdom will be exalted.
 ⁸ "God brought them out of Egypt;
       they have the strength of a wild ox.
       They devour hostile nations
       and break their bones in pieces;
       with their arrows they pierce them.
 ⁹ Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
       like a lioness—who dares to rouse them?
       "May those who bless you be blessed
       and those who curse you be cursed!"
 ¹⁰ Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, "I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times. ¹¹ Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the LORD has kept you from being rewarded."
 ¹² Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell the messengers you sent me, ¹³ 'Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD -and I must say only what the LORD says'? ¹⁴ Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you of what this people will do to your people in days to come."

Balaam's Fourth Oracle

 ¹⁵ Then he uttered his oracle:
       "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
       the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly, ¹⁶ the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
       who has knowledge from the Most High,
       who sees a vision from the Almighty,
       who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
 ¹⁷ "I see him, but not now;
       I behold him, but not near.
       A star will come out of Jacob;
       a scepter will rise out of Israel.
       He will crush the foreheads of Moab,
       the skulls ^[d] of ^[e] all the sons of Sheth. ^[f]
 18 Edom will be conquered;
       Seir, his enemy, will be conquered,
       but Israel will grow strong.
 ¹⁹ A ruler will come out of Jacob
       and destroy the survivors of the city."

Balaam's Final Oracles

 ²⁰ Then Balaam saw Amalek and uttered his oracle:
       "Amalek was first among the nations,
       but he will come to ruin at last." ²¹ Then he saw the Kenites and uttered his oracle:
       "Your dwelling place is secure,
       your nest is set in a rock;
 ²² yet you Kenites will be destroyed
       when Asshur takes you captive."
 ²³ Then he uttered his oracle:
       "Ah, who can live when God does this? ^[g]
 24 Ships will come from the shores of Kittim;
       they will subdue Asshur and Eber,
       but they too will come to ruin."
 ²⁵ Then Balaam got up and returned home and Balak went his own way.

Numbers 25

Moab Seduces Israel

 ¹ While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, ² who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. ³ So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD's anger burned against them. ⁴ The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD's fierce anger may turn away from Israel."
 ⁵ So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor."
 ⁶ Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand ⁸ and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and into the woman's body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; ⁹ but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
 ¹⁰ The LORD said to Moses, ¹¹ "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. ¹²Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. ¹³ He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites."
 ¹⁴ The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family. ¹⁵ And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Cozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.
 ¹⁶ The LORD said to Moses, ¹⁷ "Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them, ¹⁸ because they treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the affair of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of Peor."