Numbers 23

Balaam’s Oracles

1 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."  * 23:1 1Ch 15:26; 2Ch 29:21; Jb 42:8; Ezk 45:232 So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the Lord will meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me." So he went to a barren hill.

4 God met with him and Balaam said to him, "I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar." 5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you."

6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab.

Balaam’s First Oracle

7 Balaam proclaimed his poem:

Balak brought me from Aram;  * 23:7 Dt 23:4

the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:

"Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel! "  * 23:7 Nm 22:6,17

8 How can I curse someone God has not cursed?

How can I denounce someone the  Lord has not denounced?

9 I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,

and I watch them from the hills.

There is a people living alone;  * 23:9 Dt 33:28

it does not consider itself among the nations.

10 Who has counted the dust of Jacob  * 23:10 Gn 13:16

or numbered even one-fourth of Israel?

Let me die the death of the upright;

let the end of my life be like theirs.

11 "What have you done to me? " Balak asked Balaam. "I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them! "

12 He answered, "Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth? "  * 23:12 Nm 22:38

Balaam’s Second Oracle

13 Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place  * 23:13 Nm 23:27 where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me." 14 So Balak took him to Lookout Field  * 23:14 Or to the field of Zophim on top of Pisgah,  * 23:14 Nm 21:20; Dt 3:17,27; 4:49; 34:1; Jos 12:3; 13:20 built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there."

16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then he said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you."

17 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the Lord say? "

18 Balaam proclaimed his poem:

Balak, get up and listen;

son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!

19 God is not a man, that he might lie,

or a son of man, that he might change his mind.  * 23:19 1Sm 15:29; Mal 3:6; Ti 1:2; Heb 6:17–18

Does he speak and not act,

or promise and not fulfill?  * 23:19 Ps 33:10–11; Pr 19:21; Is 14:24; 31:2; 45:23; 46:9–11; 48:3; 55:11; Rm 11:29; Eph 1:11; 2Tm 2:13

20 I have indeed received a command to bless;

since he has blessed,  * 23:20 Sam, LXX read since I will bless I cannot change it.

21 He considers no disaster for Jacob;

he sees no trouble for Israel.  * 23:21 Or He does not observe sin in Jacob; he does not see wrongdoing in Israel

The Lord their God is with them,  * 23:21 Gn 28:15; Nm 14:9; Dt 2:7; 20:1; Jos 1:17; Jdg 6:13; 2Ch 20:17; Ps 46:11; Is 8:10; 41:10; Jr 1:19; 15:20; Zph 3:17; Hg 2:4; Rv 21:3

and there is rejoicing over the King among them.

22 God brought them out of Egypt;

he is like the horns of a wild ox for them.  * 23:22 Or Egypt; they have the horns of a wild ox,* 23:22 Nm 24:8

23 There is no magic curse against Jacob

and no divination against Israel.

It will now be said about Jacob and Israel,

"What great things God has done! "

24 A people rise up like a lioness;

they rouse themselves like a lion.  * 23:24 Nm 24:9

They will not lie down until they devour the prey

and drink the blood of the slain.

25 Then Balak told Balaam, "Don’t curse them and don’t bless them! "

26 But Balaam answered him, "Didn’t I tell you: Whatever the Lord says, I must do? "  * 23:26 Nm 22:38

Balaam’s Third Oracle

27 Again Balak said to Balaam, "Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there." 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.  * 23:28 Or overlooks Jeshimon,* 23:28 Nm 21:20

29 Balaam told Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."  * 23:29 Nm 23:1–230 So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.