Numbers 23

Numbers 23

Balaam’s Oracles

1Then 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 45:23]

2So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

3Balaam 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.

4God met with him and Balaam said to him, ‘I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.’

5Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, ‘Return to Balak and say what I tell you.’

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

Balaam’s First Oracle

7Balaam proclaimed his poem:

Balak brought me from Aram;

the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:

‘Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel! ’

8How can I curse someone God has not cursed?

How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?

9I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,

and I watch them from the hills.

There is a people living alone;

it does not consider itself among the nations.

10Who has counted the dust of Jacob[#23:10 Gn 13:16]

or numbered even quarter 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! ’

12He answered, ‘Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth? ’[#23:12 Nm 22:38]

Balaam’s Second Oracle

13Then Balak said to him, ‘Please come with me to another place 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.’[#23:13 Nm 23:27]

14So Balak took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.[#23:14 Or to the field of Zophim; #23:14 Nm 21:20; Dt 3:17,27; 4:49; 34:1; Jos 12:3; 13:20]

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

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

17So 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? ’

18Balaam proclaimed his poem:

Balak, get up and listen;

son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!

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

or a son of man, that he might change his mind.

Does he speak and not act,

or promise and not fulfil?

20I have indeed received a command to bless;

since he has blessed, I cannot change it.

21He considers no disaster for Jacob;

he sees no trouble for Israel.

The Lord their God is with them,

and there is rejoicing over the King among them.

22God brought them out of Egypt;

he is like the horns of a wild ox for them. ,

23There 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! ’

24A people rise up like a lioness;

they rouse themselves like a lion.

They will not lie down until they devour the prey

and drink the blood of the slain.

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

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

Balaam’s Third Oracle

27Again 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.’

28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland. ,[#23:28 Or overlooks Jeshimon; #23:28 Nm 21:20]

29Balaam told Balak, ‘Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.’[#23:29 Nm 23:1–2]

30So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

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Published by: LifeWay Christian Resources