Numbers 22

¹And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.

²And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

³And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.

⁴And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now will this multitude lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.

⁵And he sent messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me.

⁶Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

⁷And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

⁸And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Jehovah shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.

⁹And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?

¹⁰And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,

¹¹Behold, the people that is come out of Egypt, it covereth the face of the earth: now, come curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.

¹²And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed.

¹³And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land; for Jehovah refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

¹⁴And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.

¹⁵And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable than they.

¹⁶And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:

¹⁷for I will promote thee unto very great honor, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.

¹⁸And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah my God, to do less or more.

¹⁹Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what Jehovah will speak unto me more.

²⁰And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.

²¹And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

²²And God’s anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of Jehovah placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.

²³And the ass saw the angel of Jehovah standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.

²⁴Then the angel of Jehovah stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.

²⁵And the ass saw the angel of Jehovah, and she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.

²⁶And the angel of Jehovah went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.

²⁷And the ass saw the angel of Jehovah, and she lay down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with his staff.

²⁸And Jehovah opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

²⁹And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in my hand, for now I had killed thee.

³⁰And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden all thy life long unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? and he said, Nay.

³¹Then Jehovah opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of Jehovah standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face.

³²And the angel of Jehovah said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I am come forth for an adversary, because thy way is perverse before me:

³³and the ass saw me, and turned aside before me these three times: unless she had turned aside from me, surely now I had even slain thee, and saved her alive.

³⁴And Balaam said unto the angel of Jehovah, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.

³⁵And the angel of Jehovah said unto Balaam, Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

³⁶And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border.

³⁷And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honor?

³⁸And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to speak anything? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

³⁹And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kiriath-huzoth.

⁴⁰And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.

⁴¹And it came to pass in the morning, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw from thence the utmost part of the people.

Numbers 22

¹Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.

²Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites,

³and Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous. Indeed, Moab dreaded the Israelites.

⁴So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Since Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time,

⁵he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt,” said Balak. “They cover the face of the land and have settled next to me.

⁶So please come now and put a curse on this people, because they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land; for I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.”

⁷The elders of Moab and Midian departed with the fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and relayed to him the words of Balak.

⁸“Spend the night here,” Balaam replied, “and I will give you the answer that the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

⁹Then God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”

¹⁰And Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:

¹¹‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’”

¹²But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”

¹³So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your homeland, because the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”

¹⁴And the princes of Moab arose, returned to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first messengers.

¹⁶They came to Balaam and said, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me,

¹⁷for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on this people for me!’”

¹⁸But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.

¹⁹So now, please stay here overnight as the others did, that I may find out what else the LORD has to tell me.”

²⁰That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”

²¹So in the morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

²²Then God’s anger was kindled because Balaam was going along, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

²³When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the path and went into a field. So Balaam beat her to return her to the path.

²⁴Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow passage between two vineyards, with walls on either side.

²⁵And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD and pressed herself against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her once again.

²⁶And the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn to the right or left.

²⁷When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he became furious and beat her with his staff.

²⁸Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”

²⁹Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!”

³⁰But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not the donkey you have ridden all your life until today? Have I ever treated you this way before?” “No,” he replied.

³¹Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. And Balaam bowed low and fell facedown.

³²The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you, because your way is perverse before me.

³³The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, then by now I would surely have killed you and let her live.”

³⁴“I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.”

³⁵But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite city on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory.

³⁷And he said to Balaam, “Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why did you not come to me? Am I really not able to richly reward you?”

³⁸“See, I have come to you,” Balaam replied, “but can I say just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

³⁹So Balaam accompanied Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.

⁴⁰Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and he gave portions to Balaam and the princes who were with him.

⁴¹The next morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see the outskirts of the camp of the people.