Numbers 23-25

New International Version

Balaam’s First Message

23 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams^(A) for me.” ²Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.^(B)

³Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me.^(C) Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went off to a barren height.

⁴God met with him,^(D) and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

⁵The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth^(E) and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”^(F)

⁶So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials.^(G) ⁷Then Balaam^(H) spoke his message:^(I)

“Balak brought me from Aram,^(J)
    the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.^(K)
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;
    come, denounce Israel.’^(L)
⁸How can I curse
    those whom God has not cursed?^(M)
How can I denounce
    those whom the Lord has not denounced?^(N)
⁹From the rocky peaks I see them,
    from the heights I view them.^(O)
I see a people who live apart
    and do not consider themselves one of the nations.^(P)
¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob^(Q)
    or number even a fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,^(R)
    and may my final end be like theirs!^(S)”

¹¹Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies,^(T) but you have done nothing but bless them!”^(U)

¹²He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”^(V)

Balaam’s Second Message

¹³Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place^(W) where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp.^(X) And from there, curse them for me.^(Y)” ¹⁴So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah,^(Z) and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.^(AA)

¹⁵Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”

¹⁶The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth^(AB) and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”

¹⁷So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials.^(AC) Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”

¹⁸Then he spoke his message:^(AD)

“Arise, Balak, and listen;
    hear me, son of Zippor.^(AE)
¹⁹God is not human,^(AF) that he should lie,^(AG)
    not a human being, that he should change his mind.^(AH)
Does he speak and then not act?
    Does he promise^(AI) and not fulfill?
²⁰I have received a command to bless;^(AJ)
    he has blessed,^(AK) and I cannot change it.^(AL)

²¹“No misfortune is seen in Jacob,^(AM)
    no misery observed^[a] in Israel.^(AN)
The Lord their God is with them;^(AO)
    the shout of the King^(AP) is among them.
²²God brought them out of Egypt;^(AQ)
    they have the strength of a wild ox.^(AR)
²³There is no divination against^[b] Jacob,
    no evil omens^(AS) against^[c] Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
    and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
²⁴The people rise like a lioness;^(AT)
    they rouse themselves like a lion^(AU)
that does not rest till it devours its prey
    and drinks the blood^(AV) of its victims.”

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

²⁶Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”^(AW)

Balaam’s Third Message

²⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place.^(AX) Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me^(AY) from there.” ²⁸And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor,^(AZ) overlooking the wasteland.

²⁹Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” ³⁰Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.^(BA)

24 Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel,^(BB) he did not resort to divination^(BC) as at other times, but turned his face toward the wilderness.^(BD) ²When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him^(BE) ³and he spoke his message:

“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
    the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,^(BF)
⁴the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,^(BG)
    who sees a vision from the Almighty,^[d]^(BH)
    who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

⁵“How beautiful are your tents,^(BI) Jacob,
your dwelling places, Israel!

⁶“Like valleys they spread out,
    like gardens beside a river,^(BJ)
like aloes^(BK) planted by the Lord,
    like cedars beside the waters.^(BL)
⁷Water will flow from their buckets;
    their seed will have abundant water.

“Their king will be greater than Agag;^(BM)
their kingdom will be exalted.^(BN)

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;^(BO)
    with their arrows they pierce them.^(BP)
⁹Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
    like a lioness^(BQ)—who dares to rouse them?

“May those who bless you be blessed^(BR)
and those who curse you be cursed!”^(BS)

¹⁰Then Balak’s anger burned^(BT) against Balaam. He struck his hands together^(BU) and said to him, “I summoned you to curse my enemies,^(BV) but you have blessed them^(BW) these three times.^(BX) ¹¹Now leave at once and go home!^(BY) I said I would reward you handsomely,^(BZ) but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.”

¹²Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,^(CA) ¹³‘Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord^(CB)—and I must say only what the Lord says’?^(CC) ¹⁴Now 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.”^(CD)

Balaam’s Fourth Message

¹⁵Then he spoke his message:

“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
    the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,
¹⁶the prophecy of one who hears the words^(CE) of God,
    who has knowledge from the Most High,^(CF)
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.^(CG)
A star will come out of Jacob;^(CH)
    a scepter will rise out of Israel.^(CI)
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,^(CJ)
    the skulls^[e]^(CK) of^[f] all the people of Sheth.^[g]
¹⁸Edom^(CL) will be conquered;
    Seir,^(CM) his enemy, will be conquered,^(CN)
    but Israel^(CO) will grow strong.
¹⁹A ruler will come out of Jacob^(CP)
    and destroy the survivors of the city.”

Balaam’s Fifth Message

²⁰Then Balaam saw Amalek^(CQ) and spoke his message:

“Amalek was first among the nations,
but their end will be utter destruction.”^(CR)

Balaam’s Sixth Message

²¹Then he saw the Kenites^(CS) and spoke his message:

“Your dwelling place is secure,^(CT)
your nest is set in a rock;
²²yet you Kenites will be destroyed
when Ashur^(CU) takes you captive.”

Balaam’s Seventh Message

²³Then he spoke his message:

“Alas! Who can live when God does this?^[h]
²⁴ Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus;^(CV)
they will subdue Ashur^(CW) and Eber,^(CX)
but they too will come to ruin.^(CY)”

²⁵Then Balaam^(CZ) got up and returned home, and Balak went his own way.

Moab Seduces Israel

25 While Israel was staying in Shittim,^(DA) the men began to indulge in sexual immorality^(DB) with Moabite^(DC) women,^(DD) ²who invited them to the sacrifices^(DE) to their gods.^(DF) The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. ³So Israel yoked themselves to^(DG) the Baal of Peor.^(DH) And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders^(DI) of these people, kill them and expose^(DJ) them in broad daylight before the Lord,^(DK) so that the Lord’s fierce anger^(DL) may turn away from Israel.”

⁵So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death^(DM) those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”^(DN)

⁶Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite^(DO) woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping^(DP) at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁷When Phinehas^(DQ) son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear^(DR) in his hand ⁸and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;^(DS) ⁹but those who died in the plague^(DT) numbered 24,000.^(DU)

¹⁰The Lord said to Moses, ¹¹“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites.^(DV) Since he was as zealous for my honor^(DW) among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. ¹²Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace^(DX) with him. ¹³He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood,^(DY) because he was zealous^(DZ) for the honor^(EA) of his God and made atonement^(EB) for the Israelites.”^(EC)

¹⁴The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman^(ED) was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.^(EE) ¹⁵And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Kozbi^(EF) daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.^(EG)

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses,^(EH) ¹⁷“Treat the Midianites^(EI) as enemies^(EJ) and kill them.^(EK) ¹⁸They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident^(EL) involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident.”

Footnotes

Numbers 23:21 Or He has not looked on Jacob’s offenses / or on the wrongs found
Numbers 23:23 Or in
Numbers 23:23 Or in
Numbers 24:4 Hebrew Shaddai; also in verse 16
Numbers 24:17 Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Jer. 48:45); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
Numbers 24:17 Or possibly Moab, / batter
Numbers 24:17 Or all the noisy boasters
Numbers 24:23 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew The people from the islands will gather from the north.

Mark 7:14-37

New International Version

¹⁴Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” ^[16]^[a]

¹⁷After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him^(A) about this parable. ¹⁸“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? ¹⁹For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods^(B) clean.)^(C)

²⁰He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²²adultery, greed,^(D) malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith^(E)

²⁴Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.^[b]^(F) He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. ²⁵In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit^(G) came and fell at his feet. ²⁶The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁸“Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

³⁰She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man^(H)

³¹Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre^(I) and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee^(J) and into the region of the Decapolis.^[c]^(K) ³²There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk,^(L) and they begged Jesus to place his hand on^(M) him.

³³After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit^(N) and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴He looked up to heaven^(O) and with a deep sigh^(P) said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). ³⁵At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.^(Q)

³⁶Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone.^(R) But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. ³⁷People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Read full chapter