Numbers 22:2-23:26
Easy-to-Read Version
2-3 Balak son of Zippor saw everything the Israelites had done to the Amorites. The king of Moab was very frightened of the Israelites because there were so many of them. He was very afraid.
4 The king of Moab said to the leaders of Midian, “This large group of people will destroy everything around us, the way an ox eats all the grass in a field.”
Balak son of Zippor was the king of Moab at this time. 5 He sent some men to Balaam son of Beor. Balaam was at Pethor, near the Euphrates River. This was where Balaam’s people lived.[a] This was Balak’s message:
“A new nation of people has come out of Egypt. There are so many people that they cover all the land. They have camped next to me. 6 Come and help me. These people are too powerful for me. I know that you have great power. If you bless people, good things happen to them. And if you curse people, bad things happen to them. So come and curse these people. Maybe then I will be able to defeat them and force them to leave my country.”
7 The leaders of Moab and Midian left. They went to talk to Balaam. They carried with them money to pay him for his service.[b] Then they told him what Balak had said.
8 Balaam said to them, “Stay here for the night. I will talk to the Lord and tell you the answer he gives me.” So the leaders of Moab stayed there with Balaam that night.
9 God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”
10 Balaam said to God, “The king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, sent them to give me a message. 11 This is the message: A new nation of people has come out of Egypt. There are so many people that they cover the land. So come and curse these people. Then maybe I will be able to fight them and force them to leave my land.”
12 But God said to Balaam, “Don’t go with them. You must not curse those people. They are my people.”
13 The next morning Balaam got up and said to leaders from Balak, “Go back to your own country. The Lord will not let me go with you.”
14 So the leaders of Moab went back to Balak and told him this. They said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
15 So Balak sent other leaders to Balaam. This time he sent many more than the first time. And these leaders were much more important than the first ones he sent. 16 They went to Balaam and said, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says to you: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming. 17 I will pay you very much,[c] and I will do whatever you ask. Come and curse these people for me.”
18 Balaam gave Balak’s officials his answer. He said, “I must obey the Lord my God. I cannot do anything, great or small, against his command. Even if King Balak gives me his beautiful home filled with silver and gold, I will not do anything against the Lord’s command. 19 But you can stay here tonight like the other men did, and during the night I will learn what the Lord wants to tell me.”
20 That night, God came to Balaam. God said, “These men have come again to ask you to go with them. So you can go with them. But do only what I tell you to do.”
Balaam and His Donkey
21 The next morning, Balaam got up, put a saddle on his donkey, and went with the Moabite leaders. 22 Balaam was riding on his donkey. Two of his servants were with him. While Balaam was traveling, God became angry. So the Lord’s angel stood in the road in front of Balaam to stop[d] him.
23 When Balaam’s donkey saw the Lord’s angel standing in the road with a sword in his hand, the donkey turned from the road and went into the field. Balaam could not see the angel, so he was very angry at the donkey. He hit the donkey and forced it to go back on the road.
24 Later, the Lord’s angel stood at a place where the road became narrow. This was between two vineyards. There were walls on both sides of the road. 25 Again the donkey saw the Lord’s angel. So the donkey walked very close to one wall. This crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam hit his donkey again.
26 Later, the Lord’s angel stood at another place where the road became narrow. There was no place where the donkey could go around him. It could not turn to the left or to the right. 27 The donkey saw the Lord’s angel. So the donkey lay down with Balaam sitting on top of it. Balaam was very angry at the donkey. So he hit it with his walking stick.
28 Then the Lord caused the donkey to speak. The donkey said to Balaam, “Why are you angry at me? What have I done to you? You have hit me three times!”
29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made me look foolish. If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!”
30 But the donkey said to Balaam, “Look, I am your donkey. You have ridden me for so many years. And you know that I have never done this to you before!”
“That is true,” Balaam said.
31 Then the Lord allowed Balaam to see the angel. The Lord’s angel was standing in the road, holding a sword in his hand. Balaam bowed low to the ground.
32 Then the Lord’s angel asked Balaam, “Why did you hit your donkey three times? I am the one who came to stop you. But just in time,[e] 33 your donkey saw me and turned away from me. That happened three times. If the donkey had not turned away, I probably would have killed you already. And I would have let your donkey live.”
34 Then Balaam said to the Lord’s angel, “I have sinned. I did not know that you were standing in the road. If I am doing wrong, I will go back home.”
35 Then the Lord’s angel said to Balaam, “No, you can go with these men. But be careful. Speak only the words that I will tell you to say.” So Balaam went with the leaders that Balak had sent.
36 Balak heard that Balaam was coming. So Balak went out to meet him at the Moabite town[f] near the Arnon River. This was at the northern border of his country. 37 When Balak saw Balaam, he said to him, “I asked you before to come. I told you it was very important. Why didn’t you come to me? Did you think I might not be able to pay you?”
38 Balaam answered, “Well, I am here now. I came, but I might not be able to do what you asked. I can only say the words God tells me to say.”
39 Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth. 40 Balak killed some cattle and some sheep as his sacrifice. He gave some of the meat to Balaam and some to the leaders who were with him.
41 The next morning Balak took Balaam to the town of Bamoth Baal. From there they could see part of the Israelite camp.
Balaam’s First Message
23 Balaam said, “Build seven altars here. And prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 2 Balak did what Balaam asked. Then Balak and Balaam killed a ram and a bull on each of the altars.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here near this altar. I will go to another place. Then the Lord will come to me, and he will tell me what I must say.” Then Balaam went away to a higher place.
4 God came to Balaam at that place, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars. And I have killed a bull and a ram as a sacrifice on each altar.”
5 Then the Lord gave Balaam a message for Balak and said, “Go back to Balak and say the things that I have given you to say.”
6 So Balaam went back to Balak. Balak was still standing near the altar, and all the leaders of Moab were standing there with them. 7 Then Balaam spoke, and this was his message:
“Balak, the king of Moab,
brought me here from the eastern mountains of Aram.
Balak said to me,
‘Come, curse Jacob for me.
Come, speak against the Israelites.’
8 But God is not against them,
so I cannot speak against them either!
The Lord has not asked for bad things to happen to these people.
So I cannot do that either.
9 I see these people from the mountain.
I see them from the high hills.
They live alone.
They are not part of another nation.
10 Who can count Jacob’s people?
They are as many as the grains of dust.
No one can count even a fourth of the Israelites.
Let me die like a good man.
Let my life end as happy as theirs!”
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them!”
12 But Balaam answered, “I must say the things that the Lord tells me to say.”
13 Then Balak said to him, “So come with me to another place. At that place you can see more of these people. You cannot see all of them—you can only see part of them. Maybe from that place you can curse them for me.” 14 So Balak led Balaam to Watchmen Hills.[g] This was on top of Mount Pisgah. There Balak built seven altars and killed a bull and a ram on each altar as a sacrifice.
15 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by this altar while I go meet with God over there.”
16 So the Lord came to Balaam and told Balaam what to say. Then he told Balaam to go back to Balak and say these things. 17 So Balaam went to Balak. Balak was still standing near the altar. The leaders of Moab were there with him. Balak saw Balaam coming and said, “What did the Lord say?”
Balaam’s Second Message
18 Then Balaam said this:
“Stand up, Balak, and listen to me.
Hear me, Balak son of Zippor.
19 God is not a man;
he will not lie.
God is not a human being;
his decisions will not change.
If he says he will do something,
then he will do it.
If he makes a promise,
then he will do what he promised.
20 He told me to bless them.
He blessed them, so I cannot change that.
21 God saw no wrong in Jacob’s people.
He saw no sin in the Israelites.
The Lord is their God,
and he is with them.
The Great King is with them!
22 God brought them out of Egypt.
They are as strong as a wild ox.
23 There is no power that can defeat the people of Jacob.
There is no magic that can stop the Israelites.
People will say this about Jacob and the Israelites:
‘Look at the great things God did!’[h]
24 The people are as strong as lions,
and they fight like lions.
And a lion will not rest until it eats what it has caught,
until it drinks the blood of what it has killed.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “You didn’t ask for good things to happen to these people, but you didn’t ask for bad things to happen to them either!”
26 Balaam answered, “I told you before that I can only say what the Lord tells me to say.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 22:5 This … lived Or “This was the land of the Ammonites.”
- Numbers 22:7 for his service Or “for the things he needed to make curses.” In ancient times, when people asked bad things to happen to other people, they often wrote the curses on special bowls and used them in ceremonies. They did this to try to force these bad things to happen. See Deut. 18:10.
- Numbers 22:17 I will pay you very much Or “I will honor you very much.”
- Numbers 22:22 stop Or “oppose” or “accuse.” Also in verse 32.
- Numbers 22:32 But just in time Or “You should not be going this way,” or “You are not doing right.” The Hebrew text here is hard to understand.
- Numbers 22:36 Moabite town Or possibly, “Ar Moab.”
- Numbers 23:14 Watchmen Hills Or “the fields of Zophim.”
- Numbers 23:23 Or “There is no fortunetelling in Jacob, no magic in Israel. God tells them immediately what he plans to do.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
