Balaam's First Oracle

23 And Balaam said to Balak, ^(A)“Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ² Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam ^(B)offered on each altar a bull and a ram. ³ And Balaam said to Balak, ^(C)“Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come ^(D)to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, ^4 (E)and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” ⁵ And the Lord ^(F)put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” ⁶ And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. ⁷ And Balaam ^(G)took up his discourse and said,

¹¹ And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^(P)I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” ¹² And he answered and said, ^(Q)“Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

Balaam's Second Oracle

¹³ And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” ¹⁴ And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ^(R)and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Balaam said to Balak, ^(S)“Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” ¹⁶ And the Lord met Balaam and ^(T)put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” ¹⁷ And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” ¹⁸ And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” ²⁶ But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ^(AE)‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” ²⁷ And Balak said to Balaam, ^(AF)“Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of ^(AG)Peor, which overlooks ^(AH)the desert.^{[b] 29} And Balaam said to Balak, ^(AI)“Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ^30 (AJ)And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam's Third Oracle

24 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at ^(AK)other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. ² And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel ^(AL)camping tribe by tribe. And ^(AM)the Spirit of God came upon him, ³ and he ^(AN)took up his discourse and said,

¹⁰ And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he ^(BA)struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, ^(BB)“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. ¹¹ Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ^(BC)‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” ¹² And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ^13 (BD)‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad ^(BE)of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? ¹⁴ And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, ^(BF)I will let you know what this people will do to your people ^(BG)in the latter days.”

Balaam's Final Oracle

^15 (BH)And he took up his discourse and said,

²⁰ Then he looked on Amalek and ^(BQ)took up his discourse and said,

²¹ And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

²³ And he took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ Then Balaam rose and ^(BV)went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Baal Worship at Peor

25 While Israel lived in ^(BW)Shittim, ^(BX)the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. ^2 (BY)These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. ⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(BZ)“Take all the chiefs of the people and ^(CA)hang^[f] them in the sun before the Lord, ^(CB)that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” ⁵ And Moses said to ^(CC)the judges of Israel, ^(CD)“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

⁶ And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were ^(CE)weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. ^7 (CF)When Phinehas ^(CG)the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand ⁸ and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. ⁹ Nevertheless, ^(CH)those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

The Zeal of Phinehas

¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he ^(CI)was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in ^(CJ)my jealousy. ¹² Therefore say, ^(CK)‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, ¹³ and it shall be to him and to ^(CL)his descendants after him the covenant of ^(CM)a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

¹⁴ The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house belonging to the Simeonites. ¹⁵ And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of ^(CN)Zur, who was the tribal head of a father's house in Midian.

¹⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^17 (CO)“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, ¹⁸ for they have harassed you with their ^(CP)wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of ^(CQ)Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”

The Resurrection

16 ^(A)(B)When the Sabbath was past, ^(C)Mary Magdalene, ^(D)Mary the mother of James, and ^(E)Salome ^(F)bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ² And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³ And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away ^(G)the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” ⁴ And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—^(H)it was very large. ⁵ And ^(I)entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, ^(J)dressed in ^(K)a white robe, and ^(L)they were alarmed. ⁶ And he said to them, ^(M)“Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter that ^(N)he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, ^(O)just as he told you.” ⁸ And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

[Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16:9–20.]^[a]

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

⁹ [[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, ^(P)he appeared first to ^(Q)Mary Magdalene, ^(R)from whom he had cast out seven demons. ^10 (S)She went and told those who had been with him, ^(T)as they ^(U)mourned and wept. ¹¹ But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they ^(V)would not believe it.

Jesus Appears to Two Disciples

^12 (W)After these things ^(X)he appeared in ^(Y)another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. ^13 (Z)And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

The Great Commission

¹⁴ Afterward ^(AA)he appeared ^(AB)to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their ^(AC)unbelief and ^(AD)hardness of heart, because ^(AE)they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. ¹⁵ And he said to them, ^(AF)“Go into all the world and ^(AG)proclaim the gospel to ^(AH)the whole creation. ^16 (AI)Whoever believes and is ^(AJ)baptized ^(AK)will be saved, but ^(AL)whoever ^(AM)does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And ^(AN)these signs will accompany those who believe: ^(AO)in my name they will cast out demons; ^(AP)they will speak in new tongues; ^18 (AQ)they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; ^(AR)they will lay their hands ^(AS)on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹ So then the Lord Jesus, ^(AT)after he had spoken to them, ^(AU)was taken up into heaven and ^(AV)sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, while ^(AW)the Lord worked with them and confirmed ^(AX)the message ^(AY)by accompanying signs.]]