Numbers 24:15-17

Contemporary English Version

Balaam's Fourth Message

¹⁵Balaam said:

“I am the son of Beor,
and my words are true,^[a]
    so listen to my message!
¹⁶My knowledge comes
from God Most High,
    the Lord All-Powerful.
I bowed down to him
    and saw a vision of Israel.

¹⁷“What I saw in my vision
    hasn't happened yet.
But someday, a king of Israel
    will appear like a star.
He will wipe out you Moabites^[b]
and destroy^[c] those tribes
    who live in the desert.^[d]

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Footnotes

24.15 my words are true: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
24.17 you Moabites: Or “the territories of Moab.”
24.17 destroy: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Samaritan Hebrew Text “the skulls of.”
24.17 those tribes … desert: The Hebrew text has “the descendants of Sheth,” which probably refers to the people who lived in the desert areas of Canaan before the Israelites.