Numbers, starting at chapter 22
{22:1} The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in the plains
of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. {22:2} Balak the son of Zippor
saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. {22:3} Moab was sore
afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed
because of the children of Israel. {22:4} Moab said to the elders of
Midian, Now will this multitude lick up all that is round about us, as
the ox licks up the grass of the field. Balak the son of Zippor was
king of Moab at that time. {22:5} He sent messengers to 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 surface of the earth, and they
abide over against me. {22:6} Please come now therefore curse me this
people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail,
that we may strike them, and that I may drive them out of the land;
for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is
cursed. {22:7} The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed
with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam,
and spoke to him the words of Balak. {22:8} He said to them, Lodge
here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall
speak to me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. {22:9} God
came to Balaam, and said, What men are these with you? {22:10} Balaam
said to God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me,
[saying], {22:11} Behold, the people that is come out of Egypt, it
covers the surface of the earth: now, come curse me them; peradventure
I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.
{22:12} God said to Balaam, You shall not go with them; you shall not
curse the people; for they are blessed. {22:13} Balaam rose up in the
morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Get you into your land; for
the LORD refuses to give me leave to go with you. {22:14} The princes
of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, Balaam refuses to
come with us. {22:15} Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more
honorable than they. {22:16} They came to Balaam, and said to him,
Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, Please let nothing hinder you from
coming to me: {22:17} for I will promote you to very great honor, and
whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse
this people for me. {22:18} Balaam answered the servants of Balak, If
Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go
beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more. {22:19} Now
therefore, please wait also here this night, that I may know what the
LORD will speak to me more. {22:20} God came to Balaam at night, and
said to him, If the men are come to call you, rise up, go with them;
but only the word which I speak to you, that shall you do. {22:21}
Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with
the princes of Moab. {22:22} God's anger was kindled because he went;
and the angel of the LORD placed himself in the way for an adversary
against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants
were with him. {22:23} The donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing
in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned
aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam struck the
donkey, to turn her into the way. {22:24} Then the angel of the LORD
stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this
side, and a wall on that side. {22:25} The donkey saw the angel of the
LORD, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot
against the wall: and he struck her again. {22:26} The angel of the
LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to
turn either to the right hand or to the left. {22:27} The donkey saw
the angel of the LORD, and she lay down under Balaam: and Balaam's
anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. {22:28}
The LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, What
have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times? {22:29}
Balaam said to the donkey, Because you have mocked me, I would there
were a sword in my hand, for now I had killed you. {22:30} The donkey
said to Balaam, Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all
your life long to this day? was I ever wont to do so to you? and he
said, No. {22:31} Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw
the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his
hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. {22:32} The angel
of the LORD said to him, Why have you struck your donkey these three
times? behold, I am come forth for an adversary, because your way is
perverse before me: {22:33} and the donkey saw me, and turned aside
before me these three times: unless she had turned aside from me,
surely now I had even slain you, and saved her alive. {22:34} Balaam
said to the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I didn't know that
you stood in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease you, I
will get me back again. {22:35} The angel of the LORD said to Balaam,
Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you
shall speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. {22:36} When
Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him to the City
of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost
part of the border. {22:37} Balak said to Balaam, Didn't I earnestly
send to you to call you? why didn't you come to me? am I not able
indeed to promote you to honor? {22:38} Balaam said to Balak, Behold,
I have come to you: have I now any power at all to speak anything? the
word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak. {22:39} Balaam
went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. {22:40} Balak
sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes who
were with him. {22:41} It happened in the morning, that Balak took
Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw
from there the utmost part of the people.
{23:1} Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare
me here seven bulls and seven rams. {23:2} Balak did as Balaam had
spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.
{23:3} Balaam said to Balak, Stand by your burnt offering, and I will
go: perhaps the LORD will come to meet me; and whatever he shows me I
will tell you. He went to a bare height. {23:4} God met Balaam: and he
said to him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a
bull and a ram on every altar. {23:5} The LORD put a word in Balaam's
mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak. {23:6} He
returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering,
he, and all the princes of Moab. {23:7} He took up his parable, and
said, From Aram has Balak brought me, The king of Moab from the
mountains of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, Come, defy Israel. {23:8}
How shall I curse, whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy, whom the
LORD has not defied? {23:9} For from the top of the rocks I see him,
From the hills I see him: behold, it is a people that dwells alone,
And shall not be reckoned among the nations. {23:10} Who can count the
dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the
death of the righteous, Let my last end be like his! {23:11} Balak
said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my
enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether. {23:12} He
answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD
puts in my mouth? {23:13} Balak said to him, Please come with me to
another place, from whence you may see them; you shall see but the
utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them
from there. {23:14} He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top
of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on
every altar. {23:15} He said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt
offering, while I meet [the LORD] yonder. {23:16} The LORD met Balaam,
and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shall
you speak. {23:17} He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his
burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him,
What has the LORD spoken? {23:18} He took up his parable, and said,
Rise up, Balak, and hear!
Listen to me, you son of Zippor.
{23:19} God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor the son of man, that he should repent.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
{23:20} Behold, I have received a command to bless.
He has blessed, and I can't reverse it.
{23:21} He has not seen iniquity in Jacob.
Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel.
The LORD his God is with him.
The shout of a king is among them.
{23:22} God brings them out of Egypt.
He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.
{23:23} Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob;
Neither is there any divination with Israel.
Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel,
What has God done!
{23:24} Behold, the people rises up as a lioness,
As a lion he lifts himself up.
He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,
and drinks the blood of the slain.
{23:25} Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless
them at all. {23:26} But Balaam answered Balak, Didn't I tell you,
saying, All that the LORD speaks, that I must do? {23:27} Balak said
to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; peradventure it
will please God that you may curse me them from there. {23:28} Balak
took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert. {23:29}
Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here
seven bulls and seven rams. {23:30} Balak did as Balaam had said, and
offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
{24:1} When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he
didn't go, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he
set his face toward the wilderness. {24:2} Balaam lifted up his eyes,
and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit
of God came on him. {24:3} He took up his parable, and said,
Balaam the son of Beor says,
the man whose eye was closed says;
{24:4} he says, who hears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down, and having his eyes open:
{24:5} How goodly are your tents, Jacob,
and your tents, Israel!
{24:6} As valleys they are spread forth,
as gardens by the riverside,
as aloes which the LORD has planted,
as cedar trees beside the waters.
{24:7} Water shall flow from his buckets.
His seed shall be in many waters.
His king shall be higher than Agag.
His kingdom shall be exalted.
{24:8} God brings him out of Egypt.
He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.
He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,
shall break their bones in pieces,
and pierce them with his arrows.
{24:9} He couched, he lay down as a lion,
as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
Everyone who blesses you is blessed.
Everyone who curses you is cursed.
{24:10} Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his
hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, I called you to curse my
enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three
times. {24:11} Therefore now flee you to your place: I thought to
promote you to great honor; but, behold, the LORD has kept you back
from honor. {24:12} Balaam said to Balak, Didn't I also tell your
messengers who you sent to me, saying, {24:13} If Balak would give me
his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of the
LORD, to do either good or bad of my own mind; what the LORD speaks,
that will I speak? {24:14} Now, behold, I go to my people: come, [and]
I will advertise you what this people shall do to your people in the
latter days. {24:15} He took up his parable, and said,
Balaam the son of Beor says,
the man whose eye was closed says;
{24:16} he says, who hears the words of God,
knows the knowledge of the Most High,
and who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
{24:17} I see him, but not now.
I see him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob.
A scepter will rise out of Israel,
and shall strike through the corners of Moab,
and break down all the sons of Sheth.
{24:18} Edom shall be a possession.
Seir, his enemies, also shall be a possession,
while Israel does valiantly.
{24:19} Out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
and shall destroy the remnant from the city.
{24:20} He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said,
Amalek was the first of the nations,
But his latter end shall come to destruction.
{24:21} He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said,
Your dwelling place is strong.
Your nest is set in the rock.
{24:22} Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted,
until Asshur carries you away captive.
{24:23} He took up his parable, and said,
Alas, who shall live when God does this?
{24:24} But ships [shall come] from the coast of Kittim.
They shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber.
He also shall come to destruction.
{24:25} Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and
Balak also went his way.
___
This Bible reading mailing list and web site are paid for by donations
marked "HNV project" and payable to:
Rainbow Missions
PO BOX 275
MESA CO 81643-0275
To cancel your free email subscription, please send
email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
unsubscribe hnv
in the body of the message OR go to http://ebible.org/subscribe.htm
