Números 22

Israel camps in the plains of Moab

¹Then the Israelites moved on and camped in the plains of Moab, across the Jordan from Jericho.

Balak sends for Balaam

²Balak son of Zippor saw everything that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³Moab was terrified of the people, because there were so many of them; Moab felt a sickening dread of the Israelites. ⁴So Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this assembly will lick up everything around us, as an ox crops the grass of a field.” Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵He sent messengers to call Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, near the River, in the land of his own people. The message said, “A people has come out of Egypt. They are covering the face of the land, and they have settled right across from me.^{a 6}So come now, please, and curse this people for me, because they are too strong for me. Perhaps then we will be able to defeat them, and I can drive them out of the land. For I know this: those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.” ⁷So the elders of Moab and of Midian set out, carrying the payment for divination. They came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message. ⁸Balaam told them, “Stay here tonight. I will bring you a reply, just as the LORD tells it to me.” So the officials of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men staying with you?” ¹⁰Balaam answered God, “Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, has sent me this message, ¹¹‘The people that came out of Egypt are covering the face of the land. Come now and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps then I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” ¹²But God said to Balaam, “You are not to go with them, nor are you to curse the people, because they are blessed.” ¹³In the morning Balaam got up and said to Balak’s officials, “Go back to your own country. The LORD will not allow me to go with you.” ¹⁴So the officials of Moab set off, went back to Balak, and told him, “Balaam will not come with us.” ¹⁵Balak sent officials once more, more of them than before, and of higher rank than the first. ¹⁶They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Please let nothing keep you from coming to me, ¹⁷for I will give you great honor and do whatever you ask of me. Come, please, and put a curse on this people for me.’” ¹⁸Balaam replied to Balak’s officials, “Balak could give me his house filled with silver and gold, and still I could not do anything, small or great, that goes past what the LORD my God has said. ¹⁹Now you too, please, stay here tonight, so that I may learn what more the LORD has to say to me.” ²⁰God came to Balaam that night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, then get up and go with them. But the word I give you, that and only that, you must do.” ²¹So in the morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and set off with the officials of Moab. ²²God’s anger blazed up because Balaam was going, and the angel of the LORD placed himself in the road to stand against him. Balaam was riding his donkey, with two of his servants beside him.^{b 23}The donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, his sword drawn and in his hand, and she left the road and went out into the field. Balaam struck her to bring her back to the road. ²⁴Next the angel of the LORD took his place where the path ran narrow among the vineyards, walled in on this side and on that. ²⁵The donkey saw the angel of the LORD and pushed herself up against the wall, squeezing Balaam’s foot against it, and he struck her once more. ²⁶Once more the angel of the LORD went on ahead. This time he stood in a tight spot with no way around him, right or left. ²⁷The donkey saw the angel of the LORD and sank down under Balaam. Then Balaam’s anger flared, and he struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What wrong have I done you, that you have struck me these three times?” ²⁹Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made me look a fool! If there were a sword in my hand, you would be dead already.” ³⁰The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey? You have ridden me all your life, up to this very day. Was it ever my way to treat you like this?” “No,” he answered. ³¹Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes. Now he could see the angel of the LORD standing in the road, his sword drawn and in his hand, and Balaam bowed his head and threw himself down, face to the ground. ³²The angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? It was I who came out to stand against you, because the way you are going is reckless in my sight.^{c 33}Three times the donkey saw me and swerved away from me. Had she not swerved away, I would have killed you by now, and kept her alive.” ³⁴Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned. I did not know you were there in the road, standing to face me. Now, if this displeases you, I will turn back.” ³⁵The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go on with the men. But the word I give you, that and only that, you are to speak.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s officials. ³⁶News reached Balak that Balaam was on his way, and he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which stands on the Arnon border at the very edge of the territory. ³⁷Balak said to Balaam, “I sent for you with such urgency! Why did you not come to me? Did you think I could not pay you what you are worth?” ³⁸Balaam replied, “Here I am; I have come to you. But can I say just anything now? The word God places in my mouth, that is what I will speak.” ³⁹Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep and sent some of the meat to Balaam and to the officials who were with him. ⁴¹The next morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal. From there Balaam could see the outer edge of the people.