Numbers 21-24

Numbers 21

¹And it came to the ears of the Canaanite, the king of Arad, living in the South, that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, and he came out against them and took some of them prisoners.

²Then Israel made an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give up this people into my hands, then I will send complete destruction on all their towns.

³And the Lord, in answer to the voice of Israel, gave the Canaanites up to them; and they put them and their towns completely to destruction: and that place was named Hormah.

⁴Then they went on from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, going round the land of Edom: and the spirit of the people was overcome with weariness on the way.

⁵And crying out against God and against Moses, they said, Why have you taken us out of Egypt to come to our death in the waste land? For there is no bread and no water, and this poor bread is disgusting to us.

⁶Then the Lord sent poison-snakes among the people; and their bites were a cause of death to numbers of the people of Israel.

⁷Then the people came to Moses and said, We have done wrong in crying out against the Lord and against you: make prayer to the Lord to take away the snakes from us. So Moses made prayer for the people.

⁸And the Lord said to Moses, Make an image of a snake and put it on a rod, and anyone who has been wounded by the snakes, looking on it will be made well.

⁹So Moses made a snake of brass and put it on a rod; and anyone who had a snakebite, after looking on the snake of brass, was made well.

¹⁰Then the children of Israel went on and put up their tents in Oboth.

¹¹And journeying on again from Oboth, they put up their tents in Iye-abarim, in the waste land before Moab looking east.

¹²And moving on from there, they put up their tents in the valley of Zered.

¹³From there they went on and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon, which is on the waste land at the edge of the land of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the line of division between Moab and the Amorites:

¹⁴As it says in the book of the Wars of the Lord, Vaheb in Suphah, and the valley of the Amon;

¹⁵The slope of the valleys going down to the tents of Ar and touching the edge of Moab.

¹⁶From there they went on to Beer, the water-spring of which the Lord said to Moses, Make the people come together and I will give them water.

¹⁷Then Israel gave voice to this song: Come up, O water-spring, let us make a song to it:

¹⁸The fountain made by the chiefs, made deep by the great ones of the people, with the law-givers' rod, and with their sticks. Then from the waste land they went on to Mattanah:

¹⁹And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:

²⁰And from Bamoth to the valley in the open country of Moab, and to the top of Pisgah looking over Jeshimon.

²¹And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,

²²Let me go through your land: we will not go into field or vine-garden, or take the water of the springs; we will go by the highway till we have gone past the limits of your land.

²³And Sihon would not let Israel go through his land; but got all his people together and went out against Israel into the waste land, as far as Jahaz, to make war on Israel.

²⁴But Israel overcame him, and took all his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the country of the children of Ammon, for the country of the children of Ammon was strongly armed.

²⁵And Israel took all their towns, living in Heshbon and all the towns and small places of the Amorites.

²⁶For Heshbon was the town of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had made war against an earlier king of Moab and taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.

²⁷So the makers of wise sayings say, Come to Heshbon, building up the town of Sihon and making it strong:

²⁸For a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon: for the destruction of Ar in Moab, and the lords of the high places of the Arnon.

²⁹Sorrow is yours, O Moab! Destruction is your fate, O people of Chemosh: his sons have gone in flight, and his daughters are prisoners, in the hands of Sihon, king of the Amorites.

³⁰They are wounded with our arrows; destruction has come on Heshbon, even to Dibon; and we have made the land waste as far as Nophah, stretching out to Medeba.

³¹So Israel put up their tents in the land of the Amorites.

³²And Moses sent men secretly to Jazer, and they took its towns, driving out the Amorites who were living there.

³³Then turning they went up by the way of Bashan; and Og, king of Bashan, went out against them with all his people, to the fight at Edrei.

³⁴And the Lord said to Moses, Have no fear of him: for I have given him up into your hands, with all his people and his land; do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, at Heshbon.

³⁵So they overcame him and his sons and his people, driving them all out: and they took his land for their heritage.

Numbers 22

¹Then the children of Israel, journeying on, put up their tents in the lowlands of Moab, on the other side of Jordan at Jericho.

²Now Balak, the son of Zippor, saw what Israel had done to the Amorites.

³And in Moab there was great fear of the people, because their numbers were so great: and the feeling of Moab was bitter against the children of Israel.

⁴Then Moab said to the responsible men of Midian, It is clear that this great people will be the destruction of everything round us, making a meal of us as the ox does of the grass of the field. At that time Balak, the son of Zippor, was king of Moab.

⁵So he sent men to Balaam, son of Beor, at Pethor by the River in the land of the children of his people, saying to him, See, a people has come out of Egypt, covering all the face of the earth, and they have put up their tents opposite to me:

⁶Come now, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people, for they are greater than I: and then I may be strong enough to overcome them and send them out of the land: for it is clear that good comes to him who has your blessing, but he on whom you put your curse is cursed.

⁷So the responsible men of Moab and Midian went away, taking in their hands rewards for the prophet; and they came to Balaam and said to him what Balak had given them orders to say.

⁸And he said to them, Take your rest here tonight, and I will give you an answer after hearing what the Lord says; so the chiefs of Moab kept there with Balaam that night.

⁹And God came to Balaam and said, Who are these men with you?

¹⁰And Balaam said to God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent them to me, saying,

¹¹See, the people who have come out of Egypt are covering all the earth: now, put a curse on this people for me, so that I may be able to make war on them, driving them out of the land.

¹²And God said to Balaam, You are not to go with them, or put a curse on this people, for they have my blessing.

¹³In the morning Balaam got up and said to the chiefs of Balak, Go back to your land, for the Lord will not let me go with you.

¹⁴So the chiefs of Moab went back to Balak and said, Balaam will not come with us.

¹⁵So Balak sent more chiefs, greater in number and of higher position than the others.

¹⁶And they came to Balaam and said, Balak, son of Zippor, says, Let nothing keep you from coming to me:

¹⁷For I will give you a place of very great honour, and whatever you say to me I will do; so come, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people.

¹⁸But Balaam, in answer; said to the servants of Balak, Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, it would not be possible for me to do anything more or less than the orders of the Lord my God.

¹⁹So take your rest here this night, till I have knowledge what more the Lord has to say to me.

²⁰And that night God came to Balaam and said to him, If these men have come for you, go with them: but do only what I say to you.

²¹So in the morning Balaam got up and, making his ass ready, went with the chiefs of Moab.

²²But God was moved to wrath because he went: and the angel of the Lord took up a position in the road to keep him from his purpose. Now he was seated on his ass, and his two servants were with him.

²³And the ass saw the angel of the Lord waiting in the road with his sword in his hand; and turning from the road, the ass went into the field; and Balaam gave the ass blows, to get her back on to the road.

²⁴Then the angel of the Lord took up his position in a narrow road through the vine-gardens, with a wall on this side and on that.

²⁵And the ass saw the angel of the Lord, and went near the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against the wall; and he gave her more blows.

²⁶Then the angel of the Lord went further, stopping in a narrow place where there was no room for turning to the right or to the left.

²⁷And the ass saw the angel of the Lord and went down on the earth under Balaam; and full of wrath, Balaam gave her hard blows with his stick.

²⁸Then the Lord gave the ass the power of talking, and opening her mouth she said to Balaam, What have I done to you that you have given me blows these three times?

²⁹And Balaam said to the ass, You have made me seem foolish: if only I had a sword in my hand I would put you to death.

³⁰And the ass said to Balaam, Am I not your ass upon which you have gone all your life till this day? and have I ever done this to you before? And he said, No.

³¹Then the Lord made Balaam's eyes open, and he saw the angel of the Lord in the way with his sword in his hand: and he went down on his face to the earth.

³²And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why have you given your ass blows these three times? See, I have come out against you to keep you back, because your purpose is not pleasing to me.

³³And the ass saw me, turning to one side from me three times: if she had not gone to one side, I would certainly have put you to death and kept her safe.

³⁴And Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I have done wrong, for I did not see that you were in the way against me: but now, if it is evil in your eyes, I will go back again.

³⁵And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, Go with the men; but say only what I give you to say. Then Balaam went on with the chiefs of Balak.

³⁶Now Balak, hearing that Balaam had come, went to the chief town of Moab, on the edge of the Arnon, in the farthest part of the land, for the purpose of meeting him.

³⁷And Balak said to Balaam, Did I not send to you, requesting you with all my heart to come to me? why did you not come? am I not able to give you a place of honour?

³⁸Then Balaam said to Balak, Now I have come to you; but have I power to say anything? Only what God puts into my mouth may I say.

³⁹And Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-huzoth.

⁴⁰And Balak made offerings of oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam and the chiefs who were with him.

⁴¹And in the morning Balak took Balaam up to the high places of Baal, and from there he was able to see the outer limits of the people.

Numbers 23

¹And Balaam said to Balak, Make me here seven altars and get ready seven oxen and seven male sheep.

²And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam made an offering on every altar of an ox and a male sheep.

³Then Balaam said to Balak, Take your place by your burned offering, and I will go and see if the Lord comes to me: and I will give you word of whatever he says to me. And he went to an open place on a hill.

⁴And God came to Balaam, and Balaam said to him, I have made ready seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.

⁵And the Lord put words in Balaam's mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.

⁶So he went back to him where he was waiting by his burned offering with all the chiefs of Moab.

⁷And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, From Aram Balak has sent for me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: come, put curses on Jacob for me and be angry with Israel.

⁸How may I put curses on him who is not cursed by God? how may I be angry with him with whom the Lord is not angry?

⁹From the top of the rocks I see him, looking down on him from the hills: it is a people made separate, not to be numbered among the nations.

¹⁰Who is able to take the measure of the dust of Jacob or the number of the thousands of Israel? May my death be the death of the upright and my last end like his!

¹¹Then Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I sent for you so that my haters might be cursed, and see, you have given them a blessing.

¹²And in answer he said, Am I not ordered to say only what the Lord puts into my mouth?

¹³And Balak said to him, Come with me now into another place from which you will not be able to see them all, but only the outskirts of them; and you will send curses on them from there.

¹⁴So he took him into the country of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and there they made seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.

¹⁵Then he said to Balak, Take your place here by your burned offering, while I go over there to the Lord.

¹⁶And the Lord came to Balaam, and put words in his mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.

¹⁷So he came to him where he was waiting by his burned offering with the chiefs of Moab by his side. And Balak said to him, What has the Lord said?

¹⁸And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, Up! Balak, and give ear; give attention to me, O son of Zippor:

¹⁹God is not a man, to say what is false; or the son of man, that his purpose may be changed: what he has said, will he not do? and will he not give effect to the words of his mouth?

²⁰See, I have had orders to give blessing: and he has given a blessing which I have no power to take away.

²¹He has seen no evil in Jacob or wrongdoing in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the glad cry of a king is among them.

²²It is God who has taken them out of Egypt; his horns are like those of the mountain ox.

²³No evil power has effect against Jacob, no secret arts against Israel; at the right time it will be said of Jacob and of Israel, See what God has done!

²⁴See, Israel comes up like a she-lion, lifting himself up like a lion: he will take no rest till he has made a meal of those he has overcome, drinking the blood of those he has put to death.

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, If you will not put a curse on them, at all events do not give them a blessing.

²⁶But Balaam in answer said to Balak, Did I not say to you, I may only do what the Lord says?

²⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; it may be that God will let you put a curse on them from there.

²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, looking down over the waste land.

²⁹And Balaam said to Balak, Make me seven altars here and get seven oxen and seven male sheep ready for me.

³⁰And Balak did as Balaam said, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.

Numbers 24

¹Now when Balaam saw that it was the Lord's pleasure to give his blessing to Israel, he did not, as at other times, make use of secret arts, but turning his face to the waste land,

²And lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel there, with their tents in the order of their tribes: and the spirit of God came on him.

³And moved by the spirit, he said, These are the words of Balaam, son of Beor, the words of the man whose eyes are open:

⁴He says, whose ears are open to the words of God, who has seen the vision of the Ruler of all, falling down, but having his eyes open:

⁵How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your houses, O Israel!

⁶They are stretched out like valleys, like gardens by the riverside, like flowering trees planted by the Lord, like cedar-trees by the waters.

⁷Peoples will be in fear before his strength, his arm will be on great nations: his king will be higher than Agag, and his kingdom made great in honour.

⁸It is God who has taken him out of Egypt; his horns are like those of the mountain ox; the nations warring against him will be his food, their bones will be broken, they will be wounded with his arrows.

⁹He took his sleep stretched out like a lion, and like a she-lion: by whom will his rest be broken? May a blessing be on everyone who gives you blessing, and a curse on everyone by whom you are cursed.

¹⁰Then Balak was full of wrath against Balaam, and angrily waving his hands he said to Balaam, I sent for you so that those who are against me might be cursed, but now, see, three times you have given them a blessing.

¹¹Go back quickly to the place you came from: it was my purpose to give you a place of honour, but now the Lord has kept you back from honour.

¹²Then Balaam said to Balak, Did I not say to the men you sent to me,

¹³Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, it would not be possible for me to go outside the orders of the Lord, doing good or evil at the impulse of my mind; whatever the Lord says I will say?

¹⁴So now I will go back to my people: but first let me make clear to you what this people will do to your people in days to come.

¹⁵Then he went on with his story and said, These are the words of Balaam, the son of Beor, the words of him whose eyes are open:

¹⁶He says, whose ear is open to the words of God, who has knowledge of the Most High, who has seen the vision of the Ruler of all, falling down and having his eyes open:

¹⁷I see him, but not now: looking on him, but not near: a star will come out of Jacob, and a rod of authority out of Israel, sending destruction to the farthest limits of Moab and on the head of all the sons of Sheth.

¹⁸Edom will be his heritage, and he will put an end to the last of the people of Seir.

¹⁹And Israel will go on in strength, and Jacob will have rule over his haters.

²⁰Then, turning his eyes to Amalek, he went on with his story and said, Amalek was the first of the nations, but his part will be destruction for ever.

²¹And looking on the Kenites he went on with his story and said, Strong is your living-place, and your secret place is safe in the rock.

²²But still the Kenites will be wasted, till Asshur takes you away prisoner.

²³Then he went on with his story and said, But who may keep his life when God does this?

²⁴But ships will come from the direction of Kittim, troubling Asshur and troubling Eber, and like the others their fate will be destruction.

²⁵Then Balaam got up and went back to his place: and Balak went away.