Numbers 22
1 Then the children of Israel, journeying on, put up their tents in the lowlands of Moab, on the other side of Jordan at Jericho.
Then the Israelis traveled west to the area of Moab that was in the valley of the Jordan [River], across the river from Jericho [city].
2 Now Balak, the son of Zippor, saw what Israel had done to the Amorites.
But King Balak, the son of Zippor, who ruled Moab, found out what the Israelis had done to the Amor people-group.
3 And 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.
[When he saw that] the Israelis were very numerous, he and his people became terrified.
4 Then 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.
So the king of Moab [went to] the leaders of the Midian people-group and said to them, “This huge group [of Israelis] will (wipe out/destroy) everything around them, like an ox devours grass!” Balak was the king of Moab.
5 So 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:
He sent messengers to [a prophet named] Balaam, who was living in his own area, in Pethor [town], near the [Euphrates] River. He sent this message to request that Balaam would come [to help him]: “A huge group of people has arrived here from Egypt. [It looks like] they are covering the entire land! And they have begun to live close to us.
6 Come 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.
Because they are very powerful/numerous, [we are afraid of them. So] please come and curse them for me. Then my army may be able to defeat them and expel them from the land [where they are now living]. I know that good things will happen to the people whom you bless, and disasters will happen to the people whom you curse.”
7 So 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.
[Balak’s messengers, who were] leaders of both the Moab and Midian people-groups, took money with them to pay Balaam in order that he would [come and] curse the Israelis. They went to Balaam and told him what Balak had said.
8 And 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.
Balaam said, “Stay here tonight. [Tomorrow morning] I will tell you whatever Yahweh tells me that I should say to you.” So the leaders from Moab stayed there that night.
9 And God came to Balaam and said, Who are these men with you?
During the night, God appeared to Balaam and asked him, “(Who are/Tell me about) these men who are staying with you.”
10 And Balaam said to God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent them to me, saying,
Balaam replied, “Balak, the king of Moab, sent these men to tell me this:
11 See, 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.
‘A huge group of people has come from Egypt, and they have spread all over this area. Please come immediately to curse them. Then I may be able to defeat them and expel them [from this area].’”
12 And God said to Balaam, You are not to go with them, or put a curse on this people, for they have my blessing.
God replied to Balaam, “Do not go with them! I have blessed those people, so you must not curse them!”
13 In 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.
The next morning, Balaam got up and told Balak’s men, “Go back home. [But go by yourselves, because] Yahweh is not allowing me to go with you.”
14 So the chiefs of Moab went back to Balak and said, Balaam will not come with us.
So the men from Moab returned to King Balak and they reported to him, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
15 So Balak sent more chiefs, greater in number and of higher position than the others.
But Balak sent another [group of] leaders to Balaam. It was a group that was larger and they were more important [than the men in the first group].
16 And they came to Balaam and said, Balak, son of Zippor, says, Let nothing keep you from coming to me:
They went to Balaam and told him this: “This is what King Balak says: ‘Please do not allow anything to hinder you from coming here.
17 For 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.
I will pay you (a lot of money/very well) [if you come], and I will do anything that you ask me to do. Just come and curse these [Israeli] people for me!’”
18 But 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.
But Balaam answered them, “Even if Balak would give me a palace filled with silver and gold, I would not do anything to disobey Yahweh, (my God/the God whom I [worship]).
19 So take your rest here this night, till I have knowledge what more the Lord has to say to me.
But stay here one more night, like the other messengers did, and I will find out if Yahweh has anything more to say to me.”
20 And 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.
That night God appeared to Balaam again and said to him, “These men have come to request that you go back with them, so you may go with them, but do only what I tell you [to do]!”
21 So in the morning Balaam got up and, making his ass ready, went with the chiefs of Moab.
So the next morning, Balaam put a saddle on his donkey and he departed [with two of his servants] along with the men from Moab.
22 But 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.
[Even though God had given Balaam permission to go, he was still angry]. So he sent one of his angels to Balaam. This angel stood in the road to block Balaam’s path. As Balaam and the two servants were riding on their donkeys,
23 And 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.
Balaam’s donkey saw the angel. The angel was standing in the road and was holding a sword in his hand, [but Balaam did not see him]. Balaam’s donkey turned off the road into a field. So Balaam struck the donkey and forced it to go back onto the road.
24 Then 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.
Then the angel stood in a place where the road was very narrow, between two vineyards, with walls on each side of the road.
25 And 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.
When the donkey saw the angel standing there, it walked very close to the wall [to try to get past the angel]. As a result, it bashed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam struck the donkey again.
26 Then 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.
Then the angel went further along the road and stood at a place that was extremely narrow, with the result that the donkey could not get past at all.
27 And 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.
This time, when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down [on the ground] with Balaam sitting on top of it. Balaam became extremely angry, and he struck the donkey again with his walking stick.
28 Then 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?
Then Yahweh enabled the donkey to speak! It said to Balaam, “What bad thing have I done to you that caused you to strike me three times?”
29 And 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.
Balaam shouted, “I struck you because you have caused me to appear to be foolish! If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”
30 And 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.
But the donkey answered, “I am your own donkey [RHQ], the one that you have always ridden! Have I ever done anything like this previously?” Balaam said, “No.”
31 Then 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.
Then Yahweh enabled Balaam to see the angel standing on the road, holding a sword in his hand. Balaam [realized that it was an angel and] prostrated himself on the ground in front of the angel.
32 And 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.
The angel asked him, ‘(Why did you strike your donkey three times?/ You should certainly not have struck the donkey three times! [RHQ] I have come to block your path because what you are planning to do is wrong.
33 And 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.
Three times your donkey saw me and turned away from me. If it had not done that, I would certainly have killed you already, but I would have allowed the donkey to live.”
34 And 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.
Then Balaam said to the angel, “I have sinned. But I did not realize that you were standing there, trying to block my path. So if you do not want me to continue going, I will return home.”
35 And 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.
But the angel replied, “I will allow you to go with these men, but you must say only what I tell you to say!” So Balaam went on with the leaders whom Balak [had sent].
36 Now 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.
When King Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went to meet him at a Moab town alongside the Arnon [River] that was at the border of his own land.
37 And 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?
[When he arrived where] Balaam was, he said to him, “I sent you [RHQ] a message saying that you should come immediately [RHQ]! Why did you not come immediately? [Did you think that] I was not able to pay you a lot of money for coming?”
38 Then 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.
Balaam replied, “I have come here now, but I am not able to say anything [that I want to]. I will say only the words that God tells me to say [MTY].”
39 And Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-huzoth.
Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-Huzoth [town].
40 And Balak made offerings of oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam and the chiefs who were with him.
There Balak killed some cattle and sheep as sacrifices, and offered [parts of the meat] to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.
41 And 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.
[They slept there], and the next morning Balak took Balaam part way up [the mountain] to Bamoth-Baal [village]. From there, they could see some of the Israeli people who were down below.
