Numbers 22
1 And the children of Israel set forward, and encamped in the plains of Moab, on this side of the Jordan, opposite 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 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Emorites.
But King Balak, the son of Zippor, who ruled Moab, found out what the Israelis had done to the Amor people-group.
3 And Moab was greatly afraid of the people, because it was numerous; and Moab was horrified because of the children of Israel.
[When he saw that] the Israelis were very numerous, he and his people became terrified.
4 And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now will this assemblage devour all that is round about us, as the ox devoureth the grass of the field; and Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.
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 And he sent messengers unto Bil'am the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river, in the land of the children of his people, to have him called; saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt; behold, it covereth the surface of the earth, and it is abiding 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 And now do but come, curse me this people; for it is too mighty for me; peradventure I may be able to smite it, that I may drive it out of the land; for I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest 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 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Bil'am, and spoke unto him the words of Balak.
[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 unto them, Remain you here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord may speak unto me; and the princes of Moab abode with Bil'am.
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 unto Bil'am, and said, Who are these men with thee?
During the night, God appeared to Balaam and asked him, “(Who are/Tell me about) these men who are staying with you.”
10 And Bil'am said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, hath sent unto me, [saying, ]
Balaam replied, “Balak, the king of Moab, sent these men to tell me this:
11 Behold, there is the people that is come out of Egypt, and covereth the face of the earth: now come, denounce it for me; peradventure I shall be able to fight against it, and drive it away.
‘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 unto Bil'am, Thou shalt not go with them: thou shalt not curse the people; for it is blessed.
God replied to Balaam, “Do not go with them! I have blessed those people, so you must not curse them!”
13 And Bil'am rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Go back to your land; for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to 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 And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Bil'am refuseth to come with us.
So the men from Moab returned to King Balak and they reported to him, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
15 And Balak sent yet again princes, more in number, and more honorable than those.
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 Bil'am, and said to him, Thus hath said Balak the son of Zippor, Do not suffer thyself, I pray thee, to be prevented from coming unto 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 honor thee greatly, and whatsoever thou mayest say unto me will I do: and only come, I pray thee, denounce me 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 And Bil'am answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the order of the Lord my God, to do a small or a great thing.
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 And now, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will farther speak with 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 God came unto Bil'am at night, and said unto him, If to call thee the men have come, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I shall speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.
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 And Bil'am rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes 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 And the anger of God was kindled, because he went; and an angel of the Lord placed himself in the way to be a hindrance to him; and he was riding upon 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 standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Bil'am smote the ass, to make her turn into the way.
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 But the angel of the Lord stepped into a path between the vineyards, [with] a wall on this side, and a wall on that side.
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 when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she forced herself against the wall, and pressed Bil'am's foot against the wall: and he smote her again.
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 And the angel of the Lord went yet farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either 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 when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Bil'am: whereupon Bil'am's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a 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 And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Bil'am, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me 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 Bil'am said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: had I but a sword in my hand, I would assuredly have now killed thee.
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 unto Bil'am, Am not I thy ass, upon which thou hast ridden from thy commencement unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? 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 opened the eyes of Bil'am, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head and prostrated himself on his face.
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 unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thy ass these three times? behold, I went out to be a hindrance; because the journey which is odious to me was too quickly begun.
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, and turned aside before me these three times; if she had not turned aside from me, I would surely now not only have slain thee, but saved her alive.
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 Bil'am said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou wast standing against me in the way; but now, if it be evil in thy eyes, I will return home 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 unto Bil'am, Go with the men; however, only the word which I will speak unto thee, that shalt thou speak: and Bil'am went with the princes 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 And when Balak heard that Bil'am was come, he went out to meet him unto 'Ir-Moab, which is on the border of Arnon, which is at the outmost end of the boundary.
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 unto Bil'am, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to have thee called? wherefore camest thou not unto me? in truth, am I not able to honor thee?
[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 And Bil'am said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee; have I now any power whatever to speak the least? the word that God may put in my mouth, that alone must I speak.
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 Bil'am went with Balak, and they came unto Kiryath-chuzoth.
Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-Huzoth [town].
40 And Balak slew oxen and sheep, and sent to Bil'am and to the princes that 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 it came to pass in the morning, that Balak took Bil'am, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, and he saw thence a portion 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.
