Numbers 22
1 And the sons of Israel journey and encamp in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan, [by] Jericho.
Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
2 And Balak son of Zippor sees all that Israel has done to the Amorite,
Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites,
3 and Moab is exceedingly afraid of the presence of the people, for it [is] numerous; and Moab is distressed by the presence of the sons of Israel,
and Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous. Indeed, Moab dreaded the Israelites.
4 and Moab says to [the] elderly of Midian, “Now the assembly licks up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the green thing of the field.” And Balak son of Zippor [is] king of Moab at that time,
So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Since Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time,
5 and he sends messengers to Balaam son of Beor, to Pethor, which [is] by the River of the land of the sons of his people, to call for him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt; behold, it has covered the eye of the land, and it is abiding in front of me;
he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt,” said Balak. “They cover the face of the land and have settled next to me.
6 and now, come, please curse this people for me, for it [is] mightier than I. It may be I prevail, [and] we strike it, and I cast it out from the land; for I have known that which you bless is blessed, and that which you curse is cursed.”
So please come now and put a curse on this people, because they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land; for I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.”
7 And [the] elderly of Moab and [the] elderly of Midian go with divinations in their hand, and they come to Balaam and speak the words of Balak to him,
The elders of Moab and Midian departed with the fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and relayed to him the words of Balak.
8 and he says to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I have brought you back word, as YHWH speaks to me”; and the princes of Moab abide with Balaam.
“Spend the night here,” Balaam replied, “and I will give you the answer that the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
9 And God comes to Balaam and says, “Who [are] these men with you?”
Then God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”
10 And Balaam says to God, “Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me:
And Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:
11 Behold, the people that is coming out from Egypt and covers the eye of the land—now come, pierce it for me; it may be I am able to fight against it and have cast it out”;
‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’”
12 and God says to Balaam, “You do not go with them; you do not curse the people, for it [is] blessed.”
But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”
13 And Balaam rises in the morning and says to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land, for YHWH is refusing to permit me to go with you”;
So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your homeland, because the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”
14 and the princes of Moab rise, and come to Balak, and say, “Balaam is refusing to come with us.”
And the princes of Moab arose, returned to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
15 And Balak adds yet to send princes, more numerous and honored than these,
Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first messengers.
16 and they come to Balaam and say to him, “Thus said Balak son of Zippor: Please do not be withheld from coming to me,
They came to Balaam and said, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me,
17 for I honor you very greatly, and all that you say to me I do; and come, please pierce this people for me.”
for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on this people for me!’”
18 And Balaam answers and says to the servants of Balak, “If Balak gives to me the fullness of his house of silver and gold, I am not able to pass over the command of my God YHWH, to do a little or a great thing;
But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.
19 and now, please abide in this [place], you also, tonight, then I know what YHWH is adding to speak with me.”
So now, please stay here overnight as the others did, that I may find out what else the LORD has to tell me.”
20 And God comes to Balaam by night and says to him, “If the men have come to call for you, rise, go with them, and only the thing which I speak to you—do it.”
That night God came to Balaam and said, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”
21 And Balaam rises in the morning, and saddles his donkey, and goes with the princes of Moab,
So in the morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
22 and the anger of God burns because he is going, and the Messenger of YHWH stations Himself in the way for an adversary to him, and he is riding on his donkey, and two of his servants [are] with him,
Then God’s anger was kindled because Balaam was going along, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
23 and the donkey sees the Messenger of YHWH standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turns aside out of the way and goes into a field, and Balaam strikes the donkey to turn it aside into the way.
When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the path and went into a field. So Balaam beat her to return her to the path.
24 And the Messenger of YHWH stands in a narrow path of the vineyards, [with] a wall on this [side] and a wall on that [side],
Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow passage between two vineyards, with walls on either side.
25 and the donkey sees the Messenger of YHWH, and is pressed to the wall, and presses Balaam’s foot to the wall, and he adds to strike her;
And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD and pressed herself against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her once again.
26 and the Messenger of YHWH adds to pass over, and stands in a narrow place where there is no way to turn aside [to] the right or left,
And the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn to the right or left.
27 and the donkey sees the Messenger of YHWH, and crouches under Balaam, and the anger of Balaam burns, and he strikes the donkey with a staff.
When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he became furious and beat her with his staff.
28 And YHWH opens the mouth of the donkey, and she says to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?”
Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”
29 And Balaam says to the donkey, “Because you have rolled yourself against me; oh that there were a sword in my hand, for now I had slain you”;
Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!”
30 and the donkey says to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden since [I became] yours, even to this day? Have I at all been accustomed to do thus to you?” And he says, “No.”
But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not the donkey you have ridden all your life until today? Have I ever treated you this way before?” “No,” he replied.
31 And YHWH uncovers the eyes of Balaam, and he sees the Messenger of YHWH standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and he bows and pays respect, to his face;
Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. And Balaam bowed low and fell facedown.
32 and the Messenger of YHWH says to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out for an adversary, for [your] way has been perverse before Me,
The angel of the LORD asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you, because your way is perverse before me.
33 and the donkey sees Me and turns aside at My presence these three times; unless she had turned aside from My presence, surely I had also slain you now, and kept her alive.”
The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, then by now I would surely have killed you and let her live.”
34 And Balaam says to the Messenger of YHWH, “I have sinned, for I did not know that You [are] standing to meet me in the way; and now, if [it is] evil in Your eyes, I turn back by myself.”
“I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.”
35 And the Messenger of YHWH says to Balaam, “Go with the men; and only the word which I speak to you—it you speak”; and Balaam goes with the princes of Balak.
But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
36 And Balak hears that Balaam has come, and goes out to meet him, to a city of Moab, which [is] on the border of Arnon, which [is] in the extremity of the border;
When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the Moabite city on the Arnon border, at the edge of his territory.
37 and Balak says to Balaam, “Did I not diligently send to you to call for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not truly able to honor you?”
And he said to Balaam, “Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why did you not come to me? Am I really not able to richly reward you?”
38 And Balaam says to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you; now, am I able to speak anything at all? The word which God sets in my mouth—it I speak.”
“See, I have come to you,” Balaam replied, “but can I say just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.”
39 And Balaam goes with Balak, and they come to Kirjath-Huzoth,
So Balaam accompanied Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.
40 and Balak sacrifices oxen and sheep, and sends [some] to Balaam and to the princes who [are] with him;
Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and he gave portions to Balaam and the princes who were with him.
41 and it comes to pass in the morning, that Balak takes Balaam and causes him to go up [to] the high places of Ba‘al, and he sees the extremity of the people from there.
The next morning, Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see the outskirts of the camp of the people.
