Numbers 22
1 And the sons of Israel journey and encamp in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan, [by] Jericho.
And the children of Israel departed, and encamped on the west of Moab by Jordan towards Jericho.
2 And Balak son of Zippor sees all that Israel has done to the Amorite,
And when Balac son of Sepphor saw all that Israel did to the Amorite,
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,
then Moab feared the people exceedingly because they were many; and Moab was grieved before the face of the children of Israel.
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,
And Moab said to the elders of Madiam, Now shall this assembly lick up all that are round about us, as a calf would lick up the green [herbs] of the field: —and Balac son of Sepphor 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;
And he sent ambassadors to Balaam the son of Beor, to Phathura, which is on a river of the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, a people is come out of Egypt, and behold it has covered the face of the earth, and it has encamped close 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.”
And now come, curse me this people, for it is stronger than we; if we may be able to strike some of them, and I will cast them out of the land: for I know that whoever you do bless, they are blessed, and whoever you do curse, they 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,
And the elders of Moab went, and the elders of Madiam, and their divining [instruments were] in their hands; and they came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balac.
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.
And he said to them, Tarry here the night, and I will answer you the things which the Lord shall say to me; and the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
9 And God comes to Balaam and says, “Who [are] these men with you?”
And God came to Balaam, and said to him, 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, Balac son of Sepphor, king of Moab, sent them to me, saying,
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 forth out of Egypt, and has covered the face of the land, and it has encamped near to me; and now come, curse it for me, if indeed I shall be able to strike it, and cast it out of the land.
12 and God says to Balaam, “You do not go with them; you do not curse the people, for it [is] blessed.”
And God said to Balaam, You shall not go with them, neither shall you curse the 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”;
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balac, Depart quickly to your lord; God does not permit me to 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 rose, and came to Balac, and said, Balaam will not come with us.
15 And Balak adds yet to send princes, more numerous and honored than these,
And Balac yet again sent more princes and more honourable than they.
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,
And they came to Balaam, and they say to him, Thus says Balac the son of Sepphor: I beseech you, delay not to come 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 greatly honour you, and will do for you whatever you shall say; come then, curse me this people.
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;
And Balaam answered and said to the princes of Balac, If Balac would give me his house full of silver and gold, I shall not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord God, to make it little or great in my mind.
19 and now, please abide in this [place], you also, tonight, then I know what YHWH is adding to speak with me.”
And now do you also wait here this night, and I shall know what the Lord will yet say to 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.”
And God came to Balaam by night, and said to him, If these men are come to call you, rise and follow them; nevertheless the word which I shall speak to you, it shall you do.
21 And Balaam rises in the morning, and saddles his donkey, and goes with the princes of Moab,
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, 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,
And God was very angry because he went; and the angel of the Lord rose up to withstand him. Now he had mounted his ass, 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.
And when the ass saw the angel of God standing opposite in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand, then the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field; and [Balaam] struck the ass with his staff to direct her in the way.
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],
And the angel of the Lord stood in the avenues of the vines, a fence [being] on this side and a fence on that.
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 when the ass saw the angel of God, she thrust herself against the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall, and he struck her 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 went farther, and came and stood in a narrow place where it was impossible to turn to the right or the 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.
And when the ass saw the angel of God, she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam was angry, and struck the ass 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?”
And God opened the mouth of the ass, and she says to Balaam, What have I done to you, that you have struck me this third time?
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”;
And Balaam said to the ass, Because you have mocked me; and if I [had] had a sword in my hand, I would now have killed you.
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.”
And the ass says to Balaam, [Am] not I your ass on which you have ridden since your youth till this day? did I ever do thus to you, utterly disregarding [you]? and he said, No.
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;
And God opened the eyes of Balaam, and he sees the angel of the Lord withstanding [him] in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand, and he stooped down and worshipped on his face.
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,
And the angel of God said to him, Why have you struck your ass this third time? and, behold, I came out to withstand you, for your way was not seemly before me; and when the ass saw me, she turned away from me this third time.
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.”
And if she had not turned out of the way, surely now, I should have slain you, and should have saved her alive.
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.”
And Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing opposite in the way to meet [me]; and now if it shall not be pleasing to you [for me to go on], I will return.
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.
And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, Go with the men: nevertheless the word which I shall speak to you, that you shall take heed to speak. And Balaam went with the princes of Balac.
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;
And when Balac heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him, to a city of Moab, which is on the borders of Arnon, which is on the [extreme] part of the borders.
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 Balac said to Balaam, Did I not send to you to call you? why have you not come to me? shall I not indeed be able to honour 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.”
And Balaam said to Balac, Behold, I am now come to you: shall I be able to say anything? the word which God shall put into my mouth, that I shall speak.
39 And Balaam goes with Balak, and they come to Kirjath-Huzoth,
And Balaam went with Balac, and they came to the cities of streets.
40 and Balak sacrifices oxen and sheep, and sends [some] to Balaam and to the princes who [are] with him;
And Balac offered sheep and calves, and sent to Balaam and to his 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.
And it was morning; and Balac took Balaam, and brought him up to the pillar of Baal, and showed him thence a part of the people.
