Numbers 22
1 And the sons of Israel journey and encamp in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan, [by] Jericho.
The Israelites moved on and camped on the plains of Moab east of the Jordan, opposite Jericho.
2 And Balak son of Zippor sees all that Israel has done to the Amorite,
Balak, son of Zippor, had seen all that the Israelites 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,
The Moabites were terrified of the Israelites because there were so many of them. The Moabites dreaded the arrival of 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,
and told the leaders of Midian, “This horde will eat up everything we have, just like an ox eats up grass in the field!” (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 call Balaam, son of Beor, who lived in Pethor near the Euphrates River in his own country. “Listen, a group of people has arrived here who came from Egypt,” Balak said in his message to Balaam. “There are hordes of them and they present a real threat 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.”
Please come immediately and curse these people for me, because they are stronger than me. Maybe then I'll be able to attack them and drive them out of my country because I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is 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 Moabite and Midianite leaders departed, taking payment for the fortune-telling with them. When they arrived they gave Balaam the message from 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.
“Stay the night and I'll let you know the answer the Lord gives me,” Balaam told them. So the Moabite leaders stayed there with Balaam.
9 And God comes to Balaam and says, “Who [are] these men with you?”
God came to Balaam and asked him, “Who are these men staying with you?”
10 And Balaam says to God, “Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me:
Balaam told God, “Balak, son of Zippor, the 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”;
‘Listen, a group of people has arrived here who came from Egypt. There are hordes of them. Please come immediately and curse these people for me. Maybe then I'll be able to fight them and drive them out of my country.’”
12 and God says to Balaam, “You do not go with them; you do not curse the people, for it [is] blessed.”
But God told Balaam, “You are not to go back with them. You must not 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”;
In the morning Balaam got up and said to Balak's messengers, “Go back to where you came from because the Lord has refused to allow 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.”
The Moabite leaders left. They returned to Balak, and told him, “Balaam refused to come back with us.”
15 And Balak adds yet to send princes, more numerous and honored than these,
Then Balak sent even more leaders who were more prestigious than before.
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,
When they arrived they told Balaam, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Please don't let anything stop you from coming to see 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.”
because I will pay you a great deal and follow all the advice you give me. Please come and curse these 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 told Balak's officials, “Even if Balak gave me his whole palace full of silver and gold, I couldn't disobey the command of the Lord my God in any way.
19 and now, please abide in this [place], you also, tonight, then I know what YHWH is adding to speak with me.”
Now you should also stay the night so I can see if the Lord has anything else 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.”
God came to Balaam during the night and told him, “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But only do what I tell you.”
21 And Balaam rises in the morning, and saddles his donkey, and goes with the princes of Moab,
In the morning Balaam got up, put a saddle on his donkey, and left with the Moabite leaders.
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,
God's got angry because Balaam had decided to go. The angel of the Lord came and stood in the road to confront him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and he was accompanied by his two servants.
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.
The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road holding a drawn sword, so it turned from the road and went into a field. So Balaam beat it to make it go back to the road.
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 part of the road that passed between two vineyards, with walls on both sides.
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;
The donkey saw the angel of the Lord and tried to get past. It pushed up against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against it. So he beat it 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,
Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to get past, either on 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.
The donkey saw the angel of the Lord and lay down under Balaam. He got angry and beat it with his walking stick.
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?”
The Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you for you to beat me 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”;
“You made me look stupid!” Balaam told the donkey. “If I was holding a sword, I'd kill you 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 asked Balaam, “Aren't I the donkey you've ridden all your life right up to today? Have I ever treated you this way before?” “No,” he admitted.
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 gave Balaam the ability to see the angel of the Lord standing in the road holding a drawn sword. Balaam bowed low and fell facedown on the ground.
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 did you beat your donkey three times? Listen, I have come to confront you because you're being obstinate.
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 avoided me three times. If it had not avoided me, by now I definitely would have killed you and allowed the donkey to 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 because I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me,” Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “So if this isn't what you want, I'll 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.
The angel of the Lord told Balaam, “No, you can go with the men, but only say what I tell you.” So Balaam continued on with Balak's officials.
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 found out that Balaam was on his way, he went out to meet him at the Moabite town on the border at the Arnon River, the farthest point 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?”
He said to Balaam, “Didn't you think my call for you to come was urgent? Why didn't you come to me straight away? Did you think I couldn't pay you enough?”
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.”
“Look, I'm here with you now, aren't I?” Balaam replied. “But do you think I can just say anything? I can only speak the words that God gives me to say.”
39 And Balaam goes with Balak, and they come to Kirjath-Huzoth,
So Balaam went with Balak and they arrived at 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 shared with meat with Balaam and the leaders 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 up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see the extent of the Israelite camp.
