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 moved forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side of Jordan [by] Jericho.
2 And Balak son of Zippor sees all that Israel has done to the Amorite,
And Balak the 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 greatly afraid of the people, because they [were] many: and Moab was distressed because 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 Midian, Now shall this company lick up all [that are] around us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor [was] king of the Moabites 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 therefore to Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which [is] by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there has a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against 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.”
Come now therefore, I pray thee, Curse for me this people; for they [are] too mighty for me: it may be I shall prevail, [that] we may smite them, and [that] I may drive them out of the land: for I know that he whom thou blessest [is] blessed, and he whom thou cursest 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,
And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and spoke 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.
And he said to them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak to me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.
9 And God comes to Balaam and says, “Who [are] these men with you?”
And God came to Balaam, and said, What men [are] these with thee?
10 And Balaam says to God, “Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me:
And Balaam said to God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent 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, [there has] a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse them for me: it may be I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.
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, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not 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 in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Depart into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave 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 up, and they went to Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.
15 And Balak adds yet to send princes, more numerous and honored than these,
And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honorable 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 said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee 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 promote thee to very great honor, and I will do whatever thou sayest to me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse 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;
And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.
19 and now, please abide in this [place], you also, tonight, then I know what YHWH is adding to speak with me.”
Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say to me more.
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 at night, and said to him, If the men come to call thee, rise [and] go with them; but yet the word which I shall say to thee, that shalt thou perform.
21 And Balaam rises in the morning, and saddles his donkey, and goes with the princes of Moab,
And Balaam rose 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's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon 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 the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into 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],
But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall [being] on this side, and a wall on that 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 when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself against the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote 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 further, and stood in a narrow place, where [was] no way to turn either to the right hand or to 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 the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a 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 the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, What have I done to thee, that thou hast smitten 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”;
And Balaam said to the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in my hand, for now would I kill thee.
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 said to Balaam, [Am] not I thy ass, upon which thou hast rid ever since [I was] thine to this day? was I ever wont to do so to thee? And he said, Nay.
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 the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat 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 the LORD said to him, Why hast thou smitten thy ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because [thy] 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.”
And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and 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 knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displeaseth thee, I will return again.
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: but only the word that I shall speak to thee, that thou shalt speak: 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;
And when Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to a city of Moab, which [is] in the border of Arnon, which [is] in the utmost limit.
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 Balak said to Balaam, Did I not earnestly send to thee to call thee? why camest thou not to me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honor?
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 Balak, Lo, I have come to thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.
39 And Balaam goes with Balak, and they come to Kirjath-Huzoth,
And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kirjath-huzoth.
40 and Balak sacrifices oxen and sheep, and sends [some] to Balaam and to the princes who [are] with him;
And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that [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 came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and conducted him to the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost [part] of the people.
