Numbers 22
1 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].
Salieron los hijos de Israel y acamparon en las llanuras de Moab, junto al Jordán, frente a Jericó.
2 But King Balak, the son of Zippor, who ruled Moab, found out what the Israelis had done to the Amor people-group.
Balac, hijo de Zippor, vio todo lo que Israel hizo a los amorreos.
3 [When he saw that] the Israelis were very numerous, he and his people became terrified.
Moab tuvo gran temor delante del pueblo porque era muy numeroso, y Moab tuvo temor a causa de los hijos de Israel.
4 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.
Entonces Moab dijo a los ancianos de Madián: Ahora, como el buey lame la hierba del campo, esta multitud lamerá todos nuestros contornos. En aquel tiempo Balac, hijo de Zippor, era rey de Moab.
5 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.
Envió mensajeros a Balaam, hijo de Beor, en Petor, que está junto al Río, en la tierra de los hijos de su pueblo, para que lo llamaran, y dijo: Un pueblo que salió de Egipto cubre la superficie de la tierra y ya está frente a mí.
6 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.”
Ven ahora, te ruego, y maldíceme a este pueblo porque es demasiado poderoso para mí. Quizás yo pueda herirlo, y lo echaremos de la tierra, porque yo sé que al que tú bendigas será bendito y al que tú maldigas será maldito.
7 [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.
Fueron, pues, los ancianos de Moab y los ancianos de Madián con la paga para el adivino en sus manos. Llegaron a Balaam, y le hablaron las palabras de Balac.
8 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.
Y él les dijo: Alójense aquí esta noche, y yo les comunicaré la Palabra según lo que Yavé me hable. Así que los jefes de Moab se quedaron con Balaam.
9 During the night, God appeared to Balaam and asked him, “(Who are/Tell me about) these men who are staying with you.”
ʼElohim vino a Balaam y le dijo: ¿Quiénes son estos varones que están contigo?
10 Balaam replied, “Balak, the king of Moab, sent these men to tell me this:
Balaam dijo a ʼElohim: Balac, hijo de Zippor, rey de Moab, envió por mí y dijo:
11 ‘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].’”
Mira, un pueblo que salió de Egipto cubre la superficie de la tierra. Ven ahora, y maldícemelo. Quizás pueda yo luchar contra él y echarlo.
12 God replied to Balaam, “Do not go with them! I have blessed those people, so you must not curse them!”
Entonces ʼElohim dijo a Balaam: No vayas con ellos ni maldecirás al pueblo, porque es bendito.
13 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.”
Balaam se levantó de mañana, y dijo a los jefes de Balac: Regresen a su tierra, porque Yavé se niega a dejarme ir con ustedes.
14 So the men from Moab returned to King Balak and they reported to him, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
Los jefes de Moab se levantaron y fueron a Balac y le dijeron: Balaam se negó a venir con nosotros.
15 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].
Luego Balac volvió a enviar jefes más numerosos y honorables que los otros,
16 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.
los cuales fueron a Balaam, y le dijeron: Así dice Balac, hijo de Zippor: Te ruego que no te niegues a venir a mí,
17 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!’”
porque ciertamente te honraré inmensamente y haré todo lo que me digas. Te ruego, ven ahora, maldíceme a este pueblo.
18 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]).
Balaam respondió a los esclavos de Balac: Aunque Balac me diera su casa llena de plata y oro, no puedo traspasar la Palabra de Yavé mi ʼElohim para hacer cosa pequeña ni grande.
19 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.”
Les ruego ahora que se queden aquí esta noche, y yo averiguaré qué más me dice Yavé.
20 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]!”
ʼElohim vino a Balaam de noche y le dijo: Si los hombres vinieron para llamarte, levántate y vé con ellos, pero le dirás solo la Palabra que Yo hable contigo.
21 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.
Así que Balaam se levantó por la mañana, enalbardó su asna y fue con los jefes de Moab.
22 [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,
Pero mientras él iba, la ira de ʼElohim se encendió, y el Ángel de Yavé se puso en el camino para oponerse a él. Él iba montado en su asna, y sus dos esclavos con él.
23 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.
Cuando el asna vio al Ángel de Yavé en el camino con su espada desenvainada en su mano, el asna se desvió del camino y se fue por el campo. Entonces Balaam azotó al asna para hacerla volver al camino.
24 Then the angel stood in a place where the road was very narrow, between two vineyards, with walls on each side of the road.
Pero el Ángel de Yavé estaba en pie en un sendero entre las viñas, el cual tenía una cerca a un lado y una cerca al otro lado.
25 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.
Al ver al Ángel de Yavé, el asna se pegó contra la cerca y apretó el pie de Balaam contra la cerca. Y él volvió a azotarla.
26 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.
Entonces el Ángel de Yavé pasó más allá y se puso en pie en una angostura donde no había camino para desviarse ni a derecha ni a izquierda.
27 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.
Al ver al Ángel de Yavé, el asna se echó debajo de Balaam, y Balaam se enojó y azotó al asna con la vara.
28 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?”
Entonces Yavé le abrió la boca al asna, la cual dijo a Balaam: ¿Qué te hice, que me has azotado ya tres veces?
29 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!”
Balaam respondió al asna: Porque me has maltratado. ¡Si tuviera una espada en mi mano, ahora mismo te mataría!
30 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.”
Y el asna contestó a Balaam: ¿No soy yo tu asna, en la que has montado toda tu vida hasta hoy? ¿Acostumbro hacerte esto? Y él respondió: No.
31 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.
Entonces Yavé abrió los ojos a Balaam y vio al Ángel de Yavé en pie en el camino con su espada desenvainada en la mano. Y Balaam hizo reverencia y se postró sobre su rostro.
32 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.
El Ángel de Yavé le preguntó: ¿Por qué has azotado a tu asna estas tres veces? Mira, Yo salí para oponerme a ti, porque tu camino es perverso delante de Mí.
33 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.”
El asna me vio y se apartó de delante de Mí estas tres veces. Si no se hubiera apartado de Mí, Yo te habría matado a ti, y a ella la habría dejado viva.
34 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.”
Entonces Balaam dijo al Ángel de Yavé: Pequé, porque no sabía que Tú te pusiste delante de mí en el camino. Pero ahora, si te desagrada, regresaré.
35 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].
El Ángel de Yavé dijo a Balaam: Vé con los varones, pero solo hablarás la Palabra que Yo te diga. Y Balaam fue con los jefes de Balac.
36 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.
Al oír [el rey] Balac que Balaam iba, salió a recibirlo en la ciudad de Moab que está junto al límite de Arnón, al extremo de su territorio.
37 [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?”
Balac dijo a Balaam: ¿No envié a llamarte? ¿Por qué no venías a mí? ¿No puedo yo honrarte?
38 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].”
Y Balaam respondió a Balac: ¡Mira, yo vine a ti! ¿Pero podré hablar algo? La Palabra que ʼElohim ponga en mi boca, esa tengo que hablar.
39 Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-Huzoth [town].
Y Balaam fue con Balac, y llegaron a Quiriat-husot.
40 There Balak killed some cattle and sheep as sacrifices, and offered [parts of the meat] to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.
Balac sacrificó becerros y ovejas, y envió [algo] a Balaam y a los jefes que estaban con él.
41 [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.
El día siguiente Balac tomó a Balaam y le ordenó subir a Bamot-baal, y desde allí contempló una parte del pueblo.
