Ἀριθμοί 22
1 καὶ ἀπάραντες οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ παρενέβαλον ἐπὶ δυσμῶν Μωαβ παρὰ τὸν Ιορδάνην κατὰ Ιεριχω
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].
2 καὶ ἰδὼν Βαλακ υἱὸς Σεπφωρ πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησεν Ισραηλ τῷ Αμορραίῳ
But King Balak, the son of Zippor, who ruled Moab, found out what the Israelis had done to the Amor people-group.
3 καὶ ἐφοβήθη Μωαβ τὸν λαὸν σφόδρα ὅτι πολλοὶ ἦσαν καὶ προσώχθισεν Μωαβ ἀπὸ προσώπου υἱῶν Ισραηλ
[When he saw that] the Israelis were very numerous, he and his people became terrified.
4 καὶ εἶπεν Μωαβ τῇ γερουσίᾳ Μαδιαμ νῦν ἐκλείξει ἡ συναγωγὴ αὕτη πάντας τοὺς κύκλῳ ἡμῶν ὡς ἐκλείξαι ὁ μόσχος τὰ χλωρὰ ἐκ τοῦ πεδίου καὶ Βαλακ υἱὸς Σεπφωρ βασιλεὺς Μωαβ ἦν κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον
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.
5 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν πρέσβεις πρὸς Βαλααμ υἱὸν Βεωρ Φαθουρα ὅ ἐστιν ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ γῆς υἱῶν λαοῦ αὐτοῦ καλέσαι αὐτὸν λέγων ἰδοὺ λαὸς ἐξελήλυθεν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου καὶ ἰδοὺ κατεκάλυψεν τὴν ὄψιν τῆς γῆς καὶ οὗτος ἐγκάθηται ἐχόμενός μου
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.
6 καὶ νῦν δεῦρο ἄρασαί μοι τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον ὅτι ἰσχύει οὗτος ἢ ἡμεῖς ἐὰν δυνώμεθα πατάξαι ἐξ αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκβαλῶ αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς γῆς ὅτι οἶδα οὓς ἐὰν εὐλογήσῃς σύ εὐλόγηνται καὶ οὓς ἐὰν καταράσῃ σύ κεκατήρανται
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.”
7 καὶ ἐπορεύθη ἡ γερουσία Μωαβ καὶ ἡ γερουσία Μαδιαμ καὶ τὰ μαντεῖα ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς Βαλααμ καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ τὰ ῥήματα Βαλακ
[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.
8 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς καταλύσατε αὐτοῦ τὴν νύκτα καὶ ἀποκριθήσομαι ὑμῖν πράγματα ἃ ἐὰν λαλήσῃ κύριος πρός με καὶ κατέμειναν οἱ ἄρχοντες Μωαβ παρὰ Βαλααμ
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.
9 καὶ ἦλθεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς Βαλααμ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ τί οἱ ἄνθρωποι οὗτοι παρὰ σοί
During the night, God appeared to Balaam and asked him, “(Who are/Tell me about) these men who are staying with you.”
10 καὶ εἶπεν Βαλααμ πρὸς τὸν θεόν Βαλακ υἱὸς Σεπφωρ βασιλεὺς Μωαβ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς πρός με λέγων
Balaam replied, “Balak, the king of Moab, sent these men to tell me this:
11 ἰδοὺ λαὸς ἐξελήλυθεν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου καὶ ἰδοὺ κεκάλυφεν τὴν ὄψιν τῆς γῆς καὶ οὗτος ἐγκάθηται ἐχόμενός μου καὶ νῦν δεῦρο ἄρασαί μοι αὐτόν εἰ ἄρα δυνήσομαι πατάξαι αὐτὸν καὶ ἐκβαλῶ αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς
‘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].’”
12 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς Βαλααμ οὐ πορεύσῃ μετ’ αὐτῶν οὐδὲ καταράσῃ τὸν λαόν ἔστιν γὰρ εὐλογημένος
God replied to Balaam, “Do not go with them! I have blessed those people, so you must not curse them!”
13 καὶ ἀναστὰς Βαλααμ τὸ πρωὶ εἶπεν τοῖς ἄρχουσιν Βαλακ ἀποτρέχετε πρὸς τὸν κύριον ὑμῶν οὐκ ἀφίησίν με ὁ θεὸς πορεύεσθαι μεθ’ ὑμῶν
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.”
14 καὶ ἀναστάντες οἱ ἄρχοντες Μωαβ ἦλθον πρὸς Βαλακ καὶ εἶπαν οὐ θέλει Βαλααμ πορευθῆναι μεθ’ ἡμῶν
So the men from Moab returned to King Balak and they reported to him, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
15 καὶ προσέθετο Βαλακ ἔτι ἀποστεῖλαι ἄρχοντας πλείους καὶ ἐντιμοτέρους τούτων
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].
16 καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς Βαλααμ καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ τάδε λέγει Βαλακ ὁ τοῦ Σεπφωρ ἀξιῶ σε μὴ ὀκνήσῃς ἐλθεῖν πρός με
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.
17 ἐντίμως γὰρ τιμήσω σε καὶ ὅσα ἐὰν εἴπῃς ποιήσω σοι καὶ δεῦρο ἐπικατάρασαί μοι τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον
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!’”
18 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη Βαλααμ καὶ εἶπεν τοῖς ἄρχουσιν Βαλακ ἐὰν δῷ μοι Βαλακ πλήρη τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ἀργυρίου καὶ χρυσίου οὐ δυνήσομαι παραβῆναι τὸ ῥῆμα κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτὸ μικρὸν ἢ μέγα ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ μου
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]).
19 καὶ νῦν ὑπομείνατε αὐτοῦ καὶ ὑμεῖς τὴν νύκτα ταύτην καὶ γνώσομαι τί προσθήσει κύριος λαλῆσαι πρός με
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.”
20 καὶ ἦλθεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς Βαλααμ νυκτὸς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ εἰ καλέσαι σε πάρεισιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι οὗτοι ἀναστὰς ἀκολούθησον αὐτοῖς ἀλλὰ τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἂν λαλήσω πρὸς σέ τοῦτο ποιήσεις
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]!”
21 καὶ ἀναστὰς Βαλααμ τὸ πρωὶ ἐπέσαξεν τὴν ὄνον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπορεύθη μετὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων Μωαβ
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.
22 καὶ ὠργίσθη θυμῷ ὁ θεὸς ὅτι ἐπορεύθη αὐτός καὶ ἀνέστη ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐνδιαβάλλειν αὐτόν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπιβεβήκει ἐπὶ τῆς ὄνου αὐτοῦ καὶ δύο παῖδες αὐτοῦ μετ’ αὐτοῦ
[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,
23 καὶ ἰδοῦσα ἡ ὄνος τὸν ἄγγελον τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνθεστηκότα ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ καὶ τὴν ῥομφαίαν ἐσπασμένην ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξέκλινεν ἡ ὄνος ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ καὶ ἐπορεύετο εἰς τὸ πεδίον καὶ ἐπάταξεν τὴν ὄνον τῇ ῥάβδῳ τοῦ εὐθῦναι αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ
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.
24 καὶ ἔστη ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ταῖς αὔλαξιν τῶν ἀμπέλων φραγμὸς ἐντεῦθεν καὶ φραγμὸς ἐντεῦθεν
Then the angel stood in a place where the road was very narrow, between two vineyards, with walls on each side of the road.
25 καὶ ἰδοῦσα ἡ ὄνος τὸν ἄγγελον τοῦ θεοῦ προσέθλιψεν ἑαυτὴν πρὸς τὸν τοῖχον καὶ ἀπέθλιψεν τὸν πόδα Βαλααμ καὶ προσέθετο ἔτι μαστίξαι αὐτήν
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.
26 καὶ προσέθετο ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἀπελθὼν ὑπέστη ἐν τόπῳ στενῷ εἰς ὃν οὐκ ἦν ἐκκλῖναι δεξιὰν οὐδὲ ἀριστεράν
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.
27 καὶ ἰδοῦσα ἡ ὄνος τὸν ἄγγελον τοῦ θεοῦ συνεκάθισεν ὑποκάτω Βαλααμ καὶ ἐθυμώθη Βαλααμ καὶ ἔτυπτεν τὴν ὄνον τῇ ῥάβδῳ
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.
28 καὶ ἤνοιξεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ στόμα τῆς ὄνου καὶ λέγει τῷ Βαλααμ τί ἐποίησά σοι ὅτι πέπαικάς με τοῦτο τρίτον
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?”
29 καὶ εἶπεν Βαλααμ τῇ ὄνῳ ὅτι ἐμπέπαιχάς μοι καὶ εἰ εἶχον μάχαιραν ἐν τῇ χειρί μου ἤδη ἂν ἐξεκέντησά σε
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!”
30 καὶ λέγει ἡ ὄνος τῷ Βαλααμ οὐκ ἐγὼ ἡ ὄνος σου ἐφ’ ἧς ἐπέβαινες ἀπὸ νεότητός σου ἕως τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας μὴ ὑπεροράσει ὑπεριδοῦσα ἐποίησά σοι οὕτως ὁ δὲ εἶπεν οὐχί
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.”
31 ἀπεκάλυψεν δὲ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς Βαλααμ καὶ ὁρᾷ τὸν ἄγγελον κυρίου ἀνθεστηκότα ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν ἐσπασμένην ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ κύψας προσεκύνησεν τῷ προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ
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.
32 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τί ἐπάταξας τὴν ὄνον σου τοῦτο τρίτον καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐξῆλθον εἰς διαβολήν σου ὅτι οὐκ ἀστεία ἡ ὁδός σου ἐναντίον μου
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.
33 καὶ ἰδοῦσά με ἡ ὄνος ἐξέκλινεν ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ τρίτον τοῦτο καὶ εἰ μὴ ἐξέκλινεν νῦν οὖν σὲ μὲν ἀπέκτεινα ἐκείνην δὲ περιεποιησάμην
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.”
34 καὶ εἶπεν Βαλααμ τῷ ἀγγέλῳ κυρίου ἡμάρτηκα οὐ γὰρ ἠπιστάμην ὅτι σύ μοι ἀνθέστηκας ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ εἰς συνάντησιν καὶ νῦν εἰ μή σοι ἀρέσκει ἀποστραφήσομαι
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.”
35 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς Βαλααμ συμπορεύθητι μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πλὴν τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἐὰν εἴπω πρὸς σέ τοῦτο φυλάξῃ λαλῆσαι καὶ ἐπορεύθη Βαλααμ μετὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων Βαλακ
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].
36 καὶ ἀκούσας Βαλακ ὅτι ἥκει Βαλααμ ἐξῆλθεν εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτῷ εἰς πόλιν Μωαβ ἥ ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῶν ὁρίων Αρνων ὅ ἐστιν ἐκ μέρους τῶν ὁρίων
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.
37 καὶ εἶπεν Βαλακ πρὸς Βαλααμ οὐχὶ ἀπέστειλα πρὸς σὲ καλέσαι σε διὰ τί οὐκ ἤρχου πρός με ὄντως οὐ δυνήσομαι τιμῆσαί σε
[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?”
38 καὶ εἶπεν Βαλααμ πρὸς Βαλακ ἰδοὺ ἥκω πρὸς σέ νῦν δυνατὸς ἔσομαι λαλῆσαί τι τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἐὰν βάλῃ ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸ στόμα μου τοῦτο λαλήσω
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].”
39 καὶ ἐπορεύθη Βαλααμ μετὰ Βαλακ καὶ ἦλθον εἰς πόλεις ἐπαύλεων
Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath-Huzoth [town].
40 καὶ ἔθυσεν Βαλακ πρόβατα καὶ μόσχους καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τῷ Βαλααμ καὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσι τοῖς μετ’ αὐτοῦ
There Balak killed some cattle and sheep as sacrifices, and offered [parts of the meat] to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.
41 καὶ ἐγενήθη πρωὶ καὶ παραλαβὼν Βαλακ τὸν Βαλααμ ἀνεβίβασεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν στήλην τοῦ Βααλ καὶ ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ ἐκεῖθεν μέρος τι τοῦ λαοῦ
[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.
