Numbers 23

Numbers 23:1

¹Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:2-3

²Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram. ³Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.

Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:4

⁴God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”

God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:5

⁵The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:6-10

⁶He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. ⁷He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel. ⁸How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom the LORD has not defied? ⁹For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed among the nations. ¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”

He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:11

¹¹Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”

Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me?. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:12

¹²He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD puts in my mouth?”

He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD puts in my mouth?”. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:13

¹³Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”

Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:14-15

¹⁴He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. ¹⁵He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”

He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:16

¹⁶The LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”

The LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:17

¹⁷He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?”

He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:18

¹⁸He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear!. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:19

¹⁹God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?

Balaam declares that God is not a man who lies or a son of man who changes His mind; what He has said He will do, and what He has spoken He will make good.

Numbers 23:20-24

²⁰Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it. ²¹He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them. ²²God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox. ²³Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’ ²⁴Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”

Behold, I have received a command to bless. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:25

²⁵Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”

Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:26

²⁶But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do’?”

But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do’?”. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:27

²⁷Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:28-29

²⁸Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert. ²⁹Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”

Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

Numbers 23:30

³⁰Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. Hired curse becomes forced blessing under God’s sovereign word.

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