Berean Standard Bible

Numbers 23:7-18

7And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying:

“Balak brought me from Aram,the king of Moab from the mountains of the east.‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me;come and denounce Israel!’8How can I curse those whom God has not cursed?How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?9For I see them from atop the rocky cliffs,and I watch them from the hills.Behold, a people dwelling apart,not reckoning themselves among the nations.10Who can count the dust of Jacobor number even a fourth of Israel?Let me die the death of the righteous;let my end be like theirs!”

11Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”

12But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

13Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp—not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.”

14So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”

16And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”

17So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab.

“What did the LORD say?” Balak asked.

18Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying:

“Arise, O Balak, and listen;give ear to me, O son of Zippor.

Read all of Numbers 23

Commentaries on Numbers 23