Numbers 23
All 30 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.
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- 1Balaam said to Balak, "Build 7 altars for me here, and prepare 7 bulls and 7 rams."
- 2Balak did what Balaam asked. Together, Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
- 3Then Balaam told Balak, "Stay here beside your burnt offering while I go. Maybe the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He reveals, I'll tell you." Then Balaam went to a high place.
- 4God met Balaam there, and Balaam said to him, "I've set up 7 altars and offered a bull and a ram on each one."
- 5The LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak and speak as follows."
- 6So Balaam returned and found Balak still standing beside his burnt offering, along with all the leaders of Moab.
- 7Then Balaam spoke his prophetic message: "Balak, king of Moab, brought me all the way from Aram, from the eastern mountains. He said, 'Come, put a curse on Jacob for me. Come, denounce Israel.'
- 8But how can I curse someone God hasn't cursed? How can I denounce someone the LORD hasn't denounced?
- 9From the rocky heights I look down and see them; from the hills I watch them. Here is a people that lives apart, not counting itself among the nations.
- 10Who could ever count the descendants of Jacob? They're as countless as dust! Who could number even a quarter of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous — let my end be like theirs!"
- 11Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and instead you've blessed them!"
- 12Balaam replied, "Don't I have to speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?"
- 13So Balak said, "Come with me to a different spot where you can see them. You'll only see part of their camp, not all of them. Curse them for me from there."
- 14He took Balaam to the field of Zophim, on top of Pisgah. There he built 7 altars and offered a bull and a ram on each one.
- 15Balaam told Balak, "Stay here beside your burnt offering while I go meet with the LORD over there."
- 16The LORD met Balaam and gave him a message, saying, "Go back to Balak and tell him this."
- 17When Balaam returned, Balak was still standing beside his burnt offering with the leaders of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?"
- 18Balaam spoke his prophetic message: "Stand up, Balak, and listen! Pay attention, son of Zippor!
- 19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should repent. Has he ever spoken and not acted? Has he ever promised and not fulfilled it?
- 20I was given a command to bless — he has blessed them, and I cannot reverse it.
- 21He has seen no guilt in Jacob, no wrongdoing in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of their King rings out among them.
- 22God brought them out of Egypt; he has the strength of a wild ox.
- 23No sorcery can touch Jacob, and no divination can work against Israel. From now on, people will say of Jacob and Israel, 'Look what God has done!'
- 24Look — this people rises like a lioness, like a lion lifting himself up. He won't lie down until he devours his prey and drinks the blood of the slain."
- 25Balak said to Balaam, "Fine — if you won't curse them, then at least don't bless them either!"
- 26But Balaam answered Balak, "Didn't I tell you? Everything the LORD speaks, I must do."
- 27Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me take you to yet another place. Maybe God will be willing to let you curse them for me from there."
- 28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.
- 29Balaam said to Balak, "Build 7 altars for me here, and prepare 7 bulls and 7 rams."
- 30Balak did as Balaam instructed and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.