Balak Summons Balaam

1 Then ⁱthe people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. 2 And ^jBalak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And ^kMoab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. 4 And Moab said to ^lthe elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5 ^msent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor ⁿat Pethor, which is near the River¹ in the land of the people of Amaw,² to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. 6 ^oCome now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

7 So the elders of Moab and ^lthe elders of Midian departed with ^pthe fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message. 8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 ^qAnd God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” 12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for ^rthey are blessed.” 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

15 Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, 17 ^sfor I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. ^tCome, curse this people for me.’” 18 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, ^u“Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, ^vI could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more. 19 So you, too, ^wplease stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.” 20 ^qAnd God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; ^xbut only do what I tell you.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

Balaam’s Donkey and the Angel

22 But God’s anger was kindled because he went, ^yand the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way ^zas his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he struck her again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Then the Lord ^aopened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”

31 Then the Lord ^bopened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out ^cto oppose you because your way is perverse³ before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” 34 Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, ^d“I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” 35 And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, ^ebut speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, ^fon the border formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the border. 37 And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to ^ghonor you?” 38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? ^hThe word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.” 39 Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. 40 And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent for Balaam and for the princes who were with him.

41 And in the morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw a fraction of the people.

Balaam’s First Oracle

1 And Balaam said to Balak, ⁱ“Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 2 Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam ^joffered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3 And Balaam said to Balak, ^k“Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come ^lto meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, 4 ^mand God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 And the Lord ⁿput a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6 And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. 7 And Balaam ^otook up his discourse and said,

11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^xI took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” 12 And he answered and said, ^y“Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

Balaam’s Second Oracle

13 And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” 14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ^zand built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam said to Balak, ^a“Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” 16 And the Lord met Balaam and ^bput a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” 17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18 And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” 26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ^m‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” 27 And Balak said to Balaam, ⁿ“Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of ^oPeor, which overlooks ^pthe desert.⁵ 29 And Balaam said to Balak, ^q“Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 ^rAnd Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam’s Third Oracle

1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at ^sother times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel ^tcamping tribe by tribe. And ^uthe Spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he ^vtook up his discourse and said,

10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he ⁱstruck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, ^j“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ^k‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ^l‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad ^mof my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? 14 And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, ⁿI will let you know what this people will do to your people ^oin the latter days.”

Balaam’s Final Oracle

15 ^pAnd he took up his discourse and said,

20 Then he looked on Amalek and ^ytook up his discourse and said,

21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

23 And he took up his discourse and said,

25 Then Balaam rose and ^dwent back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Baal Worship at Peor

1 While Israel lived in ^eShittim, ^fthe people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 ^gThese invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, ^h“Take all the chiefs of the people and ⁱhang⁹ them in the sun before the Lord, ^jthat the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to ^kthe judges of Israel, ^l“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were ^mweeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 ⁿWhen Phinehas ^othe son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, ^pthose who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

The Zeal of Phinehas

10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he ^qwas jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in ^rmy jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ^s‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to ^this descendants after him the covenant of ^ua perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of ^vZur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 ^w“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their ^xwiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of ^yPeor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”

Dedication to Theophilus

1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that ^ahave been accomplished among us, 2 ^bjust as those who ^cfrom the beginning were ^deyewitnesses and ^eministers of ^fthe word ^ghave delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write ^han orderly account for you, ⁱmost excellent ^jTheophilus, 4 that you may have ^kcertainty concerning the things ^lyou have been taught.

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5 ^mIn the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,^{1 n}of ^othe division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both ^prighteous before God, walking ^qblamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because ^rElizabeth was barren, and ^sboth were advanced in years.

8 Now ^twhile he was serving as priest before God when ^uhis division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ^vto enter ^wthe temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people ^xwere praying ^youtside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^zthe altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^afear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^byour prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^cyou shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^drejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be ^egreat before the Lord. And ^fhe must not drink wine or strong ^gdrink, and ^ghe will be ^hfilled with the Holy Spirit, ⁱeven from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and ^jhe will go before him ^kin the spirit and power of Elijah, ^lto turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^mthe disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ⁿto make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

18 And Zechariah said to the angel, ^o“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am ^pGabriel. ^qI stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, ^ryou will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ^sthe temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^sthe temple. And ^the kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And ^uwhen his time of ^vservice was ended, he went to his home.