Numbers 22
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Then i the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.
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And j Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
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And k Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.
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And Moab said to l the 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,
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m sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor n at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, 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.
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o Come 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."
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So the elders of Moab and l the elders of Midian departed with p the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message.
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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.
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q And God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"
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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 r they 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."
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So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, "Balaam refuses to come with us."
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Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these.
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And they came to Balaam and said to him, "Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: 'Let nothing hinder you from coming to me,
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s for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. t Come, curse this people for me.'"
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But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, u "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, v I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more.
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So you, too, w please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me."
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q And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; x but only do what I tell you."
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So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.
22
But God's anger was kindled because he went, y and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way z as 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.
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Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.
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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.
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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 a opened 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 b opened 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 c to oppose you because your way is perverse 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, e but 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, f on 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 g honor you?"
38
Balaam said to Balak, "Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? h The 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.
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Cross References
Numbers 26:3
And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with the...
Numbers 26:63
These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar th...
Numbers 31:12
Then they brought the captives and the plunder ...
Numbers 33:48
And they set out from the mountains of Abarim a...
Numbers 33:50
And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Mo...
Numbers 35:1
The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab b...
Numbers 36:13
These are the commandments and the rules that t...
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Cross References
Judges 11:25
Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them?
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Cross References
Exodus 15:15
Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
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Cross References
Numbers 31:8
They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
Joshua 13:21
That is, all the cities of the tableland, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 23:4
Because they did not meet you with bread and wi...
Joshua 24:9
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, aro...
Nehemiah 13:2
For they did not meet the people of Israel with...
Micah 6:5
O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab d...
2 Peter 2:15
Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray....
Jude 1:11
Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain...
Revelation 2:14
But I have a few things against you: you have s...
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 23:4
Because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
Numbers 23:7
And Balaam took up his discourse and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: 'Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!
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Cross References
Numbers 23:7
And Balaam took up his discourse and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: 'Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!
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Cross References
Numbers 22:4
And Moab said to the 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.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 9:7 - 8
Then Saul said to his servant, "But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?
Micah 3:11
Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, "Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.
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Cross References
Genesis 20:3
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.
Job 33:15 - 16
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds.
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Cross References
Numbers 23:20
Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:37
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 honor you?
Numbers 24:11
Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, 'I will certainly honor you,' but the Lord has held you back from honor.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:11
'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.'"
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Cross References
Numbers 24:13
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 of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak'?
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Cross References
Numbers 22:38
Balaam said to Balak, "Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.
Numbers 23:26
But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'All that the Lord says, that I must do'?
1 Kings 22:14
But Micaiah said, "As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak.
2 Chronicles 18:13
But Micaiah said, "As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:8
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.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:9
And God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?
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Cross References
Numbers 22:35
And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you." So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.
Numbers 23:12
And he answered and said, "Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?
Numbers 23:26
But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'All that the Lord says, that I must do'?
Numbers 24:13
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 of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak'?
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Cross References
Exodus 4:24
At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death.
1 Chronicles 21:16
And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:32
And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me.
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Cross References
2 Peter 2:16
But was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
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Cross References
Genesis 21:19
Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
2 Kings 6:17
Then Elisha prayed and said, "O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see." So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Luke 24:16
But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
Luke 24:31
And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:22
But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 15:24
Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
1 Samuel 26:21
Then Saul said, "I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.
2 Samuel 12:13
David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
Job 34:31 - 32
For has anyone said to God, 'I have borne punishment; I will not offend any more.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:20
And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.
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Cross References
Numbers 21:13
From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:17
For I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.'
Numbers 24:11
Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, 'I will certainly honor you,' but the Lord has held you back from honor.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:18
But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.