Balaam's Second Oracle

Numbers 23

13 Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there." 14 So he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, q and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 And he said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering while I 1 meet the LORD over there." 16 Then the LORD met Balaam, and r put a word in his mouth, and said, "Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak." 17 So he came to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?"

18 Then he took up his oracle and said:
s "Rise up, Balak, and hear!
Listen to me, son of Zippor! 19 "God t is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He u said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? 20 Behold, I have received a command to bless;
v He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 21 "He w has not observed iniquity in Jacob,
Nor has He seen 2 wickedness in Israel.
The LORD his God is with him,
x And the shout of a King is among them. 22 y God brings them out of Egypt;
He has z strength like a wild ox. 23 "For there is no 3 sorcery against Jacob,
Nor any 4 divination against Israel.
It now must be said of Jacob
And of Israel, 'Oh, a what God has done!' 24 Look, a people rises b like a lioness,
And lifts itself up like a lion;
c It shall not lie down until it devours the prey,
And drinks the blood of the slain."

25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!" 26 So Balaam answered and said to Balak, "Did I not tell you, saying, d 'All that the LORD speaks, that I must do'?" 27 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Please come, 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 Peor, that e overlooks the 5 wasteland. 29 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.

  1. Cross References
    Numbers 23:1
    Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.
    Numbers 23:2
    And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
  2. Cross References
    Numbers 22:35
    Then the Angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
    Numbers 23:5
    Then the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.
  3. Cross References
    Judges 3:20
    So Ehud came to him (now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber). Then Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." So he arose from his seat.
  4. Cross References
    1 Samuel 15:29
    "And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent."
    Malachi 3:6
    For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
    James 1:17
    Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
  5. Cross References
    Numbers 11:23
    And the LORD said to Moses, "Has the LORD's arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.
    1 Kings 8:56
    Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.
  6. Cross References
    Genesis 12:2
    I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
    Genesis 22:17
    Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
    Numbers 22:12
    And God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.
  7. Cross References
    Psalms 32:2
    Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
    Romans 4:7
    Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered.
    Romans 4:8
    Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 89:15 - 18
    Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.
  9. Cross References
    Numbers 24:8
    God brings him out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox; He shall consume the nations, his enemies; He shall break their bones And pierce them with his arrows.
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 33:17
    His glory is like a firstborn bull, And his horns like the horns of the wild ox; Together with them He shall push the peoples To the ends of the earth; They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, And they are the thousands of Manasseh.
    Job 39:10
    Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes? Or will he plow the valleys behind you?
  11. Cross References
    Psalms 31:19
    Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!
    Psalms 44:1
    We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old:
  12. Cross References
    Genesis 49:9
    Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
  13. Cross References
    Genesis 49:27
    "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil."
    Joshua 11:23
    So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.
  14. Cross References
    Numbers 22:38
    And Balaam said to Balak, "Look, I have come to you! Now, have I any power at all to say anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak.
  15. Cross References
    Numbers 21:20
    And from Bamoth, in the valley that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down on the wasteland.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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