Numbers 23:16-24

Balaam's Second Oracle

16 And the Lord met Balaam and b put 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,
"Rise, Balak, and hear;
give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
 19 c God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
 20 Behold, I received a command to bless:
d he has blessed, and e I cannot revoke it.
 21 f He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
and the shout of a king is among them.
 22 g God brings them out of Egypt
and is for them like h the horns of the wild ox.
 23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no i divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
j 'What has God wrought!'
 24 Behold, a people! k As a lioness it rises up
and as a lion it lifts itself;
l it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain."

  1. Cross References
    Numbers 23:5
    And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.
    Numbers 23:12
    And he answered and said, "Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?
  2. Cross References
    1 Samuel 15:29
    And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or ha...
    Malachi 3:6
    For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O ...
    Romans 11:29
    For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevo...
    Titus 1:2
    In hope of eternal life, which God, who never l...
    Hebrews 6:18
    So that by two unchangeable things, in which it...
    James 1:17
    Every good gift and every perfect gift is from ...
  3. Cross References
    Numbers 22:12
    God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.
    Genesis 12:2
    And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
    Genesis 22:17
    I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies.
  4. 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.
  5. Cross References
    Jeremiah 50:20
    In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
  6. Cross References
    Numbers 24:8
    God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows.
  7. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 33:17
    A firstborn bull - he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
    Job 39:9 - 12
    Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger?
    Psalms 22:21
    Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
    Psalms 92:10
    But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil.
  8. Cross References
    Numbers 22:7
    So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 44:1
    O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:
  10. Cross References
    Genesis 49:9
    Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
  11. Cross References
    Genesis 49:27
    "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil."
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.