¹⁶ When they came to Balaam, they said to him, “This is what Balak, son of Zippor, says: Don’t let anything keep you from coming to me. ¹⁷ I will make sure you are richly rewarded, and I will do whatever you ask. Please, come and curse these people for me.”

¹⁸ But Balaam answered Balak’s servants, “Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I couldn’t disobey the command of Yahweh my Elohim no matter whether the request was important or not.