⁴ Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this assembly will eat up everything around us, just as cattle eat up the grass in the field.”

Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ He sent messengers to summon Balaam, the son of Beor, from Pethor by the Euphrates River, in the land of his own people.^[a]

He said, “Look, a people came out of Egypt. They cover the surface of the land, and they are settling right across from me. ⁶ Please come now. Curse this people for me, for they are more powerful than I am. Perhaps I will succeed and strike them down, driving them out of the land, for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”