¹² Balaam said to Balak, “You sent men to ask me to come. Don’t you remember what I told them? I said, ¹³ ‘Even if Balak gives me his most beautiful house filled with silver and gold, I can still say only what the Lord commands me to say. I cannot do anything myself, good or bad. I must say what the Lord commands.’ ¹⁴ Now I am going back to my own people. But I will give you this warning. I will tell you what these Israelites will do to you and your people in the future.”