Balak Sends for Balaam

22 Then the ·people [^Lsons/^Tchildren of] of Israel went to the plains of Moab, and they camped near the Jordan River across from Jericho.

² Balak son of Zippor saw everything the Israelites had done to the Amorites. ³ And Moab ·was scared of [dreaded] so many Israelites; truly, Moab was terrified by them.

⁴ The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “·These people [^LThis community/assembly/congregation] will ·take [lick up] everything around us like an ox ·eating [licking] grass.”

Balak son of Zippor was the king of Moab at this time. ⁵ He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, near the Euphrates River in ·his native land [or the land of Amaw]. Balak said, “A nation has come out of Egypt that covers the land. They have ·camped [^Lsettled] next to me, ⁶ and they are too powerful for me. So come and put a curse on them. Maybe then I can defeat them and ·make them leave [drive them from] the area. I know that if you bless someone, the blessings happen, and if you put a curse on someone, it happens.”

⁷ The elders of Moab and Midian went with ·payment [^Lfee for divination] in their hands. When they found Balaam, they told him what Balak had said.

⁸ Balaam said to them, “Stay here for the night, and I will tell you what the Lord tells me.” So the Moabite leaders stayed with him.

⁹ God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”

¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “The king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, sent them to me with this message: ¹¹ ‘A ·nation [people] has come out of Egypt that ·covers [spreads over] the land. So come and put a curse on them, and maybe I can fight them and force them out of my land.’”

¹² But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. Don’t put a curse on those people, because I have blessed them.”

¹³ The next morning Balaam ·awoke [rose] and said to Balak’s leaders, “Go back to your own country; the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

¹⁴ So the Moabite leaders went back to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵ So Balak sent other leaders—this time there were more of them, and they were more ·important [distinguished]. ¹⁶ They went to Balaam and said, “Balak son of Zippor says this: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to me. ¹⁷ I will ·pay you very well [make you wealthy; honor you], and I will do what you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.”

¹⁸ But Balaam answered Balak’s servants, “King Balak could give me his palace full of silver and gold, but I cannot ·disobey [transgress] the Lord my God in anything, great or small. ¹⁹ You stay here tonight as the other men did, and I will find out what more the Lord tells me.”

²⁰ That night God came to Balaam and said, “These men have come to ask you to go with them. Go, but only do what I tell you.”

Balaam’s Donkey Speaks

²¹ Balaam got up the next morning and put a saddle on his donkey. Then he went with the Moabite leaders. ²² But God became angry because Balaam went, so the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord stood in the road to ·stop [challenge] Balaam. Balaam was riding his donkey, and he had two servants with him. ²³ When the donkey saw the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, the donkey left the road and went into the field. Balaam ·hit [struck] the donkey to force her back on the road.

²⁴ Later, the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord stood on a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. ²⁵ Again the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, and she walked close to one wall, ·crushing [squeezing; scraping] Balaam’s foot against it. So he ·hit [struck] her again.

²⁶ The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord went ahead again and stood at a narrow place, too narrow to turn left or right. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. This made him so angry that he ·hit [struck] her with his stick. ²⁸ Then the Lord made the donkey talk, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to make you ·hit [strike] me three times?”

²⁹ Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made me look foolish! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!”

³⁰ But the donkey said to Balaam, “·I am [^LAm I not…?] your very own donkey, which you have ridden for years. Have I ever done this to you before?”

“No,” Balaam said.

³¹ Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam and let Balaam see the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord, who was standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand. Then Balaam bowed facedown on the ground.

³² The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord asked Balaam, “Why have you ·hit [struck] your donkey three times? I have stood here to ·stop [challenge] you, because what you are doing is wrong. ³³ The donkey saw me and turned away from me three times [^Cit was more spiritually sensitive than Balaam]. If she had not turned away, I would have killed you by now, but I would have let her live.”

³⁴ Then Balaam said to the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord, “I have sinned; I did not know you were standing in the road to stop me. If I am wrong, I will go back.”

³⁵ The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with these men, but say only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s leaders.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at Ar in Moab, which was beside the Arnon, at the edge of his ·country [boundary]. ³⁷ Balak said to Balaam, “·I had asked you before [^LDid I not send for you…?] to come quickly. Why didn’t you come to me? ·I am [^LAm I not…?] able to ·reward you well [give you wealth].”

³⁸ But Balaam answered, “I have come to you now, but I can’t say just anything. I can only say what God tells me to say.”

³⁹ Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak offered cattle and sheep as a sacrifice and gave some meat to Balaam and the leaders with him.

⁴¹ The next morning Balak took Balaam to Bamoth Baal; from there he could see the edge of the ·Israelite camp [^Lpeople].