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Numbers 22 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Balak Sends for Balaam

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:1

Num 22:1 - Then the people of Israel traveled to the plains of Moab and camped east of the Jordan River, across from Jericho.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:2

Num 22:2 - Balak son of Zippor, the Moabite king, had seen everything the Israelites did to the Amorites.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:3

Num 22:3 - And when the people of Moab saw how many Israelites there were, they were terrified.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:4

Num 22:4 - The king of Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This mob will devour everything in sight, like an ox devours grass in the field!”
So Balak, king of Moab,

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:5

Num 22:5 - sent messengers to call Balaam son of Beor, who was living in his native land of Pethor[fn] near the Euphrates River.[fn] His message said: “Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt. They cover the face of the earth and are threatening me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:6

Num 22:6 - Please come and curse these people for me because they are too powerful for me. Then perhaps I will be able to conquer them and drive them from the land. I know that blessings fall on any people you bless, and curses fall on people you curse.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:7

Num 22:7 - Balak’s messengers, who were elders of Moab and Midian, set out with money to pay Balaam to place a curse upon Israel.[fn] They went to Balaam and delivered Balak’s message to him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:8

Num 22:8 - “Stay here overnight,” Balaam said. “In the morning I will tell you whatever the LORD directs me to say.” So the officials from Moab stayed there with Balaam.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:9

Num 22:9 - That night God came to Balaam and asked him, “Who are these men visiting you?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:10

Num 22:10 - Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message:

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:11

Num 22:11 - ‘Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come and curse these people for me. Then perhaps I will be able to stand up to them and drive them from the land.’”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:12

Num 22:12 - But God told Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:13

Num 22:13 - The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak’s officials, “Go on home! The LORD will not let me go with you.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:14

Num 22:14 - So the Moabite officials returned to King Balak and reported, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:15

Num 22:15 - Then Balak tried again. This time he sent a larger number of even more distinguished officials than those he had sent the first time.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:16

Num 22:16 - They went to Balaam and delivered this message to him: “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to help me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:17

Num 22:17 - I will pay you very well and do whatever you tell me. Just come and curse these people for me!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:18

Num 22:18 - But Balaam responded to Balak’s messengers, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the LORD my God.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:19

Num 22:19 - But stay here one more night, and I will see if the LORD has anything else to say to me.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:20

Num 22:20 - That night God came to Balaam and told him, “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But do only what I tell you to do.”

Balaam and His Donkey

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:21

Num 22:21 - So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:22

Num 22:22 - But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the LORD to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along,

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:23

Num 22:23 - Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:24

Num 22:24 - Then the angel of the LORD stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:25

Num 22:25 - When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:26

Num 22:26 - Then the angel of the LORD moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:27

Num 22:27 - This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:28

Num 22:28 - Then the LORD gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:29

Num 22:29 - “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:30

Num 22:30 - “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?”
“No,” Balaam admitted.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:31

Num 22:31 - Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:32

Num 22:32 - “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the LORD demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:33

Num 22:33 - Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:34

Num 22:34 - Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned. I didn’t realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I will return home if you are against my going.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:35

Num 22:35 - But the angel of the LORD told Balaam, “Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s officials.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:36

Num 22:36 - When King Balak heard that Balaam was on the way, he went out to meet him at a Moabite town on the Arnon River at the farthest border of his land.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:37

Num 22:37 - “Didn’t I send you an urgent invitation? Why didn’t you come right away?” Balak asked Balaam. “Didn’t you believe me when I said I would reward you richly?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:38

Num 22:38 - Balaam replied, “Look, now I have come, but I have no power to say whatever I want. I will speak only the message that God puts in my mouth.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:39

Num 22:39 - Then Balaam accompanied Balak to Kiriath-huzoth,

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:40

Num 22:40 - where the king sacrificed cattle and sheep. He sent portions of the meat to Balaam and the officials who were with him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:41

Num 22:41 - The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see some of the people of Israel spread out below him.

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See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(22:5)

Or who was at Pethor in the land of the Amavites.

(22:5)

Hebrew the river.

(22:7)

Hebrew set out with the money of divination in their hand.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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