Numbers 24:23

Balaam’s Seventh Message

23 Then he spoke his message: “Alas! Who can live when God does this?[a]

Numbers 24:23 in Other Translations

KJV
23 And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!
ESV
23 And he took up his discourse and said, "Alas, who shall live when God does this?
NLT
23 Balaam concluded his messages by saying: “Alas, who can survive unless God has willed it?
MSG
23 Balaam spoke his final oracle-message: Doom! Who stands a chance when God starts in?
CSB
23 Once more he proclaimed his poem: Ah, who can live when God does this?

Numbers 24:23 In-Context

21 Then he saw the Kenites and spoke his message: “Your dwelling place is secure, your nest is set in a rock;
22 yet you Kenites will be destroyed when Ashur takes you captive.”
23 Then he spoke his message: “Alas! Who can live when God does this?
24 Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus; they will subdue Ashur and Eber, but they too will come to ruin.”
25 Then Balaam got up and returned home, and Balak went his own way.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew "The people from the islands will gather from the north" .
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