Parallel Bible results for "numbers 23"

Numbers 23

The Message Bible MSG

1 Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and then prepare seven bulls and seven rams."

2 Balak did it. Then Balaam and Balak sacrificed a bull and a ram on each of the altars.

3 Balaam instructed Balak: "Stand watch here beside your Whole-Burnt-Offering while I go off by myself. Maybe God will come and meet with me. Whatever he shows or tells me, I'll report to you." Then he went off by himself.

4 God did meet with Balaam. Balaam said, "I've set up seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

5 Then God gave Balaam a message: "Return to Balak and give him this message."

6 He went back and found him stationed beside his Whole-Burnt-Offering and with him all the nobles of Moab.

7 Then Balaam spoke his message-oracle: Balak led me here from Aram, the king of Moab all the way from the eastern mountains. "Go, curse Jacob for me; go, damn Israel."

8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I damn whom God has not damned?

9 From rock pinnacles I see them, from hilltops I survey them: Look! a people camping off by themselves, thinking themselves outsiders among nations.

10 But who could ever count the dust of Jacob or take a census of cloud-of-dust Israel? I want to die like these right-living people! I want an end just like theirs!

11 Balak said to Balaam, "What's this? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and all you've done is bless them."

12 Balaam answered, "Don't I have to be careful to say what God gives me to say?"

13 Balak said to him, "Go with me to another place from which you can only see the outskirts of their camp - you won't be able to see the whole camp. From there, curse them for my sake."

14 So he took him to Watchmen's Meadow at the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars there and offered a bull and a ram on each altar

15 Balaam said to Balak, "Take up your station here beside your Whole-Burnt-Offering while I meet with him over there."

16 God met with Balaam and gave him a message. He said, "Return to Balak and give him the message."

17 Balaam returned and found him stationed beside his Whole-Burnt-Offering and the nobles of Moab with him. Balak said to him, "What did God say?"

18 Then Balaam spoke his message-oracle: On your feet, Balak. Listen, listen carefully son of Zippor:

19 God is not man, one given to lies, and not a son of man changing his mind. Does he speak and not do what he says? Does he promise and not come through

20 I was brought here to bless; and now he's blessed - how can I change that?

21 He has no bone to pick with Jacob, he sees nothing wrong with Israel. God is with them, and they're with him, shouting praises to their King

22 God brought them out of Egypt, rampaging like a wild ox.

23 No magic spells can bind Jacob, no incantations can hold back Israel. People will look at Jacob and Israel and say, "What a great thing has God done!"

24 Look, a people rising to its feet, stretching like a lion, a king-of-the-beasts, aroused, Unsleeping, unresting until its hunt is over and it's eaten and drunk its fill.

25 Balak said to Balaam, "Well, if you can't curse them, at least don't bless them."

26 Balaam replied to Balak, "Didn't I tell you earlier: 'All God speaks, and only what he speaks, I speak'?"

27 Balak said to Balaam, "Please, let me take you to another place; maybe we can find the right place in God's eyes where you'll be able to curse them for me."

28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, with a vista over the Jeshimon (Wasteland).

29 Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for sacrifice."

30 Balak did it and presented an offering of a bull and a ram on each of the altars.

New Living Translation NLT

1 Then Balaam said to King Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.”

2 Balak followed his instructions, and the two of them sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.

3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offerings, and I will go to see if the LORD will respond to me. Then I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” So Balaam went alone to the top of a bare hill,

4 and God met him there. Balaam said to him, “I have prepared seven altars and have sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.”

5 The LORD gave Balaam a message for King Balak. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”

6 So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab.

7 This was the message Balaam delivered: “Balak summoned me to come from Aram; the king of Moab brought me from the eastern hills. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me! Come and announce Israel’s doom.’

8 But how can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn those whom the LORD has not condemned?

9 I see them from the cliff tops; I watch them from the hills. I see a people who live by themselves, set apart from other nations.

10 Who can count Jacob’s descendants, as numerous as dust? Who can count even a fourth of Israel’s people? Let me die like the righteous; let my life end like theirs.”

11 Then King Balak demanded of Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed them!”

12 But Balaam replied, “I will speak only the message that the LORD puts in my mouth.”

13 Then King Balak told him, “Come with me to another place. There you will see another part of the nation of Israel, but not all of them. Curse at least that many!”

14 So Balak took Balaam to the plateau of Zophim on Pisgah Peak. He built seven altars there and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.

15 Then Balaam said to the king, “Stand here by your burnt offerings while I go over there to meet the LORD .”

16 And the LORD met Balaam and gave him a message. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”

17 So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. “What did the LORD say?” Balak asked eagerly.

18 This was the message Balaam delivered: “Rise up, Balak, and listen! Hear me, son of Zippor.

19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

20 Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!

21 No misfortune is in his plan for Jacob; no trouble is in store for Israel. For the LORD their God is with them; he has been proclaimed their king.

22 God brought them out of Egypt; for them he is as strong as a wild ox.

23 No curse can touch Jacob; no magic has any power against Israel. For now it will be said of Jacob, ‘What wonders God has done for Israel!’

24 These people rise up like a lioness, like a majestic lion rousing itself. They refuse to rest until they have feasted on prey, drinking the blood of the slaughtered!”

25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Fine, but if you won’t curse them, at least don’t bless them!”

26 But Balaam replied to Balak, “Didn’t I tell you that I can do only what the LORD tells me?”

27 Then King Balak said to Balaam, “Come, I will take you to one more place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them from there.”

28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, overlooking the wasteland.

29 Balaam again told Balak, “Build me seven altars, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.”

30 So Balak did as Balaam ordered and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.