Balaam's First Oracle

Numbers 23

1 Then Balaam said to Balak, a "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." 2 And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam b offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, c "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come d to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you." So he went to a desolate height. 4 e And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram." 5 Then the LORD f put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak." 6 So he returned to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

7 And he g took up his 1 oracle and said:
"Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram,
From the mountains of the east.
h 'Come, curse Jacob for me,
And come, i denounce Israel!'
8 "How j shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how shall I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him;
There! k A people dwelling alone,
l Not reckoning itself among the nations.
10 "Who m can count the 2 dust of Jacob,
Or number one-fourth of Israel?
Let me die n the death of the righteous,
And let my end be like his!"

11 Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? o I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!" 12 So he answered and said, p "Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?"

  1. Cross References
    Numbers 23:29
    Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.
  2. Cross References
    Numbers 23:14
    So he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
    Numbers 23:30
    And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
  3. Cross References
    Numbers 23:15
    And he said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.
  4. Cross References
    Numbers 23:4
    And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.
    Numbers 23:16
    Then the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak.
  5. Cross References
    Numbers 23:16
    Then the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak.
  6. Cross References
    Numbers 22:20
    And God came to Balaam at night and said to him...
    Numbers 22:35
    Then the Angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go ...
    Numbers 22:38
    And Balaam said to Balak, "Look, I have come to...
    Numbers 23:16
    Then the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his...
    Deuteronomy 18:18
    I will raise up for them a Prophet like you fro...
    Jeremiah 1:9
    Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my...
  7. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 23:4
    Because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
    Job 27:1
    Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:
    Job 29:1
    Job further continued his discourse, and said:
    Psalms 78:2
    I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old.
  8. Cross References
    Numbers 22:6
    "Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed."
    Numbers 22:11
    'Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.'"
    Numbers 22:17
    'for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.'"
  9. Cross References
    1 Samuel 17:10
    And the Philistine said, "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
  10. Cross References
    Numbers 22:12
    And God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.
  11. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:8
    When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.
    Deuteronomy 33:28
    Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew.
    Joshua 11:23
    So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.
  12. Cross References
    Exodus 33:16
    "For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth."
    Ezra 9:2
    "For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass."
    Ephesians 2:14
    For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation.
  13. Cross References
    Genesis 13:16
    And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
    Genesis 22:17
    Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
    Genesis 28:14
    Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
    2 Chronicles 1:9
    Now, O LORD God, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.
  14. Cross References
    Psalms 116:15
    Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.
  15. Cross References
    Numbers 22:11
    'Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.'"
  16. Cross References
    Numbers 22:38
    And Balaam said to Balak, "Look, I have come to you! Now, have I any power at all to say anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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