1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

2And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

3And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

4And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.

5And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

6And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

7And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

8How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?

9For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth partof Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

11And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed themaltogether.

12And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?

13And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

14And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on everyaltar.

15And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.

16And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.

17And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?

18And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

19God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

20Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

21He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

22God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.

23Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

24Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

25And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

26But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

27And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

28And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.

29And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

1 And Balaam saide vnto Balak, Build me here seuen Altars, and prepare mee here seuen oxen, and seuen rammes.

2And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak & Balaam offered on euery altar a bullocke and a ramme.

3And Balaam said vnto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offring, and I wil goe: peraduenture the Lord will come to meete mee; and whatsoeuer he sheweth me, I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

4And God met Balaam, and he said vnto him, I haue prepared seuen altars, and I haue offered vpon euery altar a bullocke and a ramme.

5And the Lord put a word in Balaams mouth, and said, Returne vnto Balak, & thus thou shalt speake.

6And he returned vnto him, and loe, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, hee, and all the Princes of Moab.

7And he tooke vp his parable, and said, Balak the King of Moab hath brought mee from Aram, out of the mountaines of the East, saying, Come, curse me Iacob, and come, defie Israel.

8How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defie, whom the Lord hath not defied?

9For from the top of the rockes I see him, and from the hilles I behold him: loe, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not bee reckoned among the nations.

10Who can count the dust of Iacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let mee die the death of the righteous, & let my last end be like his.

11And Balak saide vnto Balaam, What hast thou done vnto me? I tooke thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

12And he answered, and said, Must I not take heede to speake that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?

13And Balak said vnto him, Come, I pray thee, with me, vnto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the vtmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

14 And hee brought him into the fielde of Zophim, to the toppe of Pisgah, and built seuen altars, and offered a bullocke and a ramme on euery altar.

15And he said vnto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meete the Lord yonder.

16And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and saide, Goe againe vnto Balak, and say thus.

17And when hee came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offring, and the Princes of Moab with him. And Balak said vnto him, What hath the Lord spoken?

18And he tooke vp his parable, and said, Rise vp Balak, & heare; hearken vnto me, thou sonne of Zippor:

19God is not a man that he should lie, neither the sonne of man, that hee should repent: hath he said, and shall he not doe it? or, hath hee spoken, and shall he not make it good?

20Behold, I haue receiued commandement to blesse: and hee hath blessed, and I cannot reuerse it.

21Hee hath not beheld iniquitie in Iacob, neither hath he seene peruersenesse in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shoute of a King is among them.

22God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an Unicorne.

23Surely there is no inchantment against Iacob, neither is there any diuination against Israel: according to this time it shalbe said of Iacob, and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

24Beholde, the people shall rise vp as a great Lion, and lift vp himselfe as a yong Lion: hee shall not lie downe vntill he eate of the pray, and drinke the blood of the slaine.

25 And Balak said vnto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor blesse them at all.

26But Balaam answered, and said vnto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the Lord speaketh, that I must doe?

27 And Balak saide vnto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee vnto another place, peraduenture it will please God, that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

28And Balak brought Balaam vnto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Ieshimon.

29And Balaam saide vnto Balak, Build mee here seuen altars, and prepare me here seuen bullocks, and seuen rammes.

30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offred a bullocke and a ramme on euery altar.

I == Num 23:29

 

II == Num 23:14 , 30

 

III == Num 23:15 ; 24:1

 

 

 

IV == Num 23:16

 

 

V == Num 22:35 ; 23:16 ; Deut 18:18 ; Jer 1:9

 

 

 

VII == Num 22:6 , 11 , 17 ; 23:18 ; 24:3 , 15 , 23 ; 1st Sam 17:10 ; Job 27:1 ; 29:1 ; Ps 78:2 ; Ezek 17:2 ; Mic 2:4 ; Hab 2:6

VIII Isa 47:12-13

 

IX == Ex 33:16 ; Deut 33:28 ; Ezra 9:2 ; Eph 2:14

 

X == Gen 13:16 ; 22:17 ; Ps 116:15

 

 

XI == Num 22:11 , 17 ; 24:10

 

 

XII == Num 22:38

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIV == Num 23:14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XVIII == Judg 3:20

 

XIX == 1st Sam 15:29 ; Mal 3:6 ; Rom 11:29 ; Titus 1:2 ; James 1:17

XX == Gen 12:2 ; 22:17

 

XXI == Ex 13:21 ; 29:45-46 ; 33:14 ; Ps 89:15 ; Rom 4:7-8

 

XXII == Num 24:8 ; Deut 33:17 ; Job 39:10-11

XXIII == Ps 31:19 ; 44:1

 

 

 

XXIV == Gen 49:9 , 27

 

 

 

 

XXVI == 1st Kings 22:14

1 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars, and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams for me here."

2 So he did as Balaam had ordered, offering a bullock and a ram on each altar. And Balak said to him, "I have erected the seven altars, and have offered a bullock and a ram on each."

3 Balaam then said to him, "Stand here by your holocaust while I go over there. Perhaps the LORD will meet me, and then I will tell you whatever he lets me see." He went out on the barren height,

4 and God met him.

5 When he had put an utterance in Balaam's mouth, the LORD said to him, "Go back to Balak, and speak accordingly."

6 So he went back to Balak, who was still standing by his holocaust together with all the princes of Moab.

7 Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle: From Aram has Balak brought me here, Moab's king, from the Eastern Mountains: "Come and lay a curse for me on Jacob, come and denounce Israel."

8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

9 For from the top of the crags I see him, from the heights I behold him. Here is a people that lives apart and does not reckon itself among the nations.

10 Who has ever counted the dust of Jacob, or numbered Israel's wind-borne particles? May I die the death of the just, may my descendants be as many as theirs!

11 "What have you done to me?" cried Balak to Balaam. "It was to curse my foes that I brought you here; instead, you have even blessed them."

12 Balaam replied, "Is it not what the LORD puts in my mouth that I must repeat with care?"

13 Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you can see only some and not all of them, and from there curse them for me."

14 So he brought him to the lookout field on the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bullock and a ram on each of them.

15 Balaam then said to Balak, "Stand here by your holocaust, while I seek a meeting over there."

16 Then the LORD met Balaam, and having put an utterance in his mouth, he said to him, "Go back to Balak, and speak accordingly."

17 So he went back to Balak, who was still standing by his holocaust together with the princes of Moab. When Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?"

18 Balaam gave voice to his oracle: Be aroused, O Balak, and hearken; give ear to my testimony, O son of Zippor!

19 God is not man that he should speak falsely, nor human, that he should change his mind. Is he one to speak and not act, to decree and not fulfill?

20 It is a blessing I have been given to pronounce; a blessing which I cannot restrain.

21 Misfortune is not observed in Jacob, nor misery seen in Israel. The LORD, his God, is with him; with him is the triumph of his King.

22 It is God who brought him out of Egypt, a wild bull of towering might.

23 No, there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor omen against Israel. It shall yet be said of Jacob, and of Israel, "Behold what God has wrought!"

24 Here is a people that springs up like a lioness, and stalks forth like a lion; It rests not till it has devoured its prey and has drunk the blood of the slain.

25 "Even though you cannot curse them," said Balak to Balaam, "at least do not bless them."

26 But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not warn you that I must do all that the LORD tells me?"

27 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me bring you to another place; perhaps God will approve of your cursing them for me from there."

28 So he took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks Jeshimon.

29 Balaam then said to him, "Here build me seven altars; and here prepare for me seven bullocks and seven rams."

30 And Balak did as Balaam had ordered, offering a bullock and a ram on each altar.

v 1. It was common for pagans to offer sacrifices as a part of their ritual. The Lord has used “seven” in scores of ways which Balaam would not have known, but the heathen may have copied Abraham offering seven ewe lambs, Gen. 21:29,30 or other legends of sevens which they incorporated into their heathen rituals. Africans, Indians and others have incorporated excerpts from Scripture into their religions. 

v 2-6. Leaving Balak and the princes of Moab with the offerings, Balaam went to a high place to see if the Lord would speak to him. The Lord did not respond to the offering, but did put words in Balaam’s mouth which he should repeat to Balak.

v 7-10. First Balaam states that Balak had sent for him to curse Israel, but he can not curse those God has blessed. Having only seen a fourth of them, he considers them as numerous as dust, then closes with a poetic statement, not a prayer of desire to be a part of God’s people along with them.

 

 

 

v 11-13. At Balak’s rebuke, Balaam reminds that he can only speak what the Lord says, so Balak takes him to another place where he can only see part of the people.

 

 

 

v 14-22. At the top of Pisgah, leaving Balak with the altars again, Balaam gets further word from the Lord and reports back. Briefly, the two conspirators change of location can not change God, neither can they force Him. In spite of Israel’s repeated sins and God’s threat to destroy them, He could see no iniquity in them, v 21, because they are forgiven. He has a covenant relationship with them. Believers today may rebel against God and be punished, but they will not lose their salvation. God brought Israel out of Egypt with great power, and they recognize Him as their king.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 23,24. Balaam admits there is no enchantment that can be effective against Israel, and they will not be stopped until they have conquered all their enemies. In awe of what God had done for Israel he said, “What hath God wrought”. These were the first words sent over the telegraph from the US Supreme Court in the capitol at Wash D C to Baltimore 5-24-1844. 

v 25,26. If he can’t curse them, Balak certainly doesn’t want him to bless them, but he repeats he can say what the Lord tells him to.

v 27-30. Balak finally realized it was not Balaam’s fault, if they just found the right location, perhaps God would curse Israel. (Similar to the Syrians later thinking God was a God of the hills but not of the valleys, 1 Ki. 20:28.) He may have thought it a mistake to let Balaam see only a part of the people, up here he can see the entire camp spread out before him. Balak chose Peor, the spot where Baal was worshiped. He probably assumed that God could not come to the dwelling place of Baal to hinder the curse, or if this place was acceptable to Baal, it would surely be an acceptable place for God to answer them. both men may have thought that since God “gave in” and let Balaam come, He might give in again and curse Israel. By now Balaam may not have been so sure, but he still orders the ritual sacrifices to begin. After all, Balak was paying for them, which is contrary to the attitude of David, “I will not offer that which cost me nothing”, 2 Sam. 24:24.