Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, May 8th, 2025
the Third Week after Easter
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Numbers 23:25

Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Thompson Chain Reference - Balaam;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Balaam;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Balak;   Kibroth-Hattaavah;   Moab, Moabites;   Prophecy, Prophets;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - On to Canaan;   Moses, the Man of God;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Balak said to Bil`am, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
King James Version
And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
Lexham English Bible
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, nor bless them at all!"
English Standard Version
And Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all."
New Century Version
Then Balak said to Balaam, "You haven't cursed these people, so at least don't bless them!"
New English Translation
Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"
Amplified Bible
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"
New American Standard Bible
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!"
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Balak sayde vnto Balaam, Neither curse, nor blesse them at all.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!"
Contemporary English Version
Balak shouted, "If you're not going to curse Israel, then at least don't bless them."
Complete Jewish Bible
Balak said to Bil‘am, "Obviously, you won't curse them. But at least don't bless them!"
Darby Translation
And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then Balak said to Balaam, "You didn't ask for good things to happen to these people, but you didn't ask for bad things to happen to them either!"
George Lamsa Translation
Then Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
Good News Translation
Then Balak said to Balaam, "You refuse to curse the people of Israel, but at least don't bless them!"
Christian Standard Bible®
Then Balak told Balaam, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them!”
Literal Translation
And Balak said to Balaam, Do not curse it at all, nor bless it at all.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde Balac vnto Balaam: Thou shalt nether curse him ner blesse him.
American Standard Version
And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
Bible in Basic English
Then Balak said to Balaam, If you will not put a curse on them, at all events do not give them a blessing.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Balac sayde vnto Balaam: Neither curse them, nor blesse them at all.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Balak said unto Balaam: 'Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.'
King James Version (1611)
And Balak said vnto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor blesse them at all.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Balac said to Balaam, Neither curse the people at all for me, nor bless them at all.
English Revised Version
And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Balach seide to Balaam, Nether curse thou, nether blesse thou hym.
Young's Literal Translation
And Balak saith unto Balaam, `Neither pierce it at all, nor bless it at all;'
Update Bible Version
And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
Webster's Bible Translation
And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
World English Bible
Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
New King James Version
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!"
New Living Translation
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Fine, but if you won't curse them, at least don't bless them!"
New Life Bible
Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all or pray that good would come to them!"
New Revised Standard
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Balak unto Balaam, Thou shalt neither revile, him, - nor bless him.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Balac said to Balaam: Neither curse, nor bless him.
Revised Standard Version
And Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all."
THE MESSAGE
Balak said to Balaam, "Well, if you can't curse them, at least don't bless them."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!"

Contextual Overview

13Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp-not all of them. And from there, curse them for me." 14So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there." 16And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, "Return to Balak and speak what I tell you." 17So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. "What did the LORD say?" Balak asked. 18Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: "Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor. 19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? 20I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it. 21He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them. 22God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Psalms 2:1-3

Reciprocal: 1 Chronicles 9:28 - the charge

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Balak said unto Balaam, neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. Signifying that it would be as well or better to do nothing at all, than to do what he did; but the sense is not, that he would not have him curse them, that he could never say, since he had pressed it both before and after this; wherefore the words should be rendered, as they are by some p, "if in cursing thou dost not curse", or will not curse, "neither in blessing bless", or, however, do not bless: if he could not or would not curse Israel, he would not have him bless them on any account; if he could do him and his people no good in ridding them of their enemies, yet he desires him by no means to do them any harm by discouraging them and encouraging Israel.

p So Fagius, Vatablus; with which agree the Arabic version, and Noldius, p. 221. No. 1024.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile