Lectionary Calendar
Friday, August 22nd, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

Numbers 23:11

Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them!"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Curse;   Thompson Chain Reference - Balaam;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Desert, Journey of Israel through the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Camp, Encampments;   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;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bless;   Genealogy;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Balak said to Bil`am, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have blessed them altogether.
King James Version
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
Lexham English Bible
And Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have surely blessed them!"
English Standard Version
And Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them."
New Century Version
Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but you have only blessed them!"
New English Translation
Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them!"
Amplified Bible
Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but here you have [thoroughly] blessed them instead!"
New American Standard Bible
Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!"
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Balak saide vnto Balaam, What hast thou done vnto mee? I tooke thee to curse mine enemies, and beholde, thou hast blessed them altogether.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have blessed them repeatedly!"
Contemporary English Version
Balak said, "What are you doing? I asked you to come and place a curse on my enemies. But you have blessed them instead!"
Complete Jewish Bible
Balak said to Bil‘am, "What have you done to me?! To curse my enemies is why I brought you; and, here, you have totally blessed them!"
Darby Translation
And Balak said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
George Lamsa Translation
And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have surely blessed them.
Good News Translation
Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but all you have done is bless them."
Christian Standard Bible®
“What have you done to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!”
Literal Translation
And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and lo you have surely blessed.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The saide Balac vnto Balaam: What doest thou vnto me? I caused to set ye for to curse myne enemies, & beholde, thou blessest the.
American Standard Version
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
Bible in Basic English
Then Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I sent for you so that my haters might be cursed, and see, you have given them a blessing.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Balac sayd vnto Balaam: What hast thou done vnto me? I toke thee to curse myne enemies, and beholde thou hast blessed them altogether.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Balak said unto Balaam: 'What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.'
King James Version (1611)
And Balak saide vnto Balaam, What hast thou done vnto me? I tooke thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Balac said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I called thee to curse my enemies, and behold thou hast greatly blessed them.
English Revised Version
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
Berean Standard Bible
Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!"
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Balaach seide to Balaam, What is this that thou doist? Y clepide thee, that thou schuldist curse myn enemyes, and ayenward thou blessist hem.
Young's Literal Translation
And Balak saith unto Balaam, `What hast thou done to me? to pierce mine enemies I have taken thee -- and lo, thou hast certainly blessed;'
Update Bible Version
And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and, look, you have blessed them altogether.
Webster's Bible Translation
And Balak said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse my enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed [them] altogether.
World English Bible
Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have blessed them altogether.
New King James Version
Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!"
New Living Translation
Then King Balak demanded of Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed them!"
New Life Bible
Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse those who hate me. But see, you have asked that good would come to them!"
New Revised Standard
Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Balak unto Balaam, What hast thou done for me? To revile mine enemies, I summoned thee, and lo! thou hast kept on blessing.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Balac said to Balaam: What is this that thou dost? I sent for thee to curse my enemies: and thou contrariwise blessest them.
Revised Standard Version
And Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them."
THE MESSAGE
Balak said to Balaam, "What's this? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and all you've done is bless them."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!"

Contextual Overview

1 Balaam said, "Build seven altars here. And prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." 2 Balak did what Balaam asked. Then Balak and Balaam killed a ram and a bull on each of the altars. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here near this altar. I will go to another place. Then the Lord will come to me, and he will tell me what I must say." Then Balaam went away to a higher place. 4 God came to Balaam at that place, and Balaam said, "I have prepared seven altars. And I have killed a bull and a ram as a sacrifice on each altar." 5 Then the Lord gave Balaam a message for Balak and said, "Go back to Balak and say the things that I have given you to say." 6 So Balaam went back to Balak. Balak was still standing near the altar, and all the leaders of Moab were standing there with them. 7 Then Balaam spoke, and this was his message: "Balak, the king of Moab, brought me here from the eastern mountains of Aram. Balak said to me, ‘Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, speak against the Israelites.' 8 But God is not against them, so I cannot speak against them either! The Lord has not asked for bad things to happen to these people. So I cannot do that either. 9 I see these people from the mountain. I see them from the high hills. They live alone. They are not part of another nation. 10 Who can count Jacob's people? They are as many as the grains of dust. No one can count even a fourth of the Israelites. Let me die like a good man. Let my life end as happy as theirs!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Numbers 23:7, Numbers 23:8, Numbers 22:11, Numbers 22:17, Numbers 24:10, Psalms 109:17-20

Reciprocal: Genesis 31:55 - blessed Leviticus 1:3 - a burnt 2 Samuel 3:24 - What hast

Cross-References

Genesis 23:6
"Sir, you are a great leader among us. You can have the best place we have to bury your dead. You can have any of our burying places that you want. None of us will stop you from burying your wife there."
Genesis 23:7
Abraham got up and bowed to the people.
Genesis 23:12
Abraham bowed before the Hittites.
Genesis 23:20
Abraham bought the field and the cave in it from the Hittites. So this became his property to be used as a burial place.
Numbers 35:30
"A killer should be put to death as a murderer only if there are witnesses. No one can be put to death if there is only one witness.
Deuteronomy 17:6
But no one should be punished with death if only one witness says that person did that evil thing. But if two or three witnesses say it is true, the person must be killed.
Deuteronomy 19:15
"If someone is accused of doing something against the law, one witness is not enough to prove that the person is guilty. There must be two or three witnesses to prove that the person really did wrong.
Ruth 4:1
Boaz went to the place where people gather near the city gates. He sat there until the close relative he had told Ruth about passed by. Boaz called to him, "Come and sit here, friend."
Ruth 4:4
I decided to tell you about this in front of the people living here and in front of the elders of our people. If you want to pay the widow for the land and keep it in the family, then pay her for it. If you don't want to buy the land, tell me, because I am the next one in the family who has the right to buy it. If you don't buy the land from her, I will." Naomi's closest relative said, "I will buy the land from her."
Ruth 4:9
Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Balak said unto Balaam, what hast thou done unto me?.... Or "for me" f; nothing at all, to answer his purpose, or his end in sending for him;

I took thee to curse mine enemies: so he calls the Israelites, though they had never done him any wrong; nor committed any acts of hostility against him, nor showed any intention to commit any; nay, were forbidden by the Lord their God to contend in battle with him and his people;

and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether; or, "in blessing blessed" g, done nothing but bless them, and that with many blessings, or pronounced them blessed, and prophesied of their blessedness, for their number, their safety, and of their happiness, not only in life, but at and after death.

f לי "pro me". g ברכת ברך "benedixisti benedicendo", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator.


 
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