Numbers 22:13

THE MESSAGE

The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak's nobles, "Go back home; God refuses to give me permission to go with you."

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Bil`am rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Get you into your land; for the LORD refuses to give me leave to go with you.

King James Version
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

Lexham English Bible
Balaam got up in the morning, and he said to the princes of Balak, "Go to your land, because Yahweh refused to allow me to go with you."

English Standard Version
So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, "Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you."

New Century Version
The next morning Balaam awoke and said to Balak's leaders, "Go back to your own country; the Lord has refused to let me go with you."

New English Translation
So Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, "Go to your land, for the Lord has refused to permit me to go with you."

Amplified Bible
Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the leaders of Balak, "Go back to your own land [of Moab], for the LORD has refused to let me go with you."

New American Standard Bible
So Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak's representatives, "Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Balaam rose vp in the morning, and sayde vnto ye princes of Balak, Returne vnto your land: for the Lord hath refused to giue me leaue to go with you.

Legacy Standard Bible
So Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak's leaders, "Go back to your land, for Yahweh has refused to allow me to go with you."

Contemporary English Version
The next morning, Balaam said to Balak's officials, "Go on back home. The Lord says I cannot go with you."

Complete Jewish Bible
(RY: v; LY: ii) Bil‘am got up in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, "Return to your own land, because Adonai refuses to give me permission to go with you."

Darby Translation
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Go into your land; for Jehovah refuses to give me leave to go with you.

Easy-to-Read Version
The next morning Balaam got up and said to leaders from Balak, "Go back to your own country. The Lord will not let me go with you."

George Lamsa Translation
And Balaam rose up in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, Go to your land; for the LORD refuses to permit me to go with you.

Good News Translation
The next morning Balaam went to Balak's messengers and said, "Go back home; the Lord has refused to let me go with you."

Christian Standard Bible®
So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s officials, “Go back to your land, because the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

Literal Translation
And Balaam rose in the morning and said to the leaders of Balak. Go to your land, for Jehovah has refused to give me leave to go with you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then rose Balaam vp in the mornynge, & sayde vnto the prynces of Balac: Get you vnto youre londe, for the LORDE wyll not suffer me to go with you.

American Standard Version
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land; for Jehovah refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

Bible in Basic English
In the morning Balaam got up and said to the chiefs of Balak, Go back to your land, for the Lord will not let me go with you.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Balaam rose vp in the mornyng, and sayd vnto the lordes of Balac, Get you vnto your lande: for the Lord wyll not suffer me to go with you.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak: 'Get you into your land; for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you.'

King James Version (1611)
And Balaam rose vp in the morning, and said vnto the Princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the Lord refuseth to giue mee leaue to goe with you.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balac, Depart quickly to your lord; God does not permit me to go with you.

English Revised Version
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

Berean Standard Bible
So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak's princes, "Go back to your homeland, because the LORD has refused to let me go with you."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Which Balaam roos eerli, and seide to the princes, Go ye in to youre lond, for God forbeed me to come with you.

Young's Literal Translation
And Balaam riseth in the morning, and saith unto the princes of Balak, `Go unto your land, for Jehovah is refusing to suffer me to go with you;'

Update Bible Version
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, You get into your land; for Yahweh refuses to give me leave to go with you.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Balaam rose in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Depart into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you.

World English Bible
Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Get you into your land; for Yahweh refuses to give me leave to go with you.

New King James Version
So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, "Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to give me permission to go with you."

New Living Translation
The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak's officials, "Go on home! The Lord will not let me go with you."

New Life Bible
So Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak's leaders, "Return to your land. For the Lord will not let me go with you."

New Revised Standard
So Balaam rose in the morning, and said to the officials of Balak, "Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your own land, - For Yahweh hath refused to let me go with you.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he rose in the morning and said to the princes: Go into your country, because the Lord hath forbid me to come with you.

Revised Standard Version
So Balaam rose in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, "Go to your own land; for the LORD has refused to let me go with you."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak's leaders, "Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you."

Contextual Overview

¹ The People of Israel marched on and camped on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho. ²Balak son of Zippor learned of all that Israel had done to the Amorites. The people of Moab were in a total panic because of Israel. There were so many of them! They were terrorized. ⁴Moab spoke to the leaders of Midian: "Look, this mob is going to clean us out—a bunch of crows picking a carcass clean." Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent emissaries to get Balaam son of Beor, who lived at Pethor on the banks of the Euphrates River, his homeland. Balak's emissaries said, "Look. A people has come up out of Egypt, and they're all over the place! And they're pressing hard on me. Come and curse them for me—they're too much for me. Maybe then I can beat them; we'll attack and drive them out of the country. You have a reputation: Those you bless stay blessed; those you curse stay cursed." The leaders of Moab and Midian were soon on their way, with the fee for the cursing tucked safely in their wallets. When they got to Balaam, they gave him Balak's message. "Stay here for the night," Balaam said. "In the morning I'll deliver the answer that God gives me." The Moabite nobles stayed with him. Then God came to Balaam. He asked, "So who are these men here with you?" Balaam answered, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them with a message: ‘Look, the people that came up out of Egypt are all over the place! Come and curse them for me. Maybe then I'll be able to attack and drive them out of the country.'" God said to Balaam, "Don't go with them. And don't curse the others—they are a blessed people." The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak's nobles, "Go back home; God refuses to give me permission to go with you." So the Moabite nobles left, came back to Balak, and said, "Balaam wouldn't come with us." Balak sent another group of nobles, higher ranking and more distinguished. They came to Balaam and said, "Balak son of Zippor says, ‘Please, don't refuse to come to me. I will honor and reward you lavishly—anything you tell me to do, I'll do; I'll pay anything—only come and curse this people.'" Balaam answered Balak's servants: "Even if Balak gave me his house stuffed with silver and gold, I wouldn't be able to defy the orders of my God to do anything, whether big or little. But come along and stay with me tonight as the others did; I'll see what God will say to me this time." God came to Balaam that night and said, "Since these men have come all this way to see you, go ahead and go with them. But make sure you do absolutely nothing other than what I tell you." Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went off with the noblemen from Moab. As he was going, though, God's anger flared. The angel of God stood in the road to block his way. Balaam was riding his donkey, accompanied by his two servants. When the donkey saw the angel blocking the road and brandishing a sword, she veered off the road into the ditch. Balaam beat the donkey and got her back on the road. But as they were going through a vineyard, with a fence on either side, the donkey again saw God 's angel blocking the way and veered into the fence, crushing Balaam's foot against the fence. Balaam hit her again. God 's angel blocked the way yet again—a very narrow passage this time; there was no getting through on the right or left. Seeing the angel, Balaam's donkey sat down under him. Balaam lost his temper; he beat the donkey with his stick. Then God gave speech to the donkey. She said to Balaam: "What have I ever done to you that you have beat me these three times?" Balaam said, "Because you've been playing games with me! If I had a sword I would have killed you by now." The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your trusty donkey on whom you've ridden for years right up until now? Have I ever done anything like this to you before? Have I?" He said, "No." Then God helped Balaam see what was going on: He saw God 's angel blocking the way, brandishing a sword. Balaam fell to the ground, his face in the dirt. God 's angel said to him: "Why have you beaten your poor donkey these three times? I have come here to block your way because you're getting way ahead of yourself. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she hadn't, I would have killed you by this time, but not the donkey. I would have let her off." Balaam said to God 's angel, "I have sinned. I had no idea you were standing in the road blocking my way. If you don't like what I'm doing, I'll head back." But God 's angel said to Balaam, "Go ahead and go with them. But only say what I tell you to say—absolutely no other word." And so Balaam continued to go with Balak's nobles. When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him in the Moabite town that was on the banks of the Arnon, right on the boundary of his land. Balak said to Balaam, "Didn't I send an urgent message for help? Why didn't you come when I called? Do you think I can't pay you enough?" Balaam said to Balak, "Well, I'm here now. But I can't tell you just anything. I can speak only words that God gives me—no others." Balaam then accompanied Balak to Kiriath Huzoth (Street-Town). Balak slaughtered cattle and sheep for sacrifices and presented them to Balaam and the nobles who were with him. At daybreak Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal (The Heights of Baal) so that he could get a good view of some of the people. ⁶Balaam The People of Israel marched on and camped on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho. Balak son of Zippor learned of all that Israel had done to the Amorites. The people of Moab were in a total panic because of Israel. There were so many of them! They were terrorized. Moab spoke to the leaders of Midian: "Look, this mob is going to clean us out—a bunch of crows picking a carcass clean." Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent emissaries to get Balaam son of Beor, who lived at Pethor on the banks of the Euphrates River, his homeland. Balak's emissaries said, "Look. A people has come up out of Egypt, and they're all over the place! And they're pressing hard on me. Come and curse them for me—they're too much for me. Maybe then I can beat them; we'll attack and drive them out of the country. You have a reputation: Those you bless stay blessed; those you curse stay cursed." ⁷The leaders of Moab and Midian were soon on their way, with the fee for the cursing tucked safely in their wallets. When they got to Balaam, they gave him Balak's message. "Stay here for the night," Balaam said. "In the morning I'll deliver the answer that God gives me." The Moabite nobles stayed with him. ⁹ Then God came to Balaam. He asked, "So who are these men here with you?" ¹⁰Balaam answered, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them with a message: ‘Look, the people that came up out of Egypt are all over the place! Come and curse them for me. Maybe then I'll be able to attack and drive them out of the country.'" ¹² God said to Balaam, "Don't go with them. And don't curse the others—they are a blessed people." ¹³ The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak's nobles, "Go back home; God refuses to give me permission to go with you." ¹⁴ So the Moabite nobles left, came back to Balak, and said, "Balaam wouldn't come with us."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

for the Lord: Numbers 22:14, Deuteronomy 23:5

Reciprocal: Numbers 24:1 - saw 1 Kings 13:16 - General 1 Kings 21:4 - I will not

Cross-References

Genesis 22:6
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac his son to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. The two of them went off together.

Genesis 22:7
Isaac said to Abraham his father, "Father?" "Yes, my son." "We have flint and wood, but where's the sheep for the burnt offering?"

Genesis 22:8
Abraham said, "Son, God will see to it that there's a sheep for the burnt offering." And they kept on walking together.

Genesis 22:9
They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.

Genesis 22:19
Then Abraham went back to his young servants. They got things together and returned to Beersheba. Abraham settled down in Beersheba.

Genesis 22:20
After all this, Abraham got the news: "Your brother Nahor is a father! Milcah has given him children: Uz, his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (he was the father of Aram), Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel." (Bethuel was the father of Rebekah.) Milcah gave these eight sons to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

1 Corinthians 10:13
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Balaam rose up in the morning,.... With the impression of the dream upon his mind, and of what had passed between God and him in it:

and said unto the princes of Balak; which shows what the elders were that were sent, of what honour and dignity, and may include both those of Moab and of Midian:

get you into your land; as soon as you can; set forward on your journey, it is to no purpose to stay here:

for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you; he only relates one part of the answer he had from the Lord, respecting his going with them, but says not a word of his being forbid to curse Israel, and of the reason given why he should not; had he reported this, in all probability it would have prevented any further application to him, and so any attempt to get this done, which Balaam seemed aware of; and therefore, by concealing this, hoped for fresh solicitations and entreaties, and that in time the Lord might be prevailed on to let him go and curse them; he having a covetous desire of riches, honour, and preferment, in Balak's court.