Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, July 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

The NET Bible®

Numbers 22:17

For I will honor you greatly, and whatever you tell me I will do. So come, put a curse on this nation for me.'"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Balak;   Decision;   Temptation;   Thompson Chain Reference - Balaam;   Earthly;   Honour;   Honour-Dishonour;   Reward;   Reward-Punishment;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Desert, Journey of Israel through the;   Moabites;   Temptation;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Midianites;   Moabites;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Balaam;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Transjordan;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Balaam;   Balak;   Moab, Moabites;   Prophecy, Prophets;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Balak;   Midian;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - On to Canaan;   Moses, the Man of God;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Hafá¹­arah;   Joshua, the Samaritan Book of;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.
King James Version
For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
Lexham English Bible
because I will surely honor you greatly, and all that you say to me I will do. Please, come; curse this people for me.'"
English Standard Version
for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.'"
New Century Version
I will pay you very well, and I will do what you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me."
Amplified Bible
'For I will give you a very great honor and I will do whatever you tell me; so please come, curse these people [of Israel] for me.'"
New American Standard Bible
for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you tell me. Please come then, curse this people for me.'"
Geneva Bible (1587)
For I wil promote thee vnto great honour, and wil do whatsoeuer thou sayest vnto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
Legacy Standard Bible
for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Please come then, curse this people for me.'"
Contemporary English Version
I'll pay you very well and do whatever you ask. Just come and place a curse on these people."
Complete Jewish Bible
I will reward you very well, and whatever you say to me I will do. So please come, and curse this people for me.'"
Darby Translation
for very highly will I honour thee, and whatever thou shalt say to me will I do; come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
Easy-to-Read Version
I will pay you very much, and I will do whatever you ask. Come and curse these people for me."
George Lamsa Translation
For I will surely honor you exceedingly, and I will do for you whatever you say to me; come therefore, curse this people for me.
Good News Translation
I will reward you richly and do anything you say. Please come and curse these people for me."
Christian Standard Bible®
for I will greatly honor you and do whatever you ask me. So please come and put a curse on these people for me!’”
Literal Translation
for I will honor you with very much honor; and all that you say to me I will do. And please come, curse this people for me.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
for I wyll promote the vnto hye honoure, & wil do what so euer thou sayest vnto me. Come I praye the, curse me this people.
American Standard Version
for I will promote thee unto very great honor, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
Bible in Basic English
For I will give you a place of very great honour, and whatever you say to me I will do; so come, in answer to my prayer, and put a curse on this people.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For I wyll greatly promote thee vnto great honour, and wyll do whatsoeuer thou sayest vnto me: come I pray thee, curse this people for my sake.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
for I will promote thee unto very great honour, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do; come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.'
King James Version (1611)
For I wil promote thee vnto very great honour, and I will do whatsoeuer thou saiest vnto me: Come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For I will greatly honour thee, and will do for thee whatsoever thou shalt say; come then, curse me this people.
English Revised Version
for I will promote thee unto very great honour, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
Berean Standard Bible
for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on these people for me!'"
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and what euer thing thou wolt, Y schal yyue to thee; come thou, and curse this puple.
Young's Literal Translation
for very greatly I honour thee, and all that thou sayest unto me I do; and come, I pray thee, pierce for me this people.'
Update Bible Version
for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do: come therefore, I pray you, curse this people for me.
Webster's Bible Translation
For I will promote thee to very great honor, and I will do whatever thou sayest to me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse this people for me.
World English Bible
for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.
New King James Version
for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me."'
New Living Translation
I will pay you very well and do whatever you tell me. Just come and curse these people for me!"
New Life Bible
I will give you much honor. I will do whatever you tell me. I beg you to come and curse these people for me.'"
New Revised Standard
for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do; come, curse this people for me.'"
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For I will honour, thee, exceedingly, and all that thou shalt say unto me, will I do. Do come therefore I pray thee oh revile me this people.
Douay-Rheims Bible
For I am ready to honour thee, and will give thee whatsoever thou wilt: come and curse this people.
Revised Standard Version
for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do; come, curse this people for me.'"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Please come then, curse this people for me.'"

Contextual Overview

15 Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, "Thus says Balak son of Zippor: ‘Please do not let anything hinder you from coming to me. 17 For I will honor you greatly, and whatever you tell me I will do. So come, put a curse on this nation for me.'" 18 Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, "Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment of the Lord my God to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, please stay the night here also, that I may know what more the Lord might say to me." 20 God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them, but the word that I will say to you, that you must do." 21 So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I will promote: Numbers 24:11, Deuteronomy 16:9, Esther 5:11, Esther 7:9, Matthew 4:8, Matthew 4:9, Matthew 16:26

and I will do: Numbers 23:2, Numbers 23:3, Numbers 23:29, Numbers 23:30, Matthew 14:7

come: Numbers 22:6

curse me: An erroneous opinion prevailed, both in those days and in after ages, that some men had the power, by the help of their gods, to devote, not only particular persons, but cities and whole armies, to destruction. This they are said to have done sometimes by words of imprecation; of which there was a set form among some people, which schines calls היןסיזןלוםחם בסבם , "the determinate curse." Macrobius has a whole chapter on this subject. He gives us two of the ancient forms used in reference to the destruction of Carthage; the first, which was only pronounced by the dictator, or general, was to call over the protecting deities to their side, and the other to devote the city to destruction, which they were supposed to have abandoned. The Romans held, that no city would be taken till its tutelary god had forsaken it; or if it could be taken, it would be unlawful, as it would be sacrilege to lead the gods into captivity. Virgil intimates, that Troy was destroyed because Excessere omnes adytis, arisque relictis dii, quibus imperium hoc steterat, "All the gods, by whose assistance the empire had hitherto been preserved, forsook their altars and temples." See more on this subject in Dr. A. Clarke, Bp. Patrick, and Burder's Oriental Customs, No. 734.

Reciprocal: Numbers 22:37 - General Numbers 23:7 - Come Numbers 23:11 - General Numbers 24:10 - I called Deuteronomy 23:4 - because they hired Judges 16:5 - we will 2 Samuel 13:28 - fear not 2 Kings 5:5 - and took Daniel 2:6 - ye shall Daniel 2:48 - a great Daniel 5:7 - be clothed Acts 1:18 - with 1 Timothy 6:9 - they

Cross-References

Genesis 12:2
Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing.
Genesis 13:16
And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted.
Genesis 15:5
The Lord took him outside and said, "Gaze into the sky and count the stars—if you are able to count them!" Then he said to him, "So will your descendants be."
Genesis 17:6
I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
Genesis 22:1
Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am!" Abraham replied.
Genesis 22:2
God said, "Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you."
Genesis 22:8
"God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son," Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.
Genesis 22:9
When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.
Genesis 22:10
Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son.
Genesis 22:13
Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For I will promote thee unto very great honour,.... In his court, by making him some great officer there, perhaps his prime minister; so that as before he laid a bait for his covetousness, sending him large presents, and rewards of divination; here, for his pride and ambition, promising him court preferment; though Aben Ezra interprets it of mammon or riches, of which he could give him an immense sum: "in honouring I will exceedingly honour thee" f; or load thee with wealth and riches; and so Balaam seems to understand it, since in his answer he says, "if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold"; both civil honour and worldly wealth may be taken into the account, since they are both heavy and weighty things, and very desirable and ensnaring:

and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me; give him what money he should ask of him, put him into whatsoever place and office he should desire; and though he was a sovereign prince, would be at his beck and command, and do whatever he should direct him to do in his kingdom, as well as in what concerned the affair of cursing Israel; as we find he afterwards did, with respect to sacrifices and rites relative thereunto:

come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; renewing the request made in the first embassy with great importunity, Numbers 22:6 but using here a different word for "cursing"; there, as Munster observes, the word signifies to curse lightly; here, to blaspheme and utterly devote to ruin; to which may be added, to curse expressly and by name, to pierce through and through, to deprive of all benefits, and to destroy utterly.

f כבד אכבדך מאד "honorando honorabo te valde", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator.


 
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