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Saturday, August 2nd, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Read the Bible

The NET Bible®

Numbers 23:11

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!"

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!"
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.
Easy-to-Read Version
Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them!"
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 to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." 2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3 Balaam said to Balak, "Station yourself by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went to a deserted height. 4 Then God met Balaam, who said to him, "I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram." 5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you." 6 So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 7 Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying, "Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.' 8 How can I curse one whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced? 9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; from the hills I watch them. Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it will not be reckoned among the nations. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let the end of my life be like 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
"Listen, sir, you are a mighty prince among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you from burying your dead."
Genesis 23:7
Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people, the sons of Heth.
Genesis 23:12
Abraham bowed before the local people
Genesis 23:18
as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron's city.
Genesis 23:20
So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial site from the sons of Heth.
Numbers 35:30
"Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony of witnesses, but one witness cannot testify against any person to cause him to be put to death.
Deuteronomy 17:6
At the testimony of two or three witnesses they must be executed. They cannot be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
Deuteronomy 19:15
A single witness may not testify against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Ruth 4:1
Now Boaz went up to the village gate and sat there. Then along came the guardian whom Boaz had mentioned to Ruth! Boaz said, "Come here and sit down, ‘John Doe'!" So he came and sat down.
Ruth 4:4
So I am legally informing you: Acquire it before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people! If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so. But if not, then tell me so I will know. For you possess the first option to redeem it; I am next in line after you." He replied, "I will redeem it."

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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