Study Desk

and God met him there. Balaam said to him, "I have prepared seven altars and have sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar."

But how can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn those whom the Lord has not condemned?

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!

No misfortune is in his plan for Jacob; no trouble is in store for Israel. For the Lord their God is with them; he has been proclaimed their king.

God brought them out of Egypt; for them he is as strong as a wild ox.

No curse can touch Jacob; no magic has any power against Israel. For now it will be said of Jacob, ‘What wonders God has done for Israel!'

Then King Balak said to Balaam, "Come, I will take you to one more place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them from there."

where he saw the people of Israel camped, tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him,

the message of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open:

God brought them out of Egypt; for them he is as strong as a wild ox. He devours all the nations that oppose him, breaking their bones in pieces, shooting them with arrows.

the message of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide open:

Balaam concluded his messages by saying: "Alas, who can survive unless God has willed it?

In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me."

"O Lord , you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Please appoint a new man as leader for the community.

"When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough.

The Lord your God has increased your population, making you as numerous as the stars!

And may the Lord , the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised!

"Then, just as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. When we arrived at Kadesh-barnea,

I said to you, ‘You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites that the Lord our God is giving us.