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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Numbers 22 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/numbers/22.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/numbers/22-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</a> > Numbers 22</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../numbers/21.htm" title="Numbers 21">◄</a> Numbers 22 <a href="../numbers/23.htm" title="Numbers 23">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">The King of Moab Sends for Balaam</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_1"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.1" class="v4_22_1">1</span>The Israelites moved on and set up camp in the plains of Moab east of the Jordan and opposite Jericho.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_2"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.2" class="v4_22_2">2</span>When the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, heard what the Israelites had done to the Amorites and how many Israelites there were, </span><span class="v4_22_3"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.3" class="v4_22_3">3</span>he and all his people became terrified. </span><span class="v4_22_4"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.4" class="v4_22_4">4</span>The Moabites said to the leaders of the Midianites, “This horde will soon destroy everything around us, like a bull eating the grass in a pasture.” So King Balak </span><span class="v4_22_5"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.5" class="v4_22_5">5</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Num.22.5!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor near the Euphrates River in the land of Amaw. They brought him this message from Balak: “I want you to know that a whole nation has come from Egypt; its people are spreading out everywhere and threatening to take over our land. </span><span class="v4_22_6"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.6" class="v4_22_6">6</span>They outnumber us, so please come and put a curse on them for me. Then perhaps we will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. I know that when you pronounce a blessing, people are blessed, and when you pronounce a curse, they are placed under a curse.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_7"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.7" class="v4_22_7">7</span>So the Moabite and Midianite leaders took with them the payment for the curse, went to Balaam, and gave him Balak's message. </span><span class="v4_22_8"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.8" class="v4_22_8">8</span>Balaam said to them, “Spend the night here, and tomorrow I will report to you whatever the <span class="nd">Lord</span> tells me.” So the Moabite leaders stayed with Balaam.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_9"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.9" class="v4_22_9">9</span>God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these people that are staying with you?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_10"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.10" class="v4_22_10">10</span>He answered, “King Balak of Moab has sent them to tell me </span><span class="v4_22_11"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.11" class="v4_22_11">11</span>that a people who came from Egypt has spread out over the whole land. He wants me to curse them for him, so that he can fight them and drive them out.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_12"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.12" class="v4_22_12">12</span>God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them, and do not put a curse on the people of Israel, because they have my blessing.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_13"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.13" class="v4_22_13">13</span>The next morning Balaam went to Balak's messengers and said, “Go back home; the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has refused to let me go with you.” </span><span class="v4_22_14"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.14" class="v4_22_14">14</span>So they returned to Balak and told him that Balaam had refused to come with them.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_15"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.15" class="v4_22_15">15</span>Then Balak sent a larger number of leaders, who were more important than the first. </span><span class="v4_22_16"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.16" class="v4_22_16">16</span>They went to Balaam and gave him this message from Balak: “Please don't let anything prevent you from coming to me! </span><span class="v4_22_17"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.17" class="v4_22_17">17</span>I will reward you richly and do anything you say. Please come and curse these people for me.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_18"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.18" class="v4_22_18">18</span>But Balaam answered, “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not disobey the command of the <span class="nd">Lord</span> my God in even the smallest matter. </span><span class="v4_22_19"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.19" class="v4_22_19">19</span>But please spend the night, as the others did, so that I may learn whether or not the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has something else to tell me.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_20"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.20" class="v4_22_20">20</span>That night God came to Balaam and said, “If these men have come to ask you to go with them, get ready and go, but do only what I tell you.” </span><span class="v4_22_21"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.21" class="v4_22_21">21</span>So the next morning Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite leaders.</span></p><h3 class="s">Balaam and His Donkey</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_22"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.22" class="v4_22_22">22</span>God was angry that Balaam was going, and as Balaam was riding along on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants, the angel of the <span class="nd">Lord</span> stood in the road to bar his way. </span><span class="v4_22_23"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.23" class="v4_22_23">23</span>When the donkey saw the angel standing there holding a sword, it left the road and turned into the fields. Balaam beat the donkey and brought it back onto the road. </span><span class="v4_22_24"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.24" class="v4_22_24">24</span>Then the angel stood where the road narrowed between two vineyards and had a stone wall on each side. </span><span class="v4_22_25"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.25" class="v4_22_25">25</span>When the donkey saw the angel, it moved over against the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against it. Again Balaam beat the donkey. </span><span class="v4_22_26"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.26" class="v4_22_26">26</span>Once more the angel moved ahead; he stood in a narrow place where there was no room at all to pass on either side. </span><span class="v4_22_27"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.27" class="v4_22_27">27</span>This time, when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down. Balaam lost his temper and began to beat the donkey with his stick. </span><span class="v4_22_28"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.28" class="v4_22_28">28</span>Then the <span class="nd">Lord</span> gave the donkey the power of speech, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me these three times?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_29"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.29" class="v4_22_29">29</span>Balaam answered, “Because you have made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_30"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.30" class="v4_22_30">30</span>The donkey replied, “Am I not the same donkey on which you have ridden all your life? Have I ever treated you like this before?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_30">“No,” he answered.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_31"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.31" class="v4_22_31">31</span>Then the <span class="nd">Lord</span> let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downward on the ground. </span><span class="v4_22_32"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.32" class="v4_22_32">32</span>The angel demanded, “Why have you beaten your donkey three times like this? I have come to bar your way, because you should not be making this journey.<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.22.32!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v4_22_33"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.33" class="v4_22_33">33</span>But your donkey saw me and turned aside three times. If it hadn't, I would have killed you and spared the donkey.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_34"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.34" class="v4_22_34">34</span>Balaam replied, “I have sinned. I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me; but now if you think it is wrong for me to go on, I will return home.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_35"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.35" class="v4_22_35">35</span>But the angel said, “Go on with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went on with them.</span></p><h3 class="s">Balak Welcomes Balaam</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_36"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.36" class="v4_22_36">36</span>When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went to meet him at Ar, a city on the Arnon River at the border of Moab. </span><span class="v4_22_37"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.37" class="v4_22_37">37</span>Balak said to him, “Why didn't you come when I sent for you the first time? Did you think I wasn't able to reward you enough?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_38"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.38" class="v4_22_38">38</span>Balaam answered, “I came, didn't I? But now, what power do I have? I can say only what God tells me to say.” </span><span class="v4_22_39"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.39" class="v4_22_39">39</span>So Balaam went with Balak to the town of Huzoth, </span><span class="v4_22_40"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.40" class="v4_22_40">40</span>where Balak slaughtered cattle and sheep and gave some of the meat to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.</span></p><h3 class="s">Balaam's First Prophecy</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_41"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.41" class="v4_22_41">41</span>The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal, from where Balaam could see a part of the people of Israel.</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">22.32: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Probable text </char><char style="fq" closed="false">you should … journey; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew unclear.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. 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