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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 CEV</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="../">CEV</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">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_1"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.1" class="v4_22_1">1</span>Israel moved from there to the hills of Moab, where they camped across the Jordan River from the town of Jericho.</span></p><h3 class="s1">King Balak of Moab Hires Balaam To Curse Israel</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_2"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.2-Num.22.3" class="v4_22_2">2-3</span>When King Balak<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.22.2-Num.22.3!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> of Moab and his people heard how many Israelites there were and what they had done to the Amorites, he and the Moabites were terrified and panicked. </span><span class="v4_22_4"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.4" class="v4_22_4">4</span>They said to the Midianite leaders, “That huge mob of Israelites will wipe out everything in sight, like a bull eating grass in a field.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_4">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 a message to Balaam son of Beor who lived among his relatives in the town of Pethor near the Euphrates River. It said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v4_22_5">I need your help. A large group of people has come here from Egypt and settled near my territory. </span><span class="v4_22_6"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.6" class="v4_22_6">6</span>They are too powerful for us to defeat, so would you come and place a curse on them? Maybe then we can run them off. I know that anyone you bless will be successful, but anyone you curse will fail.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_7"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.7" class="v4_22_7">7</span>The leaders of Moab and Midian left and took along money to pay Balaam. When they got to his house, they gave him Balak's message.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_8"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.8" class="v4_22_8">8</span>“Spend the night here,” Balaam replied, “and tomorrow I will tell you the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s answer.” So the officials stayed at his house.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_9"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.9" class="v4_22_9">9</span>During the night, God asked Balaam, “Who are these people at your house?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_10"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.10" class="v4_22_10">10</span>“They are messengers from King Balak of Moab,” Balaam answered. “He sent them </span><span class="v4_22_11"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.11" class="v4_22_11">11</span>to ask me to go to Moab and put a curse on the people who have come there from Egypt. They have settled everywhere around him, and he wants to run them off.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_12"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.12" class="v4_22_12">12</span>But God replied, “Don't go with Balak's messengers. I have blessed those people who have come from Egypt, so don't curse them.”</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 said to Balak's officials, “Go on back home. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> says I cannot go with you.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_14"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.14" class="v4_22_14">14</span>The officials left and told Balak that Balaam refused to come.</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 group of officials, who were even more important than the first ones. </span><span class="v4_22_16"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.16" class="v4_22_16">16</span>They went to Balaam and told him that Balak had said, “Balaam, if you come to Moab, </span><span class="v4_22_17"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.17" class="v4_22_17">17</span>I'll pay you very well and do whatever you ask. Just come and place a curse on these people.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_18"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.18" class="v4_22_18">18</span>Balaam answered, “Even if Balak offered me a palace full of silver or gold, I wouldn't do anything to disobey the <span class="nd">Lord</span> my God. </span><span class="v4_22_19"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.19" class="v4_22_19">19</span>You are welcome to spend the night here, just as the others did. I will find out if the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has something else to say about this.”</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 said, “Balaam, I'll let you go to Moab with Balak's messengers, but do only what I say.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_21"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.21" class="v4_22_21">21</span>So Balaam got up the next morning and saddled his donkey, then left with the Moabite officials.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Balaam and His Donkey Meet an Angel</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_22"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.22" class="v4_22_22">22</span>Balaam was riding his donkey to Moab, and two of his servants were with him. But God was angry that Balaam had gone, so one of the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s angels stood in the road to stop him. </span><span class="v4_22_23"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.23" class="v4_22_23">23</span>When Balaam's donkey saw the angel standing there with a sword, it walked off the road and into an open field. Balaam had to beat the donkey to get it back on the road.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_24"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.24" class="v4_22_24">24</span>Then the angel stood between two vineyards, in a narrow path with 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 walked so close to one of the walls that Balaam's foot scraped against the wall. Balaam beat the donkey again.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_26"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.26" class="v4_22_26">26</span>The angel moved once more and stood in a spot so narrow that there was no room for the donkey to go around. </span><span class="v4_22_27"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.27" class="v4_22_27">27</span>So it just lay down. Balaam lost his temper, then picked up a stick and whacked the donkey.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_28"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.28" class="v4_22_28">28</span>When that happened, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> told the donkey to speak, and it asked Balaam, “What have I done that made you beat me 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>“You made me look stupid!” Balaam answered. “If I had a sword, I'd kill you here and now!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_30"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.30" class="v4_22_30">30</span>“But you're my owner,” answered the donkey, “and you've ridden me many times. Have I ever done anything like this before?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_30">“No,” Balaam admitted.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_31"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.31" class="v4_22_31">31</span>Just then, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> let Balaam see the angel standing in the road, holding a sword, and Balaam bowed down.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_32"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.32" class="v4_22_32">32</span>The angel said, “You had no right to treat your donkey like that! I was the one who blocked your way, because I don't think you should go to Moab.<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>If your donkey had not seen me and stopped those three times, I would have killed you and let the donkey live.”</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 was wrong. I didn't know you were trying to stop me. If you don't think I should go, I'll return home at once.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_35"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.35" class="v4_22_35">35</span>“It's all right for you to go,” the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s angel answered. “But you must say only what I tell you.” So Balaam went on with Balak's officials.</span></p><h3 class="s1">King Balak Meets 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 the town of Ir on the Arnon River, which is the northern border of Moab. </span><span class="v4_22_37"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.37" class="v4_22_37">37</span>Balak asked, “Why didn't you come when I invited you the first time? Did you think I wasn't going to pay you?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_38"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.38" class="v4_22_38">38</span>“I'm here now,” Balaam answered. “But I will say only what God tells me to say.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_22_39"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.39" class="v4_22_39">39</span>They left and went to the town of Kiriath-Huzoth, </span><span class="v4_22_40"><span class="reftext" id="Num.22.40" class="v4_22_40">40</span>where Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep and gave some of the meat to Balaam and the officials who were with him.</span></p><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 to the town of Bamoth-Baal. From there, Balaam could see some of the Israelites.<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.22.41!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">22.2,3 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Balak: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew “Balak son of Zippor.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">22.32 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">I don't think you should go to Moab: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">22.41 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Balaam could see some of the Israelites: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">For a curse to work, the people or thing being cursed had to be seen.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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