New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Numbers 23
1
Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here. Prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice."
Reference
Sacrifice
Numbers 23:29
3
Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering. I'll go and try to find out what the Lord wants me to do. Maybe he'll come and meet with me. Then I'll tell you what he says to me." So Balaam went off to a bare hilltop.
Reference
4
God met with him there. Balaam said, "I've prepared seven altars. On each altar I've offered a bull and a ram."
Reference
Parallel theme
Numbers 23:16
5
The Lord put a message in Balaam's mouth. The Lord said, "Go back to Balak. Give him my message."
Reference
6
So Balaam went back to him. He found Balak standing beside his offering. All of the princes of Moab were with him.
7
Then Balaam spoke the message he had received from God. He said, "Balak brought me from the land of Aram. The king of Moab sent for me from the mountains in the east. 'Come,' he said. 'Put a curse on Jacob's people for me. Come. Speak against Israel.'
Reference
📍 Aram
Curse
Deuteronomy 23:4
Parallel theme
Numbers 24:3
Numbers 23:18
Psalm 78:2
Job 29:1
Job 27:1
Numbers 24:15
Numbers 24:23
Micah 2:4
8
But how can I put a curse on people God hasn't cursed? How can I speak against people the Lord hasn't spoken against?
Reference
9
I see them from the rocky peaks. I view them from the hills. I see a group of people who live by themselves. They don't consider themselves to be one of the nations.
Reference
10
Jacob's people are like the dust of the earth. Can dust be counted? Who can count even a fourth of the people of Israel? Let me die as godly people die. Let my death be like theirs!"
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 37:37
Psalm 116:15
Genesis 13:16
Revelation 14:13
2 Corinthians 5:1
Genesis 28:14
Genesis 22:17
Numbers 2:31
Numbers 2:9
Righteousness
Proverbs 14:32
11
Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to put a curse on my enemies! But all you have done is give them a blessing!"
Reference
13
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come with me to another place. You can see the people of Israel from there. You will see only some of them. You won't see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me."
14
So Balak took Balaam to the field of Zophim. It was on the highest slopes of Pisgah. There he built seven altars. He offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
📍 Zophim
15
Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering. I'll meet with the Lord over there."
Reference
Sacrifice
Numbers 23:3
16
The Lord met with Balaam. He put a message in Balaam's mouth. The Lord said, "Go back to Balak. Give him my message."
Reference
Word
Numbers 23:5
17
So he went to him. He found him standing beside his offering. The princes of Moab were with him. Balak asked him, "What did the Lord say?"
18
Then Balaam spoke the message he had received from God. He said, "Balak, rise up and listen. Son of Zippor, hear me.
19
God isn't a mere man. He can't lie. He isn't a human being. He doesn't change his mind. He speaks, and then he acts. He makes a promise, and then he keeps it.
Reference
Good
James 1:17
Parallel theme
Malachi 3:6
Luke 21:33
Habakkuk 2:3
Psalm 89:35
References God
Hebrews 6:18
Titus 1:2
Hosea 11:9
Repentance
1 Samuel 15:29
Romans 11:29
20
He has commanded me to bless Israel. He has given them his blessing. And I can't change it.
Reference
Blessing
Numbers 22:12
Genesis 22:17
Genesis 12:2
Parallel theme
Isaiah 43:13
1 Peter 1:5
Word
Numbers 22:18
Numbers 22:38
21
"I don't see any trouble coming on the people of Jacob. I don't see any suffering in Israel. The Lord their God is with them. The shout of the King is among them.
Reference
Kingdom
Isaiah 33:22
Psalm 97:1
Parallel theme
Psalm 23:4
References God
Matthew 1:23
Psalm 46:11
Isaiah 8:10
Isaiah 41:10
Sin
Jeremiah 50:20
Isaiah 38:17
Isaiah 1:18
22
God brought them out of Egypt. They are as strong as a wild ox.
Reference
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 33:17
Psalm 22:21
Psalm 92:10
Exodus 9:16
References Egypt
Exodus 14:18
Numbers 22:5
References God
Numbers 24:8
Exodus 20:2
Psalm 68:35
23
There isn't any magic that can hurt the people of Jacob. No one can use magic words to harm Israel. Here is what will be said about the people of Jacob. Here is what will be said about Israel. People will say, 'See what God has done!'
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 12:27
Revelation 12:9
Matthew 16:18
Micah 7:15
Acts 4:16
References God
Psalm 64:9
Romans 16:20
Acts 10:38
References Israel
Joshua 13:22
Numbers 24:1
24
The people of Israel are going to wake up like a female lion. They are going to get up like a male lion. They are like a lion that won't rest until it eats what it has caught. They are like a lion that won't rest until it drinks the blood of what it has killed."
Reference
25
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Don't put a curse on them at all! And don't give them a blessing at all!"
27
Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come. Let me take you to another place. Perhaps God will be pleased to let you put a curse on them for me from there."
Reference
References God
Romans 11:29
28
Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor. It looks out over a dry and empty land.
Reference
📍 Peor
Parallel theme
Numbers 21:20
29
Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here. Prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice."
30
Balak did just as Balaam said. He offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Summary of Numbers 23
Numbers 23 continues Balak’s and Balaam’s confrontation. Balak wants Balaam to curse the Israelites; however, he is only able to speak that which the LORD puts in his mouth. In this chapter, Balak takes Balaam up to two different places and asks him to curse the Israelites, who only receive blessings from the prophet.
Balak and Balaam begin the chapter at Bamoth-baal, where the prophet instructs the king to make ready seven altars and seven bullocks and seven rams. Balak does as he is told and offers up the animals on the altars. Balaam tells Balak that he needs to be beside the offerings and that he would go up to seek the Lord.
The LORD meets Balaam, and He gives him words to speak to Balak, which Balaam then delivers to the Moab king, declaring that what God says Israel shall be blessed, not cursed. Balak is surprised that Balaam spoke that which he did because he assumed that the prophet would bring him curse as the king requested; instead, he received blessings. Balaam proclaims that he cannot curse whom the LORD has blessed. He describes the Israelites as a people that are altogether separate from the rest of the world, saying that their number is uncountable.
The prophet speaks of his desire to be as the righteous and to have the Israelites’ lot fall upon the people of God. That is because he sees them as something special. Not the opinion of Balak nor even his own volition determines the lot of Israel; rather, the God of Israel determines it.
Balak is not pleased with what has occurred. Balaam has failed to deliver the message the king wanted to hear. He reminds the prophet that he came to the prophet to curse Israel, but he has blessed them instead. Balaam responds that he cannot deliver a message of cursing because what the LORD puts in his mouth is the message Israel shall hear. Balak then takes the prophet to the top of Pisgah, to the field of Zophim, to see the camp of Israel.
Again, Balak prepares offerings to the Lord, and he asks Balaam to deliver his curses. At the meeting place, Balaam sees the Israelites, who camp as a well-organized army, and he speaks further blessings over them. Twice, Balak has brought Balaam to curse Israel, but the prophet has delivered nothing but blessings.
It appears that Balaam has learned to accept the Israelites as something set apart unto God. God’s words to the prophet are not dictated by the whims of kings, but rather they are cast in accordance with His will. In this chapter, the LORD shows the prophet the Israelites as set apart, not by their numbers, nor by their strength, but by His divine right to deliver them from bondage.
It is significant what Balaam says about Israel in this chapter. The prophet speaks as if the Israelites have achieved a new status in the eyes of God. Not only are they blessed, but they are spoken of as being separate unto themselves. The prophet mentions how the LORD has rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and he describes them as having the might of a wild ox.
It seems that the Israelites have become confident in their faith in the power of God, and they are no longer the same powerless people that left Egypt. They have been delivered by the power of the Almighty. Balaam speaks not of a nation that is vulnerable to curses but of a nation that has been blessed because the God of Israel is with them.
This is why the prophet talks of the shout of the king being among the people of Israel. When speaking of Israel, Balaam talks of a lion, which is the mightiest of all beasts. It appears that Balak has grown impatient with the actions of Balaam.
If he cannot curse Israel, Balak asks the prophet to refrain from blessing them also. The prophet replies that he knows not how to withhold blessings from them, for what God has put in his mouth, he shall say. As this chapter comes to a close, Balak takes Balaam up yet again, to the top of Peor, where he can see the camp of Israel. Balak asks Balaam to curse them, but he has already blessed them, and he shall continue to do so.
This chapter highlights the impotence of man when he attempts to go against the will of God. Balak has wealth and power, and Balaam is a renowned prophet, but neither can accomplish what Balak desires Israel to suffer. It seems that throughout this book, God has been working to bring the Israelites into the promised land.
They are a people that have grown strong through their faith in Him and in His power to deliver them from their enemies. What this chapter emphasizes is a growing sense of nationalism on the part of the Israelites, which manifests itself in their faith in God’s power to deliver them from all who would seek to destroy them.
It emphasizes also the impotence of the human will when it comes to the divine decree of God. The word of the Lord is not the province of man to change, twist, or manipulate. Not even the will of kings has the power to change the decrees of God.
Balak and Balaam begin the chapter at Bamoth-baal, where the prophet instructs the king to make ready seven altars and seven bullocks and seven rams. Balak does as he is told and offers up the animals on the altars. Balaam tells Balak that he needs to be beside the offerings and that he would go up to seek the Lord.
The LORD meets Balaam, and He gives him words to speak to Balak, which Balaam then delivers to the Moab king, declaring that what God says Israel shall be blessed, not cursed. Balak is surprised that Balaam spoke that which he did because he assumed that the prophet would bring him curse as the king requested; instead, he received blessings. Balaam proclaims that he cannot curse whom the LORD has blessed. He describes the Israelites as a people that are altogether separate from the rest of the world, saying that their number is uncountable.
The prophet speaks of his desire to be as the righteous and to have the Israelites’ lot fall upon the people of God. That is because he sees them as something special. Not the opinion of Balak nor even his own volition determines the lot of Israel; rather, the God of Israel determines it.
Balak is not pleased with what has occurred. Balaam has failed to deliver the message the king wanted to hear. He reminds the prophet that he came to the prophet to curse Israel, but he has blessed them instead. Balaam responds that he cannot deliver a message of cursing because what the LORD puts in his mouth is the message Israel shall hear. Balak then takes the prophet to the top of Pisgah, to the field of Zophim, to see the camp of Israel.
Again, Balak prepares offerings to the Lord, and he asks Balaam to deliver his curses. At the meeting place, Balaam sees the Israelites, who camp as a well-organized army, and he speaks further blessings over them. Twice, Balak has brought Balaam to curse Israel, but the prophet has delivered nothing but blessings.
It appears that Balaam has learned to accept the Israelites as something set apart unto God. God’s words to the prophet are not dictated by the whims of kings, but rather they are cast in accordance with His will. In this chapter, the LORD shows the prophet the Israelites as set apart, not by their numbers, nor by their strength, but by His divine right to deliver them from bondage.
It is significant what Balaam says about Israel in this chapter. The prophet speaks as if the Israelites have achieved a new status in the eyes of God. Not only are they blessed, but they are spoken of as being separate unto themselves. The prophet mentions how the LORD has rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and he describes them as having the might of a wild ox.
It seems that the Israelites have become confident in their faith in the power of God, and they are no longer the same powerless people that left Egypt. They have been delivered by the power of the Almighty. Balaam speaks not of a nation that is vulnerable to curses but of a nation that has been blessed because the God of Israel is with them.
This is why the prophet talks of the shout of the king being among the people of Israel. When speaking of Israel, Balaam talks of a lion, which is the mightiest of all beasts. It appears that Balak has grown impatient with the actions of Balaam.
If he cannot curse Israel, Balak asks the prophet to refrain from blessing them also. The prophet replies that he knows not how to withhold blessings from them, for what God has put in his mouth, he shall say. As this chapter comes to a close, Balak takes Balaam up yet again, to the top of Peor, where he can see the camp of Israel. Balak asks Balaam to curse them, but he has already blessed them, and he shall continue to do so.
This chapter highlights the impotence of man when he attempts to go against the will of God. Balak has wealth and power, and Balaam is a renowned prophet, but neither can accomplish what Balak desires Israel to suffer. It seems that throughout this book, God has been working to bring the Israelites into the promised land.
They are a people that have grown strong through their faith in Him and in His power to deliver them from their enemies. What this chapter emphasizes is a growing sense of nationalism on the part of the Israelites, which manifests itself in their faith in God’s power to deliver them from all who would seek to destroy them.
It emphasizes also the impotence of the human will when it comes to the divine decree of God. The word of the Lord is not the province of man to change, twist, or manipulate. Not even the will of kings has the power to change the decrees of God.