Numbers 23 NKJV NLT Parallel

◄ Numbers 23 ►

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1Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

1Then Balaam said to King Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.”

2And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

2Balak followed his instructions, and the two of them sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.

3Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a desolate height.

3Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offerings, and I will go to see if the LORD will respond to me. Then I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” So Balaam went alone to the top of a bare hill,

4And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

4and 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.”

5Then the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

5The LORD gave Balaam a message for King Balak. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”

6So he returned to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

6So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab.

7And he took up his oracle and said: “Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, From the mountains of the east. ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!’

7This was the message Balaam delivered: “Balak summoned me to come from Aram; the king of Moab brought me from the eastern hills. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me! Come and announce Israel’s doom.’

8“How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

8But how can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn those whom the LORD has not condemned?

9For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations.

9I see them from the cliff tops; I watch them from the hills. I see a people who live by themselves, set apart from other nations.

10“Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my end be like his!”

10Who can count Jacob’s descendants, as numerous as dust? Who can count even a fourth of Israel’s people? Let me die like the righteous; let my life end like theirs.”

11Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!”

11Then King Balak demanded of Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed them!”

12So he answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?”

12But Balaam replied, “I will speak only the message that the LORD puts in my mouth.” Balaam’s Second Message

13Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there.”

13Then King Balak told him, “Come with me to another place. There you will see another part of the nation of Israel, but not all of them. Curse at least that many!”

14So he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

14So Balak took Balaam to the plateau of Zophim on Pisgah Peak. He built seven altars there and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.

15And he said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”

15Then Balaam said to the king, “Stand here by your burnt offerings while I go over there to meet the LORD.”

16Then the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

16And the LORD met Balaam and gave him a message. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”

17So he came to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?”

17So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. “What did the LORD say?” Balak asked eagerly.

18Then he took up his oracle and said: “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, son of Zippor!

18This was the message Balaam delivered: “Rise up, Balak, and listen! Hear me, son of Zippor.

19“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

19God 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?

20Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

20Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!

21“He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him, And the shout of a King is among them.

21No 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.

22God brings them out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox.

22God brought them out of Egypt; for them he is as strong as a wild ox.

23“For there is no sorcery against Jacob, Nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob And of Israel, ‘Oh, what God has done!’

23No 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!’

24Look, a people rises like a lioness, And lifts itself up like a lion; It shall not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.”

24These people rise up like a lioness, like a majestic lion rousing itself. They refuse to rest until they have feasted on prey, drinking the blood of the slaughtered!”

25Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!”

25Then Balak said to Balaam, “Fine, but if you won’t curse them, at least don’t bless them!”

26So Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do’?”

26But Balaam replied to Balak, “Didn’t I tell you that I can do only what the LORD tells me?” Balaam’s Third Message

27Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

27Then 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.”

28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks the wasteland.

28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, overlooking the wasteland.

29Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

29Balaam again told Balak, “Build me seven altars, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.”

30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.

30So Balak did as Balaam ordered and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.

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