Numbers 24:1--25:18

Balaam Prophesies Yet Again

24:1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at the other times to seek for omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 24:2 When Balaam lifted up his eyes, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him. 24:3 Then he uttered this oracle:

“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor;

the oracle of the man whose eyes are open;

24:4 the oracle of the one who hears the words of God,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

although falling flat on the ground with eyes open:

24:5 ‘How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,

and your dwelling places, O Israel!

24:6 They are like valleys stretched forth,

like gardens by the river’s side,

like aloes that the Lord has planted,

and like cedar trees beside the waters.

24:7 He will pour the water out of his buckets,

and their descendants will be like abundant water;

their king will be greater than Agag,

and their kingdom will be exalted.

24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.

They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;

they will devour hostile people

and will break their bones

and will pierce them through with arrows.

24:9 They crouch and lie down like a lion,

and as a lioness, who can stir him?

Blessed is the one who blesses you,

and cursed is the one who curses you!’”

24:10 Then Balak became very angry at Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless them these three times! 24:11 So now, go back where you came from! I said that I would greatly honor you; but now the Lord has stood in the way of your honor.”

24:12 Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 24:13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’? 24:14 And now, I am about to go back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.”

Balaam Prophesies a Fourth Time

24:15 Then he uttered this oracle:

“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor;

the oracle of the man whose eyes are open;

24:16 the oracle of the one who hears the words of God,

and who knows the knowledge of the Most High,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

although falling flat on the ground with eyes open:

24:17 ‘I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not close at hand.

A star will march forth out of Jacob,

and a scepter will rise out of Israel.

He will crush the skulls of Moab,

and the heads of all the sons of Sheth.

24:18 Edom will be a possession,

Seir, his enemies, will also be a possession;

but Israel will act valiantly.

24:19 A ruler will be established from Jacob;

he will destroy the remains of the city.’”

Balaam’s Final Prophecies

24:20 Then Balaam looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle:

“Amalek was the first of the nations,

but his end will be that he will perish.”

24:21 Then he looked on the Kenites and uttered this oracle:

“Your dwelling place seems strong,

and your nest is set on a rocky cliff.

24:22 Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed.

How long will Asshur take you away captive?”

24:23 Then he uttered this oracle:

“O, who will survive when God does this!

24:24 Ships will come from the coast of Kittim,

and will afflict Asshur, and will afflict Eber,

and he will also perish forever.”

24:25 Balaam got up and departed and returned to his home, and Balak also went his way.

Israel’s Sin with the Moabite Women

25:1 When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab. 25:2 These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 25:3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel.

God’s Punishment

25:4 The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.” 25:5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baal-peor.”

25:6 Just then one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of the whole community of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 25:7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand, 25:8 and went after the Israelite man into the tent and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen. So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. 25:9 Those that died in the plague were 24,000.

The Aftermath

25:10 The Lord spoke to Moses: 25:11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal. 25:12 Therefore, announce: ‘I am going to give to him my covenant of peace. 25:13 So it will be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he has been zealous for his God, and has made atonement for the Israelites.’”

25:14 Now the name of the Israelite who was stabbed – the one who was stabbed with the Midianite woman – was Zimri son of Salu, a leader of a clan of the Simeonites. 25:15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur. He was a leader over the people of a clan of Midian.

25:16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 25:17 “Bring trouble to the Midianites, and destroy them, 25:18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”