But Hobab said to him, “I will not go, but I will go instead to my own land and to my kindred.”

Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him.

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

The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he departed.

So Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land, for the Lord has refused to permit me to go with you.”

Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went to a deserted height.

Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying, “Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’

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.”

So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth.

So the princes of Moab departed and went back to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.

Now Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their small towns and named them Havvoth Jair.

Then Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages and called it Nobah after his own name.

But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak the word that I will speak to you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

And if you come with us, it is certain that whatever good things the Lord will favor us with, we will share with you as well.”

But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the men who went to investigate the land, lived.

“Let us pass through your land; we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.”

So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported to him the words of Balak.