Numbers 23:12

Balaam replied, ¹  “Must I not be careful ²  to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” ³ 

He answered, "Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"

He replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"

But Balaam replied, "Can I say anything except what the LORD tells me?"

Balaam answered, "Don't I have to be careful to say what GOD gives me to say?"

And in answer he said, Am I not ordered to say only what the Lord puts into my mouth?

He answered, "Must I not take care to say what the LORD puts into my mouth?"

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

Balaam replied, ¹  “Must I not be careful ²  to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” ³ 

¹ tn Heb “he answered and said.” The referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to guard, watch, observe” and so here with a sense of “be careful” or even “take heed” (so KJV, ASV). The nuance of the imperfect tense would be obligatory: “I must be careful” – to do what? to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth. The infinitive construct “to speak” is therefore serving as the direct object of שָׁמַר.

³ tn The clause is a noun clause serving as the direct object of “to speak.” It begins with the sign of the accusative, and then the relative pronoun that indicates the whole clause is the accusative.