But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed over him and all his people and his land to you; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”

Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this horde will lick up all that is around us, just as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was the king of Moab at that time.

Balaam said to them, “Spend the night here and I will bring word back to you as the Lord may speak to me.” So the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam [that night].

God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?”

Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me:

God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people [of Israel], for they are blessed.”

Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the leaders of Balak, “Go back to your own land [of Moab], for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

The leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘I beg you, let nothing hinder you from coming to me.

God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them, but you shall still do only what I tell you.”

And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?”

Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now!”

The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life until this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”

The Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your behavior was obstinate and contrary to Me.

Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that You were standing in the way against me. But now, if my going displeases You, I will turn back.”

The Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.

Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send word to you to call you? Why did you not come to me [immediately]? Am I really unable to honor (pay) you?”

So Balaam said to Balak, “Indeed I have come to you now, but am I able to say anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak.”

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

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside 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 hill.

Now God met Balaam, who said to Him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”

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

Balaam took up his [first] discourse (oracle) and said:

“Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram (Syria),
from the mountains of the east, [saying,]
‘Come, curse [the descendants of] Jacob for me;
And come, [violently] denounce Israel.’

Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but here you have [thoroughly] blessed them instead!”

Balak said to him, “Come with me, I implore you, to another place from where you can see them, although you will see only the nearest and not all of them; and curse them for me from there.”

Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I go to meet the Lord over there.”

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

When Balaam returned to Balak, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”

Balaam took up his [second] discourse (oracle) and said:

“Rise up, O Balak, and hear;
Listen [closely] to me, son of Zippor.

“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 it?
Or has He spoken and will He not make it good and fulfill it?

“For there is no enchantment or omen against Jacob,
Nor is there any divination against Israel.
At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob
And to Israel, what has God done!

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

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

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

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

He took up his [third] discourse (oracle) and said:

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened [at last, to see clearly the purpose and will of God],

Then Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have done nothing but bless them these three times.

Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me,

He took up his [fourth] discourse (oracle) and said:

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
The oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

Balaam looked at Amalek and took up his [fifth] discourse (oracle) and said:

“Amalek was the first of the [neighboring] nations [to oppose the Israelites after they left Egypt],
But his end shall be destruction.”

And Balaam looked at the Kenites and took up his [sixth] discourse (oracle) and said:

“Strong is your dwelling place,
And you set your nest in the cliff.

Then he took up his [seventh] discourse (oracle) and said:

“Alas, who can live unless God has ordained it?

The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people [who have committed sin with the Moabites], and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”

So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each one of you must kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor [in worship].”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Then it happened after the plague that the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

For the Lord had said of them, “They shall certainly die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up to this mountain (Nebo) [in the] Abarim [range] and look at the land I have given to the sons of Israel.

Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying,

The Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Then Moses spoke to the leaders of the tribes of the Israelites, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded:

But if her husband says nothing to her [concerning the matter] from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her pledges which are on her. He has confirmed them because he said nothing to her on the day he heard them.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for war, so that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian [for seducing Israel to participate in idolatry].

And Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?

Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses:

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,

They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan [River].”

But Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?

But the people of Reuben and Gad approached Moses and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and [walled] cities for our children,

Then the descendants of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands.

Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben will cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead [east of the Jordan River] as a possession;

The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, “As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying,

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan [across from] Jericho, saying,

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

and they said, “The Lord commanded my lord [Moses] to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.