23 Bible Verses about Oracles

Balaam said to him, “Look, I have come to you, but can I say anything I want? I must speak only the message God puts in my mouth.”

But Balaam responded to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the command of the Lord my God to do anything small or great. Please stay here overnight as the others did, so that I may find out what else the Lord has to tell me.”

“What have you done to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!” He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I previously tell the messengers you sent me: If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the Lord’s command, to do anything good or bad of my own will? I will say whatever the Lord says.

When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him, and he proclaimed his poem:

The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened,
the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:

Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the Lord will meet with me. I will tell you whatever He reveals to me.” So he went to a barren hill. God met with him and Balaam said to Him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”

Then he proclaimed his poem:

The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened;
the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God
and has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:

So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab. Balaam proclaimed his poem:

Balak brought me from Aram;
the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:
“Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel!”
How can I curse someone God has not cursed?
How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?
read more.
I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,
and I watch them from the hills.
There is a people living alone;
it does not consider itself among the nations.
Who has counted the dust of Jacob
or numbered the dust clouds of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright;
let the end of my life be like theirs.

Balaam proclaimed his poem:

Balak, get up and listen;
son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!
God is not a man who lies,
or a son of man who changes His mind.
Does He speak and not act,
or promise and not fulfill?
I have indeed received a command to bless;
since He has blessed, I cannot change it.
read more.
He considers no disaster for Jacob;
He sees no trouble for Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
and there is rejoicing over the King among them.
God brought them out of Egypt;
He is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
There is no magic curse against Jacob
and no divination against Israel.
It will now be said about Jacob and Israel,
“What great things God has done!”
A people rise up like a lioness;
They rouse themselves like a lion.
They will not lie down until they devour the prey
and drink the blood of the slain.

When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him, and he proclaimed his poem:

The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened,
the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:
read more.
How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,
your dwellings, Israel.
They stretch out like river valleys,
like gardens beside a stream,
like aloes the Lord has planted,
like cedars beside the water.
Water will flow from his buckets,
and his seed will be by abundant water.
His king will be greater than Agag,
and his kingdom will be exalted.
God brought him out of Egypt;
He is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
He will feed on enemy nations
and gnaw their bones;
he will strike them with his arrows.
He crouches, he lies down like a lion
or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
Those who bless you will be blessed,
and those who curse you will be cursed.

An oracle: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.

An oracle against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

In the year that King Ahaz died, this oracle came:

An oracle against the desert by the sea:

Like storms that pass over the Negev,
it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.
A troubling vision is declared to me:
“The treacherous one acts treacherously,
and the destroyer destroys.
Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all her groaning.” Therefore I am filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.
I am too perplexed to hear,
too dismayed to see.
read more.
My heart staggers;
horror terrifies me.
He has turned my last glimmer of hope
into sheer terror.
Prepare a table, and spread out a carpet!
Eat and drink!
Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields! For the Lord has said to me,
“Go, post a lookout;
let him report what he sees.
When he sees riders—
pairs of horsemen,
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels—
he must pay close attention.”
Then the lookout reported,
“Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day,
and I stay at my post all night.
Look, riders come—
horsemen in pairs.”
And he answered, saying,
“Babylon has fallen, has fallen.
All the images of her gods
have been shattered on the ground.” My people who have been crushed
on the threshing floor,
I have declared to you
what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel. An oracle against Dumah:

One calls to me from Seir,
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”
The watchman said,
“Morning has come, and also night.
If you want to ask, ask!
Come back again.” An oracle against Arabia:

In the desert brush
you will camp for the night,
you caravans of Dedanites.
Bring water for the thirsty.
The inhabitants of the land of Tema
meet the refugees with food.
For they have fled from swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bow that is strung,
and from the stress of battle. For the Lord said this to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar will be gone. The remaining Kedarite archers will be few in number.” For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.

An oracle about the animals of the Negev:

Through a land of trouble and distress,
of lioness and lion,
of viper and flying serpent,
they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people who will not help them.
Egypt’s help is completely worthless;
therefore, I call her:
Rahab Who Just Sits. Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence
and inscribe it on a scroll;
it will be for the future,
forever and ever.
read more.
They are a rebellious people,
deceptive children,
children who do not want to obey the Lord’s instruction.
They say to the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets,
“Do not prophesy the truth to us.
Tell us flattering things.
Prophesy illusions.
Get out of the way!
Leave the pathway.
Rid us of the Holy One of Israel.”

So I did just as I was commanded. In the daytime I brought out my bags like an exile’s bags. In the evening I dug through the wall by hand; I took them out in the dark, carrying them on my shoulder in their sight. Then the word of the Lord came to me in the morning: “Son of man, hasn’t the house of Israel, that rebellious house, asked you, ‘What are you doing?’ read more.
Say to them: This is what the Lord God says: This oracle is about the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are living there. You are to say, ‘I am a sign for you. Just as I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.’

The oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

נ NunYour prophets saw visions for you
that were empty and deceptive;
they did not reveal your guilt
and so restore your fortunes.
They saw oracles for you
that were empty and misleading.

“Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you will respond to them: What is the burden? I will throw you away”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ read more.
But no longer refer to the burden of the Lord, for each man’s word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of Hosts, our God. You must say to the prophet: What has the Lord answered you? and What has the Lord spoken? But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ then this is what the Lord says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will surely forget you and throw away from My presence both you and the city that I gave you and your fathers. I will bring on you everlasting shame and humiliation that will never be forgotten.”

God’s verdict is on the lips of a king;
his mouth should not give an unfair judgment.

For the choir director. A psalm of David, the Lord’s servant.An oracle within my heart
concerning the transgression of the wicked person:
There is no dread of God before his eyes,

These are the last words of David:

The declaration of David son of Jesse,
the declaration of the man raised on high,
the one anointed by the God of Jacob,
the favorite singer of Israel:
The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me,
His word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel spoke;
the Rock of Israel said to me,
“The one who rules the people with justice,
who rules in the fear of God,
read more.
is like the morning light when the sun rises
on a cloudless morning,
the glisten of rain on sprouting grass.”