Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying,

But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he gathered all his forces together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

But the Israelites defeated him in battle and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended.

That is why those who speak in proverbs say, "Come to Heshbon, let it be built. Let the city of Sihon be established!

Woe to you, Moab. You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.

We have overpowered them; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. We have shattered them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba."

Moses sent spies to reconnoiter Jaazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan. And King Og of Bashan and all his forces marched out against them to do battle at Edrei.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.

Balak son of Zippor saw all that the Israelites had done to the Amorites.

So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, "Now this mass of people will lick up everything around us, as the bull devours the grass of the field. Now Balak son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at this time.

And he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates River in the land of Amaw, to summon him, saying, "Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are settling next to me.

So now, please come and curse this nation for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed."

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.

He replied to them, "Stay here tonight, and I will bring back to you whatever word the Lord may speak to me." So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

And God came to Balaam and said, "Who are these men with you?"

Balaam said to God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent a message to me, saying,

"Look, a nation has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out."

But God said to Balaam, "You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, for they are blessed."

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."

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

And they came to Balaam and said to him, "Thus says Balak son of Zippor: 'Please do not let anything hinder you from coming to me.

For I will honor you greatly, and whatever you tell me I will do. So come, put a curse on this nation for me.'"

Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, "Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment of the Lord my God to do less or more.

Now therefore, please stay the night here also, that I may know what more the Lord might say to me."

God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do."

Then God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.

And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand, so the donkey turned aside from the road and went into the field. But Balaam beat the donkey, to make her turn back to the road.

Then the angel of the Lord went farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?"

And Balaam said to the donkey, "You have made me look stupid; I wish there were a sword in my hand, for I would kill you right now."

The donkey said to Balaam, "Am not I your donkey that you have ridden ever since I was yours until this day? Have I ever attempted to treat you this way?" And he said, "No."

Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; so he bowed his head and threw himself down with his face to the ground.

The angel of the Lord said to him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you because what you are doing is perverse before me.

Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the road. So now, if it is evil in your sight, I will go back home."

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.

When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at a city of Moab which was on the border of the Arnon at the boundary of his territory.

Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not send again and again to you to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?"

Balaam said to Balak, "Look, I have come to you. Now, am I able to speak just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth."

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

And Balak sacrificed bulls and sheep, and sent some to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him.

Then on the next morning Balak took Balaam, and brought him up to Bamoth Baal. From there he saw the extent of the nation.

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

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 God met Balaam, who said to him, "I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram."

Then the Lord put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you."

So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let the end of my life be like theirs."

Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them!"

Balaam replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?"

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."

So Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

And Balaam said to Balak, "Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there.

Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you."

When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, "What has the Lord spoken?"

Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, "Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor:

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?

Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!"

But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'All that the Lord speaks, I must do'?"

Balak said to Balaam, "Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there."

So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wilderness.

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

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.

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!

Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not also tell your messengers whom you sent to me,

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'?

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

When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab.

These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel.

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."

So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baal-peor."

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.

The Lord spoke to Moses:

Therefore, announce: 'I am going to give to him my covenant of peace.

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.'"

Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

"Bring trouble to the Midianites, and destroy them,

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."

After the plague the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest,

But the descendants of Korah did not die.

These were the families of the Gadites according to those numbered of them, 40,500.

These were the families of Judah according to those numbered of them, 76,500.

These were the families of Issachar, according to those numbered of them, 64,300.

These were the families of the Zebulunites, according to those numbered of them, 60,500.

These were the families of the Ephraimites, according to those numbered of them, 32,500. These were the descendants of Joseph by their families.

These are the Benjaminites, according to their families, and according to those numbered of them, 45,600.

These are the Danites by their families: from Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These were the families of Dan, according to their families.

All the families of the Shuhahites according to those numbered of them were 64,400.

These are the families of the Asherites, according to those numbered of them, 53,400.

These were the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those numbered of them were 45,400.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

"To these the land must be divided as an inheritance according to the number of the names.

To a larger group you will give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group you will give a smaller inheritance. To each one its inheritance must be given according to the number of people in it.

And these are the Levites who were numbered according to their families: from Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; from Merari, the family of the Merarites.

Now the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister.

And to Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

Those of them who were numbered were 23,000, all males from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the Israelites; no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.