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New Living Translation |   | |
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| | Num 23:1 | Balaam said to King Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for a sacrifice."
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| | Num 23:2 | Balak followed his instructions, and the two of them sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.
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| | Num 23:3 | Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offerings, and I will go to see if the LORD will respond to me. Then I will tell you whatever he reveals to me." So Balaam went alone to the top of a hill,
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| | Num 23:4 | and God met him there. Balaam said to him, "I have prepared seven altars and have sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar."
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| | Num 23:5 | Then the LORD gave Balaam a message for King Balak and said, "Go back to Balak and tell him what I told you."
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| | Num 23:6 | When Balaam returned, the king was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab.
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| | Num 23:7 | This was the prophecy Balaam delivered: "Balak summoned me to come from Aram; the king of Moab brought me from the eastern hills. 'Come,' he said, 'curse Jacob for me! Come and announce Israel's doom.'
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| | Num 23:8 | But how can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn those whom the LORD has not condemned?
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| | Num 23:9 | I see them from the cliff tops; I watch them from the hills. I see a people who live by themselves, set apart from other nations.
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| | Num 23:10 | Who can count Jacob's descendants, as numerous as dust? Who can count even a fourth of Israel's people? Let me die like the righteous; let my life end like theirs."
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| | Num 23:11 | Then King Balak demanded of Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed them!"
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| | Num 23:12 | But Balaam replied, "Can I say anything except what the LORD tells me?"
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| | Num 23:13 | Then King Balak told him, "Come with me to another place. There you will see only a portion of the nation of Israel. Curse at least that many!"
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| | Num 23:14 | So Balak took Balaam to the plateau of Zophim on Pisgah Peak. He built seven altars there and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.
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| | Num 23:15 | Then Balaam said to the king, "Stand here by your burnt offering while I go to meet the LORD."
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| | Num 23:16 | So the LORD met Balaam and gave him a message. Then he said, "Go back to Balak and give him this message."
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| | Num 23:17 | So Balaam returned to the place where the king and the officials of Moab were standing beside Balak's burnt offerings. "What did the LORD say?" Balak asked eagerly.
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| | Num 23:18 | This was the prophecy Balaam delivered: "Rise up, Balak, and listen! Hear me, son of Zippor.
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| | Num 23:19 | God is not a man, that he should lie. He is not a human, that he should change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
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| | Num 23:20 | I received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!
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| | Num 23:21 | No misfortune is in sight for Jacob; no trouble is in store for Israel. For the LORD their God is with them; he has been proclaimed their king.
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| | Num 23:22 | God has brought them out of Egypt; he is like a strong ox for them.
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| | Num 23:23 | No curse can touch Jacob; no sorcery has any power against Israel. For now it will be said of Jacob, 'What wonders God has done for Israel!'
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| | Num 23:24 | These people rise up like a lioness; like a majestic lion they stand. They refuse to rest until they have feasted on prey, drinking the blood of the slaughtered!"
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| | Num 23:25 | Then Balak said to Balaam, "If you aren't going to curse them, at least don't bless them!"
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| | Num 23:26 | But Balaam replied, "Didn't I tell you that I must do whatever the LORD tells me?"
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| | Num 23:27 | Then King Balak said to Balaam, "Come, I will take you to yet another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them from there."
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| | Num 23:28 | So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, overlooking the wasteland.
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| | Num 23:29 | Balaam again told Balak, "Build me seven altars and prepare me seven young bulls and seven rams for a sacrifice."
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| | Num 23:30 | So Balak did as Balaam ordered and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.
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