Numbers 第23章
Balaam’s First Oracle
1And Balaam said to Balak, 23:1 ver. 29“Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
2Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam 23:2 ver. 14, 30offered on each altar a bull and a ram.
3And Balaam said to Balak, 23:3 ver. 15“Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come 23:3 [ch. 24:1]to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height,
423:4 ver. 16and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”
5And the Lord23:5 ver. 12, 16; ch. 22:38; Deut. 18:18; Isa. 51:16; 59:21; Jer. 1:9put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
6And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering.
“From 23:7 [ch. 22:5] Aram Balak has brought me,
the king of Moab 23:7 [Gen. 29:1] from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, 23:7 ch. 22:6curse Jacob for me,
and come, denounce Israel!’
8How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
from the hills I behold him;
behold, 23:9 Deut. 32:28a people dwelling alone,
1023:10 See Gen. 13:16Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the fourth part23:10 Or dust clouds of Israel?
Let me die 23:10 Ps. 37:37; 116:15; Rev. 14:13the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”
11And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? 23:11 ch. 22:11; 24:10; Deut. 23:5; Neh. 13:2I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.”
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.”
14And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, 23:14 ver. 1, 2and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15Balaam said to Balak, 23:15 ver. 3“Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.”
16And the Lord met Balaam and 23:16 ver. 5, 12put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.”
17And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”
18And Balaam took up his discourse and said,
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
1923:19 1 Sam. 15:29; Mal. 3:6; Rom. 11:29; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18; James 1:17God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
20Behold, I received a command to bless:
2123:21 [Jer. 50:20]He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
and the shout of a king is among them.
and is for them like 23:22 Deut. 33:17; Job 39:9-12; Ps. 22:21; 92:10the horns of the wild ox.
23For there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no 23:23 ch. 22:7divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
23:23 Ps. 44:1‘What has God wrought!’
and as a lion it lifts itself;
23:24 Gen. 49:27it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”
25And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.”
26But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, 23:26 See ch. 22:18‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?”
27And Balak said to Balaam, 23:27 ver. 13“Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”
28So Balak took Balaam to the top of 23:28 ch. 25:18; 31:16; Josh. 22:17; Ps. 106:28, 29; Hos. 9:10; [ch. 25:3, 5] Peor, which overlooks 23:28 See ch. 21:20the desert.23:28 Or Jeshimon
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