בלק

Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, saw what Israel had done to the Amorites. Israel’s camp was huge, so big it seemed to “hide the earth from view.” Moab grew frightened. Balak told the elders of Midian, “This horde will lick clean all that is about us as an ox licks up the grass.”

So Balak sent messengers far away to Balaam son of Beor in Pethor, by the Euphrates. “Come curse this people for me,” Balak begged. “I know whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.”

Balaam told the visitors, “Spend the night, and I will answer you as God instructs.” That night God came to Balaam and asked what the men wanted. When Balaam explained, God said clearly, “Do not go with them. You must not curse that people, for they are blessed.”

In the morning Balaam sent the messengers home: “God will not let me go with you.”

Balak tried again, sending even more important officials and promising a rich reward. Balaam answered, “Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go against what God commands.” Still, he asked again, and God told him, “Go with them, but say only what I tell you.”

Balaam set out riding his jenny, with two servants beside him. On the road, an angel of God stood in the way with a drawn sword. The jenny saw the angel and swerved off the path. Balaam beat her. The angel appeared again in a tight lane; the jenny pressed against a wall and hurt Balaam’s foot, and he beat her again. A third time, in a place too narrow to turn, the jenny lay down.

Then God opened the jenny’s mouth. She cried, “What have I done to you that you beat me three times?” God also opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel. The angel warned him to go on, but to speak only God’s words.

Balak met Balaam at Ir-moab on the Arnon border and complained, “Why didn’t you come the first time? Can’t I reward you?” Balaam replied, “I can utter only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

Balak brought him to Kiriath-huzoth, offered oxen and sheep, and the next morning took him up to Bamoth-baal to view part of Israel. Balaam asked for seven altars, with seven bulls and seven rams. Each time Balaam sought a message, God turned the words into blessings. Balaam said Israel was a people that “dwells apart,” and he praised their tents. Balak grew angry: “I called you to curse them, and you blessed them!”

Balaam also spoke of a future sign: “A star rises from Jacob.” Then he went home, and Balak went his way.

Later, at Shittim, some Israelites joined Moabite women in sacrifices to Baal-peor. (A baal is a “lord” or “master.”) God was angry, and a plague began. When an Israelite brought a Midianite woman into the camp in full view, Phinehas took a spear and stabbed them both. The plague stopped, but 24,000 had died.