Numbers 22:16-41

¹⁶And they came to Bil'am, and said to him, Thus hath said Balak the son of Zippor, Do not suffer thyself, I pray thee, to be prevented from coming unto me;

¹⁷For I will honor thee greatly, and whatsoever thou mayest say unto me will I do: and only come, I pray thee, denounce me this people.

¹⁸And Bil'am answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the order of the Lord my God, to do a small or a great thing.

¹⁹And now, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will farther speak with me.

²⁰And God came unto Bil'am at night, and said unto him, If to call thee the men have come, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I shall speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.

²¹And Bil'am rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.

²²And the anger of God was kindled, because he went; and an angel of the Lord placed himself in the way to be a hindrance to him; and he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.

²³And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Bil'am smote the ass, to make her turn into the way.

²⁴But the angel of the Lord stepped into a path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side, and a wall on that side.

²⁵And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she forced herself against the wall, and pressed Bil'am's foot against the wall: and he smote her again.

²⁶And the angel of the Lord went yet farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.

²⁷And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Bil'am: whereupon Bil'am's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a stick.

²⁸And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Bil'am, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

²⁹And Bil'am said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: had I but a sword in my hand, I would assuredly have now killed thee.

³⁰And the ass said unto Bil'am, Am not I thy ass, upon which thou hast ridden from thy commencement unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? and he said, No.

³¹Then the Lord opened the eyes of Bil'am, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head and prostrated himself on his face.

³²And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thy ass these three times? behold, I went out to be a hindrance; because the journey which is odious to me was too quickly begun.

³³And the ass saw me, and turned aside before me these three times; if she had not turned aside from me, I would surely now not only have slain thee, but saved her alive.

³⁴And Bil'am said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou wast standing against me in the way; but now, if it be evil in thy eyes, I will return home again.

³⁵And the angel of the Lord said unto Bil'am, Go with the men; however, only the word which I will speak unto thee, that shalt thou speak: and Bil'am went with the princes of Balak.

³⁶And when Balak heard that Bil'am was come, he went out to meet him unto 'Ir-Moab, which is on the border of Arnon, which is at the outmost end of the boundary.

³⁷And Balak said unto Bil'am, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to have thee called? wherefore camest thou not unto me? in truth, am I not able to honor thee?

³⁸And Bil'am said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee; have I now any power whatever to speak the least? the word that God may put in my mouth, that alone must I speak.

³⁹And Bil'am went with Balak, and they came unto Kiryath-chuzoth.

⁴⁰And Balak slew oxen and sheep, and sent to Bil'am and to the princes that were with him.

⁴¹And it came to pass in the morning, that Balak took Bil'am, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, and he saw thence a portion of the people.