Numbers 23:13-26

¹³Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. But you'll only see a part of their camp—you won't see all of them. You can curse them for me from there.”

¹⁴He took him to the field of Zophim at the top of Mount Pisgah. There he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

¹⁵Balaam told Balak, “Wait here beside your burnt offering while I meet the Lord over there.”

¹⁶The Lord met Balaam and gave him a message to share. He told him, “Go back to Balak and this is what you are to say to him.”

¹⁷So he went back to Balak, who was waiting there beside his burnt offering, along with all the Moabite leaders. “What did the Lord say?” Balak asked.

¹⁸This is the prophecy that Balaam delivered: “Stand up, Balak, and pay attention! Listen to me, son of Zippor!

¹⁹God isn't a human being who would lie. He's not a mere mortal who changes his mind. Does he say he's going to do something but doesn't? Does he make promises he doesn't carry out?

²⁰Look, I have been ordered to give a blessing. God has blessed, and I can't change that.

²¹He's not expecting anything bad will happen to Jacob; he doesn't foresee any trouble for Israel. The Lord their God is with them; they celebrate him as their king.

²²God led them out of Egypt with great power, as strong as an ox.

²³No spell can be cast against Jacob; no magic can be used against Israel. People will talk about Jacob and Israel, saying, ‘What amazing things God has done for them!’

²⁴Look! The Israelites go out hunting like a lioness; they chase like a lion. They don't rest until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of their dead victim.”

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “If you can't give them any curses then at least don't give them any blessings!”

²⁶But Balaam replied, “Didn't I explain to you that I have to do whatever the Lord tells me?”