Numbers 23:16-26

¹⁶So Yahweh met Balaam and put a message in his mouth. He said, “Return to Balak and give him my message.”

¹⁷Balaam returned to him, and look, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. Then Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh said?”

¹⁸Balaam began his prophecy. He said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear. Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

¹⁹God is not a man, that he should lie, Or a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he promised anything without doing it? Has he said he would do something without carrying it out?

²⁰Look, I have been commanded to bless. God has given a blessing, and I cannot reverse it.

²¹He has seen no hardship in Jacob or trouble in Israel. Yahweh their God is with them, and shouts for their king are among them.

²²God brought them out of Egypt with strength like that of a wild ox.

²³There is no sorcery that works against Jacob, and no fortune-telling harms Israel. Instead, it must be said about Jacob and Israel, 'Look what God has done!'

²⁴Look, the people rise like a lioness, as a lion emerges and attacks. He does not lie down until he eats his victim and drinks the blood of what he has killed.”

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them or bless them at all.”

²⁶But Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you that I must say all that Yahweh tells me to say?”