And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go: peradventure Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to a bare height.
And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
And he returned unto him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
And he took up his parable, and said,
From Aram hath Balak brought me,
The king of Moab from the mountains of the East:
Come, curse me Jacob,
And come, {Hebrew: be worth against.}defy Israel.
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?
And how shall I defy, whom Jehovah hath not defied?
For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him:
Lo, it is a people that dwelleth alone,
And shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob,
{Hebrew: Or, by number, the &c.}Or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let {Hebrew: my soul.}me die the death of the righteous,
And let my last end be like his!
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah putteth in my mouth?
And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, while I meet Jehovah yonder.
And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.
And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath Jehovah spoken?
And he took up his parable, and said,
Rise up, Balak, and hear;
Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
God is not a man, that he should lie,
Neither the son of man, that he should repent:
Hath he said, and will he not do it?
Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?
Behold, I have received commandment to bless:
And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob;
Neither hath he seen {Or, trouble}perverseness in Israel:
Jehovah his God is with him,
And the shout of a king is among them.
God bringeth them forth out of Egypt;
He hath as it were the {Or, horns}strength of the {Or, ox-antelope Hebrew: reem.}wild-ox.
Surely there is no enchantment {Or, against}with Jacob;
Neither is there any divination {Or, against}with Israel:
{Or, At the due season}Now shall it be {Or, told to…what God hath wrought}said of Jacob and of Israel,
What hath God wrought!
Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness,
And as a lion doth he lift himself up:
He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,
And drink the blood of the slain.
And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh, that I must do?
And Balak said unto Balaam, Come now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh down upon the {Or, Jeshimon}desert.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
Querverweise zu 4. Mose 23,23 4Mo 23,23
Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Maschil.We have heard with our ears, O God,Our fathers have told us,What work thou didst in their days,In the days of old.
Thou didst drive out the nations with thy hand;But them thou didst plant:Thou didst afflict the peoples;But them thou didst spread abroad.
For they gat not the land in possession by their own sword,Neither did their own arm save them;But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance,Because thou wast favorable unto them.
Oh how great is thy goodness,Which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee,Which thou hast wrought for them that take refuge in thee,Before the sons of men!
And when Balaam saw that it pleased Jehovah to bless Israel, he went not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
To him that divided the Red Sea in sunder;For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
And made Israel to pass through the midst of it;For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
But {Hebrew: shook off.}overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea;For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
To him that led his people through the wilderness;For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
To him that smote great kings;For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
And slew famous kings;For his lovingkindness endureth for ever:
Sihon king of the Amorites;For his lovingkindness endureth forever;
And Og king of Bashan;For his lovingkindness endureth for ever;
And all men shall fear;And they shall declare the work of God,And shall wisely consider of his doing.
and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall {Or, lie in wait for}bruise thy head, and thou shalt {Or, lie in wait for}bruise his heel.
{Another reading is, In all their adversity he was no adversary}In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
{Or, Then his people remembered the ancient days of Moses &c.}Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the {Another reading is, shepherd.}shepherds of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit in the midst of them?
that caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? that divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,And our tongue with singing:Then said they among the nations,Jehovah hath done great things for them.
And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
Jehovah hath done great things for us,Whereof we are glad.
And if I {Or, in}by {Greek: Beelzebul.}Beelzebub cast out demons, {Or, in}by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.
For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last, I am he.
And I also say unto thee, that thou art {Greek: Petros.}Peter, and upon this {Greek: petra.}rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.
The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many signs.
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.
As in the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt will I show unto them marvellous things.
saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable {Greek: sign.}miracle hath been wrought through them, is manifest to all that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you.
And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's {Or, portico}porch.
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
{Or, and there were the more added to them, believing on the Lord}and believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women;
And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole {Greek: inhabited earth.}world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
And all the multitude kept silence; and they hearkened unto Barnabas and Paul rehearsing what signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles through them.
but they only heard say, He that once persecuted us now {See marginal note on Matthew 11:5.}preacheth the faith of which he once made havoc;
and they glorified God in me.
For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything.
For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God,