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Numbers 22:12

Balaam
ObedienceGod's will and calling

10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:

11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’”

But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”

13 So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your homeland, because the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”

14 And the princes of Moab arose, returned to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

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Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”
KJV
And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.
WEB
God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
ASV
And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed.
DARBY
And God said to Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed.
BLB
And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for it [is] blessed.”
ÅB
Da sa Gud til Bileam: Du skal ikke gå med dem; du skal ikke forbanne folket, for det er velsignet.
OTB
Men Gud sa til Bileam: «Du skal ikke gå med dem. Du må ikke forbanne folket, for de er velsignet.»
B1930
Da sa Gud til Bileam: Du skal ikke gå med dem; du skal ikke forbanne folket, for det er velsignet.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Deuteronomy 23:5

    Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.

    Read in context

  • Ephesians 1:3

    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

    Read in context

  • Romans 11:29

    For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.

    Read in context

  • Numbers 23:19–20

    God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

    Read in context

  • Genesis 12:2

    I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

    Read in context

  • Romans 4:6–7

    And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

    Read in context

  • Deuteronomy 33:29

    Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”

    Read in context

  • Numbers 23:23

    For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’

    Read in context