[[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[Numbers Overview]] [[Numbers 22]] [[Numbers 24]] # Numbers 23 📖 > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts]] [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Balaam Blesses Israel [[#Verse 01.]]  Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”  [[#Verse 02.]] So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram.  [[#Verse 03.]] Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went to a deserted height. [[#Verse 04.]] Then God met Balaam, who said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”  [[#Verse 05.]] Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” [[#Verse 06.]] So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.  [[#Verse 07.]] Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying, “Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’ [[#Verse 08.]] How can I curse one whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced? [[#Verse 09.]] For from the top of the rocks I see them; from the hills I watch them. Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it will not be reckoned among the nations. [[#Verse 10.]] Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let the end of my life be like theirs.” ### Balaam Relocates [[#Verse 11.]] Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them!”  [[#Verse 12.]] Balaam replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”  [[#Verse 13.]] Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.” [[#Verse 14.]] So Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.  [[#Verse 15.]] And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there.”  [[#Verse 16.]] Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.”  [[#Verse 17.]] When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” ### Balaam Prophesies Again [[#Verse 18.]] Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor: [[#Verse 19.]] God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? [[#Verse 20.]] Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. [[#Verse 21.]] He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; his acclamation as king is among them. [[#Verse 22.]] God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. [[#Verse 23.]] For there is no spell against Jacob, nor is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘Look at what God has done!’ [[#Verse 24.]] Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain.” ### Balaam Relocates Yet Again [[#Verse 25.]] Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”  [[#Verse 26.]] But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, I must do’?” [[#Verse 27.]] Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.”  [[#Verse 28.]] So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wastelands.  [[#Verse 29.]] Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”  [[#Verse 30.]] So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ## ==📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary== ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) Write down things that are not straight from commentary but interesting facts that ground the text in history. %% ## 🧠 Chapter Summary - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) Write a short paragraph (3–5 sentences) summarizing what happens in this chapter. - What is the main event or teaching? - How does this chapter fit the book’s overall story? - What stands out immediately? Anything Apologetic to point out? %% ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) - 📌 Observation 1 - 📌 Observation 2 - 📌 Observation 3 - (Add more as needed.) %% %% #### Today, I can apply this chapter by: - ✅ Application 1 - ✅ Application 2 Make these very practical: - "Trust God's timing in an uncertain situation." - "Speak truth even when it’s unpopular." Think: - What do we learn about God here? - What do we learn about people? - Are there promises, commands, or warnings? %% ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) - 📖 [Verse Reference] – "Quote of important verse." - 📖 [Verse Reference] – "Quote of another important verse." (You can link to deeper notes if you want later.) %% ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 coming soon. - 🔗 coming soon. %% Examples: - John 1:1 and Genesis 1 - Romans 5 and Genesis 3 %% ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection - coming soon. %% PRIVATE NOTES (only I see this) Write 3–6 sentences reflecting on: - How this chapter encourages your faith, - Convicts your heart, - Reveals God's character. Optional format: "In light of this chapter, I am challenged to..." or "I am comforted by..." %% ##### 📂 Internal Links/Personal Notes