they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming to me: for I will promote thee to very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest to me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the command of the LORD my God, to do a greater or smaller thing. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say to me more.*

And God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say to thee, that shalt thou do.

And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab, And God's anger was kindled because he went ;‡ and the angel of the LORD stood in the way to withstand him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went

* Balaam was here tampering with the declared will of God. He had been informed explicitly, that the people, whom Balak would have him to curse, were blessed, and yet he was trying, whether God might not, after all, permit him to earn and receive wages offered to him by Balak for cursing his own chosen people.

† God appears to have given Balaam this direction merely to try him, or rather to expose his covetous spirit, by permitting him to show the alacrity with which he would avail himself of the liberty to obey the summons of Balak.

Because he went, i. e. Because he went in the hope of being permitted to curse the people of God, whom God had blessed.

into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. And the angel of the LORD stood in a hollow path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. But when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself against the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn, either to the right hand or to the left. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam; and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, What have I done to thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said to the ass, Because thou usest me ill: I would there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill thee. And the ass said to Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine till this day? was I ever wont to do so to thee? And he said, No. Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the LORD said to him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: and the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. And Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way to meet me now therefore, if it displease thee, I will turn me again. And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, Go with the men hut only the

word that I shall speak to thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him to a city of Moab, which is on the border of Arnon, which is at the extremity of the border. And Balak said to Balaam, Did I not earnestly send to thee to call thee? wherefore didst thou not come to me? was it indeed that I am not able to promote thee to honour? And Balaam said to Balak, Lo, I have come to thee: have I now power to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kirjath-huzoth. And Balak killed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.

And it came to pass in the morning, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, and he saw from thence the uttermost part of the people. And Balaam said to Balak, build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven oxen 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: perhaps the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee.

*It is obvious that Balaam did all this in concert with Balak, in the hope that he might be permitted to curse the people whom God had declared to be blessed, or at least to say something by which he might earn the rewards prepared for him by Balak. In this he was tempting the Lord.

† Balaam had no scruple in becoming the fellow-worshipper of one whom he knew to be the enemy of God and his people. It is not easy to say to whom this joint worship was addressed, to the gods of Balak, or Jehovah the God whom Balaam acknowledged.

And he went to an elevated place. And God met Balaam: and he said to him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram. And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. And he returned to him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab. And he took up his parable, and said, From Aram Balak the king of Moab hath brought me, from the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse for me Jacob, and come, execrate Israel. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I execrate, whom the LORD hath not execrated? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.

And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them. And he answered and said, That which the LORD putteth in my mouth must I not take heed to speak?

And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the uttermost extremity of them, and shalt not see them all and curse them for me from thence.* And he brought him into the field of Zophim† to

Balaam, by going with Balak for such a purpose, was still seeking an opportunity of cursing those whom God had blessed, and so obtaining the wages of iniquity.

† Field of Zophim, or field of the scouts or spies-an elevated place, commanding an extensive prospect.

the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar. And he said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder. And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again to Balak, and say thus. And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What hath the LORD spoken? And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken to 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? or hath he spoken, and will he not fulfil? Behold, I have received commandment to bless and he hath blessed; and I cannot turn it away. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Isracl the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt: he hath strength as of a unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! Behold, the people shall rise up as a lioness, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he cat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

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And Balak said to 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 the LORD speaketh, that I will do?

And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence. And Balak brought Balaam to the