T40 - Balak

Balak Summons Balaam

22 Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.² And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ³ And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. ⁴ And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, ⁵ sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw,^[a] to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. ⁶ Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message. ⁸ And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as YHWH speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹ And Elohim came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰ And Balaam said to Elohim, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, ¹¹ ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” ¹² Elohim said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” ¹³ So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for YHWH has refused to let me go with you.” ¹⁴ So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”

¹⁵ Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these. ¹⁶ And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, ¹⁷ for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’” ¹⁸ But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of YHWH my Elohim to do less or more. ¹⁹ So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more YHWH will say to me.” ²⁰ And Elohim came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” ²¹ So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

Balaam's Donkey and the Angel

²² But Elohim's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of YHWH took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ And the donkey saw the angel of YHWH standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. ²⁴ Then the angel of YHWH stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. ²⁵ And when the donkey saw the angel of YHWH, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall. So he struck her again. ²⁶ Then the angel of YHWH went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of YHWH, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸ Then YHWH opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” ²⁹ And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” ³⁰ And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”

³¹ Then YHWH opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of YHWH standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. ³² And the angel of YHWH said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse^[b] before me. ³³ The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” ³⁴ Then Balaam said to the angel of YHWH, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” ³⁵ And the angel of YHWH said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the border formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the border. ³⁷ And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” ³⁸ Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that Elohim puts in my mouth, that must I speak.” ³⁹ Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰ And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent for Balaam and for the princes who were with him.

⁴¹ And in the morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw a fraction of the people.

Balaam's First Oracle

23 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ² Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. ³ And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps YHWH will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, ⁴ and Elohim met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” ⁵ And YHWH put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” ⁶ And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. ⁷ And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

¹¹ And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” ¹² And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what YHWH puts in my mouth?”

Balaam's Second Oracle

¹³ And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” ¹⁴ And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet YHWH over there.” ¹⁶ And YHWH met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” ¹⁷ And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has YHWH spoken?” ¹⁸ And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” ²⁶ But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that YHWH says, that I must do’?” ²⁷ And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please Elohim that you may curse them for me from there.” ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.^{[d] 29} And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ³⁰ And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam's Third Oracle

24 When Balaam saw that it pleased YHWH to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. ² And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of Elohim came upon him, ³ and he took up his discourse and said,

¹⁰ And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. ¹¹ Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but YHWH has held you back from honor.” ¹² And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ¹³ ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of YHWH, to do either good or bad of my own will. What YHWH speaks, that will I speak’? ¹⁴ And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

Balaam's Final Oracle

¹⁵ And he took up his discourse and said,

²⁰ Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said,

²¹ And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

²³ And he took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Baal Worship at Peor

25 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. ² These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of YHWH was kindled against Israel. ⁴ And YHWH said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang^[h] them in the sun before YHWH, that the fierce anger of YHWH may turn away from Israel.” ⁵ And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

⁶ And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand ⁸ and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. ⁹ Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

Micah 5:7(6) - 6:8

English Standard Version (ESV) 

A Remnant Shall Be Delivered

⁷ Then the remnant of Jacob shall be
    in the midst of many peoples
like dew from YHWH,
    like showers on the grass,
which delay not for a man
    nor wait for the children of man.
⁸ And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
    in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
    like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which, when it goes through, treads down
    and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
⁹ Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,
    and all your enemies shall be cut off.

¹⁰ And in that day, declares YHWH,
    I will cut off your horses from among you
    and will destroy your chariots;
¹¹ and I will cut off the cities of your land
    and throw down all your strongholds;
¹² and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
    and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
¹³ and I will cut off your carved images
    and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more
    to the work of your hands;
¹⁴ and I will root out your Asherah images from among you
    and destroy your cities.
¹⁵ And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
    on the nations that did not obey.

The Indictment of YHWH

6 Hear what YHWH says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
    and let the hills hear your voice.
² Hear, you mountains, the indictment of YHWH,
    and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for YHWH has an indictment against his people,
    and he will contend with Israel.

³ “O my people, what have I done to you?
    How have I wearied you? Answer me!
⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
    and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
    Aaron, and Miriam.
⁵ O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
    and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
    that you may know the righteous acts of YHWH.”

What Does YHWH Require?

⁶ “With what shall I come before YHWH,
    and bow myself before Elohim on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
⁷ Will YHWH be pleased with^[a] thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
⁸ He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does YHWH require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,^[b]
    and to walk humbly with your Elohim?

Footnotes:

1. Micah 6:7 Or Will the Lord accept
2. Micah 6:8 Or steadfast love

 

Mark 11:12-25

English Standard Version (ESV) 

Yeshua Curses the Fig Tree

¹² On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³ And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Yeshua Cleanses the Temple

¹⁵ And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. ¹⁶ And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷ And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” ¹⁸ And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. ¹⁹ And when evening came they^[a] went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

²⁰ As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹ And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” ²² And Yeshua answered them, “Have faith in Elohim. ²³ Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received^[b] it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”^[c]

Footnotes:

1. Mark 11:19 Some manuscripts he
2. Mark 11:24 Some manuscripts are receiving
3. Mark 11:25 Some manuscripts add verse 26: But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses

 

1 Corinthians 1:20-31

English Standard Version (ESV) 

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not Elohim made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of Elohim, the world did not know Elohim through wisdom, it pleased Elohim through the folly of what we preach^[a] to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach HaMashiach crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, HaMashiach the power of Elohim and the wisdom of Elohim. ²⁵ For the foolishness of Elohim is wiser than men, and the weakness of Elohim is stronger than men.

²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,^[b] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But Elohim chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; Elohim chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ Elohim chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being^[c] might boast in the presence of Elohim. ³⁰ And because of him^[d] you are in Yeshua HaMashiach, who became to us wisdom from Elohim, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Footnotes:

1. 1 Corinthians 1:21 Or the folly of preaching
2. 1 Corinthians 1:26 Greek according to the flesh
3. 1 Corinthians 1:29 Greek no flesh
4. 1 Corinthians 1:30 Greek And from him

 

2 Peter 2:1-22

English Standard Version (ESV) 

 

False Prophets and Teachers

2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. ² And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³ And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁴ For if Elohim did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell^[a] and committed them to chains^[b] of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;^{[c] 7} and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); ⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,^[d] and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who indulge^[e] in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, ¹¹ whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. ¹² But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, ¹³ suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,^[f] while they feast with you. ¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! ¹⁵ Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

¹⁷ These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves^[g] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Yeshua HaMashiach, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Footnotes:

1. 2 Peter 2:4 Greek Tartarus
2. 2 Peter 2:4 Some manuscripts pits
3. 2 Peter 2:6 Some manuscripts an example to those who were to be ungodly
4. 2 Peter 2:9 Or temptations
5. 2 Peter 2:10 Greek who go after the flesh
6. 2 Peter 2:13 Some manuscripts love feasts
7. 2 Peter 2:19 Greek bondservants

 

Revelation 2:12-17

English Standard Version (ESV) 

 

To the Church in Pergamum

¹² “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

¹³ “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith^[a] even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. ¹⁵ So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. ¹⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Footnotes:

1. Revelation 2:13 Or your faith in me

Who is the Church at Pergamum?

 

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