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NUMBERS 23

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Balaam’s First Oracle
  23:1 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 the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, 4 and God 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 the Lord 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,
“From Aram Balak has brought me,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
and come, denounce Israel!’
8
How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
9
For from the top of the crags I see him,
from the hills I behold him;
behold, a people dwelling alone,
and not counting itself among the nations!
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 my end be like his!”

    
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 the Lord 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 the Lord over there.” 16 And the Lord 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 the Lord spoken?” 18 And Balaam took up his discourse and said,
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
19
God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
20
Behold, I received a command to bless:
he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
21
He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
and the shout of a king is among them.
22
God brings them out of Egypt
and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.
23
For there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘What has God wrought!’
24
Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up
and as a lion it lifts itself;
it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”

    
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 the Lord says, that I must do’?” 27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. 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.



PSALM 59

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Deliver Me from My Enemies
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
59:1
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me;
2
deliver me from those who work evil,
and save me from bloodthirsty men.

3
For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,
4
for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
5
You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

6
Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
7
There they are, bellowing with their mouths
with swords in their lips—
for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

8
But you, O Lord, laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.
9
O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress.
10
My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

11
Kill them not, lest my people forget;
make them totter by your power and bring them down,
O Lord, our shield!
12
For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13
consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
to the ends of the earth. Selah

14
Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
15
They wander about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.

16
But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17
O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love.



PSALM 60

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He Will Tread Down Our Foes
To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
60:1
O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;
you have been angry; oh, restore us.
2
You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
repair its breaches, for it totters.
3
You have made your people see hard things;
you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

4
You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah
5
That your beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

6
God has spoken in his holiness:
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.
8
Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I cast my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

9
Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10
Have you not rejected us, O God?
You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11
Oh, grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man!
12
With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.



PROVERBS 22

« Proverbs 21 | Proverbs 22 | Proverbs 23 »

22:1
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
2
The rich and the poor meet together;
the Lord is the Maker of them all.
3
The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
4
The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
is riches and honor and life.
5
Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.
6
Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7
The rich rules over the poor,
and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
8
Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of his fury will fail.
9
Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.
10
Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
and quarreling and abuse will cease.
11
He who loves purity of heart,
and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.
12
The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
but he overthrows the words of the traitor.
13
The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be killed in the streets!”
14
The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit;
he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
15
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
16
Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.
Words of the Wise
17
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18
for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.
19
That your trust may be in the Lord,
I have made them known to you today, even to you.
20
Have I not written for you thirty sayings
of counsel and knowledge,
21
to make you know what is right and true,
that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

22
Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate,
23
for the Lord will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them.
24
Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,
25
lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
26
Be not one of those who give pledges,
who put up security for debts.
27
If you have nothing with which to pay,
why should your bed be taken from under you?
28
Do not move the ancient landmark
that your fathers have set.
29
Do you see a man skillful in his work?
He will stand before kings;
he will not stand before obscure men.

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