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Numbers 24:16-19
The Message
Numbers 24:16-19
The Message
12-15 Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I tell you up front when you sent your emissaries, ‘Even if Balak gave me his palace stuffed with silver and gold, I couldn’t do anything on my own, whether good or bad, that went against God’s command’? I’m leaving for home and my people, but I warn you of what this people will do to your people in the days to come.” Then he spoke his oracle-message:
15-19 Decree of Balaam son of Beor,
decree of the man with 20/20 vision,
Decree of the man who hears godly speech,
who knows what’s going on with the High God,
Who sees what The Strong God reveals,
who bows in worship and sees what’s real.
I see him, but not right now,
I perceive him, but not right here;
A star rises from Jacob
a scepter from Israel,
Crushing the heads of Moab,
the skulls of all the noisy windbags;
I see Edom sold off at auction,
enemy Seir marked down at the flea market,
while Israel walks off with the trophies.
A ruler is coming from Jacob
who’ll destroy what’s left in the city.
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Numbers 24:16-18
New International Version
Numbers 24:16-18
New International Version
16 the prophecy of one who hears the words(A) of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,(B)
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
17 “I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.(C)
A star will come out of Jacob;(D)
a scepter will rise out of Israel.(E)
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,(F)
the skulls[a](G) of[b] all the people of Sheth.[c]
18 Edom(H) will be conquered;
Seir,(I) his enemy, will be conquered,(J)
but Israel(K) will grow strong.
Footnotes
- Numbers 24:17 Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Jer. 48:45); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
- Numbers 24:17 Or possibly Moab, / batter
- Numbers 24:17 Or all the noisy boasters
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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