¹By now Balaam knew that the Lord wanted him to bless the people of Israel, so he did not go to look for omens, as he had done before. He turned toward the desert

²and saw the people of Israel camped tribe by tribe. The spirit of God took control of him,

³and he uttered this prophecy: “The message of Balaam son of Beor, The words of the man who can see clearly,

⁴Who can hear what God is saying. With staring eyes I see in a trance A vision from Almighty God.

⁵The tents of Israel are beautiful,

⁶Like long rows of palms Or gardens beside a river, Like aloes planted by the Lord Or cedars beside the water.

⁷They will have abundant rainfall And plant their seed in well-watered fields. Their king shall be greater than Agag, And his rule shall be extended far and wide.

⁸God brought them out of Egypt; He fights for them like a wild ox. They devour their enemies, Crush their bones, smash their arrows.

⁹The nation is like a mighty lion; When it is sleeping, no one dares wake it. Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed, And whoever curses Israel will be cursed.”

¹⁰Balak clenched his fists in anger and said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but three times now you have blessed them instead.

¹¹Now get on home! I promised to reward you, but the Lord has kept you from getting the reward.”

¹²Balaam answered, “I told the messengers you sent to me that

¹³even if you gave me all the silver and gold in your palace, I could not disobey the command of the Lord by doing anything of myself. I will say only what the Lord tells me to say.”

Balaam's Final Prophecies

¹⁴Balaam said to Balak, “Now I am going back to my own people, but before I go, I am warning you what the people of Israel will do to your people in the future.”

¹⁵Then he uttered this prophecy: “The message of Balaam son of Beor, The words of the man who can see clearly,

¹⁶Who can hear what God is saying And receive the knowledge that comes from the Most High. With staring eyes I see in a trance A vision from Almighty God.

¹⁷I look into the future, And I see the nation of Israel. A king, like a bright star, will arise in that nation. Like a comet he will come from Israel. He will strike the leaders of Moab And beat down all the people of Seth.

¹⁸He will conquer his enemies in Edom And make their land his property, While Israel continues victorious.

¹⁹The nation of Israel will trample them down And wipe out the last survivors.”

²⁰Then in his vision Balaam saw the Amalekites and uttered this prophecy: “Amalek was the most powerful nation of all, But at the end it will perish forever.”

²¹In his vision he saw the Kenites, and uttered this prophecy: “The place where you live is secure, Safe as a nest set high on a cliff,

²²But you Kenites will be destroyed When Assyria takes you captive.”

²³Balaam uttered this prophecy: “Who are these people gathering in the north?

²⁴Invaders will sail from Cyprus; They will conquer Assyria and Eber, But they, in turn, will perish forever.”

²⁵Then Balaam got ready and went back home, and Balak went on his way.

The People of Israel at Peor

¹When the Israelites were camped at Acacia Valley, the men began to have sexual intercourse with the Moabite women who were there.

²These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshiped. The Israelites ate the food and worshiped the god

³Baal of Peor. So the Lord was angry with them

⁴and said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of Israel and, in obedience to me, execute them in broad daylight, and then I will no longer be angry with the people.”

⁵Moses said to the officials, “Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshiper of Baal of Peor.”

⁶One of the Israelites took a Midianite woman into his tent in the sight of Moses and the whole community, while they were mourning at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence.

⁷When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up and left the assembly. He took a spear,

⁸followed the man and the woman into the tent, and drove the spear through both of them. In this way the epidemic that was destroying Israel was stopped,

⁹but it had already killed twenty-four thousand people.

¹⁰The Lord said to Moses,

¹¹“Because of what Phinehas has done, I am no longer angry with the people of Israel. He refused to tolerate the worship of any god but me, and that is why I did not destroy them in my anger.

¹²So tell him that I am making a covenant with him that is valid for all time to come.

¹³He and his descendants are permanently established as priests, because he did not tolerate any rivals to me and brought about forgiveness for the people's sin.”

¹⁴The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the head of a family in the tribe of Simeon.

¹⁵The woman's name was Cozbi. Zur, her father, was chief of a group of Midianite clans.

¹⁶The Lord commanded Moses,

¹⁷“Attack the Midianites and destroy them,

¹⁸because of the evil they did to you when they deceived you at Peor, and because of Cozbi, who was killed at the time of the epidemic at Peor.”

Harvest Offerings

¹“After you have occupied the land that the Lord your God is giving you and have settled there,

²each of you must place in a basket the first part of each crop that you harvest and you must take it with you to the one place of worship.

³Go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, ‘I now acknowledge to the Lord my God that I have entered the land that he promised our ancestors to give us.’

⁴“The priest will take the basket from you and place it before the altar of the Lord your God.

⁵Then, in the Lord's presence you will recite these words: ‘My ancestor was a wandering Aramean, who took his family to Egypt to live. They were few in number when they went there, but they became a large and powerful nation.

⁶The Egyptians treated us harshly and forced us to work as slaves.

⁷Then we cried out for help to the Lord, the God of our ancestors. He heard us and saw our suffering, hardship, and misery.

⁸By his great power and strength he rescued us from Egypt. He worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen.

⁹He brought us here and gave us this rich and fertile land.

¹⁰So now I bring to the Lord the first part of the harvest that he has given me.’ “Then set the basket down in the Lord's presence and worship there.

¹¹Be grateful for the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family; and let the Levites and the foreigners who live among you join in the celebration.

¹²“Every third year give the tithe—a tenth of your crops—to the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows, so that in every community they will have all they need to eat. When you have done this,

¹³say to the Lord, ‘None of the sacred tithe is left in my house; I have given it to the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows, as you commanded me to do. I have not disobeyed or forgotten any of your commands concerning the tithe.

¹⁴I have not eaten any of it when I was mourning; I have not taken any of it out of my house when I was ritually unclean; and I have not given any of it as an offering for the dead. I have obeyed you, O Lord; I have done everything you commanded concerning the tithe.

¹⁵Look down from your holy place in heaven and bless your people Israel; bless also the rich and fertile land that you have given us, as you promised our ancestors.’

The Lord's Own People

¹⁶“Today the Lord your God commands you to obey all his laws; so obey them faithfully with all your heart.

¹⁷Today you have acknowledged the Lord as your God; you have promised to obey him, to keep all his laws, and to do all that he commands.

¹⁸Today the Lord has accepted you as his own people, as he promised you; and he commands you to obey all his laws.

¹⁹He will make you greater than any other nation that he has created, and you will bring praise and honor to his name. You will be his own people, as he promised.”

In Praise of God's Goodness

¹“Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal!”

²Repeat these words in praise to the Lord, all you whom he has saved. He has rescued you from your enemies

³and has brought you back from foreign countries, from east and west, from north and south.

⁴Some wandered in the trackless desert and could not find their way to a city to live in.

⁵They were hungry and thirsty and had given up all hope.

⁶Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress.

⁷He led them by a straight road to a city where they could live.

⁸They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them.

⁹He satisfies those who are thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

¹⁰Some were living in gloom and darkness, prisoners suffering in chains,

¹¹because they had rebelled against the commands of Almighty God and had rejected his instructions.

¹²They were worn out from hard work; they would fall down, and no one would help.

¹³Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress.

¹⁴He brought them out of their gloom and darkness and broke their chains in pieces.

¹⁵They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them.

¹⁶He breaks down doors of bronze and smashes iron bars.

¹⁷Some were fools, suffering because of their sins and because of their evil;

¹⁸they couldn't stand the sight of food and were close to death.

¹⁹Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress.

²⁰He healed them with his command and saved them from the grave.

²¹They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them.

²²They must thank him with sacrifices, and with songs of joy must tell all that he has done.

²³Some sailed over the ocean in ships, earning their living on the seas.

²⁴They saw what the Lord can do, his wonderful acts on the seas.

²⁵He commanded, and a mighty wind began to blow and stirred up the waves.

²⁶The ships were lifted high in the air and plunged down into the depths. In such danger the sailors lost their courage;

²⁷they stumbled and staggered like drunks— all their skill was useless.

²⁸Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress.

²⁹He calmed the raging storm, and the waves became quiet.

³⁰They were glad because of the calm, and he brought them safe to the port they wanted.

³¹They must thank the Lord for his constant love, for the wonderful things he did for them.

³²They must proclaim his greatness in the assembly of the people and praise him before the council of the leaders.

³³The Lord made rivers dry up completely and stopped springs from flowing.

³⁴He made rich soil become a salty wasteland because of the wickedness of those who lived there.

³⁵He changed deserts into pools of water and dry land into flowing springs.

³⁶He let hungry people settle there, and they built a city to live in.

³⁷They sowed the fields and planted grapevines and reaped an abundant harvest.

³⁸He blessed his people, and they had many children; he kept their herds of cattle from decreasing.

³⁹When God's people were defeated and humiliated by cruel oppression and suffering,

⁴⁰he showed contempt for their oppressors and made them wander in trackless deserts.

⁴¹But he rescued the needy from their misery and made their families increase like flocks.

⁴²The righteous see this and are glad, but all the wicked are put to silence.

⁴³May those who are wise think about these things; may they consider the Lord's constant love.