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Numbers 23

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1 And Balaam said to Balak, Build for me in this place seven altars, and prepare for me in this place seven bullocks and seven rams.

2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered·​·up on every altar a bullock and a ram.

3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand·​·forth over thy burnt·​·offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will happen to meet me: and what word He shows me I will tell thee. And he went to a slope.

4 And God came* to Balaam; and he said to Him, I have arranged seven altars, and I have offered·​·up on each altar a bullock and a ram.

5 And Jehovah set a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

6 And he returned to him, and, behold, he stood over his burnt·​·offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

7 And he lifted up his enunciation, and said, Balak the king of Moab has led me from Syria, from the mountains of the east, saying, Go, curse Jacob for me, and go, have·​·indignation against Israel.

8 How shall I curse, whom God has not cursed? And how shall I be·​·indignant when Jehovah is· not ·indignant?

9 For from the head of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I observe him; behold, the people shall abide alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part* of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the upright, and let my last be like his!

11 And Balak said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse my enemies, and, behold, blessing thou hast blessed them.

12 And he answered and said, Must I not keep to speaking that which Jehovah has set in my mouth?

13 And Balak said to him, Go, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see nothing but the edge of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse them for me from thence.

14 And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the head of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered·​·up a bullock and a ram on every altar.

15 And he said to Balak, Stand·​·forth here over thy burnt·​·offering, and there it will befall me.

16 And Jehovah came* to Balaam, and set a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

17 And he came to him, and behold, he stood over his burnt·​·offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken?

18 And he lifted·​·up his enunciation, and said, Rise·​·up, Balak, and hear; give·​·ear even·​·to me, thou son of Zippor;

19 God is not a man, that He should lie; neither a son of man, that He should repent Himself. Has He said, and shall He not do? And has He spoken, and shall He not secure it?

20 Behold, a blessing I have received, and He has blessed; and not turned· it ·back.

21 He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, neither has He seen mischief in Israel; Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a king is in him.

22 God brought· them ·out from Egypt; he has as·​·it·​·were the powers of a unicorn.

23 For there is no foretelling against Jacob, neither divination against Israel; according·​·to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God worked!

24 Behold, the people shall rise·​·up as an old·​·lion, and lift· himself ·up as a young* lion; he shall not lie·​·down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

25 And Balak said to Balaam, Even cursing thou shalt not curse them, even blessing shalt thou not bless them.

26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Spoke I not to thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaks, it I will do?

27 And Balak said to Balaam, Go, I pray thee, I will take thee to another place; perhaps it will be·​·upright in the eyes of God, and thou mayest curse them for me from thence.

28 And Balak took Balaam to the head of Peor, that looks·​·out upon the faces of Jeshimon.

29 And Balaam said to Balak, Build for me in this place seven altars, and prepare for me in this place seven bullocks and seven rams.

30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered·​·up a bullock and a ram on every altar.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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True Christian Religion # 265

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265. It is established by the books of Moses, who names and quotes from it, that the ancient peoples had a Word (Numbers 21:14-15, 27-30). The historical parts of that Word were called 'The Wars of Jehovah', and the prophetical parts 'The Utterances.' The following is a quotation taken by Moses from the historical parts of that Word:

Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Jehovah, Vaheb in Suphah and the rivers Arnon, and the water-channel of the river, which went down, where Ar dwelt and rested towards the boundary of Moab, Numbers 21:14-15.

The 'Wars of Jehovah' in that Word, as in ours, meant and described the Lord's battles with the hells and His victories over them, at the time when He was to come into the world. The same battles too are meant and described in many of the historical passages of our Word, as in the wars of Joshua against the nations of the land of Canaan, and in the wars of the Judges and Kings of Israel.

[2] The following passage is taken from the prophetical parts of the ancient Word:

Therefore the authors of Utterances say: Come into Heshbon; the city of Sihon shall be built and strengthened. For fire has gone forth from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, those who possess the high places of Arnon. Woe to you, Moab; you are done for, people of Kemosh. He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters the captives of the Amorite king Sihon. We have despatched them with arrows. Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon, and we have laid waste as far as Nophah, which is as far as Medeba, Numbers 21:27-30.

The translators render the phrase 'the composers of proverbs', but it ought to be 'the authors of utterances' or 'the prophetic utterances', as is evident from the meaning of the word moshalim in the Hebrew language, which is not only 'proverbs' but also 'prophetic utterances' (as at Numbers 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15). There it is said that Balaam 'gave forth' his utterance; this was a prophecy, also about the Lord. His utterance is called mashal in the singular; moreover, the passages quoted by Moses from this source are not proverbs, but prophecies.

[3] That Word was likewise divinely inspired, as is plain from Jeremiah, where very similar words occur:

Fire has gone forth from Heshbon, and a flame from among Sihon, which has devoured the corner of Moab and the crown of the head of the sons of Shaon. Woe to you, Moab; the people of Kemosh is done for, for your sons are taken by force into captivity, into captivity your daughters, Jeremiah 48:45-46.

In addition a prophetical book of the ancient Word, called the book of Jashar, that is, the book of the Upright, is mentioned by David and Joshua. In the case of David:

David made a lament for Saul and for Jonathan; and he wrote on it, For teaching the sons of Judah the bow. Look, it is written in the book of Jashar. 2 Samuel 1:17-18.

In the case of Joshua:

Joshua said, Be still, sun, in Gibeon, and you, moon, in the valley of Aijalon. Is not this written in the book of Jashar? Joshua 10:12-13.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.