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Balaam’s First Message
23:1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven
altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
23:2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and
Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
23:3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt
offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to
meet me: and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And
he went to an high place.
23:4 And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have
prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a
bullock and a ram.
23:5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said,
Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
23:6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his
burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
23:7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king
of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of
the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy
Israel.
23:8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how
shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the
hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and
shall not be reckoned among the nations.
23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of
the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the
righteous, and let my last end be like his!
23:11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto
me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou
hast blessed them altogether.
23:12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to
speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?
Balaam’s Second Message
23:13 And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee,
with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see
them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt
not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
23:14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the
top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock
and a ram on every altar.
23:15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt
offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.
23:16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth,
and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
23:17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his
burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak
said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?
23:18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak,
and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son
of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he
not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
23:20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he
hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
23:21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he
seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him,
and the shout of a king is among them.
23:22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the
strength of an unicorn.
23:23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither
is there any divination against Israel: according to this
time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God
wrought!
23:24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and
lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until
he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
23:25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at
all, nor bless them at all.
23:26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I
thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
Balaam’s Third Message
23:27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee,
I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will
please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
23:28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that
looketh toward Jeshimon.
23:29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven
altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
23:30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a
bullock and a ram on every altar.
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Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
