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Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Numbers 22:20

That night, God said, "Balaam, I'll let you go to Moab with Balak's messengers, but do only what I say."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Temptation;   Thompson Chain Reference - Balaam;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Desert, Journey of Israel through the;   Moabites;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Midianites;   Moabites;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Balaam;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Night;   Transjordan;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Balaam;   Balak;   Moab, Moabites;   Prophecy, Prophets;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Dream (2);   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Balaam;   Balak;   Midian;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - On to Canaan;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Abarim;   Balaam;   Numbers, Book of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Hafá¹­arah;   Joshua, the Samaritan Book of;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
God came to Bil`am at night, and said to him, If the men are come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that shall you do.
King James Version
And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.
Lexham English Bible
And God came to Balaam at night, and he said to him, "If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but only the word that I will speak to you, you will do."
English Standard Version
And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you."
New Century Version
That night God came to Balaam and said, "These men have come to ask you to go with them. Go, but only do what I tell you."
New English Translation
God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them, but the word that I will say to you, that you must do."
Amplified Bible
God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them, but you shall still do only what I tell you."
New American Standard Bible
And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do only the thing that I tell you."
Geneva Bible (1587)
And God came vnto Balaam by night, and sayd vnto him, If the men come to call thee, rise vp, and goe with them: but onely what thing I say vnto thee, that shalt thou doe.
Legacy Standard Bible
And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you shall you do."
Complete Jewish Bible
God came to Bil‘am during the night and said to him, "If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you."
Darby Translation
Then God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, If the men have come to call thee, rise up, [and] go with them; but only what I shall say unto thee shalt thou do.
Easy-to-Read Version
That night, God came to Balaam. God said, "These men have come again to ask you to go with them. So you can go with them. But do only what I tell you to do."
George Lamsa Translation
And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, If these men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but only the word which I shall say to you, that shall you do.
Good News Translation
That night God came to Balaam and said, "If these men have come to ask you to go with them, get ready and go, but do only what I tell you."
Christian Standard Bible®
God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.”
Literal Translation
And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them and say only the thing that I speak to you; it you shall do.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then came God to Balaam by night, & saide vnto him: Yf the men are come to call the, get the vp then, and go with the: but what I shal saye vnto the, that shalt thou do.
American Standard Version
And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.
Bible in Basic English
And that night God came to Balaam and said to him, If these men have come for you, go with them: but do only what I say to you.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And God came vnto Balaam by night, and sayde vnto hym: If the men come to call thee, ryse vp and go with them: but loke what I say vnto thee, that shalt thou do.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him: 'If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.'
King James Version (1611)
And God came vnto Balaam at night, and said vnto him, If the men come to call thee, rise vp, and goe with them: but yet the word which I shall say vnto thee, that shalt thou doe.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And God came to Balaam by night, and said to him, If these men are come to call thee, rise and follow them; nevertheless the word which I shall speak to thee, it shalt thou do.
English Revised Version
And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men be come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.
Berean Standard Bible
That night God came to Balaam and said, "Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor the Lord cam to Balaam in the nyyt, and seide to hym, If these men comen to clepe thee, rise thou, and go with hem, so oneli that thou do that that Y schal comaunde to thee.
Young's Literal Translation
And God cometh in unto Balaam, by night, and saith to him, `If to call for thee the men have come, rise, go with them, and only the thing which I speak unto thee -- it thou dost do.'
Update Bible Version
And God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.
Webster's Bible Translation
And God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, If the men come to call thee, rise [and] go with them; but yet the word which I shall say to thee, that shalt thou perform.
World English Bible
God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, If the men are come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that shall you do.
New King James Version
And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you--that you shall do."
New Living Translation
That night God came to Balaam and told him, "Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But do only what I tell you to do."
New Life Bible
God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them. But do only what I tell you."
New Revised Standard
That night God came to Balaam and said to him, "If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you to do."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And God came in unto Balaam, by night, and said unto him - If, to call thee, the men have come in, arise go with them, - But only, the thing that I shall speak unto thee, that, shalt thou do.
Douay-Rheims Bible
God therefore came to Balaam in the night, and said to him: If these men be come to call thee, arise and go with them: yet so, that thou do what I shall command thee.
Revised Standard Version
And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only what I bid you, that shall you do."
THE MESSAGE
God came to Balaam that night and said, "Since these men have come all this way to see you, go ahead and go with them. But make sure you do absolutely nothing other than what I tell you."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you shall you do."

Contextual Overview

15 Then Balak sent a larger group of officials, who were even more important than the first ones. 16 They went to Balaam and told him that Balak had said, "Balaam, if you come to Moab, 17 I'll pay you very well and do whatever you ask. Just come and place a curse on these people." 18 Balaam answered, "Even if Balak offered me a palace full of silver or gold, I wouldn't do anything to disobey the Lord my God. 19 You are welcome to spend the night here, just as the others did. I will find out if the Lord has something else to say about this." 20 That night, God said, "Balaam, I'll let you go to Moab with Balak's messengers, but do only what I say." 21 So Balaam got up the next morning and saddled his donkey, then left with the Moabite officials.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

God: Numbers 22:9

If the men: 1 Samuel 8:5-9, 1 Samuel 12:12-19, Psalms 81:12, Ezekiel 14:2-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

but yet: Numbers 22:35, Numbers 23:12, Numbers 23:26, Numbers 24:13, Psalms 33:10, Psalms 33:11, Psalms 78:30, Psalms 78:31, Isaiah 37:29, Hosea 13:11

Reciprocal: Genesis 31:24 - dream Numbers 22:8 - General Numbers 22:12 - Thou shalt Numbers 22:32 - before me Numbers 23:4 - God 1 Samuel 8:7 - Hearken Job 4:13 - thoughts Jeremiah 1:7 - for thou shalt

Cross-References

Genesis 11:26
After Terah was seventy years old, he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran, who became the father of Lot. Terah's sons were born in the city of Ur in Chaldea, and Haran died there before the death of his father. The following is the story of Terah's descendants.
Genesis 11:29
Abram married Sarai, but she was not able to have any children. And Nahor married Milcah, who was the daughter of Haran and the sister of Iscah.
Genesis 24:10
Soon after that, the servant loaded ten of Abraham's camels with valuable gifts. Then he set out for the city in northern Syria, where Abraham's brother Nahor lived.
Genesis 24:15
While he was still praying, a beautiful unmarried young woman came by with a water jar on her shoulder. She was Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Abraham's brother Nahor and his wife Milcah. Rebekah walked past Abraham's servant, then went over to the well, and filled her water jar. When she started back,
Genesis 24:24
She answered, "My father is Bethuel, the son of Nahor and Milcah.
Genesis 31:53
My father Nahor, your grandfather Abraham, and their ancestors all worshiped the same God, and he will make sure that we each keep the agreement. Then Jacob made a promise in the name of the fearsome God his father Isaac had worshiped.
Proverbs 25:25
Good news from far away refreshes like cold water when you are thirsty.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord came unto Balaam at night,.... As before,

Numbers 22:9 it may be in a dream; the Targum of Jonathan is as there,

"a word came from the Lord:''

and said unto him, if the men come and call thee, rise up, and go with them; this was said, as some think, not seriously, but sarcastically, or rather in an angry manner, bidding him go, if he would; so giving him up to his own heart's lusts, or, at most; only permitting him to go with them, but not to curse Israel; and this permission to go seems to be on this condition, if the princes first called him, and were urgent on him to go with them: this was a trial of Balaam, whether he would be eager and forward to go, or patiently wait until he should be called; or the words may be rendered, "seeing", or because g,

they are come to call thee: but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shall thou do; whether he would or not, he should be forced to do it, as Jarchi; and therefore go not with any intention to curse Israel, which shall never be done; wherefore to go would be vain and fruitless, since he would never be able to answer the design of Balak: but still Balaam hoped, it not being so fully and clearly expressed as before, that he should not curse Israel; that God would say something else unto him, though he had no reason at all for it, but all the reverse; so blinded was he with a greedy desire of riches and honour.

g אם "quandoquidem", Junius Tremellius, Piscator so Noldius, p. 88. & Ainsworth.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 22:20. If the men come - go with them — This is a confirmation of what was observed on the twelfth verse; though we find his going was marked with the Divine displeasure, because he wished, for the sake of the honours and rewards, to fulfil as far as possible the will of the king of Moab. Mr. Shuckford observes that the pronoun הוא hu is sometimes used to denote a person's doing a thing out of his own head, without regard to the directions of another. Thus in the case of Balaam, when God had allowed him to go with the messengers of Balak, if they came in the morning to call him; because he was more hasty than he ought to have been, and went to them instead of staying till they should come to him, it was said of him, not כי הלך ki halach, that he went, but כי הולך הוא ki holech hu, i. e., he went of his own head - without being called; and in this, Mr. Shuckford supposes, his iniquity chiefly lay. - Connex., vol. iii., p. 115. How many are restrained from sinning, merely through the fear of God! They would gladly do the evil, but it is forbidden on awful penalties; they wish the thing were not prohibited for they have a strong desire to do it.


 
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