Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, October 19th, 2024
the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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Read the Bible

Christian Standard Bible ®

Numbers 23:20

I have indeed received a command to bless;since he has blessed, I cannot change it.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   God Continued...;   Pisgah;   Prophets;   Thompson Chain Reference - Balaam;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Desert, Journey of Israel through the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Camp, Encampments;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Balaam;   Moab;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Blessing and Cursing;   Poetry;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Balaam;   Balak;   Kibroth-Hattaavah;   Moab, Moabites;   Prophecy, Prophets;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Numbers, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - On to Canaan;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Balaam;   Poetry, Hebrew;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Shema';  

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
Update Bible Version
Look, I have received [commandment] to bless: And he has blessed, and I can't reverse it.
English Revised Version
Behold, I have received commandment to bless: And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
New Century Version
He told me to bless them, so I cannot change the blessing.
New English Translation
Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
World English Bible
Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: He has blessed, and I can't reverse it.
Amplified Bible
"Behold, I have received His command to bless [Israel]. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Y am brouyt to blesse, Y may not forbede blessyng.
Young's Literal Translation
Lo, to bless I have received: Yea, He blesseth, and I [can]not reverse it.
Berean Standard Bible
I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.
Contemporary English Version
"My command from God was to bless these people, and there's nothing I can do to change what he has done.
American Standard Version
Behold, I have received commandment to bless: And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
Bible in Basic English
See, I have had orders to give blessing: and he has given a blessing which I have no power to take away.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Beholde, I haue taken vpon me to blesse: for he hath blessed, and it is not in my power to aulter it.
Complete Jewish Bible
Look, I am ordered to bless; when he blesses, I can't reverse it.
Darby Translation
Behold, I have received [mission] to bless; and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
Easy-to-Read Version
He told me to bless them. He blessed them, so I cannot change that.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Behold, I am bidden to bless; and when He hath blessed, I cannot call it back.
King James Version (1611)
Behold, I haue receiued commandement to blesse: and hee hath blessed, and I cannot reuerse it.
New Life Bible
See, I have been told to speak good of Israel. When He has spoken good of them, I cannot change it.
New Revised Standard
See, I received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Lo! to bless, have I received command , - And I will bless, nor will I take it back.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Behold, I haue receiued commandement to blesse: for he hath blessed, and I cannot alter it.
George Lamsa Translation
Behold, I was brought here to bless; and I cannot reverse the blessing.
Good News Translation
I have been instructed to bless, And when God blesses, I cannot call it back.
Douay-Rheims Bible
I was brought to bless, the blessing I am not able to hinder.
Revised Standard Version
Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Behold, I have received commandment to bless: I will bless, and not turn back.
Hebrew Names Version
Behold, I have received [mitzvah] to bless: He has blessed, and I can't reverse it.
King James Version
Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
Lexham English Bible
Behold, I have received a command to bless; when he has blessed, I cannot cause it to return.
Literal Translation
Behold, I have received word to bless; yes, He has blessed; I cannot reverse it.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Beholde, I am brought hither to blesse, I blesse, & can not go backe there fro.
New American Standard Bible
"Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, I cannot revoke it.
New King James Version
Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
New Living Translation
Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.
Legacy Standard Bible
Behold, I have received a command to bless;When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.

Contextual Overview

13Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.” 14So Balak took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there.” 16The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then he said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.” 17So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?” 18Balaam proclaimed his poem: 19God is not a man, that he might lie,or a son of man, that he might change his mind.Does he speak and not act,or promise and not fulfill? 20I have indeed received a command to bless;since he has blessed, I cannot change it.21He considers no disaster for Jacob;he sees no trouble for Israel.The Lord their God is with them,and there is rejoicing over the King among them. 22God brought them out of Egypt;he is like the horns of a wild ox for them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he hath: Numbers 22:12, Genesis 12:2, Genesis 22:17

I cannot: Numbers 22:18, Numbers 22:38, John 10:27-29, Romans 8:38, Romans 8:39, 1 Peter 1:5

Reciprocal: Numbers 6:27 - and I will Numbers 23:8 - General Numbers 23:12 - General Numbers 23:27 - peradventure Numbers 24:1 - saw Deuteronomy 33:29 - Happy Judges 7:14 - his fellow 1 Kings 22:23 - and the Lord Job 23:13 - who can Psalms 109:28 - Let them Isaiah 45:19 - speak righteousness Jeremiah 38:21 - this is Acts 4:20 - we cannot

Cross-References

Genesis 23:7
Then Abraham rose and bowed down to the Hethites, the people of the land.
Genesis 23:10
Ephron was sitting among the Hethites. So in the hearing of all the Hethites who came to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hethite answered Abraham:
Genesis 23:14
Ephron answered Abraham and said to him,
Genesis 25:9
His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hethite.
Genesis 50:5
my father made me take an oath, saying, ‘I am about to die. You must bury me there in the tomb that I made for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Now let me go and bury my father. Then I will return.”
Genesis 50:13
They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased as burial property from Ephron the Hethite.
2 Samuel 24:24
The king answered Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for twenty ounces of silver.
2 Kings 21:18
Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, the garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king in his place.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless,.... The people of Israel, to pronounce a blessing upon them, to declare them a happy people:

and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it; God has blessed them, has determined to bless them, has promised to bless them, has blessed them in the victories he has given them, and will complete the blessing of them, by bringing them into the land he has given them: so the blessings which God has designed for his spiritual Israel, and bestows upon them, are irreversible; they are blessings indeed, spiritual ones, and are for ever; he blesses them with himself, as their covenant; God, their portion here and hereafter, with Christ his Son, and all things with him, with righteousness, peace, and pardon, with his Spirit and the grace thereof, with sonship, heirship, and eternal life.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I have received commandment to bless - literally, “I have received to bless.” The reason of his blessing lay in the augury which he acknowledged, and in the divine overruling impulse which he could not resist, not in any “commandment” in words.


 
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