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Balaam’s First Oracle: Israel Blessed
Numbers 23:7-12
7
And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’
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How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?
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For I see them from atop the rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. Behold, a people dwelling apart, not reckoning themselves among the nations.
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Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!”
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Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”
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But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
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