# Numbers 23.22-24 **Book:** [Numbers](/codex/numbers/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 20. Behold, I have received commandment to bless: And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob; Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: Jehovah his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them. > > **22. God bringeth them forth out of Egypt; He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox. 23. Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel: Now shalt it be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! 24. Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness, And as a lion doth he lift himself up: He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, And drink the blood of the slain.** > > 25. And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. 26. But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh, that I must do? (Numbers 23:20-26, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 20. Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it. 21. He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them. > > **22. God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox. 23. Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’ 24. Behold, the people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”** > > 25. Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.” 26. But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?’” (Numbers 23:20-26, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 20. Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. 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. > > **22. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. 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! against: or, in 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.** > > 25. And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. 26. But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do? (Numbers 23:20-26, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 20. Lo, to bless I have received: Yea, He blesseth, and I [can] not reverse it. 21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Nor hath He seen perverseness in Israel; Jehovah his God [is] with him, And a shout of a king [is] in him. > > **22. God is bringing them out from Egypt, As the swiftness of a Reem is to him; 23. For no enchantment [is] against Jacob, Nor divination against Israel, At the time it is said of Jacob and Israel, What hath God wrought! 24. Lo, the people as a lioness riseth, And as a lion he lifteth himself up, He lieth not down till he eateth prey, And blood of pierced ones doth drink.'** > > 25. And Balak saith unto Balaam, 'Neither pierce it at all, nor bless it at all;' 26. and Balaam answereth and saith unto Balak, 'Have I not spoken unto thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh, it I do?' (Numbers 23:20-26, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [God Is Not a Man Objection Defeater](/codex/god-is-not-a-man-objection-defeater/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ --- ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.