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Balaam’s Third Oracle

24Now Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, so he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face towards the wilderness. ²Balaam looked up and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. Then the spirit of God came upon him, ³and he uttered his oracle, saying:
‘The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
   the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,^*
4 the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
   who sees the vision of the Almighty,^*
   who falls down, but with eyes uncovered:
⁵ how fair are your tents, O Jacob,
   your encampments, O Israel!
⁶ Like palm groves that stretch far away,
   like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the Lord has planted,
   like cedar trees beside the waters.
⁷ Water shall flow from his buckets,
   and his seed shall have abundant water,
his king shall be higher than Agag,
   and his kingdom shall be exalted.
⁸ God, who brings him out of Egypt,
   is like the horns of a wild ox for him;
he shall devour the nations that are his foes
   and break their bones.
   He shall strike with his arrows.^*
9 He crouched, he lay down like a lion,
   and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
Blessed is everyone who blesses you,
   and cursed is everyone who curses you.’

10 Then Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, ‘I summoned you to curse my enemies, but instead you have blessed them these three times. ¹¹Now be off with you! Go home! I said, “I will reward you richly”, but the Lord has denied you any reward.’ ¹²And Balaam said to Balak, ‘Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ¹³“If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will; what the Lord says, that is what I will say”? ¹⁴So now, I am going to my people; let me advise you what this people will do to your people in days to come.’

24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. ²⁵Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.

26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷And a young man ran and told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’ ²⁸And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men,^* said, ‘My lord Moses, stop them!’ ²⁹But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!’ ³⁰And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.