21So Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.

The Angel and Balaam

22But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. 23When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way. 24Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself to the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again. 26The angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right hand or the left. 27When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his stick. 28And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now.” 30The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”

31Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed all the way to the ground. 32The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was contrary to me. 33But the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now, and let her live.” 34Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back.” 35But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word which I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.

36When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, at the extreme end of the border. 37Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you?” 38So Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come now to you! Am I able to speak anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak.” 39And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. 40Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.

41Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, and he saw from there a portion of the people.

The Prophecies of Balaam

1Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 2Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. 3Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.

4Now God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5Then the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.” 6So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. 7He took up his discourse and said,

“From Aram Balak has brought me,

Moab’s king from the mountains of the East,

‘Come curse Jacob for me,

And come, denounce Israel!’

8How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?

And how can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?

9As I see him from the top of the rocks,

And I look at him from the hills;

Behold, a people who dwells apart,

And will not be reckoned among the nations.

10Who can count the dust of Jacob,

Or number the fourth part of Israel?

Let me die the death of the upright,

And let my end be like his!”

11Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” 12He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

13Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there.” 14So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15And he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the Lord over there.” 16Then the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 17He came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18Then he took up his discourse and said,

“Arise, O Balak, and hear;

Give ear to me, O son of Zippor!

19God is not a man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent;

Has He said, and will He not do it?

Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

20Behold, I have received a command to bless;

When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.

21He has not observed misfortune in Jacob;

Nor has He seen trouble in Israel;

The Lord his God is with him,

And the shout of a king is among them.

22God brings them out of Egypt,

He is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

23For there is no omen against Jacob,

Nor is there any divination against Israel;

At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob

And to Israel, what God has done!

24Behold, a people rises like a lioness,

And as a lion it lifts itself;

It will not lie down until it devours the prey,

And drinks the blood of the slain.”

25Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” 26But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘Whatever the Lord speaks, that I must do’?”

27Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.” 28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks the wasteland. 29Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 30Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

John Is Born

57Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

59And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father. 60But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.” 61And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.” 62And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. 64And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. 65Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. 66All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

Zacharias’s Prophecy

67And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

68“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,

69And has raised up a horn of salvation for us

In the house of David His servant—

70As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—

71Salvation from our enemies,

And from the hand of all who hate us;

72To show mercy toward our fathers,

And to remember His holy covenant,

73The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,

74To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,

Might serve Him without fear,

75In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

76And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;

77To give to His people the knowledge of salvation

By the forgiveness of their sins,

78Because of the tender mercy of our God,

With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,

79To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,

To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

80And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

PSALM 58

Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.

For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David.

1Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods?

Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?

2No, in heart you work unrighteousness;

On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.

3The wicked are estranged from the womb;

These who speak lies go astray from birth.

4They have venom like the venom of a serpent;

Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,

5So that it does not hear the voice of charmers,

Or a skillful caster of spells.

6O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;

Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.

7Let them flow away like water that runs off;

When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.

8Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along,

Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.

9Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns

He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.

10The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”

12He who despises his neighbor lacks sense,

But a man of understanding keeps silent.

13He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,

But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.