So Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘All that the Lord speaks, that I must do’?”
Parallel translations
- WEB But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?’”
- KJV But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
- BSB But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”
- NASB But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘Whatever the Lord speaks, I must do’?”
- NLT But Balaam replied to Balak, “Didn’t I tell you that I can do only what the Lord tells me?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Balaam reminds Balak that he must do all that Yahweh speaks. He restates his obligation to God's word.
Overview
Balaam again pleads that he is bound to declare only what God says. The repeated theme underscores that no human authority can override divine revelation. Even a reluctant, mercenary prophet becomes a witness to God's unstoppable blessing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Acts 5:29But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
- Num 22:18Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the word of Yahweh my God, to do less or more.
- 2 Chr 18:13Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives, what my God says, that will I speak.”
- Acts 4:19–20But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves,
- Num 22:38Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any power at all to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak.”
- Num 24:12–13Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I also tell your messengers who you sent to me, saying,
- Num 23:12–13He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?”
- 1 Kgs 22:14Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives, what Yahweh says to me, that I will speak.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 23:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.