Balaam's Third Oracle

¹When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at sother times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. ²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel tcamping tribe by tribe. And uthe Spirit of God came upon him, ³and he vtook up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,1

⁴the oracle of him who hears the words of God,

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

wfalling down with his eyes uncovered:

⁵How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,

your encampments, O Israel!

⁶Like palm groves2 that stretch afar,

like gardens beside a river,

xlike aloes ythat the Lord has planted,

like cedar trees beside the waters.

⁷Water shall flow from his buckets,

and his seed shall be zin many waters;

his king shall be higher than aAgag,

and bhis kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸God brings him out of Egypt

and is for him like the chorns of the wild ox;

he shall deat up the nations, his adversaries,

and shall ebreak their bones in pieces

and fpierce them through with his arrows.

⁹He crouched, he lay down like a lion

and glike a lioness; who will rouse him up?

hBlessed are those who bless you,

and cursed are those who curse you.”

¹⁰And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he istruck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, j“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. ¹¹Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, k‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” ¹²And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, ¹³l‘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 mof my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? ¹⁴And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, nI will let you know what this people will do to your people oin the latter days.”

Balaam's Final Oracle

¹⁵pAnd he took up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

¹⁶the oracle of him who hears the words of God,

and knows the knowledge of qthe Most High,

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

rfalling down with his eyes uncovered:

¹⁷sI see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not near:

ta star shall come out of Jacob,

and ua scepter shall rise out of Israel;

it shall vcrush the forehead3 of Moab

and break down all the sons of Sheth.

¹⁸wEdom shall be dispossessed;

xSeir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.

Israel is doing valiantly.

¹⁹And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion

and destroy the survivors of cities!”

²⁰Then he looked on Amalek and ytook up his discourse and said,

“Amalek was the first among the nations,

zbut its end is utter destruction.”

²¹And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

“Enduring is your dwelling place,

and your nest is set in the rock.

²²Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned

when Asshur takes you away captive.”

²³And he took up his discourse and said,

“Alas, who shall live when God does this?

²⁴But ships shall come from aKittim

and shall afflict Asshur and bEber;

and he too cshall come to utter destruction.”

²⁵Then Balaam rose and dwent back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Psalm 66

How Awesome Are Your Deeds

To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.

¹bShout for joy to God, all the earth;

²sing the glory of his name;

cgive to him glorious praise!

³Say to God, d“How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power that your enemies ecome cringing to you.

⁴fAll the earth worships you

and sings praises to you;

they sing praises to your name.” Selah

⁵gCome and see what God has done:

dhe is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

⁶He hturned the sea into dry land;

they ipassed through the river on foot.

There did we rejoice in him,

⁷who rules by his might forever,

whose jeyes keep watch on the nations—

let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

⁸Bless our God, O peoples;

let the sound of his praise be heard,

⁹who has kept our soul among the living

and khas not let our feet slip.

¹⁰For you, O God, have ltested us;

you have tried us as silver is tried.

¹¹You brought us into mthe net;

you laid a crushing burden on our backs;

¹²you let men nride over our heads;

we went through fire and through owater;

yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

¹³I will come into your house with burnt offerings;

I will pperform my vows to you,

¹⁴that which my lips uttered

and my mouth promised qwhen I was in trouble.

¹⁵I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,

with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;

I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

¹⁶rCome and hear, all you who fear God,

and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

¹⁷I cried to him with my mouth,

and high praise was on1 my tongue.2

¹⁸If I had scherished iniquity in my heart,

tthe Lord would not have listened.

¹⁹But truly uGod has listened;

he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

²⁰Blessed be God,

because he has not rejected my prayer

or removed his steadfast love from me!

Psalm 67

Make Your Face Shine upon Us

To the choirmaster: with vstringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

¹May God wbe gracious to us and bless us

and make his face to xshine upon us, Selah

²that yyour way may be known on earth,

your zsaving power among all nations.

³aLet the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

⁴Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you bjudge the peoples with equity

and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

⁵aLet the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

⁶The earth has cyielded its increase;

God, our God, shall bless us.

⁷God shall bless us;

let dall the ends of the earth fear him!

The Restoration of Jacob

¹nFor the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and owill set them in their own land, and psojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. ²And qthe peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the Lord's land ras male and female slaves.1 sThey will take captive those who were their captors, tand rule over those who oppressed them.

Israel's Remnant Taunts Babylon

³When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, ⁴you will take up this utaunt against the king of Babylon:

“How the oppressor has ceased,

vthe insolent fury2 ceased!

⁵The Lord has broken the wstaff of the wicked,

the wscepter of rulers,

⁶xthat struck the peoples in wrath

with unceasing blows,

that ruled the nations in anger

with unrelenting persecution.

⁷The whole earth is at rest and quiet;

ythey break forth into singing.

⁸zaThe cypresses rejoice at you,

bthe cedars of Lebanon, saying,

‘Since you were laid low,

no woodcutter comes up against us.’

⁹Sheol beneath is stirred up

to meet you when you come;

it rouses the shades to greet you,

all who were leaders of the earth;

it raises from their thrones

all who were kings of the nations.

¹⁰cAll of them will answer

and say to you:

‘You too have become as weak as we!

You have become like us!’

¹¹Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,

the sound of your harps;

maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,

and worms are your covers.

¹²“How dyou are fallen from heaven,

O Day Star, eson of Dawn!

How you are cut down to the ground,

you who laid the nations low!

¹³You said in your heart,

f‘I will ascend to heaven;

above the stars of God

gI will set my throne on high;

I will sit on the mount of assembly

in the far reaches of the north;3

¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’

¹⁵hBut you are brought down to Sheol,

to the far reaches of the pit.

¹⁶Those who see you will stare at you

and ponder over you:

‘Is this ithe man who made the earth tremble,

who shook kingdoms,

¹⁷who made the world like a desert

and overthrew its cities,

jwho did not let his prisoners go home?’

¹⁸All the kings of the nations lie in glory,

each in his own tomb;4

¹⁹but you are cast out, away from your grave,

like a loathed branch,

kclothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,

who go down to the stones of the pit,

like a dead body trampled underfoot.

²⁰You will not be joined with them in burial,

because you have destroyed your land,

you have slain your people.

“May lthe offspring of evildoers

nevermore be named!

²¹Prepare slaughter for his sons

mbecause of the guilt of their fathers,

lest they rise and possess the earth,

and fill the face of the world with cities.”

²²“I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and nremnant, odescendants and posterity,” declares the Lord. ²³“And I will make it a possession of the phedgehog,5 and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

An Oracle Concerning Assyria

²⁴The Lord of hosts has sworn:

q“As I have planned,

so shall it be,

and as I have purposed,

so shall it stand,

²⁵that rI will break the Assyrian in my land,

and on my mountains trample him underfoot;

and shis yoke shall depart from them,

and shis burden from their shoulder.”

²⁶This is the purpose that is purposed

concerning the whole earth,

and this is tthe hand that is stretched out

over all the nations.

²⁷uFor the Lord of hosts has purposed,

and who will annul it?

tHis hand is stretched out,

and who will turn it back?

An Oracle Concerning Philistia

²⁸In the year that vKing Ahaz died came this woracle:

²⁹Rejoice not, xO Philistia, all of you,

that ythe rod that struck you is broken,

for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder,

and its fruit will be a zflying fiery serpent.

³⁰And the firstborn of athe poor will graze,

and athe needy lie down in safety;

but I will kill your root with famine,

and your remnant it will slay.

³¹bWail, O cgate; cry out, O city;

melt in fear, xO Philistia, all of you!

dFor smoke comes out of the north,

and there is no straggler in his ranks.

³²What will one answer the messengers of the nation?

e“The Lord has founded Zion,

and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

A Living Stone and a Holy People

¹jSo put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ²kLike newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual lmilk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³if indeed you have mtasted that the Lord is good.

⁴As you come to him, a living stone nrejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵oyou yourselves like living stones are being built up as pa spiritual house, to be qa holy priesthood, rto offer spiritual sacrifices sacceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it stands in Scripture:

t“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious,

uand whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

⁷So the honor is for you who vbelieve, but for those who vdo not believe,

w“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,”1

⁸and

x“A stone of stumbling,

and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, yas they were destined to do.

⁹But you are za chosen race, aa royal bpriesthood, ca holy nation, da people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you eout of darkness into fhis marvelous light. ¹⁰gOnce you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you has sojourners and exiles ito abstain from the passions of the flesh, jwhich wage war against your soul. ¹²kKeep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, lthey may see your good deeds and glorify God on mthe day of visitation.

Submission to Authority

¹³nBe subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,2 whether it be to the emperor3 as supreme, ¹⁴or to governors as sent by him oto punish those who do evil and pto praise those who do good. ¹⁵For this is the will of God, qthat by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶rLive as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but sliving as servants4 of God. ¹⁷tHonor everyone. uLove the brotherhood. vFear God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸wServants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. ¹⁹For this is a gracious thing, when, xmindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. ²⁰For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But yif when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. ²¹For zto this you have been called, ybecause Christ also suffered for you, aleaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. ²²bHe committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. ²³cWhen he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, dbut continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. ²⁴eHe himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we fmight die to sin and glive to righteousness. hBy his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵For iyou were straying like sheep, but have now returned to jthe Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.