12. God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
13. So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”
14. So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”
15. Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these.
16. And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me,
17. for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’”
18. But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more.
19. So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.”
20. And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.”
21. So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.
22. But God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him.
23. And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road.
24. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.
25. And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he struck her again.
26. Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.
27. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
28. Then 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?”
29. And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.”