Numbers 23:8

Verse 8 of 30. The 23rd of 36 chapters in Numbers, in The Law.

4And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.

5And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

6And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

7And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

8How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?

9For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

11And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

12And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?

Read Numbers 23

Numbers 23:8 in the World English Bible

How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom the LORD has not defied?
Read Numbers 23:8 in the WEB

Matthew Henry on Numbers 23:8

He could not so much as give them an ill word or an ill wish: How shall I curse those whom God has not cursed? v. 8. Not that therefore he would not do it, but therefore he could not do it. This is a fair confession, First, Of the weakness and impotency of his own magic skill, for which others valued him so much, and doubtless he valued himself no less.

Read Matthew Henry on Numbers 23:1–12: Balaam Constrained to Bless Israel; The Blessing Pronounced on Israel. (b. c. 1452.)

Pray Numbers 23:8 with someone reading it aloud.

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King James Version. Public domain. Set as prose throughout, including the poetry, because the text is published to us without its lines.