Numbers 23; John 5

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Numbers 23

Balaam’s First Oracle

And Balaam said to Balak, iBuild for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams. Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam joffered on each altar a bull and a ram. And Balaam said to Balak, kStand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come lto meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you. And he went to a bare height, mand God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram. And the Lord nput a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak. And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. And Balaam otook up his discourse and said,

From pAram Balak has brought me,

the king of Moab qfrom the eastern mountains:

Come, rcurse Jacob for me,

and come, denounce Israel!

How can I curse whom God has not cursed?

How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?

For from the top of the crags sI see him,

from the hills I behold him;

behold, ta people dwelling alone,

and unot counting itself among the nations!

10  vWho can count the dust of Jacob

or number the fourth part1 of Israel?

Let me die wthe death of the upright,

and let my end be like his!

11 And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? xI took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them. 12 And he answered and said, yMust I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?

Balaam’s Second Oracle

13 And Balak said to him, Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there. 14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, zand built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam said to Balak, aStand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there. 16 And the Lord met Balaam and bput a word in his mouth and said, Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak. 17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What has the Lord spoken? 18 And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

Rise, Balak, and hear;

give ear to me, O son of Zippor:

19  cGod is not man, that he should lie,

or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

20  Behold, I received a command to bless:

dhe has blessed, and eI cannot revoke it.

21  fHe has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,

nor has he seen trouble in Israel.

The Lord their God is with them,

and the shout of a king is among them.

22  gGod brings them out of Egypt

and is for them like hthe horns of the wild ox.

23  For there is no enchantment against Jacob,

no idivination against Israel;

now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,

jWhat has God wrought!

24  Behold, a people! kAs a lioness it rises up

and as a lion it lifts itself;

lit does not lie down until it has devoured the prey

and drunk the blood of the slain.

25 And Balak said to Balaam, Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all. 26 But Balaam answered Balak, Did I not tell you, mAll that the Lord says, that I must do? 27 And Balak said to Balaam, nCome now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there. 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of oPeor, which overlooks pthe desert.2 29 And Balaam said to Balak, qBuild for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams. 30 rAnd Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.


John 5

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

After this there was a ofeast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem by pthe Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic1 called Bethesda,2 which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalidsblind, lame, and qparalyzed.3 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be healed? The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, rGet up, take up your bed, and walk. rAnd at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

sNow that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews4 said to the man who had been healed, It is the Sabbath, and tit is not lawful for you to take up your bed. 11 But he answered them, The man who healed me, that man said to me, Take up your bed, and walk. 12 They asked him, Who is the man who said to you, Take up your bed and walk? 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for uJesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, See, you are well! vSin no more, wthat nothing worse may happen to you. 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews xwere persecuting Jesus, ybecause he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, My Father is working until now, and I am working.

Jesus Is Equal with God

18 This was why the Jews zwere seeking all the more to kill him, abecause not only was he bbreaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God chis own Father, dmaking himself equal with God.

The Authority of the Son

19 So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, ethe Son fcan do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father5 does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For gthe Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And hgreater works than these will he show him, so that iyou may marvel. 21 For as the Father jraises the dead and kgives them life, so lalso the Son gives life mto whom he will. 22 nFor the Father judges no one, but ohas given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they phonor the Father. qWhoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, rwhoever hears my word and sbelieves him who sent me has eternal life. He tdoes not come into judgment, but uhas passed from death to life.

25 Truly, truly, I say to you, van hour is coming, and is now here, when wthe dead will hear xthe voice of the Son of God, and those who hear wwill live. 26 yFor as the Father has life in himself, zso he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he ahas given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for van hour is coming when ball who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, cthose who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Witnesses to Jesus

30 dI can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and emy judgment is just, because fI seek not my own will gbut the will of him who sent me. 31 hIf I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is ianother who bears witness about me, and jI know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 kYou sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that lthe testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and mshining lamp, and nyou were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But lthe testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For othe works that the Father has given me pto accomplish, the very works that I am doing, qbear witness about me that rthe Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me shas himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, this form you have never seen, 38 and uyou do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 vYou search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and wit is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet xyou refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 yI do not receive glory from people. 42 But zI know that you do not have athe love of God within you. 43 I have come bin my Father’s name, and cyou do not receive me. dIf another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and edo not seek the glory that comes from fthe only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, gon whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for hhe wrote of me. 47 But iif you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?