What happensPermalink
Balak of the Moabites pays Balaam to curse Israel, but God commands him to speak only what God tells him. God puts an angel in his way, which his donkey sees, but he cannot.
Why it mattersPermalink
Balaam is a pagan prophet-for-hire paid to curse Israel, but God turns him into an instrument of truth and blessing for His people.
Key versePermalink
Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.”