18. But Balaam answered Balak’s servants, “Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I couldn’t disobey the command of the Lord my God no matter whether the request was important or not.
19. Now, why don’t you stay here tonight, as the others did, and I’ll find out what else the Lord may have to tell me.”
20. That night God came to Balaam and said, “If these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.”
21. When Balaam got up in the morning, he saddled his donkey and left with the Moabite princes.
22. God became angry that he was going. So the Messenger of the Lord stood in the road to stop him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants.
23. When the donkey saw the Messenger of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn, the donkey turned off the road into a field. Balaam hit the donkey to get it back on the road.
24. Where the road went through the vineyards, it was narrow, with stone walls on both sides. Now the Messenger of the Lord stood there.
25. When the donkey saw the Messenger of the Lord, it moved over and pinned Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam hit the donkey again.
26. Then the Messenger of the Lord moved ahead and stood in a narrower place where there was no room to turn to the right or the left.
27. When the donkey saw the Messenger of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam. Balaam became so angry he hit the donkey with his stick.
28. Then the Lord made the donkey speak, and it asked Balaam, “What have I done to make you hit me three times?”
29. Balaam answered, “You’ve made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I’d kill you right now.”
30. The donkey said to Balaam, “I’m your own donkey. You’ve always ridden me. Have I ever done this to you before?”“No,” he answered.
31. Then the Lord let Balaam see the Messenger of the Lord who was standing in the road with his sword drawn. So Balaam knelt, bowing with his face touching the ground.
32. The Messenger of the Lord asked him, “Why have you hit your donkey three times like this? I’ve come here to stop you because the trip you’re taking is evil.
33. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, I would certainly have killed you by now but spared the donkey.”