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.