9. God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”
10. Balaam said to God, “The king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, sent them to give me a message.
11. This is the message: A new nation of people has come out of Egypt. There are so many people that they cover the land. So come and curse these people. Then maybe I will be able to fight them and force them to leave my land.”
12. But God said to Balaam, “Don’t go with them. You must not curse those people. They are my people.”
13. The next morning Balaam got up and said to leaders from Balak, “Go back to your own country. The Lord will not let me go with you.”
14. So the leaders of Moab went back to Balak and told him this. They said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”