^5 (A)sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor ^(B)at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw,^[a] to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.

⁷ So the elders of Moab and ^(A)the elders of Midian departed with ^(B)the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message.

^4 (A)because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they ^(B)hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of ^(C)Mesopotamia, to curse you.

² for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.

¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in ^(A)the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain ^(B)to Balaam's error and ^(C)perished in Korah's rebellion.

¹⁴ But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of ^(A)Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might ^(B)eat food sacrificed to idols and ^(C)practise sexual immorality.