Numbers 22:41; Numbers 23:1-12 and John 18:25-27 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 22:41 AND NUMBER 23:1-12
BALAAM FIRST PROPHECY (BALAAM BLESSES ISRAEL)
41  The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see some of the people of Israel spread out below him.
23

1    Then Balaam said to King Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.” 

2    Balak followed his instructions, and the two of them sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.

3    Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offerings, and I will go to see if the Lord will respond to me. Then I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” So Balaam went alone to the top of a bare hill, 

4    and God met him there. Balaam said to him, “I have prepared seven altars and have sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.”

5    The Lord gave Balaam a message for King Balak. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”

6    So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab.

7    This was the message Balaam delivered:  “Balak summoned me to come from Aram; the king of Moab brought me from the eastern hills.  ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me!  Come and announce Israel’s doom.’

8    But how can I curse those whom God has not cursed?  How can I condemn those whom the Lord has not condemned?

9    I see them from the cliff tops; I watch them from the hills.  I see a people who live by themselves, set apart from other nations.

10  Who can count Jacob’s descendants, as numerous as dust?  Who can count even a fourth of Israel’s people?  Let me die like the righteous; let my life end like theirs.”

11  Then King Balak demanded of Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed them!”

12  But Balaam replied, “I will speak only the message that the Lord puts in my mouth.”

JOHN 18:25-27

PETER DENIES JESUS AGAIN

25  Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?”  He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.”

26  But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” 

27  Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed.

Numbers 22:36--40 and John 18:19-24 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 22:36-40
BALAK WELCOMES BALAAM
36  When King Balak heard that Balaam was on the way, he went out to meet him at a Moabite town on the Arnon River at the farthest border of his land.
37  “Didn’t I send you an urgent invitation? Why didn’t you come right away?” Balak asked Balaam. “Didn’t you believe me when I said I would reward you richly?”
38  Balaam replied, “Look, now I have come, but I have no power to say whatever I want. I will speak only the message that God puts in my mouth.”
39  Then Balaam accompanied Balak to Kiriath-huzoth,
40  where the king sacrificed cattle and sheep. He sent portions of the meat to Balaam and the officials who were with him.

JOHN 18:19-24
THE HIGH PRIEST QUESTIONS JESUS

19  Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them.

20  Jesus replied, “Everyone knows what I teach. I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the people gather. I have not spoken in secret. 

21  Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.”

22  Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded.

23  Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?”

24  Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest.

Numbers 22:21-35 and John 18:15-18 (New Living Translation)

NUMBERS 22:21-35
BALAAM AND HIS DONKEY

21  So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials. 

22  But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the Lord to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along, 

23  Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road. 

24  Then the angel of the Lord stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls.

25  When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again. 

26  Then the angel of the Lord moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all. 

27  This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.

28  Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.

29  “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”

30  “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?”  "No,” Balaam admitted.

31  Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him.

32  “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the Lord demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. 

33  Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”

34  Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I didn’t realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I will return home if you are against my going.”

35  But the angel of the Lord told Balaam, “Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s officials.

JOHN 18:15-18

PETER DENIES JESUS

15  Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. 

16  had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. 

17  The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?”  “No,” he said, “I am not.”

18  Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.