Balaam answered, "I came, didn't I? But now, what power do I have? I can say only what God tells me to say."

The LORD told Balaam what to say and sent him back to Balak to give him his message.

I have been instructed to bless, And when God blesses, I cannot call it back.

Balak clenched his fists in anger and said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but three times now you have blessed them instead.

Balaam answered, "I told the messengers you sent to me that

You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country.

The nations have heard, and they tremble with fear; the Philistines are seized with terror.

The leaders of Edom are terrified; Moab's mighty men are trembling; the people of Canaan lose their courage.

and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you.

and then said, "We are sure that the LORD has given us the whole country. All the people there are terrified of us."

All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the Mediterranean Sea heard that the LORD had dried up the Jordan until the people of Israel had crossed it. They became afraid and lost their courage because of the Israelites.

The Lord had made the Syrians hear what sounded like the advance of a large army with horses and chariots, and the Syrians thought that the king of Israel had hired Hittite and Egyptian kings and their armies to attack them.

So that evening the Syrians had fled for their lives, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys, and leaving the camp just as it was.