Parashat Balak

Balak, king of Moab, sees what Israel did to the Amorites and hires the prophet Balaam to curse them. God first refuses to let Balaam go, then permits it on condition that he say only what he is told. On the road Balaam's donkey sees an angel with a drawn sword and stops three times; Balaam beats her until she speaks. From three hilltops Balak has Balaam look down on the camp of Israel, and each time a blessing comes out instead of a curse, including "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob." Balaam goes home. The portion ends at Shittim, where the people sin with Moabite women and Pinchas acts to stop the plague.