BALAK

Numbers 22:2 - 25:9

The desert years were drawing to a close.
Now, with Aharon and Miriam
Dead, their brother doomed to die, arose
Their bitterest foe, the evil mage Bil’am.
He knew G-d did not want the people cursed,
But hoped G-d could be bought with bull and ram,
And when his imprecations were reversed
Upon his tongue, he still worked out a ploy
By which the bond of covenant might be burst:
To make men leave the best and seek the worst
And cause the sight of Israel to cloy
The Holy One... Well-planned was the attack,
And many thousands did the plague destroy
Because of what Bil’am advised Balak.