1 Then the Israelites moved on and encamped in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jordan opposite Jericho.
2 Now Balak, son of Zippor, saw all that Israel did to the Amorites,
3 and Moab feared the Israelites greatly because they were numerous. Moab was in dread of the Israelites.
4 So Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this horde will devour everything around us as an ox devours the grass of the field.” At that time Balak, son of Zippor, was king of Moab;
5 and he sent messengers to Balaam, son of Beor, at Pethor on the river, in the land of the Ammonites, to summon him with these words, “A people has come out of Egypt! They have covered up the earth and are settling down opposite me!