THE TALKING KĀIHE .truestory The Israelites were a special iwi to Ihowā, and they were a mighty tribe. As they wandered through the desert, many other tribes became scared of them. They fought and won many battles. They captured cities and conquered the enemies of Ihowā who attacked them. The Israelites camped not far from a place called Moab. When the Moabites saw the huge number of iwi and heard about the many battles they had won, they became worried. The Moabite King (King Balak) decided he was going to do something about the Israelites. In those days, many iwi believed in evil spirits and magic. King Balak believed in these things and knew a sorcerer (wizard) named Balaam who cursed iwi. That meant he would wish kino things to happen to iwi. King Balak sent some men to ask Balaam to curse the iwi of Ihowā. The King’s men offered Balaam a lot of moni to go with them to the Israelite camp and curse them. Balaam told the King’s men he would ask Ihowā whether he should go and curse the Israelites, but Ihowā told him “kāo, you must not put a curse on those iwi because they are blessed.” The next morning Balaam told the King’s men that Ihowā had said kāo, he could not go with them. When the King heard about this, he offered Balaam even more moni. Balaam asked Ihowā again if he could go with the King’s men, and Ihowā said “seeing as they have come to get you again, go with them but you must only do what I tell you”. The King’s men thought Balaam would curse the Israelites, but Ihowā had another plan. He wanted to show Balaam that He is more powerful than the magic and evil spirits Balaam believed in.
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