On the road,Balaam eventually saw the angel, but the donkey he was riding saw the angel first. Two different times the donkey refused to go any farther. Each time Ballaam would beat her.Then the third time,the donkey tries to bypass the angel instead of runing over him, and bumped old Balaam's leg against the side of the mountain. This infuriated Balaam. He jumped off and began to beat the little donkey."Then the Lord gave the donkey the power of speech,and it said to Ballam, 'what have I done to you? Why have you beaten me these three times?'Balaam answered,'Because you have made a fool of me! if I had a sword,I would kill you.'The donkey replied,'Am I not the same donkey on which you have ridden all your life?''Have I ever treated you like this before?''No,'he answered.Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downward on the ground.The angel demanded, 'Why have you beaten your donkey three times like this?I have come to bar your way,because you shouldnot be making this journey.But your donkey saw me and turned aside three times. If it hadn't I would have killed you and spared the donkey.'" numbers22:28-33.
