Numbers 23:19
"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
Numbers 23:19 (NKJV)
"God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"
Numbers 23:19 (NIV)
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Numbers 23:19 (KJV)
"God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?"
Numbers 23:19 (NLT)
"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?"
Numbers 23:19 (ESV)
"God is not a man, that He would lie, nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
Numbers 23:19 (NASB)Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said it, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good and fulfill it?"
Numbers 23:19 (AMP)Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
God is not a man, that He should tell or act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance or compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good?
Numbers 23:19 (AMPC)Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
"God is not man, one given to lies, and not a son of man changing his story. He says what he'll do and does it: he speaks and it happens."
Numbers 23:19 (MSG)Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
New Covenant Meaning
God's Word and His Actions Are the Same Thing
Balaam, a pagan prophet hired to curse Israel, is the one who speaks these words. He cannot curse what God has blessed because God does not change His word after He has spoken it. The rhetorical questions land like declarations: Has He said it and will He not do it? The implied answer is obvious: of course He will. Whatever God has spoken is as good as done. His word is not aspirational. It is not contingent on circumstances cooperating. It does not expire if you wait too long. What God has said, He will make good. The gap between what He promised and what happens is never on His side.
God Is Not Subject to the Limitations of Human Communication
Human beings lie because we are afraid, because we want something, because we are trying to manage how others see us, or because we change our minds when things get difficult. God has none of those limitations. He does not fear the consequences of His words. He does not need to manage His reputation with half-truths. He does not change His mind when following through gets costly. He is not a man that He should lie. This is not just a statement about honesty. It is a statement about the stability of His character across all circumstances. What He has said will stand regardless of what changes around it.
In the New Covenant, Hebrews 6:17-18 makes the same point even more explicitly: God confirmed His promise with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things (His word and His oath) in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. The impossibility of God lying is the anchor of New Covenant faith. When a promise of God seems delayed or when circumstances look opposite to what He said, Numbers 23:19 is the theological foundation to stand on. God does not lie. He does not change His mind about what He has spoken over your life. What He said, He will make good.
Application for Your Life
Stand on His Word When Circumstances Contradict It
The situation where Numbers 23:19 matters most is when what God has said and what you are currently experiencing do not match. That is precisely when this verse becomes the ground beneath your feet. Has He said it? Yes. Will He not do it? He will. The gap between the promise and the visible outcome is not evidence that God has changed His mind. It is a window in which faith operates. Let this verse be your answer whenever doubt rises: God is not a man that He should lie. He has spoken. It will come to pass.
Settle What God Has Actually Said Over Your Life
Numbers 23:19 is only as useful as your knowledge of what God has actually said. If you do not know the specific promises God has spoken over your life, through His word and through His Spirit, you have nothing concrete to stand on. Get into the word. Identify the promises that apply to your situation. Write them down. Declare them out loud. "He said this, and He will make it good." The more clearly you know what God has spoken, the more directly you can apply the truth that He will not lie and will not fail to do what He has said.
Prayer Based on This Verse
Father, I rest in this today: You are not a man that You should lie. You do not say things You do not mean and You do not make promises You will not keep. What You have spoken over my life, You will make good. I release the anxiety about whether the promise will come through. I release the fear that maybe You have changed Your mind or that maybe it was not really a promise. You said it. You will do it. I stand on Your word with confidence, not because I have earned the right but because You do not lie. Thank You for a character I can trust completely. In Jesus name. Amen.