And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us.

The princes returning, said to Balac: Balaam would not come with us.

And the princes of Moab rose up; and they went to Balak, and said, Balaam has refused to come with us.

and the princes of Moab rise, and come in unto Balak, and say, 'Balaam is refusing to come with us.'

So the chiefs of Moab went back to Balak and said, Balaam will not come with us.

Returning, the leaders said to Balak, "Balaam was not willing to come with us."

Et surrexerunt principes Moab, et perverternut ad Balac, ac dixerunt, Renuit Balaam venire nobiscum.

Balaam refuseth to come with us - "Observe," says Mr. Ainsworth, "Satan's practice against God's word, seeking to lessen the same, and that from hand to hand, till he bring it to naught. Balaam told the princes less than God told him, and they relate to Balak less than Balaam told them; so that when the answer came to the king of Moab, it was not the word of God, but the word of man; it was simply, Balaam refuseth to come, without ever intimating that God had forbidden him." But in this Balaam is not to blame; he told the messengers in the most positive manner, Jehovah refuseth to give me leave to go with you, Numbers 22:13; and more explicit he could not be.

And the princes of Moab rose up,.... And the princes of Midian also, immediately, without entering into a parley with him, to persuade him to go with them; perceiving by his answer that it would be to no purpose, and that he was determined to do as the Lord directed him:
and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us; as Balaam told them less than what God had said to him, so they related less to Balak than what Balaam had said to them; saying nothing of the Lord's refusing to let him go with them, but represent it as a piece of pride and obstinacy in Balaam, and which Balak was left to understand; and it seems as if he did understand it as a piece of policy in Balaam, to get a larger offer of money or honour, or both, from him, and which the following account seems to confirm.