Numbers 23

1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

2 Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.

And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.

3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.

And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatever he shews me I will tell thee. And he went to a hill.

4 God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”

And God met Balaam; and [Balaam] said to him, I have disposed seven altars, and have offered up a bullock and a ram upon [each] altar.

5 The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.

6 He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.

And he returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.

7 He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.

And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, curse me Jacob, and come, denounce Israel!

8 How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom the LORD has not defied?

How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I denounce whom Jehovah doth not denounce?

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed amongst the nations.

For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: Lo, [it is] a people that shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”

Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!

11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”

And Balak said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

12 He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD puts in my mouth?”

And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah puts in my mouth?

13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”

And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou wilt see them; thou shalt see only the extremity of them and shalt not see them all, and curse me them from thence.

14 He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

And he took him to the watchmen's field, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.

15 He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”

And [Balaam] said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, and I will go to meet yonder.

16 The LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”

And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.

17 He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?”

And he came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him; and Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken?

18 He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

Then he took up his parable and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear! hearken unto me, son of Zippor!

19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?

20 Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.

Behold, I have received [mission] to bless; and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

21 He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him. The shout of a king is amongst them.

He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen wrong in Israel; Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a king is in his midst.

22 God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.

God brought him out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a buffalo.

23 Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’

For there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. At this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

24 Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”

Lo, the people will rise up as a lioness, and lift himself up as a lion. He shall not lie down until he have eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.

25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”

And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do’?”

And Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that Jehovah shall speak, that will I do?

27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will be right in the sight of God that thou curse me them from thence.

28 Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.

And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks over the surface of the waste.

29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”

And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar.