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 Balac, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, and seven rams.

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

And Balac did as Balaam told him; and he offered up a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

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

And Balaam said to Balac, Stand by thy sacrifice, and I will go and see if God will appear to me and meet me, and the word which he shall shew me, I will report to thee. And Balac stood by his sacrifice.

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 Balaam went to enquire of God; and he went straight forward, and God appeared to Balaam; and Balaam said to him, I have prepared the seven altars, and have offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

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

And God put a word into the mouth of Balaam, and said, thou shalt return to Balac, 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 moreover he stood over his whole-burnt-offerings, and all the princes of Moab with him; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

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, Balac king of Moab sent for me out of Mesopotamia, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and Come, call for a curse for me upon Israel.

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

How can I curse whom the Lord curses not? or how can I devote whom God devotes not?

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 among the nations.

For from the top of the mountains I shall see him, and from the hills I shall observe him: behold, the people 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 has exactly calculated the seed of Jacob, and who shall number the families of Israel? let my soul die with the souls of the righteous, and let my seed be as their seed.

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 Balac said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I called thee to curse my enemies, and behold thou hast greatly blessed [them].

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

And Balaam said to Balac, Whatsoever the Lord shall put into my mouth, shall I not take heed to speak this?

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 Balac said to him, Come yet with me to another place where thou shalt not see the people, but only thou shalt see a part 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 a high place of the field to the top of the quarried [rock], and he built there seven altars, and offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

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

And Balaam said to Balac, Stand by thy sacrifice, and I will go to enquire of God.

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

And God met Balaam, and put a word into his mouth, and said, return to Balac, 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 Yahweh spoken?”

And he returned to him: and he also was standing by his whole-burnt-sacrifice, and all the princes of Moab with him; and Balac said to him, What has the Lord spoken?

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

And he took up his parable, and said, rise up, Balac, and hear; hearken as a witness, thou son of Sepphor.

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 as man to waver, nor as the son of man to be threatened; shall he say and not perform? shall he speak and not keep [to his word]?

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

Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: I will bless, and not turn back.

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

There shall not be trouble in Jacob, neither shall sorrow be seen in Israel: the Lord his God [is] with him, the glories of rulers [are] in him.

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

It was God who brought him out of Egypt; he has as it were the glory of a unicorn.

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 divination in Jacob, nor enchantment in Israel; in season it shall be told to Jacob and Israel what God shall perform.

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.”

Behold, the people shall rise up as a lion's whelp, and shall exalt himself as a lion; he shall not lie down till he have eaten the prey, and he shall drink the blood of the slain.

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

And Balac said to Balaam, Neither curse the people at all for me, nor bless them at all.

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

And Balaam answered and said to Balac, Spoke I not to thee, saying, Whatsoever thing God shall speak to me, 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 Balac said to Balaam, Come [and] I will remove thee to another place, if it shall please God, and curse me them from thence.

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

And Balac took Balaam to the top of Phogor, which extends to the wilderness.

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 Balac, build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, and seven rams.

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

And Balac did as Balaam told him, and offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.