Numbers 23

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

And Bil'am said unto 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 Bil'am had spoken; and Balak and Bil'am offered a bullock 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 Bil'am said unto Balak, Place thyself by thy burnt-offering; and I will go, peradventure the Lord will come to meet me, and whatsoever he may show me I will tell thee: and he went thoughtfully alone.

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 Bil'am: and he said unto him, The seven altars have I made ready, and I have offered a bullock and a ram upon every altar.

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

And the Lord put a word in Bil'am's mouth, and said, Return unto 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 unto him, and, lo, 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, From Aram did Balak send for me, the king of Moab, out of the mountains of the east, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

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

How shall I denounce, whom God hath not denounced? and how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?

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 rocks I see him, and from hills I behold him: lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and among the nations it shall not be reckoned.

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 number the fourth part of Israel? May my soul die the death of the righteous, and may my last 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 unto Bil'am, What hast thou done unto me? to denounce my enemies did I take thee, and, behold, thou hast even blessed them.

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

And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that only which the Lord may put 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 unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from where thou canst see them; nevertheless a portion of them only wilt thou see, but the whole of them thou wilt not see: and denounce them for me from there.

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 brought him to the field of the watchmen, on the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

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

And he said unto Balak, Place thyself here by thy burnt-offering, while I will repair to yonder place.

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

And the Lord met Bil'am, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return unto 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 Yahweh 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 unto him: What hath 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, Balak, and hear; bend hither thy ear 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; nor a son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? and hath he spoken, and shall he not fulfill it?

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

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

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.

He hath not beheld any wrong in Jacob, nor hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the glory of the king dwelleth among him.

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

God, who brought them out of Egypt, is to them like the heights of the reem.

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 in Jacob, nor is there any divination in Israel: at the proper time shall it be said to Jacob and to Israel, what God doth work.

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, it is a people, that shall rise up as a lioness, and as a lion shall it raise itself: it will not lie down until it have eaten the prey, and have drunk the blood of the slain.

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

And Balak said unto Bil'am, Neither shalt thou denounce them, nor shalt thou any wise bless them.

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

But Bil'am answered and said unto Balak, Have I not spoken unto thee, saying, all that the Lord will speak, that must 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 unto Bil'am, Come, I pray thee, I will take thee unto another place, peradventure it may be pleasing in the eyes of God that thou mayest denounce them for me from there.

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

And Balak took Bil'am unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward the desert.

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

And Bil'am said unto 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 Bil'am had said, and he offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.