Numbers 23

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

Balaam said to King Balak, “Build seven altars for me here. Then kill seven young bulls and seven rams [for a sacrifice].”

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

So Balak did that. And then he and Balaam each burned a young bull and a ram [as a sacrifice] on each 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.

Then Balaam said to Balak, “You stand here close to your burned offerings, and I will go and ask Yahweh if he has something else to tell me. Then I will tell you what he says to me.” Then Balaam went by himself to the top of 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 appeared to him there. Balaam said to him, “We have built seven altars, and I have killed and burned a young bull and a ram [as a sacrifice to you] on each altar.”

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

Then Yahweh gave Balaam a message to give to King Balak. Then he said, “Go back and tell him what I told you.”

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

When Balaam returned to Balak, Balak was standing with the leaders from Moab beside the offerings he had burned [on the altar].

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.

This is the message that Balaam told them: “Balak, the King of Moab, summoned me to come here from Syria; he brought me here from the hills at the eastern side of Syria. He said, ‘Come and curse the descendants of Jacob for me, saying that bad things will happen to these Israeli people!’

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

But (how can I curse people whom God has not cursed?/I certainly cannot curse people whom God has not cursed!) [RHQ] (How can I condemn people whom Yahweh has not condemned?/I cannot condemn people whom Yahweh has not condemned!) [RHQ]

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.

I have seen them from the tops of the rocky peaks. I see that they are a group of people who live by themselves; they have separated themselves from other 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 descendants of Jacob; they are as numerous as particles of (dust/dirt)?/No one can count the descendants of Jacob; they are as numerous as particles of (dust/dirt)!) [RHQ] (Who can count even a quarter of the Israeli people?/No one can count even a quarter of the Israeli people!) [RHQ] I wish/hope that I will die like righteous people die; I hope that I will die [peacefully] like they will die.”

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.”

Then Balak said, “What have you done to me [RHQ]? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but instead you have (blessed them/asked Yahweh to bless them)!”

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

But Balaam replied, “I can [RHQ] say only what Yahweh tells me to say. I cannot say anything else.”

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.”

Then King Balak told Balaam, “Come with me to another place. There you will see only part of the Israeli people, and you will be able to curse those people for me.”

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.

So Balak took Balaam to a field on the top of Pisgah [Mountain]. There, again he built seven altars and offered a young bull and a ram [as a sacrifice] on each altar.

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

Then Balaam said to the king, “Stand here close to your burned offerings, while I go and talk with Yahweh.”

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

So Balaam did that, and Yahweh appeared to Balaam again and gave him another message. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and tell him that message.”

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?”

So Balaam returned to where the king and the leaders from Moab were standing, next to the altar where Balak had burned the sacrifices. Balak asked him, “What did Yahweh say?”

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

Then Balaam told him this message: “Balak, listen carefully; hear what I have to say, you son of Zippor [DOU]!

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 human being. Humans lie, but God never lies. He never changes his mind/thoughts, as humans do. Whatever he has said that he will do, he does.

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

He commanded me [to request him] to bless [the Israelis], So he has blessed them, and I cannot change that.

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.

Yahweh their God is with/helping them; they have declared that he is their true king. So the descendants of Jacob will not be harmed; they will not have any troubles [DOU].

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

God brought them out of Egypt [where they were slaves]; he is as strong as a wild ox.

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!’

When people curse [PRS] the descendants of Jacob, they will not be harmed; when people work sorcery on them, it will have no power. So now people will say about the descendants of Jacob, ‘God has done wonderful things for the Israelis!’

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.”

They are very strong, like lionesses that are ready to attack [other animals]; they stand firm like lions. The lions refuse to rest until they have [killed and] eaten their prey, and drunk the blood of the animals they slaughtered.”

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

Then Balak said to Balaam, “If you will not curse them, then [I certainly] do not [want you to] bless them!”

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

But Balaam replied, “I told you that I must do only what Yahweh tells me to 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.”

Then King Balak said to Balaam, “Come with me; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to allow you to curse them from that place.”

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

So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor [Mountain] where they could look down [and see the Israelis in] the desert.

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

Balaam again told Balak, “Build me seven altars again and kill seven young bulls and seven rams [for a sacrifice].”

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

So Balak did what Balaam told him to do. He burned a young bull and a ram on each altar as sacrifices.