Numbers 23

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

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 said, and together they offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

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, “Wait here beside your burnt offering while I go and see if perhaps the Lord will come and meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me, I'll share with you.” Then Balaam left to climb up a rocky crag.

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 with him there, and Balaam said. “I have built seven altars and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

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 gave Balaam a message to share. He told him, “Go back to Balak and this is what you are to say to him.”

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

6 So he went back to Balak, who was waiting there beside his burnt offering, along with all the Moabite leaders.

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

7 This is the declaration that Balaam gave: “Balak brought me from Aram; the king of Moab brought me from the mountains of the east. He said, ‘Come and curse Jacob for me! Come and condemn 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 But how can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I condemn what the Lord has not condemned?

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

9 For I'm looking down on them from the top of rocky crags; I'm watching them from the hills. I see a people who live on their own, different from the other 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 Jacob's descendants? They are so many they're like dust! Who can count even a quarter of the Israelites? I would like to die as a good person dies! Let the end of my life be like their end!”

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 Then Balak complained to Balaam, “What on earth have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and now look! All you have done is bless them!”

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 But Balaam replied, “Don't you think I should I say precisely what the Lord tells me?”

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

13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. But you'll only see a part of their camp—you won't see all of them. You can curse them for me from there.”

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 to the field of Zophim at the top of Mount Pisgah. There he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each 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 Balaam told Balak, “Wait here beside your burnt offering while I meet the Lord 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 gave him a message to share. He told him, “Go back to Balak and this is what you are to say to him.”

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

17 So he went back to Balak, who was waiting there beside his burnt offering, along with all the Moabite leaders. “What did the Lord say?” Balak asked.

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 This is the prophecy that Balaam delivered: “Stand up, Balak, and pay attention! Listen to me, son of Zippor!

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

19 God isn't a human being who would lie. He's not a mere mortal who changes his mind. Does he say he's going to do something but doesn't? Does he make promises he doesn't carry out?

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 Look, I have been ordered to give a blessing. God has blessed, and I can't change that.

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

21 He's not expecting anything bad will happen to Jacob; he doesn't foresee any trouble for Israel. The Lord their God is with them; they celebrate him as their king.

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 led them out of Egypt with great power, as strong as an ox.

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

23 No spell can be cast against Jacob; no magic can be used against Israel. People will talk about Jacob and Israel, saying, ‘What amazing things God has done for them!’

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 Look! The Israelites go out hunting like a lioness; they chase like a lion. They don't rest until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of their dead victim.”

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 Then Balak said to Balaam, “If you can't give them any curses then at least don't give them any blessings!”

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

26 But Balaam replied, “Didn't I explain to you that I have to do whatever the Lord tells me?”

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

27 “Please come with me and I will take you somewhere else,” Balak said. “Maybe God would let you 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 Mount Peor, which looks down on the wastelands.

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

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

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

30 Balak what Balaam told him, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

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