Numbers 24

1 When Balaam saw that the Lord wanted to bless Israel, he chose not to use divination as he had previously. Instead he turned towards the desert,

And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

2 and as he looked at Israel camped there according to their respective tribes, the Spirit of God came on him.

And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.

3 He gave a declaration, saying:

And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor saith, And the man whose eye was closed saith:

4 “This is the prophecy of Balaam, son of Beor, the prophecy of a man who sees with eyes are wide open, the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who sees the vision given by Almighty, who bows down in respect with open eyes.

He saith, which heareth the words of God, Which seeth the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open:

5 How well set out your tents are, Jacob; the places where you live, Israel!

How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, Thy tabernacles, O Israel!

6 They look like wooded valleys, like gardens beside a river, like aloe trees the Lord has planted, like cedars at the water's edge.

As valleys are they spread forth, As gardens by the river side, As lign-aloes which the LORD hath planted, As cedar trees beside the waters.

7 The Israelites will pour out bucketfuls of water; their descendants will have plenty of water. Their king will be greater than King Agag; their kingdom will be glorious.

Water shall flow from his buckets, And his seed shall be in many waters, And his king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted.

8 God led them out of Egypt with great power, as strong as an ox, destroying enemy nations, breaking their bones, piercing them with arrows.

God bringeth him forth out of Egypt; He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox: He shall eat up the nations his adversaries, And shall break their bones in pieces, And smite [them] through with his arrows.

9 They are like a lion that crouches and lies down. They are like a lioness that nobody dares to disturb. Those who bless you will be blessed; those who curse you will be cursed.”

He couched, he lay down as a lion, And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Blessed be every one that blesseth thee, And cursed be every one that curseth thee.

10 Balak got angry with Balaam, and beat his fists together. He told Balaam, “I brought you here to curse my enemies, and now look! You keep on blessing them, doing it three times.

And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.

11 Leave right now! Go home! I promised to pay you well, but the Lord has made sure you wouldn't receive any payment.”

Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour.

12 But Balaam said to Balak, “Didn't I already explain to the messengers you sent

And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying,

13 that even if you gave me your whole palace full of silver and gold, I couldn't do anything I wanted or disobey the command of the Lord my God in any way? I can only say what the Lord tells me.

If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; what the LORD speaketh, that will I speak?

14 Listen! I'm going back home now to my own people, but first let me warn you what these Israelites are going to do to your people in the future.”

And now, behold, I go unto my people: come, [and] I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.

15 Then Balaam gave a declaration, saying, “This is the prophecy of Balaam, son of Beor, the prophecy of a man whose eyes are wide open

And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor saith, And the man whose eye was closed saith:

16 the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who receives knowledge from the Most High, who sees the vision given by Almighty, who bows down in respect with open eyes.

He saith, which heareth the words of God, And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High, Which seeth the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open:

17 I see him, but this isn't now. I observe him, but this isn't close at hand. In the future a leader like a star will come from Jacob, a ruler with a scepter will come to power from Israel. He will crush the heads of the Moabites, and destroy all the people of Seth.

I see him, but not now: I behold him, but not nigh: There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all the sons of tumult.

18 The country of Edom will be conquered, his enemy Seir will be conquered, and the Israelites will be victorious.

And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession, [which were] his enemies; While Israel doeth valiantly.

19 A ruler from Jacob will come and destroy those left in the city.”

And out of Jacob shall one have dominion, And shall destroy the remnant from the city.

20 Balaam turned his attention to the Amalekites and gave this declaration about them, saying, “Amalek was first among the nations, but they will end up being destroyed.”

And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; But his latter end shall come to destruction.

21 He turned his attention to the Kenites and gave this declaration about them, saying, “Where you live is safe and secure, like a nest on a cliff-face.

And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said, Strong is thy dwelling place, And thy nest is set in the rock.

22 But Kain will be burned down when Assyria conquers you.”

Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted, Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.

23 Then Balaam gave another declaration, saying, “It's a tragedy! Who can survive when God does this?

And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this?

24 Ships will be sent from Cyprus to attack Assyria and Eber, but they too will be permanently destroyed.”

But ships [shall come] from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, And he also shall come to destruction.

25 Then Balaam left and returned to his own country, and Balak left too.

And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.