Numbers 23

1 Then said Balaam unto Balak: Build me here seven altars, —and prepare me here, seven bullocks and seven rams.

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

2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, —and Balak and Balaam caused to ascend a bullock and a ram on each altar.

So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

3 Then said Balaam unto Balak: Station thyself by thine ascending-sacrifice, and let me go my way—peradventure Yahweh may come and meet me, and what thing soever he may show me, I will tell thee. So he went his way to a bare height.

“Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone,” Balaam said to Balak. “Perhaps the LORD will meet with me. And whatever He reveals to me, I will tell you.” So Balaam went off to a barren height,

4 And God came unto Balaam, —so he said unto him The seven altars, have I built in a row, and have caused to ascend, bullock and a ram on each altar.

and God met with him. “I have set up seven altars,” Balaam said, “and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

5 And Yahweh put a word into the mouth of Balaam, —and said—Return unto Balak, and, thus, shalt thou speak.

Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”

6 So he returned unto him, and lo! he was stationed by his ascending-sacrifice, —he, and all the princes of Moab.

So he returned to Balak, who was standing there beside his burnt offering, with all the princes of Moab.

7 So he took up his parable and said, —From Aram, doth Balak conduct me, The king of Moab, from the mountains of the East, Come thou! curse me Jacob, Yea, come thou! rage on Israel.

And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’

8 How can I revile one whom GOD hath not reviled? Yea, how can I rage on one on whom Yahweh hath not raged?

How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?

9 Surely from the head of the rocks, do I see him, Yea, from the hills, do I observe him, —Lo! a people, who alone doth dwell, And among the nations, he doth not reckon himself.

For I see them from atop the rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. Behold, a people dwelling apart, not reckoning themselves among the nations.

10 Who hath counted the dust of Jacob? Or who hath numbered the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my hereafter be like his!

Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!”

11 Then said Balak unto Balaam, What hast thou done for me? To revile mine enemies, I summoned thee, and lo! thou hast kept on blessing.

Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”

12 And he answered and said, —Was it not to be so that whatsoever Yahweh should put into my mouth, the same, should I take heed to speak?

But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

13 Then said Balak unto him—Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see him, nothing but his utmost part, shalt thou see, but all of him, shalt thou not see, —and so revile me him from thence.

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp—not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.”

14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, unto the head of Pisgah, —and built seven altars, and caused to ascend a bullock and a ram on each altar.

So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15 Then said he to Balak, Station thyself here by thine ascending-sacrifice, —while, I, meet him yonder.

Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”

16 And Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word into his mouth, —and said—Return unto Balak and thus shalt thou speak.

And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”

17 So he came in unto him and, there he was-stationed by his ascending-sacrifice, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath Yahweh spoken?

So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. “What did the LORD say?” Balak asked.

18 Then took he up his parable and said, —Rise, Balak, and hear, Give ear unto me son of Zippor!

Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor.

19 GOD is, not a man, that he should lie, Nor a son of Adam, that he should repent, —Hath, he, said, and will not perform? Yea spoken, and will not make it stand fast?

God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

20 Lo! to bless, have I received [command], —And I will bless, nor will I take it back.

I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.

21 He hath not discovered trouble in Jacob, Neither hath he seen wretchedness in Israel, —Yahweh, his God, is with him, And, the acclaim of a king, in his midst:

He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them.

22 GOD having brought them forth out of Egypt, The very horns of the buffalo, are his:

God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox.

23 Surely, there is no enchantment against Jacob, Nor divination against Israel, —Now, shall it be said—Of Jacob and of Israel, What hath GOD wrought!

For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’

24 Lo, a people, like a lioness, shall rise, And like a strong lion, shall rouse himself up; He will not lie down till he eat the torn, And the blood of the slain, he drink.

Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”

25 Then said Balak unto Balaam, Thou shalt neither revile, him, —nor bless him.

Now Balak said to Balaam, “Then neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

26 And Balaam responded, and said unto Balak, —Spake I not unto thee, saying, All that Yahweh shall speak, that, must I do?

But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”

27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee! let me take thee unto another place, —peradventure, it may be right in the eyes of God, that thou revile me him. from thence.

“Please come,” said Balak, “I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.”

28 So Balak took Balaam, —unto the head of Peor, that looketh over the face of the Jeshimon.

And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.

29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here, seven altars, —and prepare me here, seven bullocks and seven rams.

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

30 And Balak did as Balaam said, —and caused to ascend a bullock and a ram on each altar.

So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.