Numbers 23

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

And Balaam said to Balac, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, 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.

And Balac did as Balaam told him; and he offered up a calf and a ram on [every] 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.

And Balaam said to Balac, Stand by your sacrifice, and I will go and see if God will appear to me and meet me, and the word which he shall show me, I will report to you. And Balac stood by his sacrifice.

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 Balaam went to enquire of God; and he went straight forward, and God appeared to Balaam; and Balaam said to him, I have prepared the seven altars, and have offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

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

And God put a word into the mouth of Balaam, and said, you shall return to Balac, and thus shall you speak.

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

And he returned to him, and moreover he stood over his whole burnt offerings, and all the princes of Moab with him; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

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 he took up his parable, and said, Balac king of Moab sent for me out of Mesopotamia, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and Come, call for a curse for me upon 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 whom the Lord curses not? or how can I devote whom God devotes not?

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 from the top of the mountains I shall see him, and from the hills I shall observe him: behold, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned 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 has exactly calculated the seed of Jacob, and who shall number the families of Israel? let my soul die with the souls of the righteous, and let my seed be as their seed.

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.

And Balac said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I called you to curse my enemies, and behold you have greatly 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?

And Balaam said to Balac, Whatsoever the Lord shall put into my mouth, shall I not take heed to speak this?

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.

And Balac said to him, Come yet with me to another place where you shall not see the people, but only you shall see a part of them, and shall not see them all; and curse me them from thence.

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.

And he took him to a high place of the field to the top of the quarried [rock], and he built there seven altars, and offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

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

And Balaam said to Balac, Stand by your sacrifice, and I will go to enquire of God.

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

And God met Balaam, and put a word into his mouth, and said, return to Balac, and thus shall you speak.

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?

And he returned to him: and he also was standing by his whole burnt sacrifice, and all the princes of Moab with him; and Balac said to him, What has the Lord spoken?

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

And he took up his parable, and said, rise up, Balac, and hear; listen as a witness, you son of Sepphor.

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 as man to waver, nor as the son of man to be threatened; shall he say and not perform? shall he speak and not keep [to his word]?

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

Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: I will bless, and not turn back.

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:

There shall not be trouble in Jacob, neither shall sorrow be seen in Israel: the Lord his God [is] with him, the glories of rulers [are] in him.

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

It was God who brought him out of Egypt; he has as it were the glory of a unicorn.

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 divination in Jacob, nor enchantment in Israel; in season it shall be told to Jacob and Israel what God shall perform.

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 shall rise up as a lion's whelp, and shall exalt himself as a lion; he shall not lie down till he have eaten the prey, and he shall drink the blood of the slain.

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

And Balac said to Balaam, Neither curse the people at all for me, 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?

And Balaam answered and said to Balac, Spoke I not to you, saying, Whatsoever thing God shall speak to me, that will I 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.

And Balac said to Balaam, Come [and] I will remove you to another place, if it shall please God, and curse me them from thence.

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

And Balac took Balaam to the top of Phogor, which extends to the wilderness.

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

And Balaam said to Balac, build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, and seven rams.

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

And Balac did as Balaam told him, and offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.