< Numbers 23 >
1 And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.
3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: perhaps the LORD will come to meet me: and whatever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.
4 And God met Balaam: and he said to him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bull and a ram.
5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
6 And he returned to him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, defy Israel.
8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
11 And Balak said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse my enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?
13 And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from which thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and from there curse them for me.
14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
15 And he said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.
16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again to Balak, and say thus.
17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What hath the LORD spoken?
18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise, Balak, and hear; hearken to me, thou son of Zippor:
19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.
21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he shall eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
25 And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
27 And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will please God that thou mayest from there curse them for me.
28 And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.
29 And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams.
30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
