Liber Numeri 23
1 Dixitque Balaam ad Balac: Ædifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.
Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”
2 Cumque fecisset juxta sermonem Balaam, imposuerunt simul vitulum et arietem super aram.
So Balak did as Balaam requested. Then Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
3 Dixitque Balaam ad Balac: Sta paulisper juxta holocaustum tuum, donec vadam, si forte occurrat mihi Dominus, et quodcumque imperaverit, loquar tibi.
Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand at your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” So he went away to a hilltop with no trees.
4 Cumque abiisset velociter, occurrit illi Deus. Locutusque ad eum Balaam: Septem, inquit, aras erexi, et imposui vitulum et arietem desuper.
While he was on the hilltop, God met him, and Balaam said to him, “I have built seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each one.”
5 Dominus autem posuit verbum in ore ejus, et ait: Revertere ad Balac, et hæc loqueris.
Yahweh put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak and speak to him.”
6 Reversus invenit stantem Balac juxta holocaustum suum, et omnes principes Moabitarum:
So Balaam returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt offering, and all the leaders of Moab were with him.
7 assumptaque parabola sua, dixit: De Aram adduxit me Balac rex Moabitarum, de montibus orientis: Veni, inquit, et maledic Jacob; propera, et detestare Israël.
Then Balaam began to speak his prophecy and said, “Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. 'Come, curse Jacob for me,' he said. 'Come, defy Israel.'
8 Quomodo maledicam, cui non maledixit Deus? qua ratione detester, quem Dominus non detestatur?
How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I oppose those whom Yahweh does not oppose?
9 De summis silicibus videbo eum, et de collibus considerabo illum. Populus solus habitabit, et inter gentes non reputabitur.
For from the top of the rocks I see him; from the hills I look at him. See, there is a people who live alone and do not consider themselves as just an ordinary nation.
10 Quis dinumerare possit pulverem Jacob, et nosse numerum stirpis Israël? Moriatur anima mea morte justorum, et fiant novissima mea horum similia.
Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even only one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of a righteous person, and let my life's end be like his!”
11 Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: Quid est hoc quod agis? ut malediceres inimicis meis vocavi te, et tu e contrario benedicis eis.
Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have blessed them.”
12 Cui ille respondit: Num aliud possum loqui, nisi quod jusserit Dominus?
Balaam answered and said, “Should I not be careful to say only what Yahweh puts in my mouth?”
13 Dixit ergo Balac: Veni mecum in alterum locum unde partem Israël videas, et totum videre non possis: inde maledicito ei.
So Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the nearest of them, not all of them. There you will curse them for me.”
14 Cumque duxisset eum in locum sublimem, super verticem montis Phasga, ædificavit Balaam septem aras, et impositis supra vitulo atque ariete,
So he took Balaam into the field of Zophim, to the top of Mount Pisgah, and built seven more altars. He offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 dixit ad Balac: Sta hic juxta holocaustum tuum, donec ego obvius pergam.
Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet with Yahweh over there.”
16 Cui cum Dominus occurrisset, posuissetque verbum in ore ejus, ait: Revertere ad Balac, et hæc loqueris ei.
So Yahweh met Balaam and put a message in his mouth. He said, “Return to Balak and give him my message.”
17 Reversus invenit eum stantem juxta holocaustum suum, et principes Moabitarum cum eo. Ad quem Balac: Quid, inquit, locutus est Dominus?
Balaam returned to him, and look, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. Then Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh said?”
18 At ille, assumpta parabola sua, ait: Sta, Balac, et ausculta; audi, fili Sephor:
Balaam began his prophecy. He said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear. Listen to me, you son of Zippor.
19 non est Deus quasi homo, ut mentiatur, nec ut filius hominis, ut mutetur. Dixit ergo, et non faciet? locutus est, et non implebit?
God is not a man, that he should lie, Or a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he promised anything without doing it? Has he said he would do something without carrying it out?
20 Ad benedicendum adductus sum: benedictionem prohibere non valeo.
Look, I have been commanded to bless. God has given a blessing, and I cannot reverse it.
21 Non est idolum in Jacob, nec videtur simulacrum in Israël. Dominus Deus ejus cum eo est, et clangor victoriæ regis in illo.
He has seen no hardship in Jacob or trouble in Israel. Yahweh their God is with them, and shouts for their king are among them.
22 Deus eduxit illum de Ægypto, cujus fortitudo similis est rhinocerotis.
God brought them out of Egypt with strength like that of a wild ox.
23 Non est augurium in Jacob, nec divinatio in Israël: temporibus suis dicetur Jacob et Israëli quid operatus sit Deus.
There is no sorcery that works against Jacob, and no fortune-telling harms Israel. Instead, it must be said about Jacob and Israel, 'Look what God has done!'
24 Ecce populus ut leæna consurget, et quasi leo erigetur: non accubabit donec devoret prædam, et occisorum sanguinem bibat.
Look, the people rise like a lioness, as a lion emerges and attacks. He does not lie down until he eats his victim and drinks the blood of what he has killed.”
25 Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: Nec maledicas ei, nec benedicas.
Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them or bless them at all.”
26 Et ille ait: Nonne dixi tibi quod quidquid mihi Deus imperaret, hoc facerem?
But Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you that I must say all that Yahweh tells me to say?”
27 Et ait Balac ad eum: Veni, et ducam te ad alium locum: si forte placeat Deo ut inde maledicas eis.
So Balak replied to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God for you to curse them there for me.”
28 Cumque duxisset eum super verticem montis Phogor, qui respicit solitudinem,
So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which looks down on the wilderness.
29 dixit ei Balaam: Ædifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.
Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”
30 Fecit Balac ut Balaam dixerat: imposuitque vitulos et arietes per singulas aras.
So Balak did as Balaam had said; he offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
