Liber Numeri 23

1 dixitque Balaam ad Balac aedifica mihi hic septem aras et para totidem vitulos eiusdemque numeri arietes

And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

2 cumque fecisset iuxta sermonem Balaam inposuerunt simul vitulum et arietem super aram

And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

3 dixitque Balaam ad Balac sta paulisper iuxta holocaustum tuum donec vadam si forte occurrat mihi Dominus et quodcumque imperaverit loquar tibi

And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatever he shows me I will tell you. And he went to an high place.

4 cumque abisset velociter occurrit ei Deus locutusque ad eum Balaam septem inquit aras erexi et inposui vitulum et arietem desuper

And God met Balaam: and he said to him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

5 Dominus autem posuit verbum in ore eius et ait revertere ad Balac et haec loqueris

And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.

6 reversus invenit stantem Balac iuxta holocaustum suum et omnes principes Moabitarum

And he returned to him, and, see, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

7 adsumptaque parabola sua dixit de Aram adduxit me Balac rex Moabitarum de montibus orientis veni inquit et maledic Iacob propera et detestare Israhel

And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

8 quomodo maledicam cui non maledixit Deus qua ratione detester quem Dominus non detestatur

How shall I curse, whom God has not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD has not defied?

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, and from the hills I behold him: see, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10 quis dinumerare possit pulverem Iacob et nosse numerum stirpis Israhel moriatur anima mea morte iustorum et fiant novissima mea horum similia

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 dixitque Balac ad Balaam quid est hoc quod agis ut malediceres inimicis vocavi te et tu e contrario benedicis eis

And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have blessed them altogether.

12 cui ille respondit num aliud possum loqui nisi quod iusserit Dominus

And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD has put in my mouth?

13 dixit ergo Balac veni mecum in alterum locum unde partem Israhelis videas et totum videre non possis inde maledicito ei

And Balak said to him, Come, I pray you, with me to another place, from where you may see them: you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them from there.

14 cumque duxisset eum in locum sublimem super verticem montis Phasga aedificavit Balaam septem aras et inpositis supra vitulo atque ariete

And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

15 dixit ad Balac sta hic iuxta holocaustum tuum donec ego pergam obvius

And he said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.

16 cui cum Dominus occurrisset posuissetque verbum in ore eius ait revertere ad Balac et haec loqueris ei

And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again to Balak, and say thus.

17 reversus invenit eum stantem iuxta holocaustum suum et principes Moabitarum cum eo ad quem Balac quid inquit locutus est Dominus

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 has the LORD spoken?

18 at ille adsumpta parabola sua ait sta Balac et ausculta audi fili Sepphor

And he took up his parable, and 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; neither the son of man, that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not do it? or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

20 ad benedicendum adductus sum benedictionem prohibere non valeo

Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he has blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

21 non est idolum in Iacob nec videtur simulacrum in Israhel Dominus Deus eius cum eo est et clangor victoriae regis in illo

He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither has he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

22 Deus eduxit eum de Aegypto cuius fortitudo similis est rinocerotis

God brought them out of Egypt; he has as it were the strength of an unicorn.

23 non est augurium in Iacob nec divinatio in Israhel temporibus suis dicetur Iacob et Israheli quid operatus sit Deus

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 has God worked!

24 ecce populus ut leaena consurget et quasi leo erigetur non accubabit donec devoret praedam et occisorum sanguinem bibat

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 eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

25 dixitque Balac ad Balaam nec maledicas ei nec benedicas

And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

26 et ille nonne ait dixi tibi quod quicquid mihi Deus imperaret hoc facerem

But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Told not I you, saying, All that the LORD speaks, that I must do?

27 et ait Balac ad eum veni et ducam te ad alium locum si forte placeat Deo ut inde maledicas eis

And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray you, I will bring you to another place; peradventure it will please God that you may curse me them from there.

28 cumque duxisset eum super verticem montis Phogor qui respicit solitudinem

And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward Jeshimon.

29 dixit ei Balaam aedifica mihi hic septem aras et para totidem vitulos eiusdemque numeri arietes

And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

30 fecit Balac ut Balaam dixerat inposuitque vitulos et arietes per singulas aras

And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.