Numbers 23

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

And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.”

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

And when he had acted according to the words of Balaam, they placed a calf and a ram together on each altar.

3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell thee. And he went to a bare height.

And Balaam said to Balak: “Stand for a little while next to your holocaust, until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet with me. And whatever he will command, I shall speak to you.”

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

And after he had quickly departed, God met with him. And Balaam, speaking to him, said: “I have set up seven altars, and I have placed a calf and a ram on each.”

5 And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus thou shall speak.

Then the Lord placed the word in his mouth, and he said: “Return to Balak, and you shall say this.”

6 And he returned to him. And, lo, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the rulers of Moab.

Returning, he found Balak standing next to his holocaust, with all the leaders of the Moabites.

7 And he took up his oracle, and said, From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, defy Israel.

And taking up his parable, he said: “Balak, king of the Moabites, has led me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. ‘Come forth,’ he said, ‘and curse Jacob. Hurry and condemn Israel.’

8 How shall I curse, whom God has not cursed? And how shall I defy, whom Jehovah has not defied?

How shall I curse him, whom God has not cursed? For what reason would I condemn him, whom the Lord does not condemn?

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

I will look upon him from the tops of the stones, and I will consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and they shall not be counted among the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

Who can number the dust that is Jacob, and who can know the number of the stock of Israel? May my soul die a just death, and may my end be like theirs.”

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

And Balak said to Balaam: “What is this that you are doing? I called for you, in order to curse my enemies, and to the contrary, you bless them.”

12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah puts in my mouth?

He answered him, “How can I say anything other than what the Lord orders?”

13 And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from where thou may see them. Thou shall see but the outmost part of them, and shall not see them all, and curse them for me from there.

Therefore, Balak said: “Come with me to another place, from where you may see a portion of Israel, though you cannot see them all. Curse them from there.”

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

And when he had led him to a lofty place, on the top of mount Pisgah, Balaam built seven altars, and placing upon each a calf and a ram,

15 And he said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet Jehovah yonder.

he said to Balak, “Stand here next to your holocaust, while I continue on to meet him.”

16 And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shall thou speak.

And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his mouth, he said, “Return to Balak, and you shall say this to him.”

17 And he came to him. And, lo, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the rulers of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken?

Returning, he found him standing next to his holocaust, and the leaders of the Moabites were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”

18 And he took up his oracle, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear. Hearken to me, thou son of Zippor.

But, taking up his parable, he said: “Stand, Balak, and pay attention. Listen, you son of Zippor.

19 God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?

God is not like a man, so that he would lie, nor is he like a son of man, so that he would be changed. Therefore, having spoken, will he not act? Has he ever spoken, and not fulfilled?

20 Behold, I have received to bless. And he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

I was led here to bless, and I have no strength to hinder the blessing.

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

There is no idol in Jacob; neither is there a false image to be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the resound of royal victory is in him.

22 God brings them forth out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild-ox.

God has led him away from Egypt; his strength is like that of the rhinoceros.

23 Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob, neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God wrought!

There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor any divination in Israel. In their times, it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God has wrought.

24 Behold, the people rise up as a lioness, and as a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.

Behold, the people will rise up like a lioness, and lie down like a lion. But they will not lie down until they devour 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.

And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse him, nor bless him.”

26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaks, that I must do?

And he said, “Have I not told you that whatever God would command of me, I would do?”

27 And Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take thee to another place. Perhaps it will please God that thou may curse them for me from there.

And Balak said to him: “Come and I will lead you to another place. If perhaps it may please God, then you may curse them from there.”

28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down upon the desert.

And when he had led him on to the top of mount Peor, which looks out toward the wilderness,

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

Balaam said to him, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.”

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

Balak did as Balaam had said, and he placed on each altar a calf and a ram.