Numbers 23

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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?

18 And he took up his oracle, and said, Rise up, 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. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?

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

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.

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

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!

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.

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 Jehovah speaks, that I must 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.

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

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

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