Numbers 23

1 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”

And Balaam said to Balak, Make me here seven altars and get ready seven oxen and seven male sheep.

2 So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam made an offering on every altar of an ox and a male sheep.

3 “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone,” Balaam said to Balak. “Perhaps the LORD will meet with me. And whatever He reveals to me, I will tell you.” So Balaam went off to a barren height,

Then Balaam said to Balak, Take your place by your burned offering, and I will go and see if the Lord comes to me: and I will give you word of whatever he says to me. And he went to an open place on a hill.

4 and God met with him. “I have set up seven altars,” Balaam said, “and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

And God came to Balaam, and Balaam said to him, I have made ready seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.

5 Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”

And the Lord put words in Balaam's mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.

6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there beside his burnt offering, with all the princes of Moab.

So he went back to him where he was waiting by his burned offering with all the chiefs of Moab.

7 And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’

And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, From Aram Balak has sent for me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: come, put curses on Jacob for me and be angry with Israel.

8 How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?

How may I put curses on him who is not cursed by God? how may I be angry with him with whom the Lord is not angry?

9 For I see them from atop the rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. Behold, a people dwelling apart, not reckoning themselves among the nations.

From the top of the rocks I see him, looking down on him from the hills: it is a people made separate, not to be numbered among the nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!”

Who is able to take the measure of the dust of Jacob or the number of the thousands of Israel? May my death be the death of the upright and my last end like his!

11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”

Then Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I sent for you so that my haters might be cursed, and see, you have given them a blessing.

12 But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

And in answer he said, Am I not ordered to say only what the Lord puts into my mouth?

13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp—not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.”

And Balak said to him, Come with me now into another place from which you will not be able to see them all, but only the outskirts of them; and you will send curses on them from there.

14 So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

So he took him into the country of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and there they made seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.

15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”

Then he said to Balak, Take your place here by your burned offering, while I go over there to the Lord.

16 And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”

And the Lord came to Balaam, and put words in his mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.

17 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. “What did the LORD say?” Balak asked.

So he came to him where he was waiting by his burned offering with the chiefs of Moab by his side. And Balak said to him, What has the Lord said?

18 Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor.

And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, Up! Balak, and give ear; give attention to me, O son of Zippor:

19 God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

God is not a man, to say what is false; or the son of man, that his purpose may be changed: what he has said, will he not do? and will he not give effect to the words of his mouth?

20 I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.

See, I have had orders to give blessing: and he has given a blessing which I have no power to take away.

21 He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them.

He has seen no evil in Jacob or wrongdoing in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the glad cry of a king is among them.

22 God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox.

It is God who has taken them out of Egypt; his horns are like those of the mountain ox.

23 For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’

No evil power has effect against Jacob, no secret arts against Israel; at the right time it will be said of Jacob and of Israel, See what God has done!

24 Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”

See, Israel comes up like a she-lion, lifting himself up like a lion: he will take no rest till he has made a meal of those he has overcome, drinking the blood of those he has put to death.

25 Now Balak said to Balaam, “Then neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

Then Balak said to Balaam, If you will not put a curse on them, at all events do not give them a blessing.

26 But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”

But Balaam in answer said to Balak, Did I not say to you, I may only do what the Lord says?

27 “Please come,” said Balak, “I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.”

Then Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; it may be that God will let you put a curse on them from there.

28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.

So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, looking down over the waste land.

29 Then Balaam said, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”

And Balaam said to Balak, Make me seven altars here and get seven oxen and seven male sheep ready for me.

30 So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

And Balak did as Balaam said, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.