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 Balac, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, and seven rams.

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

And Balac did as Balaam told him; and he offered up a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

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,

And Balaam said to Balac, Stand by thy sacrifice, and I will go and see if God will appear to me and meet me, and the word which he shall shew me, I will report to thee. And Balac stood by his sacrifice.

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 Balaam went to enquire of God; and he went straight forward, and God appeared to Balaam; and Balaam said to him, I have prepared the seven altars, and have offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

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

And God put a word into the mouth of Balaam, and said, thou shalt return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.

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

And he returned to him, and moreover he stood over his whole-burnt-offerings, and all the princes of Moab with him; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

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 he took up his parable, and said, Balac king of Moab sent for me out of Mesopotamia, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and Come, call for a curse for me upon Israel.

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

How can I curse whom the Lord curses not? or how can I devote whom God devotes not?

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.

For from the top of the mountains I shall see him, and from the hills I shall observe him: behold, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned 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 has exactly calculated the seed of Jacob, and who shall number the families of Israel? let my soul die with the souls of the righteous, and let my seed be as their seed.

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!”

And Balac said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I called thee to curse my enemies, and behold thou hast greatly blessed [them].

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

And Balaam said to Balac, Whatsoever the Lord shall put into my mouth, shall I not take heed to speak this?

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 Balac said to him, Come yet with me to another place where thou shalt not see the people, but only thou shalt see a part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse me them from thence.

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.

And he took him to a high place of the field to the top of the quarried [rock], and he built there seven altars, and offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

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

And Balaam said to Balac, Stand by thy sacrifice, and I will go to enquire of God.

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 God met Balaam, and put a word into his mouth, and said, return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.

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.

And he returned to him: and he also was standing by his whole-burnt-sacrifice, and all the princes of Moab with him; and Balac said to him, What has the Lord spoken?

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

And he took up his parable, and said, rise up, Balac, and hear; hearken as a witness, thou son of Sepphor.

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 as man to waver, nor as the son of man to be threatened; shall he say and not perform? shall he speak and not keep [to his word]?

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

Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: I will bless, and not turn back.

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.

There shall not be trouble in Jacob, neither shall sorrow be seen in Israel: the Lord his God [is] with him, the glories of rulers [are] in him.

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

It was God who brought him out of Egypt; he has as it were the glory of a unicorn.

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!’

For there is no divination in Jacob, nor enchantment in Israel; in season it shall be told to Jacob and Israel what God shall perform.

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.”

Behold, the people shall rise up as a lion's whelp, and shall exalt himself as a lion; he shall not lie down till he have eaten the prey, and he shall drink the blood of the slain.

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

And Balac said to Balaam, Neither curse the people at all for me, nor bless them at all.

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

And Balaam answered and said to Balac, Spoke I not to thee, saying, Whatsoever thing God shall speak to me, that will I do?

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.”

And Balac said to Balaam, Come [and] I will remove thee to another place, if it shall please God, and curse me them from thence.

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

And Balac took Balaam to the top of Phogor, which extends to the wilderness.

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

And Balaam said to Balac, build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, and seven rams.

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

And Balac did as Balaam told him, and offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.