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

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

And when he had acted according to the words of Balaam, they placed a calf and a ram together on each 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 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 with him. “I have set up seven altars,” Balaam said, “and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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 even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!”

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

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

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.”

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

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

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 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 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.

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 Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O 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, 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 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 I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.

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

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

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

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!’

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

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

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

And he said, “Have I not told you that whatever God would command of me, I would 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 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, which overlooks the wasteland.

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

29 Then Balaam said, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls 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 So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

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