< Numbers 23 >
1 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”
And Bil'am said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks 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 Balak did as Bil'am had spoken; and Balak and Bil'am offered a bullock 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 Bil'am said unto Balak, Place thyself by thy burnt-offering; and I will go, peradventure the Lord will come to meet me, and whatsoever he may show me I will tell thee: and he went thoughtfully alone.
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 met Bil'am: and he said unto him, The seven altars have I made ready, and I have offered a bullock and a ram upon 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 a word in Bil'am's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, 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 unto him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes 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 he took up his parable, and said, From Aram did Balak send for me, the king of Moab, out of the mountains of the east, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
8 How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?
How shall I denounce, whom God hath not denounced? and how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?
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 rocks I see him, and from hills I behold him: lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and among the nations it shall not be reckoned.
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 count the dust of Jacob, and number the fourth part of Israel? May my soul die the death of the righteous, and may my last end be 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!”
And Balak said unto Bil'am, What hast thou done unto me? to denounce my enemies did I take thee, and, behold, thou hast even blessed them.
12 But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that only which the Lord may put in 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 unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from where thou canst see them; nevertheless a portion of them only wilt thou see, but the whole of them thou wilt not see: and denounce them for me 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 he brought him to the field of the watchmen, on the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars, and offered a bullock 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 he said unto Balak, Place thyself here by thy burnt-offering, while I will repair to yonder place.
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 met Bil'am, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, 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 came to him, and, behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him; and Balak said unto him: What hath 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, Balak, and hear; bend hither thy ear unto me, 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, that he should lie; nor a son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? and hath he spoken, and shall he not fulfill it?
20 I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.
Behold, to bless I have received [the word]; and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
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 hath not beheld any wrong in Jacob, nor hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the glory of the king dwelleth among him.
22 God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox.
God, who brought them out of Egypt, is to them like the heights of the reem.
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 enchantment in Jacob, nor is there any divination in Israel: at the proper time shall it be said to Jacob and to Israel, what God doth work.
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, it is a people, that shall rise up as a lioness, and as a lion shall it raise itself: it will not lie down until it have eaten the prey, and have drunk 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 unto Bil'am, Neither shalt thou denounce them, nor shalt thou any wise bless them.
26 But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”
But Bil'am answered and said unto Balak, Have I not spoken unto thee, saying, all that the Lord will speak, that must 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 Balak said unto Bil'am, Come, I pray thee, I will take thee unto another place, peradventure it may be pleasing in the eyes of God that thou mayest denounce them for me from there.
28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.
And Balak took Bil'am unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward the desert.
29 Then Balaam said, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”
And Bil'am said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
30 So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
And Balak did as Bil'am had said, and he offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.