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 says to Balak, “Build seven altars for me in this [place], and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams for me in this [place].”
2 So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
And Balak does as Balaam has spoken, and Balak—Balaam also—offers a bullock and a ram on the 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 says to Balak, “Station yourself by your burnt-offering and I go on, it may be YHWH comes to meet me, and the thing which He shows me I have declared to you”; and he goes [to] a high place.
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 comes to Balaam, and he says to Him, “I have arranged the seven altars, and I offer a bullock and a ram on the altar”;
5 Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
and YHWH puts a word in the mouth of Balaam and says, “Return to Balak, and thus you speak.”
6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there beside his burnt offering, with all the princes of Moab.
And he returns to him, and behold, he is 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 takes up his allegory and says: “Balak king of Moab leads me from Aram; From mountains of the east. Come—curse Jacob for me, And come—be indignant [with] Israel.
8 How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?
How do I pierce [when] God has not pierced? And how am I indignant [when] YHWH has not been indignant?
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 heights I behold him; Behold a people! He dwells alone, And does not reckon himself among 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 counted the dust of Jacob, And the number of the fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of upright ones, And let 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 says to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I have taken you to pierce my enemies, and behold, you have certainly blessed”;
12 But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
and he answers and says, “That which YHWH puts in my mouth—do I not take heed to speak it?”
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 says to him, “Come! Come to another place with me, from where you see it—you see only its extremity, and you do not see all of it, and pierce it for me 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 takes him [to] the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and builds seven altars, and offers a bullock and a ram on the altar.
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”
And he says to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt-offering, and I meet [Him] there”;
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 YHWH comes to Balaam, and sets a word in his mouth, and says, “Return to Balak, and thus you 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 comes to him, and behold, he is standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab [are] with him, and Balak says to him: “What has YHWH spoken?”
18 Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor.
And he takes up his allegory and says: “Rise, Balak, and hear; Give ear to 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—and lies, And a son of man—and relents! Has He said—and He does not do [it]? And spoken—and He does not confirm it?
20 I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.
Behold, I have received [only] to bless; Indeed, He blesses, 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 has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen perverseness in Israel; His God YHWH [is] with him, And a shout of a king [is] in him.
22 God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox.
God is bringing them out from Egypt, As the swiftness of a wild ox for him;
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 no enchantment [is] against Jacob, Nor divination against Israel; At the time it is said of Jacob and Israel, O what God has worked!
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 rises as a lioness, And he lifts himself up as a lion; He does not lie down until he eats prey, And drinks blood of pierced ones.”
25 Now Balak said to Balaam, “Then neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
And Balak says to Balaam, “Neither pierce it at all, nor bless it at all”;
26 But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”
and Balaam answers and says to Balak, “Have I not spoken to you, saying, All that YHWH speaks—I do it?”
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 says to Balaam, “Please come, I take you to another place; it may be it is right in the eyes of God to pierce it for me from there.”
28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.
And Balak takes Balaam to the top of Peor, which is looking on the front of the wilderness,
29 Then Balaam said, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”
and Balaam says to Balak, “Build seven altars for me in this [place], and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams for me in this [place]”;
30 So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
and Balak does as Balaam said, and he offers a bullock and a ram on an altar.
