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 me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen 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 Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.

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 by thy burnt offering, and I will go: perhaps the LORD will come to meet me: and whatever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to an 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 met Balaam: and he said to him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bull and a ram.

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 Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus thou shalt 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, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, 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, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse Jacob for me, 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 curse, whom God hath not cursed? or 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 the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, 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 can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, 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 said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse my enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

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 which the LORD hath 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 to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from which thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and from there curse them for me.

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 into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull 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 to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.

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 Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again to Balak, and say thus.

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 when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to 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, Balak, and hear; hearken to me, thou 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; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

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

Behold, I have received commandment to bless: 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 iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

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

God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an 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!’

Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God 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 shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he shall eat of 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 them at all, nor bless them at all.

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

But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must 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 Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will please God that thou mayest from there curse them for me.

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

And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.

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

And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls 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 Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.