Numbers 23

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

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

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

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,

Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.

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.”

God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull 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.”

The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

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

He returned to him, and behold, 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!’

He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. 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 has not cursed? How shall I defy whom the LORD has 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. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed 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, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! 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!”

Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”

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

He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD puts 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.”

Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there 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.

He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up 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.”

He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over 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.”

The LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”

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.

He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. 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.

He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, 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 a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?

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

Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t 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 seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.

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

God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.

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 with Jacob; neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’

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, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”

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

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 Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, 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.”

Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

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

Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.

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

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

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 offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.