Numbers 23

1 And Balaam said to Balak, Make me here seven altars and get ready seven oxen and seven male sheep.

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

2 And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam made an offering on every altar of an ox and a male sheep.

Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.

3 Then Balaam said to Balak, Take your place by your burned offering, and I will go and see if the Lord comes to me: and I will give you word of whatever he says to me. And he went to an open place on a hill.

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 came to Balaam, and Balaam said to him, I have made ready seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.

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 And the Lord put words in Balaam's mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.

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

6 So he went back to him where he was waiting by his burned offering with all the chiefs of Moab.

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

7 And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, From Aram Balak has sent for me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: come, put curses on Jacob for me and be angry with 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 may I put curses on him who is not cursed by God? how may I be angry with him with whom the Lord is not angry?

How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom the LORD has not defied?

9 From the top of the rocks I see him, looking down on him from the hills: it is a people made separate, not to be numbered 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 is able to take the measure of the dust of Jacob or the number of the thousands of Israel? May my death be the death of the upright and my last end like his!

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 sent for you so that my haters might be cursed, and see, you have given them a blessing.

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 And in answer he said, Am I not ordered to say only what the Lord puts into my mouth?

He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD puts in my mouth?”

13 And Balak said to him, Come with me now into another place from which you will not be able to see them all, but only the outskirts of them; and you will send curses on them from there.

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 he took him into the country of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and there they made seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every 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 Then he said to Balak, Take your place here by your burned offering, while I go over there to the Lord.

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

16 And the Lord came to Balaam, and put words in his mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.

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

17 So he came to him where he was waiting by his burned offering with the chiefs of Moab by his side. And Balak said to him, What has the Lord said?

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 And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, Up! Balak, and give ear; give attention 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, to say what is false; or the son of man, that his purpose may be changed: what he has said, will he not do? and will he not give effect to the words of his mouth?

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 See, I have had orders to give blessing: and he has given a blessing which I have no power to take away.

Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.

21 He has seen no evil in Jacob or wrongdoing in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the glad cry of a 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 It is God who has taken them out of Egypt; his horns are like those of the mountain ox.

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

23 No evil power has effect against Jacob, no secret arts against Israel; at the right time it will be said of Jacob and of Israel, See what 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 See, Israel comes up like a she-lion, lifting himself up like a lion: he will take no rest till he has made a meal of those he has overcome, drinking the blood of those he has put to death.

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 Then Balak said to Balaam, If you will not put a curse on them, at all events do not give them a blessing.

Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”

26 But Balaam in answer said to Balak, Did I not say to you, I may only do what the Lord says?

But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do’?”

27 Then Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; it may be that God will let you put a curse on them 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 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, looking down over the waste land.

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

29 And Balaam said to Balak, Make me seven altars here and get seven oxen and seven male sheep ready for me.

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

30 And Balak did as Balaam said, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.

Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.