< Numbers 23 >
1 And Balaam said to Balac, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, and seven rams.
And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.”
2 And Balac did as Balaam told him; and he offered up a calf and a ram on [every] altar.
And when he had acted according to the words of Balaam, they placed a calf and a ram together on each altar.
3 And Balaam said to Balac, Stand by thy sacrifice, and I will go and see if God will appear to me and meet me, and the word which he shall shew me, I will report to thee. And Balac stood by his sacrifice.
And Balaam said to Balak: “Stand for a little while next to your holocaust, until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet with me. And whatever he will command, I shall speak to you.”
4 And Balaam went to enquire of God; and he went straight forward, and God appeared to Balaam; and Balaam said to him, I have prepared the seven altars, and have offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.
And after he had quickly departed, God met with him. And Balaam, speaking to him, said: “I have set up seven altars, and I have placed a calf and a ram on each.”
5 And God put a word into the mouth of Balaam, and said, thou shalt return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.
Then the Lord placed the word in his mouth, and he said: “Return to Balak, and you shall say this.”
6 And he returned to him, and moreover he stood over his whole-burnt-offerings, and all the princes of Moab with him; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
Returning, he found Balak standing next to his holocaust, with all the leaders of the Moabites.
7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balac king of Moab sent for me out of Mesopotamia, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and Come, call for a curse for me upon Israel.
And taking up his parable, he said: “Balak, king of the Moabites, has led me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. ‘Come forth,’ he said, ‘and curse Jacob. Hurry and condemn Israel.’
8 How can I curse whom the Lord curses not? or how can I devote whom God devotes not?
How shall I curse him, whom God has not cursed? For what reason would I condemn him, whom the Lord does not condemn?
9 For from the top of the mountains I shall see him, and from the hills I shall observe him: behold, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
I will look upon him from the tops of the stones, and I will consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and they shall not be counted among the nations.
10 Who has exactly calculated the seed of Jacob, and who shall number the families of Israel? let my soul die with the souls of the righteous, and let my seed be as their seed.
Who can number the dust that is Jacob, and who can know the number of the stock of Israel? May my soul die a just death, and may my end be like theirs.”
11 And Balac said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I called thee to curse my enemies, and behold thou hast greatly blessed [them].
And Balak said to Balaam: “What is this that you are doing? I called for you, in order to curse my enemies, and to the contrary, you bless them.”
12 And Balaam said to Balac, Whatsoever the Lord shall put into my mouth, shall I not take heed to speak this?
He answered him, “How can I say anything other than what the Lord orders?”
13 And Balac said to him, Come yet with me to another place where thou shalt not see the people, but only thou shalt see a part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse me them from thence.
Therefore, Balak said: “Come with me to another place, from where you may see a portion of Israel, though you cannot see them all. Curse them from there.”
14 And he took him to a high place of the field to the top of the quarried [rock], and he built there seven altars, and offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.
And when he had led him to a lofty place, on the top of mount Pisgah, Balaam built seven altars, and placing upon each a calf and a ram,
15 And Balaam said to Balac, Stand by thy sacrifice, and I will go to enquire of God.
he said to Balak, “Stand here next to your holocaust, while I continue on to meet him.”
16 And God met Balaam, and put a word into his mouth, and said, return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.
And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his mouth, he said, “Return to Balak, and you shall say this to him.”
17 And he returned to him: and he also was standing by his whole-burnt-sacrifice, and all the princes of Moab with him; and Balac said to him, What has the Lord spoken?
Returning, he found him standing next to his holocaust, and the leaders of the Moabites were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”
18 And he took up his parable, and said, rise up, Balac, and hear; hearken as a witness, thou son of Sepphor.
But, taking up his parable, he said: “Stand, Balak, and pay attention. Listen, you son of Zippor.
19 God is not as man to waver, nor as the son of man to be threatened; shall he say and not perform? shall he speak and not keep [to his word]?
God is not like a man, so that he would lie, nor is he like a son of man, so that he would be changed. Therefore, having spoken, will he not act? Has he ever spoken, and not fulfilled?
20 Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: I will bless, and not turn back.
I was led here to bless, and I have no strength to hinder the blessing.
21 There shall not be trouble in Jacob, neither shall sorrow be seen in Israel: the Lord his God [is] with him, the glories of rulers [are] in him.
There is no idol in Jacob; neither is there a false image to be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the resound of royal victory is in him.
22 It was God who brought him out of Egypt; he has as it were the glory of a unicorn.
God has led him away from Egypt; his strength is like that of the rhinoceros.
23 For there is no divination in Jacob, nor enchantment in Israel; in season it shall be told to Jacob and Israel what God shall perform.
There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor any divination in Israel. In their times, it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God has wrought.
24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a lion's whelp, and shall exalt himself as a lion; he shall not lie down till he have eaten the prey, and he shall drink the blood of the slain.
Behold, the people will rise up like a lioness, and lie down like a lion. But they will not lie down until they devour the prey and drink the blood of the slain.”
25 And Balac said to Balaam, Neither curse the people at all for me, nor bless them at all.
And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse him, nor bless him.”
26 And Balaam answered and said to Balac, Spoke I not to thee, saying, Whatsoever thing God shall speak to me, that will I do?
And he said, “Have I not told you that whatever God would command of me, I would do?”
27 And Balac said to Balaam, Come [and] I will remove thee to another place, if it shall please God, and curse me them from thence.
And Balak said to him: “Come and I will lead you to another place. If perhaps it may please God, then you may curse them from there.”
28 And Balac took Balaam to the top of Phogor, which extends to the wilderness.
And when he had led him on to the top of mount Peor, which looks out toward the wilderness,
29 And Balaam said to Balac, build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, and seven rams.
Balaam said to him, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.”
30 And Balac did as Balaam told him, and offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.
Balak did as Balaam had said, and he placed on each altar a calf and a ram.