Numbers 23

1 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.”

And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

2 And when he had acted according to the words of Balaam, they placed a calf and a ram together on each altar.

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

3 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.”

And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go; peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to a bare height.

4 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.”

And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.

5 Then the Lord placed the word in his mouth, and he said: “Return to Balak, and you shall say this.”

And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

6 Returning, he found Balak standing next to his holocaust, with all the leaders of the Moabites.

And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.

7 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.’

And he took up his parable, and said, From Aram hath Balak brought me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, And come, defy Israel.

8 How shall I curse him, whom God has not cursed? For what reason would I condemn him, whom the Lord does not condemn?

How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? And how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?

9 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.

For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him: Lo, it is a people that dwell alone, And shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10 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.”

Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my last end be like his!

11 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.”

And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

12 He answered him, “How can I say anything other than what the Lord orders?”

And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD putteth in my mouth?

13 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.”

And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

14 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,

And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.

15 he said to Balak, “Stand here next to your holocaust, while I continue on to meet him.”

And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet [the LORD] yonder.

16 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.”

And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.

17 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?”

And he came to him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?

18 But, taking up his parable, he said: “Stand, Balak, and pay attention. Listen, you son of Zippor.

And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

19 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?

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 was led here to bless, and I have no strength to hinder the blessing.

Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

21 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.

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 has led him away from Egypt; his strength is like that of the rhinoceros.

God bringeth them forth out of Egypt; He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox.

23 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.

Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob, Neither is there any divination with Israel: Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

24 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.”

Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness, And as a lion doth he lift himself up: He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, And drink the blood of the slain.

25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse him, nor bless him.”

And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

26 And he said, “Have I not told you that whatever God would command of me, I would do?”

But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

27 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.”

And Balak said unto Balaam, Come now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

28 And when he had led him on to the top of mount Peor, which looks out toward the wilderness,

And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh down upon the desert.

29 Balaam said to him, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.”

And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and he placed on each altar a calf and a ram.

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