Numbers 23

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

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

2 And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.

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

3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatever he shews me I will tell thee. And he went to a hill.

“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,

4 And God met Balaam; and [Balaam] said to him, I have disposed seven altars, and have offered up a bullock and a ram upon [each] altar.

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.”

5 And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.

Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”

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

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

7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, curse me Jacob, and come, denounce Israel!

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!’

8 How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I denounce whom Jehovah doth not denounce?

How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?

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

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.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!

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!”

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

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!”

12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah puts in my mouth?

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

13 And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou wilt see them; thou shalt see only the extremity of them and shalt not see them all, and curse me them from thence.

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.”

14 And he took him to the watchmen's field, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.

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.

15 And [Balaam] said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, and I will go to meet yonder.

Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”

16 And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.

And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”

17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him; and Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken?

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.

18 Then he took up his parable and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear! hearken unto me, son of Zippor!

Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor.

19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?

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?

20 Behold, I have received [mission] to bless; and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

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

21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen wrong in Israel; Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a king is in his midst.

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.

22 God brought him out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a buffalo.

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

23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. At this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

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!’

24 Lo, the people will rise up as a lioness, and lift himself up as a lion. He shall not lie down until he have eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.

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.”

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

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

26 And Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that Jehovah shall speak, that will I do?

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

27 And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will be right in the sight of God that thou curse me them from thence.

“Please come,” said Balak, “I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.”

28 And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks over the surface of the waste.

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

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

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

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

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