Numbers 23

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

Balaam said to King Balak, “Build seven altars for me here. Then kill seven young bulls and seven rams [for a sacrifice].”

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 that. And then he and Balaam each burned a young bull and a ram [as a sacrifice] 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.

Then Balaam said to Balak, “You stand here close to your burned offerings, and I will go and ask Yahweh if he has something else to tell me. Then I will tell you what he says to me.” Then Balaam went by himself to the top of a hill,

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 appeared to him there. Balaam said to him, “We have built seven altars, and I have killed and burned a young bull and a ram [as a sacrifice to you] on each altar.”

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

Then Yahweh gave Balaam a message to give to King Balak. Then he said, “Go back and tell him what I told you.”

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

When Balaam returned to Balak, Balak was standing with the leaders from Moab beside the offerings he had burned [on the altar].

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!

This is the message that Balaam told them: “Balak, the King of Moab, summoned me to come here from Syria; he brought me here from the hills at the eastern side of Syria. He said, ‘Come and curse the descendants of Jacob for me, saying that bad things will happen to these Israeli people!’

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

But (how can I curse people whom God has not cursed?/I certainly cannot curse people whom God has not cursed!) [RHQ] (How can I condemn people whom Yahweh has not condemned?/I cannot condemn people whom Yahweh has not condemned!) [RHQ]

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.

I have seen them from the tops of the rocky peaks. I see that they are a group of people who live by themselves; they have separated themselves from other 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 descendants of Jacob; they are as numerous as particles of (dust/dirt)?/No one can count the descendants of Jacob; they are as numerous as particles of (dust/dirt)!) [RHQ] (Who can count even a quarter of the Israeli people?/No one can count even a quarter of the Israeli people!) [RHQ] I wish/hope that I will die like righteous people die; I hope that I will die [peacefully] like they will die.”

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, “What have you done to me [RHQ]? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but instead you have (blessed them/asked Yahweh to bless them)!”

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

But Balaam replied, “I can [RHQ] say only what Yahweh tells me to say. I cannot say anything else.”

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 King Balak told Balaam, “Come with me to another place. There you will see only part of the Israeli people, and you will be able to curse those people 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 Balaam to a field on the top of Pisgah [Mountain]. There, again he built seven altars and offered a young bull and a ram [as a sacrifice] on each altar.

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

Then Balaam said to the king, “Stand here close to your burned offerings, while I go and talk with Yahweh.”

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

So Balaam did that, and Yahweh appeared to Balaam again and gave him another message. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and tell him that message.”

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 Balaam returned to where the king and the leaders from Moab were standing, next to the altar where Balak had burned the sacrifices. Balak asked him, “What did Yahweh say?”

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

Then Balaam told him this message: “Balak, listen carefully; hear what I have to say, you son of Zippor [DOU]!

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 human being. Humans lie, but God never lies. He never changes his mind/thoughts, as humans do. Whatever he has said that he will do, he does.

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

He commanded me [to request him] to bless [the Israelis], So he has blessed them, and I cannot change that.

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.

Yahweh their God is with/helping them; they have declared that he is their true king. So the descendants of Jacob will not be harmed; they will not have any troubles [DOU].

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

God brought them out of Egypt [where they were slaves]; he is as strong as 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!

When people curse [PRS] the descendants of Jacob, they will not be harmed; when people work sorcery on them, it will have no power. So now people will say about the descendants of Jacob, ‘God has done wonderful things for the Israelis!’

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.

They are very strong, like lionesses that are ready to attack [other animals]; they stand firm like lions. The lions refuse to rest until they have [killed and] eaten their prey, and drunk the blood of the animals they slaughtered.”

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

Then Balak said to Balaam, “If you will not curse them, then [I certainly] do not [want you to] bless them!”

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, “I told you that I must do only what Yahweh tells me to 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.

Then King Balak said to Balaam, “Come with me; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to allow you to curse them from that place.”

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

So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor [Mountain] where they could look down [and see the Israelis in] the desert.

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

Balaam again told Balak, “Build me seven altars again and kill seven young bulls and seven rams [for a sacrifice].”

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

So Balak did what Balaam told him to do. He burned a young bull and a ram on each altar as sacrifices.