Numbers 23

1 And Balaam said to Balac: Build me here seven altars, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.

And Balaam said to Balac, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, and seven rams.

2 And when he had done according to the word of Balaam, they laid together a calf and a ram upon every altar.

And Balac did as Balaam told him; and he offered up a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

3 And Balaam said to Balac: Stand a while by thy burnt offering, until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet me, and whatsoever he shall command, I will speak to thee.

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.

4 And when he was gone with speed, God met him. And Balaam speaking to him, said: I have erected seven altars, and have laid on everyone a calf and a ram.

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.

5 And the Lord put the word in his mouth, and said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.

And God put a word into the mouth of Balaam, and said, thou shalt return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.

6 Returning he found Balac standing by his burnt offering, with all the princes of the Moabites:

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.

7 And taking up his parable, he said: Balac king of the Moabites hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, said he, and curse Jacob: make haste and detest Israel.

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.

8 How shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed? By what means should I detest him, whom the Lord detesteth not?

How can I curse whom the Lord curses not? or how can I devote whom God devotes not?

9 I shall see him from the tops of the rocks, and shall consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

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.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and know the number of the stock of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be like to them.

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.

11 And Balac said to Balaam: What is this that thou dost? I sent for thee to curse my enemies: and thou contrariwise blessest them.

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].

12 He answered him: Call I speak any thing else but what the Lord commandeth?

And Balaam said to Balac, Whatsoever the Lord shall put into my mouth, shall I not take heed to speak this?

13 Balac therefore said: Come with me to another place from whence thou mayest see part of Israel, and canst not see them all: curse them from thence.

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.

14 And when he had brought him to a high place, upon the top of mount Phasga, Balaam built seven altars, and laying on every one a calf and a ram,

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.

15 He said to Balac: Stand here by thy burnt offering while I go to meet him.

And Balaam said to Balac, Stand by thy sacrifice, and I will go to enquire of God.

16 And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his mouth, he said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou say to him.

And God met Balaam, and put a word into his mouth, and said, return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.

17 Returning he found him standing by his burnt sacrifice, and the princes of the Moabites with him. And Balac said to him: What hath the Lord spoken?

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?

18 But he taking up his parable, said: Stand, O Balac, and give ear: hear, thou son of Sephor:

And he took up his parable, and said, rise up, Balac, and hear; hearken as a witness, thou son of Sepphor.

19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor as the son of man, that he should be changed. Hath he said then, and will he not do? hath he spoken, and will he not fulfill?

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]?

20 I was brought to bless, the blessing I am not able to hinder.

Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: I will bless, and not turn back.

21 There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there an image god to be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the sound of the victory of the king in him.

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.

22 God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the rhinoceros.

It was God who brought him out of Egypt; he has as it were the glory of a unicorn.

23 There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor divination in Israel. In their times it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God hath wrought.

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.

24 Behold the people shall rise up as a lioness, and shall lift itself up as a lion: it shall not lie down till it devour the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

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.

25 And Balac said to Balaam: Neither curse, nor bless him.

And Balac said to Balaam, Neither curse the people at all for me, nor bless them at all.

26 And he said: Did I not tell thee, that whatsoever God should command me, that I would do?

And Balaam answered and said to Balac, Spoke I not to thee, saying, Whatsoever thing God shall speak to me, that will I do?

27 And Balac said to him: Come and I will bring thee to another place; if peradventure it please God that thou mayest curse them from thence.

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.

28 And when he had brought him upon the top of mount Phogor, which looketh towards the wilderness,

And Balac took Balaam to the top of Phogor, which extends to the wilderness.

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

And Balaam said to Balac, build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, and seven rams.

30 Balac did as Balaam had said: and he laid on every altar, a calf and a ram.

And Balac did as Balaam told him, and offered a calf and a ram on [every] altar.