Numbers 23

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

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

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

Balak did as Balaam had said, and together they offered a bull and a ram on each 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.

Balaam said to Balak, “Wait here beside your burnt offering while I go and see if perhaps the Lord will come and meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me, I'll share with you.” Then Balaam left to climb up a rocky crag.

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.

God met with him there, and Balaam said. “I have built seven altars and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

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

The Lord gave Balaam a message to share. He told him, “Go back to Balak and this is what you are to say to him.”

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

So he went back to Balak, who was waiting there beside his burnt offering, along with all the Moabite leaders.

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.

This is the declaration that Balaam gave: “Balak brought me from Aram; the king of Moab brought me from the mountains of the east. He said, ‘Come and curse Jacob for me! Come and condemn Israel!’

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

But how can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I condemn what the Lord has not condemned?

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 I'm looking down on them from the top of rocky crags; I'm watching them from the hills. I see a people who live on their own, different from the other 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 can count Jacob's descendants? They are so many they're like dust! Who can count even a quarter of the Israelites? I would like to die as a good person dies! Let the end of my life be like their end!”

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.

Then Balak complained to Balaam, “What on earth have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and now look! All you have done is bless them!”

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

But Balaam replied, “Don't you think I should I say precisely what the Lord tells me?”

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.

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. But you'll only see a part of their camp—you won't see all of them. You can curse them for me from there.”

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,

He took him to the field of Zophim at the top of Mount Pisgah. There he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

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

Balaam told Balak, “Wait here beside your burnt offering while I meet the Lord over there.”

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.

The Lord met Balaam and gave him a message to share. He told him, “Go back to Balak and this is what you are to say to him.”

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?

So he went back to Balak, who was waiting there beside his burnt offering, along with all the Moabite leaders. “What did the Lord say?” Balak asked.

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

This is the prophecy that Balaam delivered: “Stand up, Balak, and pay attention! Listen to me, son of Zippor!

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 isn't a human being who would lie. He's not a mere mortal who changes his mind. Does he say he's going to do something but doesn't? Does he make promises he doesn't carry out?

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

Look, I have been ordered to give a blessing. God has blessed, and I can't change that.

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.

He's not expecting anything bad will happen to Jacob; he doesn't foresee any trouble for Israel. The Lord their God is with them; they celebrate him as their king.

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

God led them out of Egypt with great power, as strong as an ox.

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.

No spell can be cast against Jacob; no magic can be used against Israel. People will talk about Jacob and Israel, saying, ‘What amazing things God has done for them!’

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.

Look! The Israelites go out hunting like a lioness; they chase like a lion. They don't rest until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of their dead victim.”

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

Then Balak said to Balaam, “If you can't give them any curses then at least don't give them any blessings!”

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

But Balaam replied, “Didn't I explain to you that I have to do whatever the Lord tells me?”

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.

“Please come with me and I will take you somewhere else,” Balak said. “Maybe God would let you curse them for me from there.”

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

Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which looks down on the wastelands.

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

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

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

Balak what Balaam told him, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.