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 saith unto Balak, 'Build for me in this [place] seven altars, and make ready for me in this [place] seven bullocks 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 Balak doth as Balaam hath spoken, and Balak — Balaam also — offereth a bullock and a ram on the 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 saith to Balak, 'Station thyself by thy burnt-offering and I go on, it may be Jehovah doth come to meet me, and the thing which He sheweth me — I have declared to thee;' and he goeth [to] a high place.

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 God cometh unto Balaam, and he saith unto Him, 'The seven altars I have arranged, and I offer a bullock and a ram on the altar;'

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

and Jehovah putteth a word in the mouth of Balaam, and saith, 'Turn back unto Balak, and thus thou dost speak.'

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

And he turneth back unto him, and lo, he is standing by his burnt-offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

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 taketh up his simile, and saith: 'From Aram he doth lead me — Balak king of Moab; From mountains of the east: Come — curse for me Jacob, And come — be indignant [with] Israel.

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

What — do I pierce? — God hath not pierced! And what — am I indignant? — Jehovah hath not been indignant!

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 rocks I see it, And from heights I behold it; Lo a people! alone it doth tabernacle, And among nations doth not reckon itself.

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 hath counted the dust of Jacob, And the number of the fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of upright ones, And let my last end be like his!'

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 Balak saith unto Balaam, 'What hast thou done to me? to pierce mine enemies I have taken thee — and lo, thou hast certainly blessed;'

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

and he answereth and saith, 'That which Jehovah doth put in my mouth — it do I not take heed to speak?'

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 Balak saith unto him, 'Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, whence thou dost see it, only its extremity thou dost see, and all of it thou dost not see, and pierce it for me 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 taketh him [to] the field of Zophim, unto the top of Pisgah, and buildeth seven altars, and offereth a bullock and a ram on the altar.

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

And he saith unto Balak, 'Station thyself here by thy burnt-offering, and I — I meet [Him] 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.

and Jehovah cometh unto Balaam, and setteth a word in his mouth, and saith, 'Turn back unto Balak, and thus thou dost 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 cometh unto him, and lo, he is standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him, and Balak saith to him: 'What hath Jehovah spoken?'

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

And he taketh up his simile, and saith: 'Rise, Balak, and hear; Give ear unto 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 [is] not a man — and lieth, And a son of man — and repenteth! Hath He said — and doth He not do [it]? And spoken — and doth He not confirm it?

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

Lo, to bless I have received: Yea, He blesseth, and I [can] not reverse it.

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 hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Nor hath He seen perverseness in Israel; Jehovah his God [is] with him, And a shout of a king [is] in him.

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

God is bringing them out from Egypt, As the swiftness of a Reem is to him;

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 no enchantment [is] against Jacob, Nor divination against Israel, At the time it is said of Jacob and Israel, What hath God wrought!

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.

Lo, the people as a lioness riseth, And as a lion he lifteth himself up, He lieth not down till he eateth prey, And blood of pierced ones doth drink.'

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

And Balak saith unto Balaam, 'Neither pierce it at all, nor bless it at all;'

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

and Balaam answereth and saith unto Balak, 'Have I not spoken unto thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh — it 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 Balak saith unto Balaam, 'Come, I pray thee, I take thee unto another place; it may be it is right in the eyes of God — to pierce it for me from thence.'

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

And Balak taketh Balaam to the top of Peor, which is looking on the front of 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 saith unto Balak, 'Build for me in this [place] seven altars, and make ready for me in this [place] seven bullocks and seven rams;'

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

and Balak doth as Balaam said, and he offereth a bullock and a ram on an altar.