Numbers 23

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

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

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

So Balak did as Balaam requested. Then Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on every altar.

3 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.

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand at your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” So he went away to a hilltop with no trees.

4 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.”

While he was on the hilltop, God met him, and Balaam said to him, “I have built seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each one.”

5 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.”

Yahweh put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak and speak to him.”

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

So Balaam returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt offering, and all the leaders of Moab were with him.

7 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!’

Then Balaam began to speak his prophecy and said, “Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. 'Come, curse Jacob for me,' he said. 'Come, defy Israel.'

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

How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I oppose those whom Yahweh does not oppose?

9 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.

For from the top of the rocks I see him; from the hills I look at him. See, there is a people who live alone and do not consider themselves as just an ordinary nation.

10 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!”

Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even only one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of a righteous person, and let my life's end be like his!”

11 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!”

Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have blessed them.”

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

Balaam answered and said, “Should I not be careful to say only what Yahweh puts in my mouth?”

13 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.”

So Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the nearest of them, not all of them. There you will curse them for me.”

14 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.

So he took Balaam into the field of Zophim, to the top of Mount Pisgah, and built seven more altars. He offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

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

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet with Yahweh over there.”

16 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.”

So Yahweh met Balaam and put a message in his mouth. He said, “Return to Balak and give him my message.”

17 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.

Balaam returned to him, and look, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. Then Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh said?”

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

Balaam began his prophecy. He said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear. Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

19 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?

God is not a man, that he should lie, Or a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he promised anything without doing it? Has he said he would do something without carrying it out?

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

Look, I have been commanded to bless. God has given a blessing, and I cannot reverse it.

21 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.

He has seen no hardship in Jacob or trouble in Israel. Yahweh their God is with them, and shouts for their king are among them.

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

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

23 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!’

There is no sorcery that works against Jacob, and no fortune-telling harms Israel. Instead, it must be said about Jacob and Israel, 'Look what God has done!'

24 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.”

Look, the people rise like a lioness, as a lion emerges and attacks. He does not lie down until he eats his victim and drinks the blood of what he has killed.”

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

Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them or bless them at all.”

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

But Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you that I must say all that Yahweh tells me to say?”

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

So Balak replied to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God for you to curse them there for me.”

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

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

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

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

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

So Balak did as Balaam had said; he offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.