Numbers 23

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

Then said Balaam unto Balak: Build me here seven altars, —and prepare me here, seven bullocks and seven rams.

2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, —and Balak and Balaam caused to ascend a bullock and a ram on each altar.

3 And Balaam said unto Balak: 'Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go; peradventure the LORD will come to meet me; and whatsoever He showeth me I will tell thee.' And he went to a bare height.

Then said Balaam unto Balak: Station thyself by thine ascending-sacrifice, and let me go my way—peradventure Yahweh may come and meet me, and what thing soever he may show me, I will tell thee. So he went his way to a bare height.

4 And God met Balaam; and he said unto Him: 'I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.'

And God came unto Balaam, —so he said unto him The seven altars, have I built in a row, and have caused to ascend, bullock and a ram on each altar.

5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said: 'Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.'

And Yahweh put a word into the mouth of Balaam, —and said—Return unto Balak, and, thus, shalt thou speak.

6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.

So he returned unto him, and lo! he was stationed by his ascending-sacrifice, —he, and all the princes of Moab.

7 And he took up his parable, and said: From Aram Balak bringeth me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: 'Come, curse me Jacob, and come, execrate Israel.'

So he took up his parable and said, —From Aram, doth Balak conduct me, The king of Moab, from the mountains of the East, Come thou! curse me Jacob, Yea, come thou! rage on Israel.

8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? And how shall I execrate, whom the LORD hath not execrated?

How can I revile one whom GOD hath not reviled? Yea, how can I rage on one on whom Yahweh hath not raged?

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.

Surely from the head of the rocks, do I see him, Yea, from the hills, do I observe him, —Lo! a people, who alone doth dwell, And among the nations, he doth not reckon himself.

10 Who hath counted the dust of Jacob, or numbered the stock of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let mine end be like his!

Who hath counted the dust of Jacob? Or who hath numbered the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my hereafter be like his!

11 And Balak said unto Balaam: 'What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.'

Then said Balak unto Balaam, What hast thou done for me? To revile mine enemies, I summoned thee, and lo! thou hast kept on blessing.

12 And he answered and said: 'Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD putteth in my mouth?'

And he answered and said, —Was it not to be so that whatsoever Yahweh should put into my mouth, the same, should I take heed to speak?

13 And Balak said unto him: 'Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse me them from thence.'

Then said Balak unto him—Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see him, nothing but his utmost part, shalt thou see, but all of him, shalt thou not see, —and so revile me him from thence.

14 And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.

And he took him to the field of Zophim, unto the head of Pisgah, —and built seven altars, and caused to ascend a bullock and a ram on each altar.

15 And he said unto Balak: 'Stand here by thy burnt-offering, while I go toward a meeting yonder.'

Then said he to Balak, Station thyself here by thine ascending-sacrifice, —while, I, meet him yonder.

16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said: 'Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.'

And Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word into his mouth, —and said—Return unto Balak and thus shalt thou speak.

17 And he came to him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him: 'What hath the LORD spoken?'

So he came in unto him and, there he was-stationed by his ascending-sacrifice, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath Yahweh spoken?

18 And he took up his parable, and said: Arise, Balak, and hear; give ear unto me, thou son of Zippor:

Then took he up his parable and said, —Rise, Balak, and hear, Give ear unto me son of Zippor!

19 God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: when He hath said, will He not do it? or when He hath spoken, will He not make it good?

GOD is, not a man, that he should lie, Nor a son of Adam, that he should repent, —Hath, he, said, and will not perform? Yea spoken, and will not make it stand fast?

20 Behold, I am bidden to bless; and when He hath blessed, I cannot call it back.

Lo! to bless, have I received [command], —And I will bless, nor will I take it back.

21 None hath beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath one seen perverseness in Israel; the LORD his God is with him, and the shouting for the King is among them.

He hath not discovered trouble in Jacob, Neither hath he seen wretchedness in Israel, —Yahweh, his God, is with him, And, the acclaim of a king, in his midst:

22 God who brought them forth out of Egypt is for them like the lofty horns of the wild-ox.

GOD having brought them forth out of Egypt, The very horns of the buffalo, are his:

23 For there is no enchantment with Jacob, neither is there any divination with Israel; now is it said of Jacob and of Israel: 'What hath God wrought!'

Surely, there is no enchantment against Jacob, Nor divination against Israel, —Now, shall it be said—Of Jacob and of Israel, What hath GOD wrought!

24 Behold a people that riseth up as a lioness, and as a lion doth he lift himself up; he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

Lo, a people, like a lioness, shall rise, And like a strong lion, shall rouse himself up; He will not lie down till he eat the torn, And the blood of the slain, he drink.

25 And Balak said unto Balaam: 'Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.'

Then said Balak unto Balaam, Thou shalt neither revile, him, —nor bless him.

26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak: 'Told not I thee, saying: All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?'

And Balaam responded, and said unto Balak, —Spake I not unto thee, saying, All that Yahweh shall speak, that, must I do?

27 And Balak said unto Balaam: 'Come now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.'

And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee! let me take thee unto another place, —peradventure, it may be right in the eyes of God, that thou revile me him. from thence.

28 And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh down upon the desert.

So Balak took Balaam, —unto the head of Peor, that looketh over the face of the Jeshimon.

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

And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here, seven altars, —and prepare me here, seven bullocks and seven rams.

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

And Balak did as Balaam said, —and caused to ascend a bullock and a ram on each altar.