Numbers 23

1 And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

And Balaam said to Balac, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven calves, 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 Balac did as Balaam told him; and he offered up a calf and a ram on [every] altar.

3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatever he shows me I will tell you. And he went to an high place.

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 God met Balaam: and he said to him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on every altar a bullock 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 a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.

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

6 And he returned to him, and, see, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

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 he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy 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, whom God has not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD has not defied?

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

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: see, the 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 the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

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 Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have blessed them altogether.

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 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD has put in my mouth?

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

13 And Balak said to him, Come, I pray you, with me to another place, from where you may see them: you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them from there.

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

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 And he said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.

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

16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again to Balak, and say thus.

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

17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What has 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 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; listen to me, you son of Zippor:

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; neither the son of man, that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not do it? or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

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 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he has blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

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

21 He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither has he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

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 brought them out of Egypt; he has as it were the strength of an unicorn.

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

23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God worked!

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 great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of 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 Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

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

26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Told not I you, saying, All that the LORD speaks, that I must 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 Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray you, I will bring you to another place; peradventure it will please God that you may curse me them from there.

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 Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward Jeshimon.

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

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

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

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

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