Numbers 23

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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 a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall 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 And he returned to him, and, see, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

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

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.

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, whom God has not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD has not defied?

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

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

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

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

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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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 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?

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 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; listen to me, you son of Zippor:

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

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

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.

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

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

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!

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 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.

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 Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

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

26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Told not I you, saying, All that the LORD speaks, that I must do?

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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