Numbers 23
1 And Balaam says to Balak, “Build seven altars for me in this [place], and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams for me in this [place].”
Dixitque Balaam ad Balac: Aedifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, eiusdemque numeri arietes.
2 And Balak does as Balaam has spoken, and Balak—Balaam also—offers a bullock and a ram on the altar,
Cumque fecisset iuxta sermonem Balaam, imposuerunt simul vitulum et arietem super aram.
3 and Balaam says to Balak, “Station yourself by your burnt-offering and I go on, it may be YHWH comes to meet me, and the thing which He shows me I have declared to you”; and he goes [to] a high place.
Dixitque Balaam ad Balac: Sta paulisper iuxta holocaustum tuum, donec vadam, si forte occurrat mihi Dominus, et quodcumque imperaverit, loquar tibi.
4 And God comes to Balaam, and he says to Him, “I have arranged the seven altars, and I offer a bullock and a ram on the altar”;
Cumque abiisset velociter, occurrit illi Deus. Locutusque ad eum Balaam: Septem, inquit, aras erexi, et imposui vitulum et arietem desuper.
5 and YHWH puts a word in the mouth of Balaam and says, “Return to Balak, and thus you speak.”
Dominus autem posuit verbum in ore eius, et ait: Revertere ad Balac, et haec loqueris.
6 And he returns to him, and behold, he is standing by his burnt-offering, he and all the princes of Moab.
Reversus invenit stantem Balac iuxta holocaustum suum, et omnes principes Moabitarum:
7 And he takes up his allegory and says: “Balak king of Moab leads me from Aram; From mountains of the east. Come—curse Jacob for me, And come—be indignant [with] Israel.
assumptaque parabola sua, dixit: De Aram adduxit me Balac rex Moabitarum, de montibus Orientis: Veni, inquit, et maledic Iacob: propera, et detestare Israel.
8 How do I pierce [when] God has not pierced? And how am I indignant [when] YHWH has not been indignant?
Quo modo maledicam, cui non maledixit Deus? Qua ratione detester, quem Dominus non detestatur?
9 For from the top of rocks I see him, And from heights I behold him; Behold a people! He dwells alone, And does not reckon himself among nations.
De summis silicibus videbo eum, et de collibus considerabo illum. Populus solus habitabit, et inter gentes non reputabitur.
10 Who has 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!”
Quis dinumerare possit pulverem Iacob, et nosse numerum stirpis Israel? Moriatur anima mea morte iustorum, et fiant novissima mea horum similia.
11 And Balak says to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I have taken you to pierce my enemies, and behold, you have certainly blessed”;
Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: Quid est hoc quod agis? Ut malediceres inimicis meis vocavi te: et tu econtrario benedicis eis.
12 and he answers and says, “That which YHWH puts in my mouth—do I not take heed to speak it?”
Cui ille respondit: Num aliud possum loqui, nisi quod iusserit Dominus?
13 And Balak says to him, “Come! Come to another place with me, from where you see it—you see only its extremity, and you do not see all of it, and pierce it for me there”;
Dixit ergo Balac: Veni mecum in alterum locum unde partem Israel videas, et totum videre non possis, inde maledicito ei.
14 and he takes him [to] the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and builds seven altars, and offers a bullock and a ram on the altar.
Cumque duxisset eum in locum sublimem, super verticem montis Phasga, aedificavit Balaam septem aras, et impositis supra vitulis atque arietibus,
15 And he says to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt-offering, and I meet [Him] there”;
dixit ad Balac: Sta hic iuxta holocaustum tuum, donec ego obvius pergam.
16 and YHWH comes to Balaam, and sets a word in his mouth, and says, “Return to Balak, and thus you speak.”
Cui cum Dominus occurrisset, posuissetque verbum in ore eius, ait: Revertere ad Balac, et haec loqueris ei.
17 And he comes to him, and behold, he is standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab [are] with him, and Balak says to him: “What has YHWH spoken?”
Reversus invenit eum stantem iuxta holocaustum suum, et principes Moabitarum cum eo. Ad quem Balac: Quid, inquit, locutus est Dominus?
18 And he takes up his allegory and says: “Rise, Balak, and hear; Give ear to me, son of Zippor!
At ille assumpta parabola sua, ait: Sta Balac, et ausculta, audi fili Sephor:
19 God [is] not a man—and lies, And a son of man—and relents! Has He said—and He does not do [it]? And spoken—and He does not confirm it?
Non est Deus quasi homo, ut mentiatur: nec ut filius hominis, ut mutetur. Dixit ergo, et non faciet? locutus est, et non implebit?
20 Behold, I have received [only] to bless; Indeed, He blesses, and I cannot reverse it.
Ad benedicendum adductus sum, benedictionem prohibere non valeo.
21 He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen perverseness in Israel; His God YHWH [is] with him, And a shout of a king [is] in him.
Non est idolum in Iacob, nec videtur simulacrum in Israel. Dominus Deus eius cum eo est, et clangor victoriae regis in illo.
22 God is bringing them out from Egypt, As the swiftness of a wild ox for him;
Deus eduxit illum de Aegypto, cuius fortitudo similis est rhinocerotis.
23 For no enchantment [is] against Jacob, Nor divination against Israel; At the time it is said of Jacob and Israel, O what God has worked!
Non est augurium in Iacob, nec divinatio in Israel. Temporibus suis dicetur Iacob et Israeli quid operatus sit Deus.
24 Behold, the people rises as a lioness, And he lifts himself up as a lion; He does not lie down until he eats prey, And drinks blood of pierced ones.”
Ecce populus ut leaena consurget, et quasi leo erigetur: non accubabit donec devoret praedam, et occisorum sanguinem bibat.
25 And Balak says to Balaam, “Neither pierce it at all, nor bless it at all”;
Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: Nec maledicas ei, nec benedicas.
26 and Balaam answers and says to Balak, “Have I not spoken to you, saying, All that YHWH speaks—I do it?”
Et ille ait: Nonne dixi tibi quod quidquid mihi Deus imperaret, hoc facerem?
27 And Balak says to Balaam, “Please come, I take you to another place; it may be it is right in the eyes of God to pierce it for me from there.”
Et ait Balac ad eum: Veni, et ducam te ad alium locum: si forte placeat Deo ut inde maledicas eis.
28 And Balak takes Balaam to the top of Peor, which is looking on the front of the wilderness,
Cumque duxisset eum super verticem montis Phogor, qui respicit solitudinem,
29 and Balaam says to Balak, “Build seven altars for me in this [place], and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams for me in this [place]”;
dixit ei Balaam: Aedifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, eiusdemque numeri arietes.
30 and Balak does as Balaam said, and he offers a bullock and a ram on an altar.
Fecit Balac ut Balaam dixerat: imposuitque vitulos et arietes per singulas aras.
