Numbers 23

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

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

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

And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.

3 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.

And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatever he shews me I will tell thee. And he went to a hill.

4 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.”

And God met Balaam; and [Balaam] said to him, I have disposed seven altars, and have offered up a bullock and a ram upon [each] altar.

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

And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.

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

And he returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.

7 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.'

And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, curse me Jacob, and come, denounce Israel!

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

How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I denounce whom Jehovah doth not denounce?

9 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.

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.

10 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!”

Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!

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

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

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

And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah puts in my mouth?

13 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.”

And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou wilt see them; thou shalt see only the extremity of them and shalt not see them all, and curse me them from thence.

14 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.

And he took him to the watchmen's field, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.

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

And [Balaam] said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, and I will go to meet yonder.

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

And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.

17 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?”

And he came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him; and Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken?

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

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

19 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?

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?

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

Behold, I have received [mission] to bless; and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

21 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.

He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen wrong in Israel; Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a king is in his midst.

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

God brought him out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a buffalo.

23 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!'

For there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. At this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

24 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.”

Lo, the people will rise up as a lioness, and lift himself up as a lion. He shall not lie down until he have eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.

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

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

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

And Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that Jehovah shall speak, that will I do?

27 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.”

And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will be right in the sight of God that thou curse me them from thence.

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

And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks over the surface of the waste.

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

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

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

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