Numbers 23

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

And Balaam said unto 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 spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

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 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.

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 he said unto Him: 'I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.'

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

And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said: 'Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt 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 unto him, and, lo, he stood 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: From Aram Balak bringeth me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: 'Come, curse me Jacob, and come, execrate 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? And how shall I execrate, whom the LORD hath not execrated?

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 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!

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 unto Balaam: 'What hast thou done unto 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 the LORD putteth 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 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.'

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 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.

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

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

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

And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said: 'Return unto 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, lo, he stood by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him: 'What hath the LORD spoken?'

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

And he took up his parable, and said: Arise, Balak, and hear; give ear unto me, thou 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 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?

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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 with Jacob, neither is there any divination with Israel; now is it 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.”

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.

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

And Balak said unto 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?”

But Balaam answered and said unto Balak: 'Told not I thee, saying: All that the LORD speaketh, that I must 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 unto Balaam: 'Come now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.'

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

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

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

And Balaam said unto 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 every altar.