Numbers 23

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

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].”

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

And Balak does as Balaam has spoken, and Balak—Balaam also—offers a bullock and a ram on the 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 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.

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 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”;

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

and YHWH puts a word in the mouth of Balaam and says, “Return to Balak, and thus you 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 returns to him, and behold, he is 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 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.

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

How do I pierce [when] God has not pierced? And how am I indignant [when] YHWH has not been indignant?

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 rocks I see him, And from heights I behold him; Behold a people! He dwells alone, And does not reckon himself among 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 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!”

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 says to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I have taken you to pierce my enemies, and behold, you have certainly blessed”;

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

and he answers and says, “That which YHWH puts in my mouth—do I not take heed to speak it?”

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 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”;

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 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.

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

And he says to Balak, “Station yourself here by your burnt-offering, and I meet [Him] there”;

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

and YHWH comes to Balaam, and sets a word in his mouth, and says, “Return to Balak, and thus you 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 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?”

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

And he takes up his allegory and says: “Rise, Balak, and hear; Give ear to 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—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?

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

Behold, I have received [only] to bless; Indeed, He blesses, 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 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.

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

God is bringing them out from Egypt, As the swiftness of a wild ox for him;

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 no enchantment [is] against Jacob, Nor divination against Israel; At the time it is said of Jacob and Israel, O what God has worked!

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, 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.”

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

And Balak says to Balaam, “Neither pierce it at all, nor bless it 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 answers and says to Balak, “Have I not spoken to you, saying, All that YHWH speaks—I do it?”

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 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.”

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

And Balak takes Balaam to the top of Peor, which is looking on the front of the wilderness,

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

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]”;

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

and Balak does as Balaam said, and he offers a bullock and a ram on an altar.