Numbers 23

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

And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.”

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

And when he had acted according to the words of Balaam, they placed a calf and a ram together on each altar.

3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go: it may be the LORD will come to meet me: and whatever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to a high place.

And Balaam said to Balak: “Stand for a little while next to your holocaust, until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet with me. And whatever he will command, I shall speak to you.”

4 And God met Balaam: and he said to him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon [every] altar a bullock and a ram.

And after he had quickly departed, God met with him. And Balaam, speaking to him, said: “I have set up seven altars, and I have placed a calf and a ram on each.”

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

Then the Lord placed the word in his mouth, and he said: “Return to Balak, and you shall say this.”

6 And he returned to him and lo, he stood by his burnt-sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

Returning, he found Balak standing next to his holocaust, with all the leaders of the Moabites.

7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, [saying], Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, defy Israel.

And taking up his parable, he said: “Balak, king of the Moabites, has led me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. ‘Come forth,’ he said, ‘and curse Jacob. Hurry and condemn Israel.’

8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, [whom] the LORD hath not defied?

How shall I curse him, whom God has not cursed? For what reason would I condemn him, whom the Lord does not condemn?

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

I will look upon him from the tops of the stones, and I will consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and they shall not be counted among the 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 number the dust that is Jacob, and who can know the number of the stock of Israel? May my soul die a just death, and may my end be like theirs.”

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

And Balak said to Balaam: “What is this that you are doing? I called for you, in order to curse my enemies, and to the contrary, you bless them.”

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

He answered him, “How can I say anything other than what the Lord orders?”

13 And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and from thence curse them for me.

Therefore, Balak said: “Come with me to another place, from where you may see a portion of Israel, though you cannot see them all. Curse them 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.

And when he had led him to a lofty place, on the top of mount Pisgah, Balaam built seven altars, and placing upon each a calf and a ram,

15 And he said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, while I meet [the LORD] yonder.

he said to Balak, “Stand here next to your holocaust, while I continue on to meet him.”

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

And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his mouth, he said, “Return to Balak, and you shall say this 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 hath the LORD spoken?

Returning, he found him standing next to his holocaust, and the leaders of the Moabites were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”

18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise, Balak, and hear; hearken to me, thou son of Zippor:

But, taking up his parable, he said: “Stand, Balak, and pay attention. Listen, you son of Zippor.

19 God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoke, and shall he not make it good?

God is not like a man, so that he would lie, nor is he like a son of man, so that he would be changed. Therefore, having spoken, will he not act? Has he ever spoken, and not fulfilled?

20 Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

I was led here to bless, and I have no strength to hinder the blessing.

21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel; the LORD his God [is] with him, and the shout of a king [is] among them.

There is no idol in Jacob; neither is there a false image to be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the resound of royal victory is in him.

22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn.

God has led him away from Egypt; his strength is like that of the rhinoceros.

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 hath God wrought!

There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor any divination in Israel. In their times, it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God has wrought.

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 shall eat [of] the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

Behold, the people will rise up like a lioness, and lie down like a lion. But they will not lie down until they devour the prey and drink the blood of the slain.”

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

And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse him, nor bless him.”

26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

And he said, “Have I not told you that whatever God would command of me, I would do?”

27 And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will please God that thou mayest from thence curse them for me.

And Balak said to him: “Come and I will lead you to another place. If perhaps it may please God, then you may curse them from there.”

28 And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, that looketh towards Jeshimon.

And when he had led him on to the top of mount Peor, which looks out toward the wilderness,

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

Balaam said to him, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.”

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

Balak did as Balaam had said, and he placed on each altar a calf and a ram.