Numbers 23

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

Then Balaam told Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.”

2 Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.

Balak did as Balaam had said, and together they offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.

Balaam said to Balak, “Wait here beside your burnt offering while I go and see if perhaps the Lord will come and meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me, I'll share with you.” Then Balaam left to climb up a rocky crag.

4 God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”

God met with him there, and Balaam said. “I have built seven altars and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

5 Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

The Lord gave Balaam a message to share. He told him, “Go back to Balak and this is what you are to say to him.”

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

So he went back to Balak, who was waiting there beside his burnt offering, along with all the Moabite leaders.

7 He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.

This is the declaration that Balaam gave: “Balak brought me from Aram; the king of Moab brought me from the mountains of the east. He said, ‘Come and curse Jacob for me! Come and condemn Israel!’

8 How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom Yahweh has not defied?

But how can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I condemn what the Lord has not condemned?

9 For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed among the nations.

For I'm looking down on them from the top of rocky crags; I'm watching them from the hills. I see a people who live on their own, different from the other nations.

10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”

Who can count Jacob's descendants? They are so many they're like dust! Who can count even a quarter of the Israelites? I would like to die as a good person dies! Let the end of my life be like their end!”

11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”

Then Balak complained to Balaam, “What on earth have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and now look! All you have done is bless them!”

12 He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?”

But Balaam replied, “Don't you think I should I say precisely what the Lord tells me?”

13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. But you'll only see a part of their camp—you won't see all of them. You can curse them for me from there.”

14 He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

He took him to the field of Zophim at the top of Mount Pisgah. There he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15 He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”

Balaam told Balak, “Wait here beside your burnt offering while I meet the Lord over there.”

16 Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”

The Lord met Balaam and gave him a message to share. He told him, “Go back to Balak and this is what you are to say to him.”

17 He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?”

So he went back to Balak, who was waiting there beside his burnt offering, along with all the Moabite leaders. “What did the Lord say?” Balak asked.

18 He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

This is the prophecy that Balaam delivered: “Stand up, Balak, and pay attention! Listen to me, son of Zippor!

19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?

God isn't a human being who would lie. He's not a mere mortal who changes his mind. Does he say he's going to do something but doesn't? Does he make promises he doesn't carry out?

20 Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.

Look, I have been ordered to give a blessing. God has blessed, and I can't change that.

21 He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.

He's not expecting anything bad will happen to Jacob; he doesn't foresee any trouble for Israel. The Lord their God is with them; they celebrate him as their king.

22 God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.

God led them out of Egypt with great power, as strong as an ox.

23 Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’

No spell can be cast against Jacob; no magic can be used against Israel. People will talk about Jacob and Israel, saying, ‘What amazing things God has done for them!’

24 Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”

Look! The Israelites go out hunting like a lioness; they chase like a lion. They don't rest until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of their dead victim.”

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

Then Balak said to Balaam, “If you can't give them any curses then at least don't give them any blessings!”

26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do’?”

But Balaam replied, “Didn't I explain to you that I have to do whatever the Lord tells me?”

27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

“Please come with me and I will take you somewhere else,” Balak said. “Maybe God would let you curse them for me from there.”

28 Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.

Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which looks down on the wastelands.

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

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

30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

Balak what Balaam told him, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.