Numbers 23

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

Then said Balaam unto Balak: Build me here seven altars, —and prepare me here, seven bullocks and seven rams.

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

And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, —and Balak and Balaam caused to ascend a bullock and a ram on each altar.

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

Then said Balaam unto Balak: Station thyself by thine ascending-sacrifice, and let me go my way—peradventure Yahweh may come and meet me, and what thing soever he may show me, I will tell thee. So he went his way to a bare height.

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.”

And God came unto Balaam, —so he said unto him The seven altars, have I built in a row, and have caused to ascend, bullock and a ram on each altar.

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

And Yahweh put a word into the mouth of Balaam, —and said—Return unto Balak, and, thus, shalt thou speak.

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

So he returned unto him, and lo! he was stationed by his ascending-sacrifice, —he, and all the princes of Moab.

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.

So he took up his parable and said, —From Aram, doth Balak conduct me, The king of Moab, from the mountains of the East, Come thou! curse me Jacob, Yea, come thou! rage on Israel.

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

How can I revile one whom GOD hath not reviled? Yea, how can I rage on one on whom Yahweh hath not raged?

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.

Surely from the head of the rocks, do I see him, Yea, from the hills, do I observe him, —Lo! a people, who alone doth dwell, And among the nations, he doth not reckon himself.

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 hath counted the dust of Jacob? Or who hath numbered the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my hereafter be like his!

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 said Balak unto Balaam, What hast thou done for me? To revile mine enemies, I summoned thee, and lo! thou hast kept on blessing.

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

And he answered and said, —Was it not to be so that whatsoever Yahweh should put into my mouth, the same, should I take heed to speak?

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 said Balak unto him—Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see him, nothing but his utmost part, shalt thou see, but all of him, shalt thou not see, —and so revile me him from thence.

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.

And he took him to the field of Zophim, unto the head of Pisgah, —and built seven altars, and caused to ascend a bullock and a ram on each altar.

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

Then said he to Balak, Station thyself here by thine ascending-sacrifice, —while, I, meet him yonder.

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

And Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word into his mouth, —and said—Return unto Balak and thus shalt thou speak.

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 the LORD spoken?”

So he came in unto him and, there he was-stationed by his ascending-sacrifice, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath Yahweh spoken?

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

Then took he up his parable and said, —Rise, Balak, and hear, Give ear unto 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 is, not a man, that he should lie, Nor a son of Adam, that he should repent, —Hath, he, said, and will not perform? Yea spoken, and will not make it stand fast?

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

Lo! to bless, have I received [command], —And I will bless, nor will I take it back.

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

He hath not discovered trouble in Jacob, Neither hath he seen wretchedness in Israel, —Yahweh, his God, is with him, And, the acclaim of a king, in his midst:

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

GOD having brought them forth out of Egypt, The very horns of the buffalo, are his:

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!’

Surely, there is no enchantment against Jacob, Nor divination against Israel, —Now, shall it be said—Of Jacob and of Israel, What hath GOD wrought!

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.”

Lo, a people, like a lioness, shall rise, And like a strong lion, shall rouse himself up; He will not lie down till he eat the torn, And the blood of the slain, he drink.

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

Then said Balak unto Balaam, Thou shalt neither revile, him, —nor bless him.

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

And Balaam responded, and said unto Balak, —Spake I not unto thee, saying, All that Yahweh shall speak, that, must I do?

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.”

And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee! let me take thee unto another place, —peradventure, it may be right in the eyes of God, that thou revile me him. from thence.

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

So Balak took Balaam, —unto the head of Peor, that looketh over the face of the Jeshimon.

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

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

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

And Balak did as Balaam said, —and caused to ascend a bullock and a ram on each altar.