Numbers 23

1 And Balaam seide to Balaach, Bilde thou here to me seuene auteris, and make redi so many caluys, and rammes of the same noumbre.

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

2 And whanne he hadde do bi the word of Balaam, thei puttiden a calf and a ram to gidere on the auter.

And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.

3 And Balaam seide to Balaach, Stond thou a litil while bisidis thi brent sacrifice, while Y go, if in hap the Lord meete me; and Y schal `speke to thee what euer thing he schal comaunde.

And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatever he shews me I will tell thee. And he went to a hill.

4 And whanne he hadde go swiftli, God cam to hym; and Balaam spak to hym, and seide, Y reiside seuene auteris, and Y puttide a calf and a ram aboue.

And God met Balaam; and [Balaam] said to him, I have disposed seven altars, and have offered up a bullock and a ram upon [each] altar.

5 Forsothe the Lord `puttide a word in his mouth, and seide, Turne ayen to Balaach, and thou schalt speke these thingis.

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

6 He turnede ayen, and fond Balach stondynge bisidis his brent sacrifice, and alle the princes of Moabitis.

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

7 And whanne his parable `was takun, he seide, Balaach, the kyng of Moabitis, brouyte me fro Aran, fro the `hillis of the eest; and he seide, Come thou and curse Jacob; haaste thou, and greetli curse thou Israel.

And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, curse me Jacob, and come, denounce Israel!

8 How schal Y curse whom God cursid not? bi what resoun schal Y `haue abhomynable whom God `hath not abhomynable?

How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I denounce whom Jehovah doth not denounce?

9 Fro the hiyeste flyntis Y schal se hym, and fro litle hillis Y schal biholde hym; the puple schal dwelle aloone, and it schal not be arettid among hethene men.

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 may noumbre the dust, that is, kynrede, of Jacob, and knowe the noumbre of the generacioun of Israel? My lijf die in the deeth of iust men, and my laste thingis be maad lijk hem!

Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!

11 And Balaach seide to Balaam, What is this that thou doist? Y clepide thee, that thou schuldist curse myn enemyes, and ayenward thou blessist hem.

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

12 To whom Balaam answeride, Whether Y may speke othir thing no but that that the Lord comaundith?

And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah puts in my mouth?

13 Therfor Balaach seide to Balaam, Come with me in to anothir place, fro whennus thou se a part of Israel, and mayst not se al; fro thennus curse thou hym.

And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou wilt see them; thou shalt see only the extremity of them and shalt not see them all, and curse me them from thence.

14 And whanne he hadde led Balaam in to an hiy place, on the cop of the hil of Phasga, he bildide seuene auteris to Balaam, and whanne calues and rammes weren put aboue,

And he took him to the watchmen's field, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.

15 he seide to Balaach, Stonde here bisidis thi brent sacrifice, while Y go.

And [Balaam] said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, and I will go to meet yonder.

16 And whanne the Lord hadde `come to him, and hadde put `a word in his mouth, he seide, Turne ayen to Balach, and thou schalt seie these thingis to hym.

And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.

17 He turnyde ayen, and foond Balach stondynge bisidis his brent sacrifice, and the princis of Moabitis with hym. To whom Balach seide, What spak the Lord?

And he came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him; and Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken?

18 And whanne his parable `was takun, he seide, Stonde, Balach, and herkene; here, thou sone of Sephor. God is not `as a man,

Then he took up his parable and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear! hearken unto me, son of Zippor!

19 that he lye, nethir he is as the sone of a man, that he be chaungid; therfor he seide, and schal he not do? he spak, and schal he not fulfille?

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good?

20 Y am brouyt to blesse, Y may not forbede blessyng.

Behold, I have received [mission] to bless; and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

21 Noon idol is in Jacob, nethir symylacre is seyn in Israel; his Lord God is with hym, and the sown of victorie of kyng is in hym.

He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen wrong in Israel; Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a king is in his midst.

22 The Lord God ledde hym out of Egipt, whos strengthe is lijk an vnicorn;

God brought him out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a buffalo.

23 fals tellyng bi chiteryng of bryddis, `ethir idolatrie, is not in Jacob, nethir fals dyuynyng is in Israel. In his tymes it schal be seide to Jacob and Israel, What the Lord hath wrought!

For there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. At this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

24 Lo! the puple schal rise to gidere as a lionesse, and schal be reisid as a lioun; the lioun schal not reste, til he deuoure prey, and drynke the blood of hem that ben slayn.

Lo, the people will rise up as a lioness, and lift himself up as a lion. He shall not lie down until he have eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.

25 And Balach seide to Balaam, Nether curse thou, nether blesse thou hym.

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

26 And he seide, Whether Y seide not to thee, that what euer thing that God comaundide to me, Y wolde do this?

And Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that Jehovah shall speak, that will I do?

27 And Balach seide to hym, Come, and Y schal lede thee to an other place, if in hap it plesith God that fro thennus thou curse hym.

And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will be right in the sight of God that thou curse me them from thence.

28 And whanne Balaach hadde led hym out on the `cop of the hil of Phegor, that biholdith the wildirnesse,

And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks over the surface of the waste.

29 Balaam seide to hym, Bilde here seuene auteris to me, and make redi so many caluys, and rammes of the same noumbre.

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

30 Balaach dide as Balaam seide, and he puttide caluys and rammes, bi alle auteris.

And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar.