Numbers 24

1 And Balaam seeth that [it is] good in the eyes of Jehovah to bless Israel, and he hath not gone as time by time to meet enchantments, and he setteth towards the wilderness his face;

When Balaam saw that the Lord wanted to bless Israel, he chose not to use divination as he had previously. Instead he turned towards the desert,

2 and Balaam lifteth up his eyes, and seeth Israel tabernacling, by its tribes, and the Spirit of God is upon him,

and as he looked at Israel camped there according to their respective tribes, the Spirit of God came on him.

3 and he taketh up his simile, and saith: 'An affirmation of Balaam son of Beor — And an affirmation of the man whose eyes are shut —

He gave a declaration, saying:

4 An affirmation of him who is hearing sayings of God — Who a vision of the Almighty seeth, Falling — and eyes uncovered:

“This is the prophecy of Balaam, son of Beor, the prophecy of a man who sees with eyes are wide open, the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who sees the vision given by Almighty, who bows down in respect with open eyes.

5 How good have been thy tents, O Jacob, Thy tabernacles, O Israel;

How well set out your tents are, Jacob; the places where you live, Israel!

6 As valleys they have been stretched out, As gardens by a river; As aloes Jehovah hath planted, As cedars by waters;

They look like wooded valleys, like gardens beside a river, like aloe trees the Lord has planted, like cedars at the water's edge.

7 He maketh water flow from his buckets, And his seed [is] in many waters; And higher than Agag [is] his king, And exalted is his kingdom.

The Israelites will pour out bucketfuls of water; their descendants will have plenty of water. Their king will be greater than King Agag; their kingdom will be glorious.

8 God is bringing him out of Egypt; As the swiftness of a Reem is to him, He eateth up nations his adversaries, And their bones he breaketh, And [with] his arrows he smiteth,

God led them out of Egypt with great power, as strong as an ox, destroying enemy nations, breaking their bones, piercing them with arrows.

9 He hath bent, he hath lain down as a lion, And as a lioness: who doth raise him up? He who is blessing thee [is] blessed, And he who is cursing thee [is] cursed.'

They are like a lion that crouches and lies down. They are like a lioness that nobody dares to disturb. Those who bless you will be blessed; those who curse you will be cursed.”

10 And the anger of Balak burneth against Balaam, and he striketh his hands; and Balak saith unto Balaam, 'To pierce mine enemies I called thee, and lo, thou hast certainly blessed — these three times;

Balak got angry with Balaam, and beat his fists together. He told Balaam, “I brought you here to curse my enemies, and now look! You keep on blessing them, doing it three times.

11 and now, flee for thyself unto thy place; I have said, I do greatly honour thee, and lo, Jehovah hath kept thee back from honour.'

Leave right now! Go home! I promised to pay you well, but the Lord has made sure you wouldn't receive any payment.”

12 And Balaam saith unto Balak, 'Did I not also unto thy messengers whom thou hast sent unto me, speak, saying,

But Balaam said to Balak, “Didn't I already explain to the messengers you sent

13 If Balak doth give to me the fulness of his house of silver and gold, I am not able to pass over the command of Jehovah, to do good or evil of mine own heart — that which Jehovah speaketh — it I speak?

that even if you gave me your whole palace full of silver and gold, I couldn't do anything I wanted or disobey the command of the Lord my God in any way? I can only say what the Lord tells me.

14 and, now, lo, I am going to my people; come, I counsel thee [concerning] that which this people doth to thy people, in the latter end of the days.'

Listen! I'm going back home now to my own people, but first let me warn you what these Israelites are going to do to your people in the future.”

15 And he taketh up his simile, and saith: 'An affirmation of Balaam son of Beor — And an affirmation of the man whose eyes [are] shut —

Then Balaam gave a declaration, saying, “This is the prophecy of Balaam, son of Beor, the prophecy of a man whose eyes are wide open

16 An affirmation of him who is hearing sayings of God — And knowing knowledge of the Most High; A vision of the Almighty he seeth, Falling — and eyes uncovered:

the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, who receives knowledge from the Most High, who sees the vision given by Almighty, who bows down in respect with open eyes.

17 I see it, but not now; I behold it, but not near; A star hath proceeded from Jacob, And a sceptre hath risen from Israel, And hath smitten corners of Moab, And hath destroyed all sons of Sheth.

I see him, but this isn't now. I observe him, but this isn't close at hand. In the future a leader like a star will come from Jacob, a ruler with a scepter will come to power from Israel. He will crush the heads of the Moabites, and destroy all the people of Seth.

18 And Edom hath been a possession, And Seir hath been a possession, [for] its enemies, And Israel is doing valiantly;

The country of Edom will be conquered, his enemy Seir will be conquered, and the Israelites will be victorious.

19 And [one] doth rule out of Jacob, And hath destroyed a remnant from Ar.'

A ruler from Jacob will come and destroy those left in the city.”

20 And he seeth Amalek, and taketh up his simile, and saith: 'A beginning of the Goyim [is] Amalek; And his latter end — for ever he perisheth.'

Balaam turned his attention to the Amalekites and gave this declaration about them, saying, “Amalek was first among the nations, but they will end up being destroyed.”

21 And he seeth the Kenite, and taketh up his simile, and saith: 'Enduring [is] thy dwelling, And setting in a rock thy nest,

He turned his attention to the Kenites and gave this declaration about them, saying, “Where you live is safe and secure, like a nest on a cliff-face.

22 But the Kenite is for a burning; Till when doth Asshur keep thee captive?'

But Kain will be burned down when Assyria conquers you.”

23 And he taketh up his simile, and saith: 'Alas! who doth live when God doth this?

Then Balaam gave another declaration, saying, “It's a tragedy! Who can survive when God does this?

24 And — ships [are] from the side of Chittim, And they have humbled Asshur, And they have humbled Eber, And it also for ever is perishing.'

Ships will be sent from Cyprus to attack Assyria and Eber, but they too will be permanently destroyed.”

25 And Balaam riseth, and goeth, and turneth back to his place, and Balak also hath gone on his way.

Then Balaam left and returned to his own country, and Balak left too.