Liber Numeri 23
1 Dixitque Balaam ad Balac: Ædifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.
And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
2 Cumque fecisset juxta sermonem Balaam, imposuerunt simul vitulum et arietem super aram.
And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered up a bullock and a ram on [each] altar.
3 Dixitque Balaam ad Balac: Sta paulisper juxta holocaustum tuum, donec vadam, si forte occurrat mihi Dominus, et quodcumque imperaverit, loquar tibi.
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 Cumque abiisset velociter, occurrit illi Deus. Locutusque ad eum Balaam: Septem, inquit, aras erexi, et imposui vitulum et arietem desuper.
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 Dominus autem posuit verbum in ore ejus, et ait: Revertere ad Balac, et hæc loqueris.
And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.
6 Reversus invenit stantem Balac juxta holocaustum suum, et omnes principes Moabitarum:
And he returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7 assumptaque parabola sua, dixit: De Aram adduxit me Balac rex Moabitarum, de montibus orientis: Veni, inquit, et maledic Jacob; propera, et detestare Israël.
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 Quomodo maledicam, cui non maledixit Deus? qua ratione detester, quem Dominus non detestatur?
How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I denounce whom Jehovah doth not denounce?
9 De summis silicibus videbo eum, et de collibus considerabo illum. Populus solus habitabit, et inter gentes non reputabitur.
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 Quis dinumerare possit pulverem Jacob, et nosse numerum stirpis Israël? Moriatur anima mea morte justorum, et fiant novissima mea horum similia.
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 Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: Quid est hoc quod agis? ut malediceres inimicis meis vocavi te, et tu e contrario benedicis eis.
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 Cui ille respondit: Num aliud possum loqui, nisi quod jusserit Dominus?
And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah puts in my mouth?
13 Dixit ergo Balac: Veni mecum in alterum locum unde partem Israël videas, et totum videre non possis: inde maledicito ei.
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 Cumque duxisset eum in locum sublimem, super verticem montis Phasga, ædificavit Balaam septem aras, et impositis supra vitulo atque ariete,
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 dixit ad Balac: Sta hic juxta holocaustum tuum, donec ego obvius pergam.
And [Balaam] said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, and I will go to meet yonder.
16 Cui cum Dominus occurrisset, posuissetque verbum in ore ejus, ait: Revertere ad Balac, et hæc loqueris ei.
And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.
17 Reversus invenit eum stantem juxta holocaustum suum, et principes Moabitarum cum eo. Ad quem Balac: Quid, inquit, locutus est Dominus?
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 At ille, assumpta parabola sua, ait: Sta, Balac, et ausculta; audi, fili Sephor:
Then he took up his parable and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear! hearken unto me, son of Zippor!
19 non est Deus quasi homo, ut mentiatur, nec ut filius hominis, ut mutetur. Dixit ergo, et non faciet? locutus est, et non implebit?
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 Ad benedicendum adductus sum: benedictionem prohibere non valeo.
Behold, I have received [mission] to bless; and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 Non est idolum in Jacob, nec videtur simulacrum in Israël. Dominus Deus ejus cum eo est, et clangor victoriæ regis in illo.
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 Deus eduxit illum de Ægypto, cujus fortitudo similis est rhinocerotis.
God brought him out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a buffalo.
23 Non est augurium in Jacob, nec divinatio in Israël: temporibus suis dicetur Jacob et Israëli quid operatus sit Deus.
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 Ecce populus ut leæna consurget, et quasi leo erigetur: non accubabit donec devoret prædam, et occisorum sanguinem bibat.
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 Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: Nec maledicas ei, nec benedicas.
And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
26 Et ille ait: Nonne dixi tibi quod quidquid mihi Deus imperaret, hoc facerem?
And Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that Jehovah shall speak, that will I do?
27 Et ait Balac ad eum: Veni, et ducam te ad alium locum: si forte placeat Deo ut inde maledicas eis.
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 Cumque duxisset eum super verticem montis Phogor, qui respicit solitudinem,
And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks over the surface of the waste.
29 dixit ei Balaam: Ædifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.
And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
30 Fecit Balac ut Balaam dixerat: imposuitque vitulos et arietes per singulas aras.
And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar.
