Liber Numeri 23

1 dixitque Balaam ad Balac aedifica mihi hic septem aras et para totidem vitulos eiusdemque numeri arietes

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

2 cumque fecisset iuxta sermonem Balaam inposuerunt simul vitulum et arietem super aram

So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

3 dixitque Balaam ad Balac sta paulisper iuxta holocaustum tuum donec vadam si forte occurrat mihi Dominus et quodcumque imperaverit loquar tibi

“Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone,” Balaam said to Balak. “Perhaps the LORD will meet with me. And whatever He reveals to me, I will tell you.” So Balaam went off to a barren height,

4 cumque abisset velociter occurrit ei Deus locutusque ad eum Balaam septem inquit aras erexi et inposui vitulum et arietem desuper

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

5 Dominus autem posuit verbum in ore eius et ait revertere ad Balac et haec loqueris

Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”

6 reversus invenit stantem Balac iuxta holocaustum suum et omnes principes Moabitarum

So he returned to Balak, who was standing there beside his burnt offering, with all the princes of Moab.

7 adsumptaque parabola sua dixit de Aram adduxit me Balac rex Moabitarum de montibus orientis veni inquit et maledic Iacob propera et detestare Israhel

And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’

8 quomodo maledicam cui non maledixit Deus qua ratione detester quem Dominus non detestatur

How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?

9 de summis silicibus videbo eum et de collibus considerabo illum populus solus habitabit et inter gentes non reputabitur

For I see them from atop the rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. Behold, a people dwelling apart, not reckoning themselves among the nations.

10 quis dinumerare possit pulverem Iacob et nosse numerum stirpis Israhel moriatur anima mea morte iustorum et fiant novissima mea horum similia

Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!”

11 dixitque Balac ad Balaam quid est hoc quod agis ut malediceres inimicis vocavi te et tu e contrario benedicis eis

Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”

12 cui ille respondit num aliud possum loqui nisi quod iusserit Dominus

But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

13 dixit ergo Balac veni mecum in alterum locum unde partem Israhelis videas et totum videre non possis inde maledicito ei

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp—not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.”

14 cumque duxisset eum in locum sublimem super verticem montis Phasga aedificavit Balaam septem aras et inpositis supra vitulo atque ariete

So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15 dixit ad Balac sta hic iuxta holocaustum tuum donec ego pergam obvius

Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”

16 cui cum Dominus occurrisset posuissetque verbum in ore eius ait revertere ad Balac et haec loqueris ei

And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”

17 reversus invenit eum stantem iuxta holocaustum suum et principes Moabitarum cum eo ad quem Balac quid inquit locutus est Dominus

So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. “What did the LORD say?” Balak asked.

18 at ille adsumpta parabola sua ait sta Balac et ausculta audi fili Sepphor

Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O 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, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

20 ad benedicendum adductus sum benedictionem prohibere non valeo

I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.

21 non est idolum in Iacob nec videtur simulacrum in Israhel Dominus Deus eius cum eo est et clangor victoriae regis in illo

He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them.

22 Deus eduxit eum de Aegypto cuius fortitudo similis est rinocerotis

God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox.

23 non est augurium in Iacob nec divinatio in Israhel temporibus suis dicetur Iacob et Israheli quid operatus sit Deus

For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’

24 ecce populus ut leaena consurget et quasi leo erigetur non accubabit donec devoret praedam et occisorum sanguinem bibat

Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”

25 dixitque Balac ad Balaam nec maledicas ei nec benedicas

Now Balak said to Balaam, “Then neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

26 et ille nonne ait dixi tibi quod quicquid mihi Deus imperaret hoc facerem

But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”

27 et ait Balac ad eum veni et ducam te ad alium locum si forte placeat Deo ut inde maledicas eis

“Please come,” said Balak, “I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.”

28 cumque duxisset eum super verticem montis Phogor qui respicit solitudinem

And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.

29 dixit ei Balaam aedifica mihi hic septem aras et para totidem vitulos eiusdemque numeri arietes

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

30 fecit Balac ut Balaam dixerat inposuitque vitulos et arietes per singulas aras

So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.