Liber Numeri 23
1 dixitque Balaam ad Balac aedifica mihi hic septem aras et para totidem vitulos eiusdemque numeri arietes
And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
2 cumque fecisset iuxta sermonem Balaam inposuerunt 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 iuxta 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 abisset velociter occurrit ei Deus locutusque ad eum Balaam septem inquit aras erexi et inposui 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 eius et ait revertere ad Balac et haec 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 iuxta 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 adsumptaque parabola sua dixit de Aram adduxit me Balac rex Moabitarum de montibus orientis veni inquit et maledic Iacob propera et detestare Israhel
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 Iacob et nosse numerum stirpis Israhel moriatur anima mea morte iustorum 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 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 iusserit 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 Israhelis 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 aedificavit Balaam septem aras et inpositis 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 iuxta holocaustum tuum donec ego pergam obvius
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 eius ait revertere ad Balac et haec 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 iuxta 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 adsumpta parabola sua ait sta Balac et ausculta audi fili Sepphor
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 Iacob nec videtur simulacrum in Israhel Dominus Deus eius cum eo est et clangor victoriae 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 eum de Aegypto cuius fortitudo similis est rinocerotis
God brought him out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a buffalo.
23 non est augurium in Iacob nec divinatio in Israhel temporibus suis dicetur Iacob et Israheli 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 leaena consurget et quasi leo erigetur non accubabit donec devoret praedam 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 nonne ait dixi tibi quod quicquid 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 aedifica mihi hic septem aras et para totidem vitulos eiusdemque 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 inposuitque vitulos et arietes per singulas aras
And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar.
