1 And Balaam said to Balac: Build me here seven altars, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.
2 And when he had done according to the word of Balaam, they laid together a calf and a ram upon every altar.
3 And Balaam said to Balac: Stand a while by thy burnt offering, until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet me, and whatsoever he shall command, I will speak to thee.
4 And when he was gone with speed, God met him. And Balaam speaking to him, said: I have erected seven altars, and have laid on everyone a calf and a ram.
5 And the Lord put the word in his mouth, and said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.
6 Returning he found Balac standing by his burnt offering, with all the princes of the Moabites:
7 And taking up his parable, he said: Balac king of the Moabites hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, said he, and curse Jacob: make haste and detest Israel.
8 How shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed? By what means should I detest him, whom the Lord detesteth not?
9 I shall see him from the tops of the rocks, and shall consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and know the number of the stock of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be like to them.
11 And Balac said to Balaam: What is this that thou dost? I sent for thee to curse my enemies: and thou contrariwise blessest them.
12 He answered him: Call I speak any thing else but what the Lord commandeth?
13 Balac therefore said: Come with me to another place from whence thou mayest see part of Israel, and canst not see them all: curse them from thence.
14 And when he had brought him to a high place, upon the top of mount Phasga, Balaam built seven altars, and laying on every one a calf and a ram,
15 He said to Balac: Stand here by thy burnt offering while I go to meet him.
16 And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his mouth, he said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou say to him.
17 Returning he found him standing by his burnt sacrifice, and the princes of the Moabites with him. And Balac said to him: What hath the Lord spoken?
18 But he taking up his parable, said: Stand, O Balac, and give ear: hear, thou son of Sephor:
19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor as the son of man, that he should be changed. Hath he said then, and will he not do? hath he spoken, and will he not fulfil?
20 I was brought to bless, the blessing I am not able to hinder.
21 There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there an image god to be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the sound of the victory of the king in him.
22 God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the rhinoceros.
23 There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor divination in Israel. In their times it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God hath wrought.
24 Behold the people shall rise up as a lioness, and shall lift itself up as a lion: it shall not lie down till it devour the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
25 And Balac said to Balaam: Neither curse, nor bless him.
26 And he said: Did I not tell thee, that whatsoever God should command me, that I would do?
27 And Balac said to him: Come and I will bring thee to another place; if peradventure it please God that thou mayest curse them from thence.
28 And when he had brought him upon the top of mount Phogor, which looketh towards the wilderness,
29 Balaam said to him: Build me here seven altars, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.
30 Balac did as Balaam had said: and he laid on every altar, a calf and a ram.
Versículos relacionados com Numbers, 23:
Chapter 23 of the Book of Numbers deals with the attempt by King Moabita, Balaque, to curse the Israelites through the prophet Balaam, that God had prevented from doing this. The following verses are chosen based on the proximity of the chapter's themes and are related to God's blessing and protection over their people:
Psalm 3:8: "Save, Lord; for your faithful are lacking; for the children of men who remain firm are lacking." The psalmist calls for God for salvation and protection amid the scarcity of faithful. Just as the Israelites were blessed by God and protected from the Curse of Balaam, the faithful in Christ are also protected by God in the midst of adversity.
Psalm 5:11: "But all who trust in you are rejoiced, exult eternally, for you defend them; and in you those who love your name in you." This verse shows that those who trust God can rejoice and rejoice, for He defends them. Just as God defended the Israelites of the Curse of Balaam, He also defends and protects those who trust in Him.
Psalm 16:1: "Keep me, O God, because in you refuges me." The psalmist places his confidence in God as his source of refuge and protection. Similarly, the Israelites were blessed by God and protected from the Curse of Balaam for putting their trust in him.
Isaiah 54:17: "No weapon forged against you will prosper, and every language to rise against you in judgment, thou shalt condemn it; this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord and his righteousness that comes from me, says the Lord." This verse states that God protects his servants from every weapon and tongue that rises against them. Just as God protected the Israelites from Balaam's curse, He also protects their servants from all attacks of the enemy.
Jeremiah 17:7: "Blessed is the man who trusts the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord." This verse shows that God's blessing is upon those who trust in Him and wait for him. Similarly, the Israelites were blessed by God and protected from the Curse of Balaam for trusting him.
Chapitres: