Numbers, 23

1. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

1. Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams for me,"

2. And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on [every] altar a bullock and a ram.

2. Balak did just as Balaam had ordered and Balak and Balaam offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar.

3. And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

3. Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps Yahweh will meet me and whatever he lets me see I will tell you." So he went to a barren hill.

4. And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon [every] altar a bullock and a ram.

4. God met Balaam who said, "I have prepared the seven altars and on each altar I have offered a bullock and a ram."

5. And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

5. Yahweh then put a message on Balaam's lips and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this message."

6. And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

6. Balaam returned and found Balak standing beside his offering, together with the leaders of Moab.

7. And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, [saying], Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

7. Then Balaam pronounced his oracle: "From Aram, Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. 'Come, curse Jacob for me! Come, denounce Israel!

8. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, [whom] the LORD hath not defied?

8. How can I curse him whom God has not cursed? How can I de-nounce him whom God has not denounced?

9. For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

9. From the peak of the crags I see him, from the heights I behold him. I see a people that lives apart, a people different from all the nations.

10. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth [part] of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

10. Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright and may my end be like theirs!"

11. And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed [them] altogether.

11. Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my ene-mies and you have actually blessed them."

12. And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?

12. And Balaam answered, "Must I not take care to say what Yahweh puts on my lips?"

13. And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

13. Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place where you will see them. You will not see all of them, only the tail end, and there you shall curse them for me."

14. And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on [every] altar.

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

15. And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet [the LORD] yonder.

15. Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your burnt offering while I go and meet Yahweh over there."

16. And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.

16. Yahweh met Balaam and put words on his lips and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this message."

17. And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?

17. He returned and found Balak posted beside his burnt offering with the leaders of Moab. Balak asked, "What did Yahweh say?"

18. And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

18. Balaam then pronounced his oracle, "Be ready to hear, Balak; listen to me, son of Zippor.

19. God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

19. God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said he will do something and will not do it? Has he promised something and not fulfilled it?

20. Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

20. See, I have received a command to bless; when he has blessed I cannot change it.

21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God [is] with him, and the shout of a king [is] among them.

21. He has not seen misfortune in Jacob or observed misery in Israel. Yahweh, their God is with them, and the shout of a king among them.

22. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.

22. God has brought them out of Egypt; he is for them like the horns of a wild ox.

23. Surely [there is] no enchantment against Jacob, neither [is there] any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

23. There are no diviners or magicians in Israel. But it shall be made known to them what God will do with them.

24. Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat [of] the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

24. Behold a people that rises like a lioness, that rouses itself like a lion. It shall not lie down before it devours its prey and drinks the blood of its victims."

25. And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

25. Balak said to Balaam, "Even though you cannot curse them, do not bless them."

26. But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

26. But Balaam answered, "Did I not tell you that whatever Yahweh says, I will do?"

27. And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

27. And Balak said to Balaam, "Come, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it is God's will that you curse them for me there."

28. And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.

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

29. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

29. and Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams."

30. And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on [every] altar.

30. Balak did just as Balaam ordered and offered a bullock and a ram on each altar.