Numbers, 23

1. Balaam said to Balak, 'Build me seven altars here and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.'

1. And Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and provide for me here seven bulls and seven rams."

2. Balak did as Balaam said and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar.

2. Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.

3. Balaam then said to Balak, 'Stand beside your burnt offerings while I go away. Perhaps Yahweh will come and meet me. If he does, I shall tell you whatever he reveals to me.' And he withdrew to a bare hill.

3. And Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you." And he went to a bare height.

4. God came to meet Balaam, who said to him, 'I have prepared the seven altars and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar.'

4. And God met Balaam; and Balaam said to him, "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered upon each altar a bull and a ram."

5. Yahweh then put a prophecy into his mouth and said to him, 'Go back to Balak, and that is what you must say to him.'

5. And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak."

6. So Balaam went back to him, and found him still standing beside his burnt offering, with all the chiefs of Moab.

6. And he returned to him, and lo, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering.

7. He then declaimed his poem as follows: Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the hills of Kedem: 'Come and curse Jacob for me, come and denounce Israel!'

7. And Balaam took up his discourse, and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: `Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!'

8. How shall I curse someone whom God has not cursed, how denounce someone God has not denounced?

8. How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

9. Yes, from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I descry him: a people that dwells on its own, not to be reckoned among other nations!

9. For from the top of the mountains I see him, from the hills I behold him; lo, a people dwelling alone, and not reckoning itself among the nations!

10. Who can count the dust of Jacob? Who can number the cloud of Israel? May I die the death of the just, and may my future be like theirs!

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

11. Balak said to Balaam, 'What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, and you have heaped blessings on them!'

11. And Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them."

12. Balaam replied, 'Am I to depart from what Yahweh puts into my mouth?'

12. And he answered, "Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"

13. Balak then said, 'Please come somewhere else. From here you can see only the fringe of them, you cannot see them all. Curse them for me over there.'

13. And Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place, from which you may see them; you shall see only the nearest of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there."

14. He led him to the Lookouts' Field on the top of Pisgah. There he built seven altars and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar.

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

15. Balaam said to Balak, 'Stand here beside your burnt offerings while I wait over there.'

15. Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder."

16. God came to meet Balaam, he put a prophecy into his mouth and said to him, 'Go back to Balak, and that is what you must say to him.'

16. And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak."

17. So Balaam went to him and found him still standing beside his burnt offering and all the chiefs of Moab with him. 'What did Yahweh say?' Balak said to him.

17. And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?"

18. Balaam then declaimed his poem, as follows: Stand up, Balak, and listen, give ear to me, son of Zippor.

18. And Balaam took up his discourse, and said, "Rise, Balak, and hear; hearken to me, O son of Zippor:

19. God is no human being that he should lie, no child of Adam to change his mind. Is it his to say and not to do, is it his to speak and not fulfil?

19. God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?

20. The charge laid on me is to bless, I shall bless, and I cannot reverse it.

20. Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

21. I have perceived no guilt in Jacob, have seen no perversity in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him, and a royal acclamation to greet him.

21. He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob; nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.

22. God has brought him out of Egypt, is like the wild ox's horns to him.

22. God brings them out of Egypt; they have as it were the horns of the wild ox.

23. There is no omen whatever against Jacob, no augury at all against Israel. Well may people say of Jacob, of Israel, 'What has God achieved?'

23. For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, `What has God wrought!'

24. for here is a people like a lioness rising, poised like a lion to spring; nor will he lie down till he has devoured his prey and drunk the blood of his slain.

24. Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down till it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain."

25. Balak said to Balaam, 'Very well! Do not curse them. But at least do not bless them!'

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

26. Balaam retorted to Balak, 'Did I not tell you? Whatever Yahweh says, I must do.'

26. But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, `All that the LORD says, that I must do'?"

27. Balak then said to Balaam, 'Come with me now and I shall take you somewhere else. From there perhaps it will please God to curse them for me.'

27. And Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there."

28. So Balak led Balaam to the summit of Peor, overlooking the wastelands.

28. So Balak took Balaam to the top of Pe'or, that overlooks the desert.

29. Balaam then said to Balak, 'Build me seven altars here and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.'

29. And Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and provide for me here seven bulls and seven rams."

30. Balak did as Balaam said and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar.

30. And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.