| 1 | And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. |
| 2 | And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. |
| 3 | And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by 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 met Balaam, who said to Him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram. |
| 5 | And the Lord put a speech in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return to Balak and thus shall you speak. |
| 6 | Balaam returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the princes of Moab. |
| 7 | Balaam took up his [figurative] speech and said: Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse Jacob for me; and come, violently denounce Israel. |
| 8 | How can I curse those God has not cursed? Or how can I [violently] denounce those the Lord has not denounced? |
| 9 | For from the top of the rocks I see Israel, and from the hills I behold him. Behold, the people [of Israel] shall
[a]dwell alone and shall not be reckoned
and
esteemed among the nations. |
| 10 | Who can count the dust (the descendants) of Jacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God], and let my last end be like theirs! |
| 11 | And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, and here you have [thoroughly] blessed them instead! |
| 12 | And Balaam answered, Must I not be obedient
and
speak what the Lord has put in my mouth? |
| 13 | Balak said to him, Come with me, I implore you, to another place from which you can see them, though you will see only the nearest and not all of them; and curse them for me from there. |
| 14 | So he took Balaam into the field of Zophim to the top of [Mount] Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. |
| 15 | Balaam said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt offering while I go to meet the Lord yonder. |
| 16 | And the Lord met Balaam and put a speech in his mouth, and said, Go again to Balak and speak thus. |
| 17 | And when he returned to Balak, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What has the Lord said? |
| 18 | Balaam took up his [figurative] discourse and said: Rise up, Balak, and hear; listen [closely] to me, son of Zippor. |
| 19 | God is not a man, that He should tell
or
act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance
or
compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good? |
| 20 | You see, I have received His command to bless Israel. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse
or
qualify it. |
| 21 | [God] has not beheld iniquity in Jacob [for he is forgiven], neither has He seen mischief
or
perverseness in Israel [for the same reason]. The Lord their God is with Israel, and the shout of praise to their King is among the people. |
| 22 | God brought them forth out of Egypt; they have as it were the strength of a wild ox. |
| 23 | Surely there is no enchantment with
or
against Jacob, neither is there any divination with
or
against Israel. [In due season and even] now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God wrought! |
| 24 | Behold, a people! They rise up as a lioness and lift themselves up as a lion; he shall not lie down until he devours the prey and drinks the blood of the slain. |
| 25 | And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all. |
| 26 | But Balaam answered Balak, Did I not say to you, All the Lord speaks, that I must do? |
| 27 | And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I implore you; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there. |
| 28 | So Balak brought Balaam to the top of [Mount] Peor, that overlooks [the wilderness or desert] Jeshimon. |
| 29 | And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams. |
| 30 | And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. |
Cross references:
-
Numbers 23:10 : Ps. 37:37; Rev. 14:13.
-
Numbers 23:21 : Rom. 4:7, 8; I John 3:1, 2.
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