23:4 Then God met Balaam, who 1 said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 23:5 Then the Lord put a message 2 in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 3
23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still 4 standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 23:7 Then Balaam 5 uttered 6 his oracle, saying,
“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me 7 from Aram,
out of the mountains of the east, saying,
‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.’ 8
23:8 How 9 can I curse 10 one whom God has not cursed,
or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?
23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see them; 11
from the hills I watch them. 12
Indeed, a nation that lives alone,
and it will not be reckoned 13 among the nations.
23:10 Who 14 can count 15 the dust 16 of Jacob,
Or number 17 the fourth part of Israel?
Let me 18 die the death of the upright, 19
and let the end of my life 20 be like theirs.” 21
23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary 22 you have only blessed them!” 23 23:12 Balaam replied, 24 “Must I not be careful 25 to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?” 26 23:13 Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”
23:14 So Balak brought Balaam 27 to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, 28 where 29 he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 23:15 And Balaam 30 said to Balak, “Station yourself here 31 by your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord there. 23:16 Then the Lord met Balaam and put a message 32 in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 23:17 When Balaam 33 came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”
23:18 Balaam 34 uttered 35 his oracle, and said,
“Rise up, 36 Balak, and hear;
Listen to me, son of Zippor:
23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a human being, 37 that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? 38
23:20 Indeed, I have received a command 39 to bless;
he has blessed, 40 and I cannot reverse it. 41
23:21 He 42 has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, 43
nor has he seen trouble 44 in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them;
his acclamation 45 as king is among them.
23:22 God brought them 46 out of Egypt.
They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. 47
23:23 For there is no spell against 48 Jacob,
nor is there any divination against Israel.
At this time 49 it must be said 50 of Jacob
and of Israel, ‘Look at 51 what God has done!’
23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,
and like a lion raises himself up;
they will not lie down until they eat their 52 prey,
and drink the blood of the slain.” 53
23:25 Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all 54 nor bless them at all!” 55 23:26 But Balaam replied 56 to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord speaks, 57 I must do’?”
23:27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God 58 to let you curse them for me from there.” 59 23:28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wilderness. 60 23:29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
24:1 61 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, 62 he did not go as at the other times 63 to seek for omens, 64 but he set his face 65 toward the wilderness. 24:2 When Balaam lifted up his eyes, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; 66 and the Spirit of God came upon him. 24:3 Then he uttered this oracle: 67
“The oracle 68 of Balaam son of Beor;
the oracle of the man whose eyes are open; 69
24:4 the oracle of the one who hears the words of God,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
although falling flat on the ground 70 with eyes open: 71
24:5 ‘How 72 beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,
and your dwelling places, O Israel!
24:6 They are like 73 valleys 74 stretched forth,
like gardens by the river’s side,
like aloes 75 that the Lord has planted,
and like cedar trees beside the waters.
24:7 He will pour the water out of his buckets, 76
and their descendants will be like abundant 77 water; 78
their king will be greater than Agag, 79
and their kingdom will be exalted.
24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.
They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;
they will devour hostile people 80
and will break their bones
and will pierce them through with arrows.
24:9 They crouch and lie down like a lion,
and as a lioness, 81 who can stir him?
Blessed is the one who blesses you,
and cursed is the one who curses you!’”