23:1 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
23:2 Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went off to a barren height.
23:4 God met with him, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”
23:5 The LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this message.”
23:6 So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the princes of Moab.
23:7 Then Balaam uttered his oracle: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’
23:8 How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?
23:9 From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!”
23:11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”
23:12 He answered, “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
23:13 Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will see only a part but not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.”
23:14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”
23:16 The LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this message.”
23:17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the LORD say?”
23:18 Then he uttered his oracle: “Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor.
23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
23:20 I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
23:21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The LORD their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.
23:22 God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.
23:23 There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
23:24 The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey and drinks the blood of his victims.”
23:25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
23:26 Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the LORD says?”
23:27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.”
23:28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.
23:29 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
23:30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:1 Then Balaam said to Balak, Build me seven altars here, and have seven bulls and seven rams ready for me here.
23:2 And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken. And Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand near your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatever He shows me I will tell you. And he went to a bare height.
23:4 And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:5 And Jehovah put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, Return to Balak, and you shall speak this.
23:6 When he returned to him, there he was, standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the rulers of Moab.
23:7 And he took up his parable and said, From Aram Balak brought me, / The king of Moab from the mountains of the East. / Come, curse Jacob for me; / And come, denounce Israel!
23:8 How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? / And how can I denounce whom Jehovah has not denounced?
23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, / And from the hills I behold him. / Here is a people who live alone / And do not reckon themselves among the nations.
23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, / Or number the fourth part of Israel? / Let me die the death of the upright, / And let my latter end be like theirs!
23:11 And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but now you have altogether blessed them.
23:12 And he answered and said, Shall I not take care to speak what Jehovah puts in my mouth?
23:13 And Balak said to him, Come now with me to another place from which you may see them. You will see only the outside edge of them and not see them all; then curse them for me from there.
23:14 So he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:15 And he said to Balak, Stand here near your burnt offering while I meet Jehovah there.
23:16 And Jehovah met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, Return to Balak, and you shall speak this.
23:17 When he came to him, there he was, standing beside his burnt offering, and the rulers of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken?
23:18 And he took up his parable and said, Arise, O Balak, and hear; / Listen to me, O son of Zippor:
23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, / Nor 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 establish it?
23:20 Now I have received a word to bless; / Since He has blessed, then I cannot reverse it.
23:21 He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, / Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; / Jehovah their God is with them, / And the shout of a king is among them.
23:22 God is the One who brought them forth out of Egypt; / He has as it were the horns of the wild ox.
23:23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, / Nor is there any divination against Israel. / Now it shall be said of Jacob / And of Israel, What has God wrought!
23:24 See, a people rises up like a lioness, / And like a lion they lift themselves up. / They shall not lie down until they eat the prey / And drink the blood of the slain.
23:25 And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
23:26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell you, saying, All that Jehovah speaks, that I must do?
23:27 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.
23:28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks down upon the desert.
23:29 And Balaam said to Balak, Build me seven altars here, and have seven bulls and seven rams ready for me here.
23:30 And Balak did just as Balaam had said, and he offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.