23:1 AND BALAAM said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. |
23:2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. |
23:3 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. |
23:4 God met Balaam, who said to Him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram. |
23:5 And the Lord put a speech in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak and thus shall you speak. |
23:6 Balaam returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the princes of Moab. |
23:7 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. |
23:8 How can I curse those God has not cursed? Or how can I [violently] denounce those the Lord has not denounced? |
23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see Israel, and from the hills I behold him. Behold, the people [of Israel] shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned {and} esteemed among the nations. |
23:10 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! |
23:11 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! |
23:12 And Balaam answered, Must I not be obedient {and} speak what the Lord has put in my mouth? |
23:13 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. |
23:14 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. |
23:15 Balaam said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt offering while I go to meet the Lord yonder. |
23:16 And the Lord met Balaam and put a speech in his mouth, and said, Go again to Balak and speak thus. |
23:17 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? |
23:18 Balaam took up his [figurative] discourse and said: Rise up, Balak, and hear; listen [closely] to me, son of Zippor. |
23:19 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? |
23:20 You see, I have received His command to bless Israel. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse {or} qualify it. |
23:21 [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. |
23:22 God brought them forth out of Egypt; they have as it were the strength of a wild ox. |
23:23 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! |
23:24 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. |
23:25 And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all. |
23:26 But Balaam answered Balak, Did I not say to you, All the Lord speaks, that I must do? |
23:27 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. |
23:28 So Balak brought Balaam to the top of [Mount] Peor, that overlooks [the wilderness or desert] Jeshimon. |
23:29 And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams. |
23:30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. |