Numbers

Numbers 23

The First Saying

1 And Balaam said to Balak, 1 “Build me seven altars here, and get me seven bulls and seven rams ready here.” 2 And Balak did as Balaam told him, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar. 3 And Balaam said to Balak, 3 “Stand by your sacrifice, and I will go and see whether God will appear to me and meet me; and whatever word he shows me, I will bring back to you.” 3 And Balak stood by his sacrifice, and Balaam went to ask God, and he went straight on. 4 And God appeared to Balaam. And Balaam said to him, 4 “I have prepared the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.” 5 And God put a word into Balaam's mouth and said, 5 “Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.” 6 And he went back to him, and there he was, standing over his whole burnt offerings, with all the leaders of Moab beside him. 7 And the Spirit of God came on him, and he took up his saying and said:

7 Balak king of Moab sent for me out of Mesopotamia,

7 out of the mountains of the east:

7 “Come, curse Jacob for me;

7 come, call down a curse for me on Israel.”

8 How can I curse whom the Lord does not curse?

8 Or how can I curse whom God does not curse?

9 For from the top of the mountains I see him,

9 and from the hills I watch him.

9 Look — a people that lives alone,

9 and is not counted among the nations.

10 Who has counted out the seed of Jacob exactly,

10 and who will number the families of Israel?

10 Let my soul die with the souls of the righteous,

10 and let my descendants be like theirs.

11 And Balak said to Balaam, 11 “What have you done to me? I called you to curse my enemies, and look — you have blessed them, and blessed them well.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, 12 “Whatever God puts into my mouth — should I not be careful to say that?”

The Second Saying

13 And Balak said to him, 13 “Come with me to another place, where you will not see the people — you will see only part of them, not all of them — and curse them for me from there.” 14 And he took him to a high place in the open country, to the top of the cut rock, and built seven altars there and offered a bull and a ram on every altar. 15 And Balaam said to Balak, 15 “Stand by your sacrifice, and I will go and ask God.” 16 And God met Balaam and put a word into his mouth and said, 16 “Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.” 17 And he went back to him, and there he was, standing by his whole burnt sacrifice, with all the leaders of Moab beside him. And Balak said to him, 17 “What has the Lord said?” 18 And he took up his saying and said:

18 Rise up, Balak, and listen;

18 hear me as a witness, son of Zippor.

19 God is not like a man, to be swayed,

19 nor like a son of man, to be threatened.

19 Will he say a thing and not do it?

19 Will he speak and not stand by his word?

20 Look — I have been given a command to bless.

20 I will bless, and I will not turn back.

21 There will be no trouble in Jacob,

21 and no sorrow will be seen in Israel.

21 The Lord his God is with him;

21 the glories of rulers are in him.

22 It was God who brought him out of Egypt;

22 he has something of the glory of the one-horned ox.

23 For there is no reading of omens in Jacob,

23 and no divining in Israel.

23 In its season it will be told to Jacob and to Israel

23 what God is going to do.

24 Look — a people that rises up like a lion cub

24 and lifts himself like a lion.

24 He will not lie down until he has eaten what he took,

24 and he will drink the blood of the fallen.

25 And Balak said to Balaam, 25 “Then do not curse them at all for me — and do not bless them at all either.” 26 And Balaam answered and said to Balak, 26 “Did I not tell you that whatever God says to me, that is what I will do?” 27 And Balak said to Balaam, 27 “Come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God, and you can curse them for me from there.” 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks out over the wilderness. 29 And Balaam said to Balak, 29 “Build me seven altars here, and get me seven bulls and seven rams ready here.” 30 And Balak did as Balaam told him, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.