1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go off as he usually did to meet the omens, but turned his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted his eyes and saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came on him. 3 And he took up his saying and said:
3 Balaam son of Beor says;
3 the man who sees truly says;
4 he says it who hears what God speaks,
4 who saw a vision of God in his sleep,
4 and whose eyes were opened:
5 How good are your dwellings, Jacob,
5 and your tents, Israel!
6 Like shaded valleys,
6 like gardens beside a river,
6 like tents that the Lord has pitched,
6 like cedars beside the water.
7 A man will come out of his seed,
7 and he will rule over many nations;
7 and his kingdom will be lifted higher than Gog's,
7 and his kingdom will grow greater.
8 God led him out of Egypt;
8 he has something of the glory of the one-horned ox.
8 He will eat up the nations that are his enemies,
8 and drain the marrow out of them,
8 and shoot the enemy through with his arrows.
9 He lay down; he rested like a lion,
9 and like a young lion — who will rouse him?
9 Those who bless you are blessed,
9 and those who curse you are cursed.
10 And Balak was furious with Balaam, and struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, 10 “I called you to curse my enemy, and look — you have blessed him outright, three times now. 11 So run off home. I said I would honor you, but now the Lord has kept the honor from you.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, 12 “Did I not say to the very messengers you sent me, 13 ‘If Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go past the word of the Lord to make it good or bad out of my own head; whatever God says, that is what I will say’? 14 And now I am going back to my own place. Come, I will tell you what this people will do to your people in the last days.”
A Star Out of Jacob
15 And he took up his saying and said:
15 Balaam son of Beor says;
15 the man who sees truly says;
16 he says it who hears what God speaks,
16 who receives knowledge from the Most High,
16 who has seen a vision of God in his sleep,
16 and whose eyes were opened:
17 I will point him out, but not now;
17 I call him blessed, but he is not near yet.
17 A star will rise out of Jacob,
17 and a man will stand up out of Israel;
17 and he will crush the leaders of Moab
17 and plunder all the sons of Seth.
18 And Edom will be an inheritance,
18 and Esau his enemy will be an inheritance of Israel;
18 and Israel acted with strength.
19 And one will rise out of Jacob
19 and destroy the one who escapes out of the city.
Amalek, the Kenite, and the Ships
20 And when he had seen Amalek, he took up his saying and said:
20 Amalek is the first of the nations,
20 and yet his seed will perish.
21 And when he had seen the Kenite, he took up his saying and said:
21 Your dwelling place is strong;
21 and though you set your nest in a rock,
22 and though Beor should have a cunningly hidden nest,
22 the Assyrians will carry you away captive.
23 And he looked at Og and took up his saying and said:
23 Oh, oh — who will live when God does these things?
24 And one will come out from the hands of the Kittim,
24 and will afflict Asshur, and will afflict the Hebrews;
24 and they will perish together.
25 And Balaam got up and left and went back to his own place; and Balak went off to his own home.