Numbers 23:1–10

And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. ²And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram. ³And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go: peradventure Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to a bare height. ⁴And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. ⁵And Jehovah put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. ⁶And he returned unto him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. ⁷And he took up his parable, and said,

From Aram hath Balak brought me,

The king of Moab from the mountains of the East:

Come, curse me Jacob,

And come, defy Israel.

⁸How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?

And how shall I defy, whom Jehovah hath not defied?

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

And from the hills I behold him:

Lo, it is a people that dwelleth alone,

And shall not be reckoned among the nations.

¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob,

Or number the fourth part of Israel?

Let me die the death of the righteous,

And let my last end be like his!