Numbers 23:1–10

And Balaam said unto Balak, ^aBuild me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. ²And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam ^boffered on every altar a bullock and a ram. ³And Balaam said unto Balak, ^cStand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come ^dto meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to a high place. ^4eAnd God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram. ⁵And the Lord ^fput a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. ⁶And he returned unto him, and lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab. ⁷And he ^gtook up his parable, and said,

Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram,

Out of the mountains of the east, saying,

Come, ^hcurse me Jacob,

And come, ⁱdefy Israel.

⁸How shall I ^kcurse, whom God hath not ^kcursed?

Or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?

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

And from the hills I behold him:

Lo, ^lthe people shall dwell alone,

And ^mshall not be reckoned among the nations.

¹⁰ⁿWho can count the dust of Jacob,

And the number of the fourth part of Israel?

Let me die ^othe death of the righteous,

And let my last end be like his!