BALAAM’S ORACLES

23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”a 2 So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the Lord will meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” So he went to a barren hill.

4 God met with him and Balaam said to him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”

6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab.

BALAAM’S FIRST ORACLE

7 Balaam proclaimed his poem:

Balak brought me from Aram;b

the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:

“Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel!”c

8 How can I curse someone God has not cursed?

How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?