Numbers 23:7–12

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?

9 I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,

and I watch them from the hills.

There is a people living alone;d

it does not consider itself among the nations.

10 Who has counted the dust of Jacobe

or numbered even one-fourth of Israel?

Let me die the death of the upright;

let the end of my life be like theirs.

11 “What have you done to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!”

12 He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth?”f