Numbers 23–24

Chapter 23

¹And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. ²And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar. ³And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatever he shews me I will tell thee. And he went to a hill. ⁴And God met Balaam; and Balaam said to him, I have disposed seven altars, and have offered up a bullock and a ram upon each altar. ⁵And Jehovah put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak. ⁶And he returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. ⁷And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, curse me Jacob, and come, denounce Israel! ⁸How shall I curse whom •God hath not cursed? or how shall I denounce whom Jehovah doth not denounce? ⁹For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: Lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations. ¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his! ¹¹And Balak said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. ¹²And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah puts in my mouth?

¹³And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou wilt see them; thou shalt see only the extremity of them and shalt not see them all, and curse me them from thence. ¹⁴And he took him to the watchmen’s field, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵And Balaam said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, and I will go to meet yonder. ¹⁶And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shalt thou speak. ¹⁷And he came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him; and Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken? ¹⁸Then he took up his parable and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear! hearken unto me, son of Zippor! ¹⁹•God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Shall he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good? ²⁰Behold, I have received mission to bless; and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it. ²¹He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen wrong in Israel; Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a king is in his midst. ²²•God brought him out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a buffalo. ²³For there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. At this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath •God wrought! ²⁴Lo, the people will rise up as a lioness, and lift himself up as a lion. He shall not lie down until he have eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain. ²⁵And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. ²⁶And Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that Jehovah shall speak, that will I do? ²⁷And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will be right in the sight of God that thou curse me them from thence. ²⁸And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks over the surface of the waste. ²⁹And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. ³⁰And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on each altar.

Chapter 24

¹And Balaam saw that it was good in the sight of Jehovah to bless Israel, and he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. ²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling in tents according to his tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. ³And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor saith, and the man of opened eye saith, ⁴He saith, who heareth the words of •God, who seeth the vision of the Almighty, who falleth down, and who hath his eyes open: ⁵How goodly are thy tents, Jacob, and thy tabernacles, Israel! ⁶Like valleys are they spread forth, like gardens by the river side, Like aloe-trees which Jehovah hath planted, like cedars beside the waters. ⁷Water shall flow out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in great waters, And his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. ⁸•God brought him out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a buffalo. He shall consume the nations his enemies, and break their bones, and with his arrows shall smite them in pieces. ⁹He stooped, he lay down like a lion, and like a lioness: who will stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.

¹⁰Then Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times! ¹¹And now flee thou to thy place; I said I would very highly honour thee, and behold, Jehovah has kept thee back from honour. ¹²And Balaam said to Balak, Did I not also speak to thy messengers whom thou sentest to me, saying, ¹³If Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the commandment of Jehovah to do good or bad out of my heart: what Jehovah shall say, that will I speak? ¹⁴And now behold, I go to my people: come, I will admonish thee what this people will do to thy people at the end of days.

¹⁵And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor saith, and the man of opened eye saith, ¹⁶He saith, who heareth the words of •God, who knoweth the knowledge of the Most High, Who seeth the vision of the Almighty, who falleth down, and who hath his eyes open: ¹⁷I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh: There cometh a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and he shall cut in pieces the corners of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult. ¹⁸And Edom shall be a possession, and Seir a possession, —they, his enemies; but Israel will do valiantly. ¹⁹And one out of Jacob shall have dominion, and will destroy out of the city what remaineth. ²⁰And he saw Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, Amalek is the first of the nations, but his latter end shall be for destruction. ²¹And he saw the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, Firm is thy dwelling-place, and thy nest fixed in the rock; ²²But the Kenite shall be consumed, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive. ²³And he took up his parable, and said, Alas! Who shall live when •God doeth this? ²⁴And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and afflict Asshur, and afflict Eber, and he also shall be for destruction. ²⁵And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.