Numbers 23:7–24:9

⁷And Balaam ^otook up his discourse and said,

“From ^pAram Balak has brought me,

the king of Moab ^qfrom the eastern mountains:

‘Come, ^rcurse Jacob for me,

and come, denounce Israel!’

⁸How can I curse whom God has not cursed?

How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?

⁹For from the top of the crags ^sI see him,

from the hills I behold him;

behold, ^ta people dwelling alone,

and ^unot counting itself among the nations!

^10vWho can count the dust of Jacob

or number the fourth part¹ of Israel?

Let me die ^wthe death of the upright,

and let my end be like his!”

¹¹And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^xI took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” ¹²And he answered and said, ^y“Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

Balaam’s Second Oracle

¹³And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” ¹⁴And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ^zand built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵Balaam said to Balak, ^a“Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” ¹⁶And the Lord met Balaam and ^bput a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” ¹⁷And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” ¹⁸And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

“Rise, Balak, and hear;

give ear to me, O son of Zippor:

^19cGod is not man, that he should lie,

or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

²⁰Behold, I received a command to bless:

^dhe has blessed, and ^eI cannot revoke it.

^21fHe has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,

nor has he seen trouble in Israel.

The Lord their God is with them,

and the shout of a king is among them.

^22gGod brings them out of Egypt

and is for them like ^hthe horns of the wild ox.

²³For there is no enchantment against Jacob,

no ⁱdivination against Israel;

now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,

^j‘What has God wrought!’

²⁴Behold, a people! ^kAs a lioness it rises up

and as a lion it lifts itself;

^lit does not lie down until it has devoured the prey

and drunk the blood of the slain.”

²⁵And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” ²⁶But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ^m‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” ²⁷And Balak said to Balaam, ⁿ“Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” ²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of ^oPeor, which overlooks ^pthe desert.^{2 29}And Balaam said to Balak, ^q“Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ^30rAnd Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam’s Third Oracle

24When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at ^sother times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. ²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel ^tcamping tribe by tribe. And ^uthe Spirit of God came upon him, ³and he ^vtook up his discourse and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,¹

⁴the oracle of him who hears the words of God,

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

^wfalling down with his eyes uncovered:

⁵How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,

your encampments, O Israel!

⁶Like palm groves² that stretch afar,

like gardens beside a river,

^xlike aloes ^ythat the Lord has planted,

like cedar trees beside the waters.

⁷Water shall flow from his buckets,

and his seed shall be ^zin many waters;

his king shall be higher than ^aAgag,

and ^bhis kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸God brings him out of Egypt

and is for him like the ^chorns of the wild ox;

he shall ^deat up the nations, his adversaries,

and shall ^ebreak their bones in pieces

and ^fpierce them through with his arrows.

⁹He crouched, he lay down like a lion

and ^glike a lioness; who will rouse him up?

^hBlessed are those who bless you,

and cursed are those who curse you.”