²Balak did as he was told, and he and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ³Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I go to see whether or not the Lord will meet me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” So he went alone to the top of a hill, ⁴and God met him. Balaam said to him, “I have built the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each.”

⁵The Lord told Balaam what to say and sent him back to Balak to give him his message. ⁶So he went back and found Balak still standing by his burnt offering, with all the leaders of Moab.

⁷Balaam uttered this prophecy:

“Balak king of Moab has brought me

From Syria, from the eastern mountains.

‘Come and speak for me,’ he said.

‘Put a curse on the people of Israel.’

⁸How can I curse what God has not cursed,

Or speak of doom when the Lord has not?

⁹From the high rocks I can see them;

I can watch them from the hills.

They are a nation that lives alone;

They know they are blessed more than other nations.

¹⁰The descendants of Israel are like the dust—

There are too many of them to be counted.

Let me end my days like one of God’s people;

Let me die in peace like the righteous.”

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