11 Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 Heb “took up.”
13 The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.
14 The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.

In other versions

And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

“From Aram Balak has brought me,

the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:

‘Come, curse Jacob for me,

and come, denounce Israel!’

Then Balaam spoke his message:

“Balak brought me from Aram,

the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.

‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’

Balaam proclaimed his poem:

Balak brought me from Aram;

the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:

“Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel!”

This was the message Balaam delivered:

“Balak summoned me to come from Aram;

the king of Moab brought me from the eastern hills.

‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me!

Come and announce Israel’s doom.’

And he lifted up his oracle and said,

“From Aram Balak lead me,

from the mountains of the east the king of Moab,

‘Go for me, curse Jacob,

and go, denounce Israel.’

And he took up his parable, and said,

Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram,

Out of the mountains of the east, saying,

Come, curse me Jacob,

And come, defy Israel.

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