Numbers 23:7–24:9

⁷And 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!’

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 mountains I see him,

from the hills I behold him;

lo, a people dwelling alone,

and not reckoning itself among the nations!

¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob,

or number the fourth^s part of Israel?

Let me die the death of the righteous,

and let my end be like his!”

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

¹³And Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place, from which you may see them; you shall see only the nearest 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, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord yonder.” ¹⁶And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” ¹⁷And he came to him, and, lo, 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;

hearken to me, O son of Zippor:

¹⁹God is not man, that he should lie,

or a son of man, that he should repent.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

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

²⁰Behold, I received a command to bless:

he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

²¹He 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.

²²God brings them out of Egypt;

they have as it were the horns of the wild ox.

²³For there is no enchantment against Jacob,

no divination against Israel;

now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,

‘What has God wrought!’

²⁴Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up

and as a lion it lifts itself;

it does not lie down till it devours the prey,

and drinks the blood of the slain.”

²⁵And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.” ²⁶But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” ²⁷And Balak said to Balaam, “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 Peor, that overlooks the desert.^{t 29}And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and provide for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” ³⁰And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Chapter 24

¹When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. ²And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and saw Israel encamping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him, ³and he took up his discourse, and said,

“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

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

who sees the vision of the Almighty,

falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:

⁵how fair are your tents, O Jacob,

your encampments, O Israel!

⁶Like valleys that stretch afar,

like gardens beside a river,

like aloes that the Lord has planted,

like cedar trees beside the waters.

⁷Water shall flow from his buckets,

and his seed shall be in many waters,

his king shall be higher than Agag,

and his kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸God brings him out of Egypt;

he has as it were the horns of the wild ox,

he shall eat up the nations his adversaries,

and shall break their bones in pieces,

and pierce them through with his arrows.

⁹He couched, he lay down like a lion,

and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?

Blessed be every one who blesses you,

and cursed be every one who curses you.”