Numbers 23:1–10

¹And Balaam saith unto Balak, ‘Build for me in this place seven altars, and make ready for me in this place seven bullocks and seven rams.’ ²And Balak doth as Balaam hath spoken, and Balak—Balaam also—offereth a bullock and a ram on the altar, ³and Balaam saith to Balak, ‘Station thyself by thy burnt-offering and I go on, it may be Jehovah doth come to meet me, and the thing which He sheweth me—I have declared to thee;’ and he goeth to a high place. ⁴And God cometh unto Balaam, and he saith unto Him, ‘The seven altars I have arranged, and I offer a bullock and a ram on the altar;’ ⁵and Jehovah putteth a word in the mouth of Balaam, and saith, ‘Turn back unto Balak, and thus thou dost speak.’ ⁶And he turneth back unto him, and lo, he is standing by his burnt-offering, he and all the princes of Moab. ⁷And he taketh up his simile, and saith: ‘From Aram he doth lead me—Balak king of Moab; From mountains of the east: Come—curse for me Jacob, And come—be indignant with Israel. ⁸What—do I pierce?—God hath not pierced! And what—am I indignant?—Jehovah hath not been indignant! ⁹For from the top of rocks I see it, And from heights I behold it; Lo a people! alone it doth tabernacle, And among nations doth not reckon itself. ¹⁰Who hath counted the dust of Jacob, And the number of the fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of upright ones, And let my last end be like his!’