Numbers - Chapter 23

1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen [calves] and seven rams.

2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam [and he] offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering [thy sacrifice], and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place. And Balac stood by his sacrifice

4 And Balaam went to enquire of God; and he went straight forward, and God met Balaam: and he, Balaam, said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.

5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice [his whole-burnt-offerings], he, and all the princes of Moab with him; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram [out of Mesopotamia], out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel [call for a curse for me upon Israel].

8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy [devote], whom the LORD hath not defied [God devotes not]?

9 For from the top of the rocks [of the mountains] I shall see him, and from the hills I shall behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10 Who can count the dust [the seed] of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel [who shall number the families of Israel]? Let me [my soul] die the death of the righteous [with the souls of the righteous], and let my last end be like his [let my seed be as their seed]!

11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

12 And he answered and said [And Balaam said to Balac], Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?

13 And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them [where thou shalt not see the people]: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim [to a high place of the field], to the top of Pisgah [of the quarried], and built there seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering [thy sacrifice], while I meet the LORD [and I will go to enquire of God] yonder.

16 And the LORD [God] met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.

17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his whole-burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?

18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken as a witness unto me, thou son of Zippor:

19 God is not a man, that he should lie [to waver]; neither the son of man, that he should repent [to be threatened]: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it [I will bless, and not turn back].

21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob [There shall not be trouble in Jacob], neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel [neither shall sorrow be seen in Israel]: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them [the glories of rulers in him].

22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength [the glory] of an unicorn.

23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob [no divination in Jacob], neither is there any divination against Israel [nor enchantment in Israel]: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought [it shall be told to Jacob and Israel what God shall perform]!

24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion [as a lion's whelp], and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon [extends to the wilderness].

29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.