Num. 23
:1
23:1
aThen Balaam said to Balak, Build me seven altars here, and have seven bulls and seven rams ready for me here.
Num. 23
:2
23:2
And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken. And Balak and Balaam
1offered up a bull and a ram on
each altar.
Num. 23
:3
23:3
And Balaam said to Balak, Stand near your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatever He shows me I will tell you. And he went to a bare height.
Num. 23
:4
23:4
aAnd God met Balaam, and he said to Him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on
each altar.
Num. 23
:5
23:5
And Jehovah put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, Return to Balak, and you shall speak this.
Num. 23
:6
23:6
When he returned to him, there he was, standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the rulers of Moab.
Num. 23
:7
23:7
And he took up his
1parable and said,
From Aram Balak brought me,
The king of Moab from the mountains of the East.
Come,
acurse Jacob for me;
And come, denounce Israel!
Num. 23
:8
23:8
How shall I curse whom God has
anot cursed?
And how can I denounce whom Jehovah has not denounced?
Num. 23
:9
23:9
For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him.
Here is a people who live
1aalone And do not reckon themselves among the nations.
Num. 23
:10
23:10
Who can
acount the
1dust of Jacob,
Or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let
2me die the death of the upright,
And let my latter end be like theirs!
Num. 23
:11
23:11
And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but now you have altogether blessed
them.
Num. 23
:12
23:12
And he answered and said,
aShall I not take care to speak what Jehovah puts in my mouth?
b.
The second parable
23:13-26
Num. 23
:13
23:13
aAnd Balak said to him, Come now with me to another place from which you may see them. You will see only the outside edge of them and not see them all; then curse them for me from there.
Num. 23
:14
23:14
So he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of
aPisgah, and built seven altars and offered up a bull and a ram on
each altar.
Num. 23
:15
23:15
And he said to Balak, Stand here near your burnt offering while I meet
Jehovah there.
Num. 23
:16
23:16
aAnd Jehovah met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, Return to Balak, and you shall speak this.
Num. 23
:17
23:17
When he came to him, there he was, standing beside his burnt offering, and the rulers of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken?
Num. 23
:18
23:18
And he took up his parable and said,
Arise, O Balak, and hear;
Listen to me, O son of Zippor:
Num. 23
:19
23:19
aGod is not a man, that He should
1lie,
Nor 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 establish it?
Num. 23
:20
23:20
Now I have received
a word to bless;
Since He has
ablessed, then I cannot reverse it.
Num. 23
:21
23:21
He has not beheld
1ainiquity in Jacob,
Nor has He seen trouble in Israel;
bJehovah their God is with them,
And the shout of a
2king is among them.
Num. 23
:22
23:22
aGod is the One who brought them forth out of Egypt;
1He has as it were the
2bhorns of the wild ox.
Num. 23
:23
23:23
Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
Nor is there any divination against Israel.
Now it shall be said of Jacob
And of Israel, What has God
awrought!
Num. 23
:24
23:24
See, a people rises up like a lioness,
And like a
alion they lift themselves up.
They shall not lie down until they eat the prey
And drink the blood of the slain.
Num. 23
:25
23:25
And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
Num. 23
:26
23:26
But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell you, saying,
aAll that Jehovah speaks, that I must do?
с.
The third parable
23:27—24:13
Num. 23
:27
23:27
aAnd 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.
Num. 23
:28
23:28
And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks down upon the desert.
Num. 23
:29
23:29
aAnd Balaam said to Balak, Build me seven altars here, and have seven bulls and seven rams ready for me here.
Num. 23
:30
23:30
And Balak did just as Balaam had said, and he offered up a bull and a ram on
each altar.
