23:1 Balaam said¹ to Balak, “Build me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had spoken. Balak and Balaam then offered on each² altar a bull and a ram. 23:3 And Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself³ by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me⁴ me I will tell you.”⁵ Then he went to a deserted height.⁶

23:4 And God met Balaam., who⁷ he said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon each altar a bull and a ram.” 23:5 Then the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.”⁸

23:6 So he returned to him, and he was still⁹ standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 23:7 Then Balaam¹⁰ took up his oracle, and said,

“Balak, the king of Moab brought me¹¹ from Aram,
out of the mountains of the east, saying,
‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me,
and come, denounce Israel.’¹²
23:8 How¹³ can I curse¹⁴ whom God has not cursed,
or how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?
23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see them,¹⁵
and from the hills I watch them.¹⁶
Indeed, a nation that lives alone,
and it will not be reckoned¹⁷ among the nations.
23:10 Who¹⁸ can count¹⁹ the dust²⁰ of Jacob,
Or as a number,²¹ the fourth part of Israel?
Let me²² die the death of the upright,²³
and let my latter end be like theirs.”²⁴

23:11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary²⁵ you have only blessed them.”²⁶ 23:12 And he answered and said, “Must I not take heed²⁷ to speak that which the LORD has put in my mouth?”²⁸ 23:13 And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you may observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. And curse them for me from there.”

23:14 So he brought him to the field of Zophim to the top of Pisgah,²⁹ where³⁰ he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 23:15 And he said to Balak, “Station yourself here³¹ by your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD there. 23:16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.” 23:17 When he came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?”

23:18 And he took up his oracle, and said,

“Rise up³² Balak, and hear,
Listen to me, son of Zippor;
23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,
neither the son of man,³³ that he should repent;
has he said, and will he not do it?
or has he spoken, and will he not establish it?³⁴
23:20 Indeed, I have received command³⁵ to bless,
and he has blessed,³⁶ and I cannot reverse it.³⁷
23:21 He³⁸ has not looked on iniquity in Jacob,³⁹
neither has he seen trouble⁴⁰ in Israel.
The LORD their God is with them,
and the acclamation⁴¹ for a king is among them;
23:22 God brought them⁴² out of Egypt,
They have as it were the strength of a wild bull.⁴³
23:23 For there is no spell against⁴⁴ Jacob,
neither is there any divination against Israel.
At this time⁴⁵ it must be said⁴⁶ of Jacob
and of Israel, “What God has done!”
23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lion,
and like a lion lift himself up;
they will not lie down until they eat their⁴⁷ prey,
and drink the blood of the slain.⁴⁸

23:25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all,⁴⁹ nor bless them at all.”⁵⁰ 23:26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks,⁵¹ I must do’?”

23:27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will be please God⁵² that you curse them for me from there.”⁵³ 23:28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward Jeshimon. 23:29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.” 23:30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.