Numbers 23

The Prophecies of Balaam

1 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 2Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. 3Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.

4 Now God met with Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5Then the Lord ^aput a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” 6So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. 7And he took up his discourse and said,

“From ^bAram Balak has brought me,
Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, saying,
‘ ^cCome, declare Jacob cursed for me,
And come, curse Israel!’
8 “ ^dHow am I to put a curse on him upon whom God has not put a curse?
And how am I to curse him whom the Lord has not cursed?
9 “For I see him from the top of the rocks,
And I look at him from the hills;
^eBehold, a people that lives in isolation,
And does not consider itself to be among the nations.
10 “ ^fWho has counted the dust of Jacob,
Or the number of the fourth part of Israel?
^gMay ▼

▼Lit my soul

I die the death of the upright,
ⁱAnd may my end be like his!”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^jI took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” 12He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak ^kwhat the Lord puts in my mouth?”

13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and put a curse on them for me from there.” 14So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15Then he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the Lord over there.” 16Then the Lord met Balaam and ^lput a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” 17So he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18Then he took up his discourse and said,

“Arise, Balak, and hear;
Listen to me, son of Zippor!
19 “ ^mGod is not a man, that He would lie,
Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind;
ⁿHas He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
20 “Behold, I have received a command to bless;
^oWhen He has blessed, ^pI cannot revoke it.
21 “ ^qHe has not looked at misfortune in Jacob;
^rNor has He seen trouble in Israel;
^sThe Lord his God is with him,
^tAnd the joyful shout of a king is among them.
22 “ ^uGod brings them out of Egypt,
He is for them like the ^vhorns of the wild ox.
23 “ ^wFor there is no magic curse against Jacob,
Nor is there any divination against Israel;
At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob
And to Israel, what God has done!
24 “ ^xBehold, a people rises like a lioness,
And like a lion it raises itself;
It will not lie down until it devours the prey,
And drinks the blood of those slain.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” 26But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘ ▼

▼Lit saying, Whatever

, ^zWhatever the Lord speaks, I must do’?”

27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be ▼

▼Lit right in the sight of God

agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.” 28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the ▼

▼Or Jeshimon

desert. 29And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 30Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.