Numbers 23
JPS Tanakh (Jewish Publication Society, 1917)
World English Bible
1And Balaam said unto Balak: 'Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.'
1Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
2And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
2Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.
3And Balaam said unto Balak: 'Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go; peradventure the LORD will come to meet me; and whatsoever He showeth me I will tell thee.' And he went to a bare height.
3Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.
4And God met Balaam; and he said unto Him: 'I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.'
4God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”
5And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said: 'Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.'
5The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
6And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
6He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
7And he took up his parable, and said: From Aram Balak bringeth me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: 'Come, curse me Jacob, and come, execrate Israel.'
7He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.
8How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? And how shall I execrate, whom the LORD hath not execrated?
8How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom the LORD has not defied?
9For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
9For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed among the nations.
10Who hath counted the dust of Jacob, or numbered the stock of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let mine end be like his!
10Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”
11And Balak said unto Balaam: 'What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.'
11Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”
12And he answered and said: 'Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD putteth in my mouth?'
12He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD puts in my mouth?”
13And Balak said unto him: 'Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse me them from thence.'
13Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”
14And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
14He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
15And he said unto Balak: 'Stand here by thy burnt-offering, while I go toward a meeting yonder.'
15He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”
16And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said: 'Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.'
16The LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”
17And he came to him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him: 'What hath the LORD spoken?'
17He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?”
18And he took up his parable, and said: Arise, Balak, and hear; give ear unto me, thou son of Zippor:
18He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.
19God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: when He hath said, will He not do it? or when He hath spoken, will He not make it good?
19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?
20Behold, I am bidden to bless; and when He hath blessed, I cannot call it back.
20Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.
21None hath beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath one seen perverseness in Israel; the LORD his God is with him, and the shouting for the King is among them.
21He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.
22God who brought them forth out of Egypt is for them like the lofty horns of the wild-ox.
22God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.
23For there is no enchantment with Jacob, neither is there any divination with Israel; now is it said of Jacob and of Israel: 'What hath God wrought!'
23Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’
24Behold a people that riseth up as a lioness, and as a lion doth he lift himself up; he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
24Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
25And Balak said unto Balaam: 'Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.'
25Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”
26But Balaam answered and said unto Balak: 'Told not I thee, saying: All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?'
26But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do’?”
27And Balak said unto Balaam: 'Come now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.'
27Balak 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.”
28And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh down upon the desert.
28Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.
29And Balaam said unto Balak: 'Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.'
29Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
30Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
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