Numbers 23:1-30 AMPC

[1] And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. [2] And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. [3] And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me; and whatever He shows me I will tell you. And he went to a bare height. [4] God met Balaam, who said to Him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram. [5] And the Lord put a speech in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak and thus shall you speak. [6] Balaam returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the princes of Moab. [7] Balaam took up his [figurative] speech and said: Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse Jacob for me; and come, violently denounce Israel. [8] How can I curse those God has not cursed? Or how can I [violently] denounce those the Lord has not denounced? [9] For from the top of the rocks I see Israel, and from the hills I behold him. Behold, the people [of Israel] shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned and esteemed among the nations. [10] Who can count the dust (the descendants) of Jacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God], and let my last end be like theirs! [11] And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, and here you have [thoroughly] blessed them instead! [12] And Balaam answered, Must I not be obedient and speak what the Lord has put in my mouth? [13] Balak said to him, Come with me, I implore you, to another place from which you can see them, though you will see only the nearest and not all of them; and curse them for me from there. [14] So he took Balaam into the field of Zophim to the top of [Mount] Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. [15] Balaam said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt offering while I go to meet the Lord yonder. [16] And the Lord met Balaam and put a speech in his mouth, and said, Go again to Balak and speak thus. [17] And when he returned to Balak, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What has the Lord said? [18] Balaam took up his [figurative] discourse and said: Rise up, Balak, and hear; listen [closely] to me, son of Zippor. [19] God is not a man, that He should tell or act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance or compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good? [20] You see, I have received His command to bless Israel. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse or qualify it. [21] [God] has not beheld iniquity in Jacob [for he is forgiven], neither has He seen mischief or perverseness in Israel [for the same reason]. The Lord their God is with Israel, and the shout of praise to their King is among the people. [22] God brought them forth out of Egypt; they have as it were the strength of a wild ox. [23] Surely there is no enchantment with or against Jacob, neither is there any divination with or against Israel. [In due season and even] now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God wrought! [24] Behold, a people! They rise up as a lioness and lift themselves up as a lion; he shall not lie down until he devours the prey and drinks the blood of the slain. [25] And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all. [26] But Balaam answered Balak, Did I not say to you, All the Lord speaks, that I must do? [27] And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I implore you; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there. [28] So Balak brought Balaam to the top of [Mount] Peor, that overlooks [the wilderness or desert] Jeshimon. [29] And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams. [30] And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.