Berean Study Bible

English Standard Version

1Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”

1And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

2So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

2Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.

3“Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone,” Balaam said to Balak. “Perhaps the LORD will meet with me. And whatever He reveals to me, I will tell you.” So Balaam went off to a barren height,

3And 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.” And he went to a bare height,

4and God met with him. “I have set up seven altars,” Balaam said, “and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

4and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

5Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”

5And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

6So he returned to Balak, who was standing there beside his burnt offering, with all the princes of Moab.

6And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering.

7And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’

7And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’

8How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?

8How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

9For I see them from atop the rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. Behold, a people dwelling apart, not reckoning themselves among the nations.

9For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations!

10Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!”

10Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”

11Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”

11And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.”

12But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

12And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

13Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp—not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.”

13And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.”

14So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

14And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”

15Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there.”

16And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”

16And the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.”

17So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. “What did the LORD say?” Balak asked.

17And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?”

18Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor.

18And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor:

19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?

19God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

20I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.

20Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

21He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them.

21He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.

22God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox.

22God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

23For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’

23For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What has God wrought!’

24Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”

24Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.”

25Now Balak said to Balaam, “Then neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

25And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.”

26But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”

26But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the LORD says, that I must do’?”

27“Please come,” said Balak, “I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.”

27And 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.”

28And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.

28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.

29Then Balaam said, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”

29And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

30So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.