Christian Standard Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

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

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

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

2Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

3Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the LORD will meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me." So he went to a barren hill.

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.

4God met with him and Balaam said to him, "I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar."

4Now God met 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 put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you."

5Then the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus."

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

6So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab.

7Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak brought me from Aram; the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains: "Come, put a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel!"

7He took up his discourse and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab's king from the mountains of the East, 'Come curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!'

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

8"How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

9I see them from the top of rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. There is a people living alone; it does not consider itself among the nations.

9"As I see him from the top of the rocks, And I look at him from the hills; Behold, a people who dwells apart, And will not be reckoned among the nations.

10Who has counted the dust of Jacob or numbered even one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright; let the end of my life be like theirs.

10"Who 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!"

11"What have you done to me?" Balak asked Balaam. "I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!"

11Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!"

12He answered, "Shouldn't I say exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?"

12He replied, "Must I not be careful 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; you won't see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me."

13Then 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 curse them for me from there."

14So Balak took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

14So 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 by your burnt offering while I seek the LORD over there."

15And he said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the LORD over there."

16The LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then he said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you."

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

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

17He 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?"

18Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak, get up and listen; son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!

18Then he took up his discourse and said, "Arise, O Balak, and hear; Give ear to me, O son of Zippor!

19God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?

19"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

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

20"Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.

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

21"He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; The LORD his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them.

22God brought them out of Egypt; he is like the horns of a wild ox for them.

22"God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

23There is no magic curse against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said about Jacob and Israel, "What great things God has done!"

23"For there is no omen 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!

24A people rise up like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion. They will not lie down until they devour the prey and drink the blood of the slain.

24"Behold, a people rises like a lioness, And as a lion it lifts itself; It will not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain."

25Then Balak told Balaam, "Don't curse them and don't bless them!"

25Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!"

26But Balaam answered him, "Didn't I tell you: Whatever the LORD says, I must do?"

26But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'Whatever the LORD speaks, that I must do '?"

27Again Balak said to Balaam, "Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there."

27Then Balak said to Balaam, "Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there."

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

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

29Balaam told Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."

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

30So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

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

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

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