English Standard Version

New American Standard Bible 1995

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

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

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

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

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,

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.

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.”

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."

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

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

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

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

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!’

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 whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom 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?

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!

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 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!”

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!"

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.”

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!"

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

12He replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"

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.”

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."

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.

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, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there.”

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

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

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

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?”

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?"

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

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

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?

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?

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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!

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.”

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."

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

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

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

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

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.”

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 desert.

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

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

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