| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Balaam told Balak, "Build for me here seven altars and prepare here for me seven bulls and seven rams." | 1Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." |
| 2So Balak did just as Balaam instructed. Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. | 2So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram. |
| 3Then Balaam instructed Balak, "Stand by your offering and leave me alone by myself. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. I'll tell you whatever he reveals to me." And so he went to a high place, | 3Balaam said to Balak, "Station yourself by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went to a deserted height. |
| 4where the LORD met with Balaam, who told him, "I've prepared seven altars and offered bulls and rams on an altar." | 4Then God met Balaam, who said to him, "I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram." |
| 5Then the LORD gave Balaam this message. "Return to Balak and speak to him." | 5Then the LORD put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you." |
| 6So Balaam returned to where Balak had been standing, that is, next to his offerings, accompanied by all the Moabite officials. | 6So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. |
| 7Then Balaam uttered this prophetic statement: "King Balak of Moab brought me from Aram, from the eastern mountains, and told me, 'Come and curse Jacob for me. Come and curse Israel.' | 7Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying, "Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, 'Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.' |
| 8But how can I curse those whom God hasn't cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD hasn't denounced? | 8How can I curse one whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce one whom the LORD has not denounced? |
| 9I saw them from the top of the rocks. I watched them from the hills. Truly this is a people that lives by itself and doesn't matter among the nations. | 9For from the top of the rocks I see them; from the hills I watch them. Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it will not be reckoned among the nations. |
| 10Who can count the dust of Jacob? Who can number the dust of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may I end up like him." | 10Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let the end of my life be like theirs." |
| 11"What are you doing to me?" Balak asked Balaam. "I brought you to curse my enemies, not pronounce a blessing!" | 11Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them!" |
| 12But in response, Balaam asked, "Shouldn't I be careful to communicate only what the LORD puts in my mouth?" | 12Balaam replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?" |
| 13"Come with me to another place where you can see them," Balak replied. "You'll only see a portion of them, because you won't be able to see them completely. Come and curse them from there for me." | 13Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there." |
| 14So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, and from there to the top of Mount Pisgah, where he built seven altars and then offered a bull and a ram on each altar. | 14So Balak brought Balaam 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. |
| 15Then he told Balak, "Stand by your offering while I go alone to meet the LORD." | 15And Balaam said to Balak, "Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD there. |
| 16Then the LORD met with Balaam and gave a message to him. "Now go back to Balak and speak to him." | 16Then the LORD met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you." |
| 17So Balaam returned to where Balak had been standing, that is, next to his offerings, accompanied by the Moabite officials. "What did the LORD say?" Balak asked him. | 17When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?" |
| 18In response, Balaam uttered this prophetic statement: "Stand up, Balak, and pay attention! Listen to me, you son of Zippor! | 18Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, "Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor: |
| 19God is not a human male— he doesn't lie, nor is he a human being— he never vacillates. Once he speaks up, he's going to act, isn't he? Once he makes a promise, he'll fulfill it, won't he? | 19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? |
| 20Look! I've received a blessing, and so I will bless. I won't withdraw it. | 20Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. |
| 21He has not responded to iniquity in Jacob or gazed at mischief in Israel. The LORD his God is with them, and the triumphant cry of a king is among them. | 21He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them; his acclamation as king is among them. |
| 22From Egypt God brought them— his strength was like a wild ox! | 22God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. |
| 23No Satanic plan against Jacob nor divination against Israel can ever prevail. When the time is right, it is to be asked about Jacob and Israel, 'What has God accomplished?' | 23For there is no spell against Jacob, nor is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'Look at what God has done!' |
| 24Look! The people are like lions. Like the lion, he rises up! He does not lie down again until he has consumed his prey and drunk the blood of the slain." | 24Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain." |
| 25Then Balak told Balaam, "Don't curse them or bless them!" | 25Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!" |
| 26"Didn't I tell you," Balaam responded to Balak, "that I'll say whatever the LORD tells me to say?" | 26But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'All that the LORD speaks, I must do'?" |
| 27So Balak exhorted Balaam, "Let's go right now! I'll take you to another place. Maybe God will agree to have you curse them for me from there." | 27Balak said to Balaam, "Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there." |
| 28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which overlooks the open wilderness. | 28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wilderness. |
| 29Balaam told Balak, "Build seven altars for me right here. Then prepare seven bulls and seven rams." | 29Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams." |
| 30Balak did just what Balaam had instructed—he offered a bull and a ram on each altar. | 30So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. |
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