| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." | 1Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." |
| 2Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them 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 said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went off to a barren height. | 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. |
| 4God met with him, and Balaam said, "I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram." | 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." |
| 5The LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this word." | 5Then the LORD put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you." |
| 6So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with 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 spoke his message: "Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. 'Come,' he said, 'curse Jacob for me; come, denounce 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.' |
| 8How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced? | 8How can I curse one whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce one whom the LORD has not denounced? |
| 9From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of 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 or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my final 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 the end of my life be like theirs." |
| 11Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!" | 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!" |
| 12He answered, "Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?" | 12Balaam replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?" |
| 13Then Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there, curse them 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 he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and 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. |
| 15Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there." | 15And Balaam said to Balak, "Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD there. |
| 16The LORD met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this word." | 16Then the LORD met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you." |
| 17So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials. Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?" | 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?" |
| 18Then he spoke his message: "Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor. | 18Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, "Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor: |
| 19God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? | 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? |
| 20I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it. | 20Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. |
| 21"No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The LORD their God is with them; the shout of the 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. |
| 22God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. | 22God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. |
| 23There is no divination against Jacob, no evil omens against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'See what God has done!' | 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!' |
| 24The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till it devours its prey and drinks the blood of its victims." | 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 said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!" | 25Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!" |
| 26Balaam answered, "Did I not tell you I must do whatever the LORD says?" | 26But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'All that the LORD speaks, I must do'?" |
| 27Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let 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." |
| 28And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland. | 28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wilderness. |
| 29Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." | 29Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams." |
| 30Balak did as Balaam had said, and 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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