Numbers 23

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.	1 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars, and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams for me here."
2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.	2 So he did as Balaam had ordered, offering a bullock and a ram on each altar. And Balak said to him, "I have erected the seven altars, and have offered a bullock and a ram on each."
3 And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.	3 Balaam then said to him, "Stand here by your holocaust while I go over there. Perhaps the LORD will meet me, and then I will tell you whatever he lets me see." He went out on the barren height,
4 And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.	4 and God met him.
5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.	5 When he had put an utterance in Balaam's mouth, the LORD said to him, "Go back to Balak, and speak accordingly."
6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.	6 So he went back to Balak, who was still standing by his holocaust together with all the princes of Moab.
7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.	7 Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle: From Aram has Balak brought me here, Moab's king, from the Eastern Mountains: "Come and lay a curse for me on Jacob, come and denounce Israel."
8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?	8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.	9 For from the top of the crags I see him, from the heights I behold him. Here is a people that lives apart and does not reckon itself among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!	10 Who has ever counted the dust of Jacob, or numbered Israel's wind-borne particles? May I die the death of the just, may my descendants be as many as theirs!
11 And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.	11 "What have you done to me?" cried Balak to Balaam. "It was to curse my foes that I brought you here; instead, you have even blessed them."
12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?	12 Balaam replied, "Is it not what the LORD puts in my mouth that I must repeat with care?"
13 And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.	13 Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you can see only some and not all of them, and from there curse them for me."
14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.	14 So he brought him to the lookout field on the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bullock and a ram on each of them.
15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.	15 Balaam then said to Balak, "Stand here by your holocaust, while I seek a meeting over there."
16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.	16 Then the LORD met Balaam, and having put an utterance in his mouth, he said to him, "Go back to Balak, and speak accordingly."
17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?	17 So he went back to Balak, who was still standing by his holocaust together with the princes of Moab. When Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?"
18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:	18 Balaam gave voice to his oracle: Be aroused, O Balak, and hearken; give ear to my testimony, O son of Zippor!
19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?	19 God is not man that he should speak falsely, nor human, that he should change his mind. Is he one to speak and not act, to decree and not fulfill?
20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.	20 It is a blessing I have been given to pronounce; a blessing which I cannot restrain.
21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.	21 Misfortune is not observed in Jacob, nor misery seen in Israel. The LORD, his God, is with him; with him is the triumph of his King.
22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.	22 It is God who brought him out of Egypt, a wild bull of towering might.
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!	23 No, there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor omen against Israel. It shall yet be said of Jacob, and of Israel, "Behold what God has wrought!"
24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.	24 Here is a people that springs up like a lioness, and stalks forth like a lion; It rests not till it has devoured its prey and has drunk the blood of the slain.
25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.	25 "Even though you cannot curse them," said Balak to Balaam, "at least do not bless them."
26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?	26 But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not warn you that I must do all that the LORD tells me?"
27 And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.	27 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me bring you to another place; perhaps God will approve of your cursing them for me from there."
28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.	28 So he took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks Jeshimon.
29 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.	29 Balaam then said to him, "Here build me seven altars; and here prepare for me seven bullocks and seven rams."
30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.	30 And Balak did as Balaam had ordered, offering a bullock and a ram on each altar.