Numbers 23

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.	1 Balaam said to Balak, 'Build me seven altars here and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.'
2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.	2 Balak did as Balaam said and offered a burnt offering of one bul and one ram on each altar.
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 Balak, 'Stand beside your burnt offerings while I go away. Perhaps Yahweh wilcome and meet me. If he does, I shal tel you whatever he reveals to me.' And he withdrew to a bare hil .
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 God came to meet Balaam, who said to him, 'I have prepared the seven altars and offered a burntoffering of one bul and one ram on each altar.'
5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.	5 Yahweh then put a prophecy into his mouth and said to him, 'Go back to Balak, and that is what youmust say to him.'
6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.	6 So Balaam went back to him, and found him stil standing beside his burnt offering, with all the chiefsof 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 He then declaimed his poem as fol ows: Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from thehil s of Kedem: 'Come and curse Jacob for me, 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 shal I curse someone whom God has not cursed, how denounce someone God has notdenounced?
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 Yes, from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I descry him: a people that dwel s on its own,not to be reckoned among other 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 can count the dust of Jacob? Who can number the cloud of Israel? May I die the death of thejust, and may my future be like 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 Balak said to Balaam, 'What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, and youhave heaped blessings on 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, 'Am I to depart from what Yahweh puts into my mouth?'
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 Balak then said, 'Please come somewhere else. From here you can see only the fringe of them, youcannot see them al . Curse them for me over there.'
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 He led him to the Lookouts' Field on the top of Pisgah. There he built seven altars and offered aburnt offering of one bul and one ram on each altar.
15 And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.	15 Balaam said to Balak, 'Stand here beside your burnt offerings while I wait 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 God came to meet Balaam, he put a prophecy into his mouth and said to him, 'Go back to Balak,and that is what you must say to him.'
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 Balaam went to him and found him stil standing beside his burnt offering and all the chiefs ofMoab with him. 'What did Yahweh say?' Balak said to him.
18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:	18 Balaam then declaimed his poem, as fol ows: Stand up, Balak, and listen, give ear to me, son ofZippor.
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 no human being that he should lie, no child of Adam to change his mind. Is it his to say andnot to do, is it his to speak and not fulfil?
20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.	20 The charge laid on me is to bless, I shal bless, and I cannot reverse it.
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 I have perceived no guilt in Jacob, have seen no perversity in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him,and a royal acclamation to greet him.
22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.	22 God has brought him out of Egypt, is like the wild ox's horns to him.
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 There is no omen whatever against Jacob, no augury at al against Israel. Wel may people say ofJacob, of Israel, 'What has God achieved?'
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 for here is a people like a lioness rising, poised like a lion to spring; nor wil he lie down till he hasdevoured his prey and drunk the blood of his slain.
25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.	25 Balak said to Balaam, 'Very wel ! Do not curse them. But 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 Balaam retorted to Balak, 'Did I not tel you? Whatever Yahweh says, I must do.'
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 Balak then said to Balaam, 'Come with me now and I shal take you somewhere else. From thereperhaps it wil please God to curse them for me.'
28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.	28 So Balak led Balaam to the summit of Peor, overlooking the wastelands.
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 Balak, 'Build me seven altars here and prepare me seven bul s and sevenrams.'
30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.	30 Balak did as Balaam said and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar.