Numeri 23

NOVA VULGATA	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Dixitque Balaam ad Balac: “ Aedifica mihi hic septem aras et para totidem vitulos eiusdemque numeri arietes ”.	1 Balaam said to Balak, 'Build me seven altars here and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.'
2 Cumque fecisset iuxta sermonem Balaam, imposuerunt vitulum et arietem super aram.	2 Balak did as Balaam said and offered a burnt offering of one bul and one ram on each altar.
3 Dixitque Balaam ad Balac: “ Sta paulisper iuxta holocaustum tuum, donec vadam, si forte occurrat mihi Dominus; et, quodcumque imperaverit, loquar tibi ”. Cumque abiisset in collem nudum,	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 occurrit illi Deus. Locutusque ad eum Balaam: “ Septem, inquit, aras erexi et imposui vitulum et arietem desuper ”.	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 Dominus autem posuit verbum in ore eius et ait: “ Revertere ad Balac et haec loqueris ”.	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 Reversus invenit stantem Balac iuxta holocaustum suum et omnes principes Moabitarum;	6 So Balaam went back to him, and found him stil standing beside his burnt offering, with all the chiefsof Moab.
7 assumptaque parabola sua, dixit: “ De Aram adduxit me Balac, rex Moabitarum de montibus orientis: "Veni, inquit, et maledic pro me Iacob; propera et detestare 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 Quomodo maledicam, cui non maledixit Deus? Qua ratione detester, quem Dominus non detestatur?	8 How shal I curse someone whom God has not cursed, how denounce someone God has notdenounced?
9 De summis silicibus video eum et de collibus considero illum: populus solus habitabit et inter gentes non reputabitur.	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 Et quis dinumerare possit pulverem Iacob et quis numeravit arenam Israel? Moriatur anima mea morte iustorum, et fiant novissima mea horum similia ”.	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 Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: “ Quid est hoc, quod agis? Ut malediceres inimicis meis, vocavi te, et tu e contrario benedicis eis! ”.	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 Cui ille respondit: “ Num aliud possum loqui, nisi quod iusserit Dominus? ”.	12 Balaam replied, 'Am I to depart from what Yahweh puts into my mouth?'
13 Dixit ergo Balac: “ Veni mecum in alterum locum, unde partem Israel videas et totum videre non possis; inde maledicito ei ”.	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 Cumque duxisset eum in campum speculatorum super verticem montis Phasga, aedificavit septem aras imposuitque supra vitulum atque arietem.	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 Et dixit Balaam ad Balac: “ Sta hic iuxta holocaustum tuum, donec ego obvius pergam ”.	15 Balaam said to Balak, 'Stand here beside your burnt offerings while I wait over there.'
16 Cui cum Dominus occurrisset posuissetque verbum in ore eius, ait: “ Revertere ad Balac et haec loqueris ei ”.	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 Reversus invenit eum stantem iuxta holocaustum suum et principes Moabitarum cum eo. Ad quem Balac: “ Quid, inquit, locutus est Dominus? ”.	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 At ille, assumpta parabola sua, ait: “ Surge, Balac, et ausculta; audi, fili Sephor.	18 Balaam then declaimed his poem, as fol ows: Stand up, Balak, and listen, give ear to me, son ofZippor.
19 Non est Deus quasi homo, ut mentiatur, nec ut filius hominis, ut mutetur. Numquid dixit et non faciet? Locutus est et non implebit?	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 Ad benedicendum adductus sum, benedictionem prohibere non valeo.	20 The charge laid on me is to bless, I shal bless, and I cannot reverse it.
21 Non conspicitur malum in Iacob, nec videtur calamitas in Israel. Dominus Deus eius cum eo est, et clangor regis in illo.	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 Deus eduxit illum de Aegypto, sicut cornua bubali est ei.	22 God has brought him out of Egypt, is like the wild ox's horns to him.
23 Non est augurium in Iacob, nec divinatio in Israel. Temporibus suis dicetur Iacob et Israeli quid operatus sit Deus.	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 Ecce populus ut leaena consurget, et quasi leo erigetur; non accubabit, donec devoret praedam et occisorum sanguinem bibat ”.	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 Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: “ Nec maledicas ei, nec benedicas! ”.	25 Balak said to Balaam, 'Very wel ! Do not curse them. But at least do not bless them!'
26 Et ille ait: “ Nonne dixi tibi quod, quidquid mihi Dominus imperaret, hoc facerem? ”.	26 Balaam retorted to Balak, 'Did I not tel you? Whatever Yahweh says, I must do.'
27 Et ait Balac ad eum: “ Veni, et ducam te ad alîum locum, si forte placeat Deo, ut inde maledicas ei ”.	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 Cumque duxisset eum super verticem montis Phegor, qui respicit solitudinem,	28 So Balak led Balaam to the summit of Peor, overlooking the wastelands.
29 dixit ei Balaam: “ Aedifica mihi hic septem aras et para totidem vitulos eiusdemque numeri arietes ”.	29 Balaam then said to Balak, 'Build me seven altars here and prepare me seven bul s and sevenrams.'
30 Fecit Balac, ut Balaam dixerat, imposuitque vitulos et arietes per singulas aras.	30 Balak did as Balaam said and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar.