Numeri 23

VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Dixitque Balaam ad Balac : Ædifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.	1 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars, and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams for me here."
2 Cumque fecisset juxta sermonem Balaam, imposuerunt simul vitulum et arietem super aram.	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 Dixitque Balaam ad Balac : Sta paulisper juxta holocaustum tuum, donec vadam, si forte occurrat mihi Dominus, et quodcumque imperaverit, loquar tibi.	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 Cumque abiisset velociter, occurrit illi Deus. Locutusque ad eum Balaam : Septem, inquit, aras erexi, et imposui vitulum et arietem desuper.	4 and God met him.
5 Dominus autem posuit verbum in ore ejus, et ait : Revertere ad Balac, et hæc loqueris.	5 When he had put an utterance in Balaam's mouth, the LORD said to him, "Go back to Balak, and speak accordingly."
6 Reversus invenit stantem Balac juxta holocaustum suum, et omnes principes Moabitarum :	6 So he went back to Balak, who was still standing by his holocaust together with all the princes of Moab.
7 assumptaque parabola sua, dixit : De Aram adduxit me Balac rex Moabitarum, de montibus orientis : Veni, inquit, et maledic Jacob ; propera, et detestare Israël.	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 Quomodo maledicam, cui non maledixit Deus ? qua ratione detester, quem Dominus non detestatur ?	8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?
9 De summis silicibus videbo eum, et de collibus considerabo illum. Populus solus habitabit, et inter gentes non reputabitur.	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 Quis dinumerare possit pulverem Jacob, et nosse numerum stirpis Israël ? Moriatur anima mea morte justorum, et fiant novissima mea horum similia.	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 Dixitque Balac ad Balaam : Quid est hoc quod agis ? ut malediceres inimicis meis vocavi te, et tu e contrario benedicis eis.	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 Cui ille respondit : Num aliud possum loqui, nisi quod jusserit Dominus ?	12 Balaam replied, "Is it not what the LORD puts in my mouth that I must repeat with care?"
13 Dixit ergo Balac : Veni mecum in alterum locum unde partem Israël videas, et totum videre non possis : inde maledicito ei.	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 Cumque duxisset eum in locum sublimem, super verticem montis Phasga, ædificavit Balaam septem aras, et impositis supra vitulo atque ariete,	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 dixit ad Balac : Sta hic juxta holocaustum tuum, donec ego obvius pergam.	15 Balaam then said to Balak, "Stand here by your holocaust, while I seek a meeting over there."
16 Cui cum Dominus occurrisset, posuissetque verbum in ore ejus, ait : Revertere ad Balac, et hæc loqueris ei.	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 Reversus invenit eum stantem juxta holocaustum suum, et principes Moabitarum cum eo. Ad quem Balac : Quid, inquit, locutus est Dominus ?	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 At ille, assumpta parabola sua, ait : Sta, Balac, et ausculta ; audi, fili Sephor :	18 Balaam gave voice to his oracle: Be aroused, O Balak, and hearken; give ear to my testimony, O son of Zippor!
19 non est Deus quasi homo, ut mentiatur, nec ut filius hominis, ut mutetur. Dixit ergo, et non faciet ? locutus est, et non implebit ?	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 Ad benedicendum adductus sum : benedictionem prohibere non valeo.	20 It is a blessing I have been given to pronounce; a blessing which I cannot restrain.
21 Non est idolum in Jacob, nec videtur simulacrum in Israël. Dominus Deus ejus cum eo est, et clangor victoriæ regis in illo.	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 Deus eduxit illum de Ægypto, cujus fortitudo similis est rhinocerotis.	22 It is God who brought him out of Egypt, a wild bull of towering might.
23 Non est augurium in Jacob, nec divinatio in Israël : temporibus suis dicetur Jacob et Israëli quid operatus sit Deus.	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 Ecce populus ut leæna consurget, et quasi leo erigetur : non accubabit donec devoret prædam, et occisorum sanguinem bibat.	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 Dixitque Balac ad Balaam : Nec maledicas ei, nec benedicas.	25 "Even though you cannot curse them," said Balak to Balaam, "at least do not bless them."
26 Et ille ait : Nonne dixi tibi quod quidquid mihi Deus imperaret, hoc facerem ?	26 But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not warn you that I must do all that the LORD tells me?"
27 Et ait Balac ad eum : Veni, et ducam te ad alium locum : si forte placeat Deo ut inde maledicas eis.	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 Cumque duxisset eum super verticem montis Phogor, qui respicit solitudinem,	28 So he took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks Jeshimon.
29 dixit ei Balaam : Ædifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.	29 Balaam then said to him, "Here build me seven altars; and here prepare for me seven bullocks and seven rams."
30 Fecit Balac ut Balaam dixerat : imposuitque vitulos et arietes per singulas aras.	30 And Balak did as Balaam had ordered, offering a bullock and a ram on each altar.