Numeri 23

VULGATA	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Dixitque Balaam ad Balac : Ædifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.	1 Balaam said to Balak, 'Build me seven altars here and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.'
2 Cumque fecisset juxta sermonem Balaam, imposuerunt simul 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 juxta holocaustum tuum, donec vadam, si forte occurrat mihi Dominus, et quodcumque imperaverit, loquar tibi.	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 Cumque abiisset velociter, 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 ejus, et ait : Revertere ad Balac, et hæc 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 juxta 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 Jacob ; propera, et detestare Israël.	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 videbo eum, et de collibus considerabo 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 Quis dinumerare possit pulverem Jacob, et nosse numerum stirpis Israël ? Moriatur anima mea morte justorum, 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 jusserit 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 Israël 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 locum sublimem, super verticem montis Phasga, ædificavit Balaam septem aras, et impositis supra vitulo atque ariete,	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 dixit ad Balac : Sta hic juxta 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 ejus, ait : Revertere ad Balac, et hæc 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 juxta 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 : Sta, 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. Dixit ergo, 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 est idolum in Jacob, nec videtur simulacrum in Israël. Dominus Deus ejus cum eo est, et clangor victoriæ 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 Ægypto, cujus fortitudo similis est rhinocerotis.	22 God has brought him out of Egypt, is like the wild ox's horns to him.
23 Non est augurium in Jacob, nec divinatio in Israël : temporibus suis dicetur Jacob et Israëli 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 leæna consurget, et quasi leo erigetur : non accubabit donec devoret prædam, 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 Deus 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 alium locum : si forte placeat Deo ut inde maledicas eis.	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 Phogor, qui respicit solitudinem,	28 So Balak led Balaam to the summit of Peor, overlooking the wastelands.
29 dixit ei Balaam : Ædifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque 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.