Dual Panel1AND BALAAM said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
2And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.
3And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me; and whatever He shows me I will tell you. And he went to a bare height.
4God met Balaam, who said to Him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.
5And the Lord put a speech in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return to Balak and thus shall you speak.
6Balaam returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the princes of Moab.
7Balaam took up his [figurative] speech and said: Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse Jacob for me; and come, violently denounce Israel.
8How can I curse those God has not cursed? Or how can I [violently] denounce those the Lord has not denounced?
9For from the top of the rocks I see Israel, and from the hills I behold him. Behold, the people [of Israel] shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned {and} esteemed among the nations.
10Who can count the dust (the descendants) of Jacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God], and let my last end be like theirs!
11And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, and here you have [thoroughly] blessed them instead!
12And Balaam answered, Must I not be obedient {and} speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?
13Balak said to him, Come with me, I implore you, to another place from which you can see them, though you will see only the nearest and not all of them; and curse them for me from there.
14So he took Balaam into the field of Zophim to the top of [Mount] Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15Balaam said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt offering while I go to meet the Lord yonder.
16And the Lord met Balaam and put a speech in his mouth, and said, Go again to Balak and speak thus.
17And when he returned to Balak, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What has the Lord said?
18Balaam took up his [figurative] discourse and said: Rise up, Balak, and hear; listen [closely] to me, son of Zippor.
19God is not a man, that He should tell {or} act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance {or} compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good?
20You see, I have received His command to bless Israel. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse {or} qualify it.
21[God] has not beheld iniquity in Jacob [for he is forgiven], neither has He seen mischief {or} perverseness in Israel [for the same reason]. The Lord their God is with Israel, and the shout of praise to their King is among the people.
22God brought them forth out of Egypt; they have as it were the strength of a wild ox.
23Surely there is no enchantment with {or} against Jacob, neither is there any divination with {or} against Israel. [In due season and even] now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God wrought!
24Behold, a people! They rise up as a lioness and lift themselves up as a lion; he shall not lie down until he devours the prey and drinks the blood of the slain.
25And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all.
26But Balaam answered Balak, Did I not say to you, All the Lord speaks, that I must do?
27And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I implore you; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.
28So Balak brought Balaam to the top of [Mount] Peor, that overlooks [the wilderness or desert] Jeshimon.
29And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams.
30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.