NAS - Numbers Chapters 23 to 24

23 The Prophecies of Balaam

¹Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here." ²Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. ³Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you." So he went to a bare hill.

⁴Now God met Balaam, and he said to Him, "I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar." ⁵Then the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus." ⁶So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. ⁷He took up his discourse and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab's king from the mountains of the East, `Come curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!' ⁸ "How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? ⁹ "As I see him from the top of the rocks, And I look at him from the hills; Behold, a people who dwells apart, And will not be reckoned among the nations. ¹⁰"Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my end be like his!"

¹¹Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!" ¹²He replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"

¹³Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there." ¹⁴So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵And he said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the LORD over there." ¹⁶Then the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak." ¹⁷He came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?" ¹⁸Then he took up his discourse and said, "Arise, O Balak, and hear; Give ear to me, O son of Zippor! ¹⁹ "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? ²⁰"Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it. ²¹ "He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; The LORD his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them. ²²"God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox. ²³"For there is no omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done! ²⁴"Behold, a people rises like a lioness, And as a lion it lifts itself; It will not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain."

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!" ²⁶But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, `Whatever the LORD speaks, that I must do'?"

²⁷Then Balak said to Balaam, "Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there." ²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks the wasteland. ²⁹Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here." ³⁰Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

24 The Prophecy from Peor

¹When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek omens but he set his face toward the wilderness. ²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him. ³He took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened; ⁴ The oracle of him who hears the words of God, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered, ⁵ How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel! ⁶"Like valleys that stretch out, Like gardens beside the river, Like aloes planted by the LORD, Like cedars beside the waters. ⁷ "Water will flow from his buckets, And his seed will be by many waters, And his king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted. ⁸"God brings him out of Egypt, He is for him like the horns of the wild ox. He will devour the nations who are his adversaries, And will crush their bones in pieces, And shatter them with his arrows. ⁹"He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, And cursed is everyone who curses you."

¹⁰Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! ¹¹"Therefore, flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, the LORD has held you back from honor." ¹²Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, ¹³ `Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the command of the LORD, either good or bad, of my own accord. What the LORD speaks, that I will speak'? ¹⁴"And now, behold, I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the days to come."

¹⁵He took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, ¹⁶ The oracle of him who hears the words of God, And knows the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered. ¹⁷"I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth. ¹⁸"Edom shall be a possession, Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession, While Israel performs valiantly. ¹⁹"One from Jacob shall have dominion, And will destroy the remnant from the city."

²⁰And he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said, "Amalek was the first of the nations, But his end shall be destruction."

²¹And he looked at the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said, "Your dwelling place is enduring, And your nest is set in the cliff. ²² "Nevertheless Kain will be consumed; How long will Asshur keep you captive?"

²³Then he took up his discourse and said, "Alas, who can live except God has ordained it? ²⁴ "But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber; So they also will come to destruction."

²⁵Then Balaam arose and departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way.