Numbers 23 (asv)

^23:1And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.^23:2And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.^23:3And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go: peradventure Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to a bare height. ^23:4And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. ^23:5And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. ^23:6And he returned unto him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. ^23:7And he took up his parable, and said, From Aram hath Balak brought me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, And come, defy Israel. ^23:8How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? And how shall I defy, whom Jehovah hath not defied? ^23:9For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him: lo, it is a people that dwelleth alone, And shall not be reckoned among the nations. ^23:10Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my last end be like his! ^23:11And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. ^23:12And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah putteth in my mouth?

^23:13And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. ^23:14And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. ^23:15And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, while I meet Jehovah yonder. ^23:16And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak. ^23:17And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath Jehovah spoken? ^23:18And he took up his parable, and said,

Rise up, Balak, and hear;

Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

^23:19God is not a man, that he should lie,

Neither the son of man, that he should repent:

Hath he said, and will he not do it?

Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?

^23:20Behold, I have received commandment to bless:

And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

^23:21He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob;

Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel:

Jehovah his God is with him,

And the shout of a king is among them.

^23:22God bringeth them forth out of Egypt;

He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox.

^23:23Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob;

Neither is there any divination with Israel:

Now shalt it be said of Jacob and of Israel,

What hath God wrought!

^23:24Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness,

And as a lion doth he lift himself up:

He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,

And drink the blood of the slain.

^23:25And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. ^23:26But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh, that I must do? ^23:27And Balak said unto Balaam, Come now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence. ^23:28And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh down upon the desert. ^23:29And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. ^23:30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.