The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

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- Chapter 23 -

Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”

So Balak did as Balaam requested. Then Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on every altar.

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand at your burnt offering and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” So he went away to a hilltop with no trees.

While he was on the hilltop, God met him, and Balaam said to him, “I have built seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each one.”

Yahweh put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and speak to him.”

So Balaam returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt offering, and all the leaders of Moab were with him.

Then Balaam began to speak his prophecy and said, “Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. ‘Come, curse Jacob for me,’ he said. ‘Come, defy Israel.’

How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I oppose those whom Yahweh does not oppose?

For from the top of the rocks I see him; from the hills I look at him. See, there is a people who live alone and do not consider themselves as just an ordinary nation.

Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even only one fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of a righteous person, and let my life’s end be like his!”

Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have blessed them.”

Balaam answered and said, “Should I not be careful to say only what Yahweh puts in my mouth?”

Balaam’s Second Oracle

So Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the nearest of them, not all of them. There you will curse them for me.”

So he took Balaam into the field of Zophim, to the top of Mount Pisgah, and built seven more altars. He offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet with Yahweh over there.”

So Yahweh met Balaam and put a message in his mouth. He said, “Return to Balak and give him my message.”

Balaam returned to him, and look, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. Then Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh said?”

Balaam began his prophecy. He said, ”Rise up, Balak, and hear. Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

God is not a man, that he should lie, Or a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he promised anything without doing it? Has he said he would do something without carrying it out?

Look, I have been commanded to bless. God has given a blessing, and I cannot reverse it.

He has seen no hardship in Jacob or trouble in Israel. Yahweh their God is with them, and shouts for their king are among them.

God brought them out of Egypt with strength like that of a wild ox.

There is no sorcery that works against Jacob, and no fortune-telling harms Israel. Instead, it must be said about Jacob and Israel, ‘Look what God has done!’

Look, the people rise like a lioness, as a lion emerges and attacks. He does not lie down until he eats his victim and drinks the blood of what he has killed.”

Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them or bless them at all.”

But Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you that I must say all that Yahweh tells me to say?”

So Balak replied to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God for you to curse them there for me.”

So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which looks down on the wilderness.

Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams.”

So Balak did as Balaam had said; he offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”

Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.

Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went to a bare height.

God met Balaam, and he said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.”

The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.

He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.

How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom the LORD has not defied?

For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be listed among the nations.

Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”

Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”

He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD puts in my mouth?”

Balaam’s Second Oracle

Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you may see them. You shall see just part of them, and shall not see them all. Curse them from there for me.”

He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet God over there.”

The LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and say this.”

He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?”

He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?

Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it.

He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.

God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.

Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What has God done!’

Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”

Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”

But Balaam answered Balak, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do’?”

Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.

Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”

Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.