1
And Bilam said to Balaq, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
2
And Balaq did according to what Bilam had spoken. And Balaq and Bilam caused a bull and a ram to go up upon each altar.
3
And Bilam said to Balaq, “Station yourself by your ascending offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahuah will happen to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height.
4
And Elohim met Bilam, and he said to Him, “I have arranged the seven altars, and I have caused a bull and a ram to go up upon each altar.”
5
And Yahuah placed a word in the mouth of Bilam and said, “Return to Balaq, and thus you shall speak.”
6
And he returned to him, and see, he was standing beside his ascending offering, he and all the rulers of Moav.
7
And he lifted up his proverb and said: “From Aram Balaq brought me, the king of Moav from the mountains of the east: ‘Come, curse Yaaqov for me, and come, denounce Yisra’el.’
8
How shall I curse whom El has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom Yahuah has not denounced?
9
For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. See, a people dwelling alone, and among the nations he does not reckon himself.
10
Who has counted the dust of Yaaqov, or numbered the fourth part of Yisra’el? May my being die the death of the upright, and may my end be like his!”
11
And Balaq said to Bilam, “What have you done to me? To curse my enemies I took you, and see, blessing, you have surely blessed them!”
12
And he answered and said, “Must I not guard to speak that which Yahuah places in my mouth?”
13
And Balaq said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you may see them. Only the edge of them you shall see, and all of them you shall not see. And curse them for me from there.”
14
And he took him to the field of Tzofim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and caused a bull and a ram to go up upon each altar.
15
And he said to Balaq, “Station yourself here beside your ascending offering, and I will meet Him there.”
16
And Yahuah met Bilam and placed a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balaq, and thus you shall speak.”
17
And he came to him, and see, he was standing beside his ascending offering, and the rulers of Moav were with him. And Balaq said to him, “What has Yahuah spoken?”
18
And he lifted up his proverb and said: “Rise, Balaq, and hear; give ear to me, son of Tzippor.
19
El is not an ish, that He should lie, nor a son of Adam, that He should change His mind. Has He spoken, and will He not do? Or has He said, and will He not establish it?
20
See, to bless I have received, and He has blessed, and I cannot turn it back.
21
He has not beheld iniquity in Yaaqov, nor has He seen trouble in Yisra’el. Yahuah his Elohim is with him, and the shout of a king is among him.
22
El brought them out from Mitzrayim; like the horns of the wild ox is His strength for him.
23
For there is no divination against Yaaqov, and no sorcery against Yisra’el. At the appointed time it shall be said of Yaaqov and of Yisra’el: ‘What has El done!’
24
See, a people rises like a lioness, and like a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats the prey and drinks the blood of the slain.”
25
And Balaq said to Bilam, “Neither cursing shall you curse them, nor blessing shall you bless them!”
26
And Bilam answered and said to Balaq, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘All that Yahuah speaks, that I must do’?”
27
And Balaq said to Bilam, “Please come, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will be right in the eyes of Elohim that you curse them for me from there.”
28
And Balaq took Bilam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the face of the wasteland.
29
And Bilam said to Balaq, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”
30
And Balaq did according to what Bilam had said, and caused a bull and a ram to go up upon each altar.