CHAPTER 23
1 And Balaam said to Balak, Build thou here to me seven altars, and make thou ready so many calves, and rams of the same number. (And Balaam said to Balak, Build thou here seven altars for me, and prepare seven calves, and the same number of rams.)
2 And when Balak had done by the word of Balaam, they putted a calf and a ram together on the altar. (And when Balak had done what Balaam had asked, they offered a calf and a ram on each altar.)
3 And (then) Balaam said to Balak, Stand thou (here) a little while beside thy burnt sacrifice, while I go, if in hap the Lord (shall) meet (with) me; and I shall tell thee whatever thing he shall command. And when he had gone [away] swiftly (or And when he had quickly gone away by himself),
4 God came to him; and Balaam spake to him, and said, I have raised up seven altars, and I have put a calf and a ram above each of them(or and I have put a calf and a ram on each of them).
5 Forsooth the Lord putted a word in his mouth, and said, Turn again to Balak, and thou shalt speak these things. (And the Lord put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thou shalt say these things to him.)
6 He turned again, and found Balak standing beside his burnt sacrifice, and all the princes of Moabites. (And he returned, and found Balak standing beside his burnt sacrifice, he and all the leaders of the Moabites.)
7 And when his parable was taken, he said, Balak, the king of Moabites, brought me from Aram, from the hills of the east; and he said, Come thou, and curse Jacob; haste thou, and curse Israel. (And when he had received his prophecy, he said, Balak, the king of the Moabites, brought me from Syria, yea, from the hills of the east; and he said, Come thou, and curse Jacob; hurry thou, and curse Israel.)
8 How shall I curse, whom God hath cursed not? (or But how can I curse, whom God hath not cursed?) by what reason shall I loathe, whom God loatheth not?
9 From the highest flints I shall see him, and from the little hills I shall behold him; the people shall dwell alone, and it shall not be reckoned among heathen men. (From the highest rocks I shall see them, and from the little hills I shall behold them; these people shall live alone, and they shall not be counted among the heathen.)
10 Who may number the dust, that is, the kindred, of Jacob, and who may know the number of the generation of Israel? My life die in the death of just men, and my last things be made like them! (or O let me die like the righteous die, and let my ending be made like theirs!)
11 And Balak said to Balaam, What is this that thou doest? I called thee, that thou shouldest curse mine enemies, and on the contrary, thou blessest them.
12 To whom Balaam answered, Whether I may speak (any) other thing, no but that that the Lord commandeth?
13 Therefore Balak said to Balaam, Come with me into another place, from whence thou mayest see a part of Israel, and thou mayest not see all; from thence curse thou him. (And so Balak said to Balaam, Come with me to another place, from where thou can see a part of the Israelites, but thou cannot see all of them; and curse thou them from there.)
14 And when he had led Balaam into an high place, on the top of the hill of Pisgah, he builded there seven altars to Balaam, and when calves and rams were put above them, (And so when he had led Balaam to the Field of Zophim, that is, to the Field of the Watchers, on top of Mount Pisgah, he built seven altars for Balaam, and when a calf and a ram were offered on each altar,)
15 Balaam said to Balak, Stand here beside thy burnt sacrifice, while I go to meet with the Lord.
16 And when the Lord had met with Balaam, and had put a word in his mouth, he said, Turn again to Balak (or Return to Balak), and thou shalt say these things to him.
17 He turned again, and found Balak standing beside his burnt sacrifice, and the princes of Moabites with him. To whom Balak said, What hath spoken the Lord? (And he returned, and found Balak standing beside his burnt sacrifice, and the leaders of the Moabites with him. And Balak said to him, What hath the Lord said?)
18 And when his parable was taken (or And when he had received his prophecy), he said, Stand thou (up), Balak, and harken; hear, thou son of Zippor.
19 God is not a man, that he (can) lie, neither he is as the son of a man, that he (can) be changed; therefore he hath said, and shall he not do it? he hath spoken, and shall he not fulfill it?
20 I am brought hither by the Lord to bless; (and) I may not forbid, or hinder, (the) blessing.
21 None idol is in Jacob, neither simulacrum is seen in Israel; his Lord God is with him, and the sound of the victory of a king is in him. (There is no idolatry in Jacob, no false god is seen in Israel; the Lord their God is with them, and they hear the shout of the victory of their King.)
22 The Lord God led him out of Egypt, whose strength is like an unicorn; (The Lord God led them out of Egypt, whose strength is like a wild ox;)
23 false divining by (the) chittering of birds is not in Jacob, neither false divining is in Israel. In his times, (that is), when, where, and how God will, it shall be said to Jacob and to Israel, What the Lord hath wrought! (false divining by the twittering of birds is not in Jacob, yea, false divining is not in Israel. In his own timing, that is, when, where, and how God desireth it, it shall be said of Jacob, and of Israel, What the Lord hath wrought! or Yea, at this time, it can be said of Jacob, and of Israel, What the Lord hath wrought!)
24 Lo! the people shall rise together as a lioness, and it shall be raised as a lion, (or Behold! the people shall rise up like a lioness, and they shall be raised up like a lion); the lion shall not rest, till he devour [the] prey, and drink the blood of them that be slain.
25 And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse thou, neither bless thou him. (And Balak said to Balaam, If thou wilt not curse them, at least do not thou bless them!)
26 And Balaam said, Whether I said not to thee, that whatever thing God commanded to me, I would do that?
27 And Balak said to him, Come, and I shall lead thee to another place, if in hap it pleaseth God that from thence thou curse him (or perhaps it shall please God that thou curse them from there).
28 And when Balak had led him out on(to) the top of the hill of Peor, that beholdeth the wilderness, (And when Balak had led Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, that overlooketh Jeshimon, that is, the wilderness,)
29 Balaam said to Balak, Build here seven altars to me, and make ready so many calves, and rams of the same number. (Balaam said to Balak, Now also build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven calves, and the same number of rams.)
30 Balak did as Balaam said, and he put the calves and the rams, by all the altars. (And Balak did as Balaam said, and he put a calf and a ram on each of the altars.)