23:1 And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and
prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.
23:2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam
offered on [every] altar a bullock and a ram.
23:3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and
I will go: it may be the LORD will come to meet me: and
whatever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to a high
place.
23:4 And God met Balaam: and he said to him, I have prepared
seven altars, and I have offered upon [every] altar a bullock
and a ram.
23:5 And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return
to Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
23:6 And he returned to him and lo, he stood by his
burnt-sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
23:7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of
Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the
east, [saying], Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, defy
Israel.
23:8 How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I
defy, [whom] the LORD hath not defied?
23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills
I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not
be reckoned among the nations.
23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the
fourth [part] of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last end be like his!
23:11 And Balak said to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I
took thee to curse my enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed
[them] altogether.
23:12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak
that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?
23:13 And Balak said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to
another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see
but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and
from thence curse them for me.
23:14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of
Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram
on [every] altar.
23:15 And he said to Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering,
while I meet [the LORD] yonder.
23:16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and
said, Go again to Balak, and say thus.
23:17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his
burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak
said to him, What hath the LORD spoken?
23:18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise, Balak, and
hear; hearken to me, thou son of Zippor:
23:19 God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of
man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do
[it]? or hath he spoke, and shall he not make it good?
23:20 Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: and he
hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
23:21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen
perverseness in Israel; the LORD his God [is] with him, and the
shout of a king [is] among them.
23:22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the
strength of a unicorn.
23:23 Surely [there is] no enchantment against Jacob, neither
[is there] any divination against Israel: according to this
time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God
wrought!
23:24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift
up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he
shall eat [of] the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
23:25 And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor
bless them at all.
23:26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell
thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
23:27 And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring
thee to another place; perhaps it will please God that thou
mayest from thence curse them for me.
23:28 And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, that looketh
towards Jeshimon.
23:29 And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and
prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
23:30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock
and a ram on [every] altar.
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