Chapter 23 And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me
here seven oxen and seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam had spoken.
And Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go.
Peradventure the Lord will come to meet me, and whatsoever he showeth me I will
tell thee.
And he went to an high place.
And God met Balaam, and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have
offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.
And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou
shalt speak.
And he returned unto him.
And, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the princes of Moab.
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 me, Jacob,
and come defy Israel.
How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed?
Or how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied?
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.
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.
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me?
I took thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them
altogether.
And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put
in my mouth?
And 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.
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.
And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the Lord
yonder.
And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak,
and say thus.
And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering,
and the princes of Moab with him.
And Balak said unto him, What hath the Lord spoken?
And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear.
Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor.
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 spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Behold, I have received commandment to bless, and he hath blessed, and I cannot
reverse it.
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.
God brought them out of Egypt.
He hath, as it were, the strength of a unicorn.
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?
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 eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
And Balaam said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
But Balaam answered and said unto Balaam, Told not I thee, saying, All that the Lord
speaketh, that I must do.
And Balaam said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto
another place.
Peer adventure, it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
And Balaam brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.
And Balaam said unto Balaam, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven
bullocks and seven rams.
And Balaam did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.