Numbers - 23

1 - And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

2 - And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

3 - 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 sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

4 - 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.

5 - And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

6 - And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab - .

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 me Jacob - , and come, defy Israel - .

8 - How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?

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.

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!

11 - 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.

12 - And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?

13 - 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.

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.

15 - And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.

16 - And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.

17 - 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?

18 - And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

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 spoken, and shall he not make it good?

20 - Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

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.

22 - God brought them out of Egypt - ; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.

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!

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 eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

25 - And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

26 - But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

27 - And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

28 - And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.

29 - And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

30 - And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.