Numbers 23
He Came to Curse and Could Only Bless
← Numbers 22 · Numbers: all chapters · Numbers 24 →
Read this chapter with the Hebrew and Greek compared →
The First Oracle
23:1Balaam said to Balak: Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven calves and seven rams for me here.
23:2Balak did as Balaam told him, and he offered a calf and a ram on each altar.
23:3Balaam said to Balak: Stand beside your sacrifice, while I go to see whether God will appear to meet me. Whatever He shows me, I will tell you. Balak stood beside his sacrifice, and Balaam went to inquire of God; he went straight on.
23:4God appeared to Balaam, and Balaam said to Him: I have prepared the seven altars and offered a calf and a ram on each altar.
23:5God put a word in Balaam's mouth and said: Return to Balak and speak thus.
23:6He returned to him, and there he stood beside his whole burnt offerings, with all the officials of Moab.
23:7God's Spirit came upon him, and he took up his parable and said: Balak summoned me from Mesopotamia, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: Come, curse Jacob for me; come, call down a curse on Israel for me.
23:8Why should I curse whom the Lord does not curse? Why should I call down a curse on whom God does not curse?
23:9From the tops of mountains I shall see them, and from the hills I shall observe them. Look, a people who will dwell alone, not counted among the nations.
23:10Who has measured Jacob's offspring exactly, and who will count Israel's clans? May I die among righteous souls, and may my offspring be like their offspring!
23:11Balak said to Balaam: What have you done to me? I summoned you to curse my enemies, and look, you have pronounced a blessing!
23:12Balaam said to Balak: Must I not take care to speak what God puts in my mouth?
The Second Oracle
23:13Balak said to him: Come with me to another place, from which you will not see them except for a part; you will certainly not see them all. Curse them for me from there.
23:14He took him to a lookout in a field, to the summit of the Hewn Height, built seven altars there, and offered a calf and a ram on each altar.
23:15Balaam said to Balak: Stand beside your sacrifice, while I go to inquire of God.
23:16God met Balaam, put a word in his mouth, and said: Return to Balak and speak these words.
23:17He returned to him, and there he stood beside his whole burnt offering, with all the officials of Moab. Balak said to him: What did the Lord say?
23:18He took up his parable and said: Rise, Balak, and hear! Listen as a witness, son of Zippor!
23:19God is not like a human being, to be deceived, or like a son of man, to be threatened. Having spoken, will He not act? Will He speak and not stand by it?
23:20Look, I have been taken up to bless. I will bless and certainly will not reverse it.
23:21There shall be no toil in Jacob, nor shall distress be seen in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the glories of rulers are among them.
23:22God is the One who brought them out of Egypt; for them there is glory like that of a one-horned beast.
23:23There is no omen-taking in Jacob and no divination in Israel. At the appointed time it shall be said to Jacob and Israel what God will accomplish.
23:24Look, a people will rise like a lion cub and exult like a lion. It will not sleep until it eats prey and drinks the blood of the slain.
23:25Balak said to Balaam: Neither curse them for me nor bless them at all!
23:26Balaam answered Balak: Did I not tell you that I must do the word that God speaks?
Preparation for the Third Oracle
23:27Balak said to Balaam: Come; I will take you to another place. If it pleases God, curse them for me from there.
23:28Balak took Balaam to the summit of Peor, which extends toward the wilderness.
23:29Balaam said to Balak: Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven calves and seven rams for me here.
23:30Balak did as Balaam told him and offered a calf and a ram on each altar.
← Numbers 22 · Numbers: all chapters · Numbers 24 →
Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.