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Numbers 22
And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. 2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was greatly afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. 4 And Moab said to the elders of Midian, Now will this multitude lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. 5 And he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, a people has come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they remain over against me. 6 Come now therefore, I pray you, curse this people; for they are too mighty for me: perhaps I shall prevail, that we may defeat them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.
7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 And he said to them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Yahweh shall speak to me: and the princes of Moab remained with Balaam. 9 And Elohim came to Balaam, and said, What men are these with you? 10 And Balaam said to Elohim, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 Behold, the people that came out of Egypt, covers the face of the earth: now, come curse them; perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out. 12 And Elohim said to Balaam, You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people; for they are blessed. 13 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, Go into your land; for Yahweh refuses to give me leave to go with you. 14 And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, Balaam refuses to come with us.
15 And Balak sent yet more princes, more, and more honorable than they. 16 And they came to Balaam, and said to him, In this manner says Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray you, hinder you from coming to me: 17 for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do: come therefore, I pray you, curse this people. 18 And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, Even if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Yahweh my Elohim, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, I pray you, you stay here also this night, that I may know what Yahweh will speak to me more. 20 And Elohim came to Balaam at night, and said to him, If the men are come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that shall you do.
21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. 22 And Elohim’s anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of Yahweh placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his ass, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the ass saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam beat the ass, to turn her into the way. 24 Then the angel of Yahweh stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 25 And the ass saw the angel of Yahweh, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he beat her again. 26 And the angel of Yahweh went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27 And the ass saw the angel of Yahweh, and she lay down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he beat the ass with his staff. 28 And Yahweh opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, What have I done to you, that you have beat me these three times? 29 And Balaam said to the ass, Because you have mocked me: if only there was a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you. 30 And the ass said to Balaam, Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden all your life to this day? Was I ever accustomed to do so to you? And he said, No.
31 Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of Yahweh said to him, Why have you beat your ass these three times? Behold, I am come forth as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me: 33 And the ass saw me, and turned aside before me these three times: if she had not turned aside from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive. 34 And Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, I have sinned; for I did not know that you stood in the way against me: now therefore, if it displeases you, I will get back again. 35 And the angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
36 And when Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border. 37 And Balak said to Balaam, Did I not earnestly send to you to call you? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I not able indeed to promote you to honor? 38 And Balaam said to Balak, Lo, I am come to you: have I now any power at all to speak anything? The word that Elohim puts in my mouth, that shall I speak. 39 And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kiriath-huzoth. 40 And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.
41 And it came to pass in the morning, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw from there the utmost part of the people.
Numbers 23
And Balaam said to Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks 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 to Balak, Stand by your burnt-offering, and I will go: perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you. And he went to a barren height. 4 And Elohim met Balaam: and he said to him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. 5 And Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak. 6 And he returned to him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. 7 And he took up his parable, and said,
From Aram has Balak brought me,
The king of Moab from the mountains of the East:
Come, curse me Jacob,
And come, defy Israel.
8 How shall I curse, whom El has not cursed?
And how shall I defy, whom Yahweh has not defied?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him:
Lo, it is a people that dwells alone,
And shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob,
Or number 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 to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have blessed them altogether. 12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?
13 And Balak said to him, Come, I pray you, with me to another place, from where you may see them; you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them from there. 14 And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. 15 And he said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt-offering, while I meet Yahweh yonder. 16 And Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak. 17 And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, What has Yahweh spoken?
18 And he took up his parable, and said,
Rise up, Balak, and hear;
Listen to me, you son of Zippor:
19 El is not a man, that he should lie,
Neither the son of man, that he should repent:
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless:
And he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob;
Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel:
Yahweh his Elohim is with him,
And the shout of a king is among them.
22 El brings them forth out of Egypt;
He has as it were the strength of the wild-ox.
23 Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob;
Neither is there any divination with Israel:
Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel,
What has El wrought!
24 Behold, the people rises up as a lioness,
And as a lion does he lift himself up:
He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey,
And drinks the blood of his victims.
25 And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. 26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Didn’t I tell you saying, All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?
27 And Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please Elohim that you may curse them from there. 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down upon the desert. 29 And Balaam said to 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 up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
Numbers 24
And when Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he went not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of Elohim came upon him. 3 And he took up his parable, and said,
Balaam the son of Beor says,
And the man whose eye was closed says;
4 He says, who hears the words of El,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
5 How good are your tents, O Jacob,
Your tabernacles, O Israel!
6 As valleys are they spread forth,
As gardens by the river-side,
As lign-aloes which Yahweh has planted,
As cedar-trees beside the waters.
7 Water shall flow from his buckets,
And his seed shall be in many waters,
And his king shall be higher than Agag,
And his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 El brings him forth out of Egypt;
He has as it were the strength of the wild-ox:
He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,
And shall break their bones in pieces,
And pierce them through with his arrows.
9 He crouched, he lay down as a lion,
And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
Blessed be every one that blesses you,
And cursed be every one that curses you.
10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee to your place: I thought to promote you to great honor; but, 1o, Yahweh has kept you back from honor. 12 And Balaam said to Balak, Didn’t I also speak to your messengers that you sent to me, saying, 13 Even if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Yahweh, to do either good or bad of my own mind; what Yahweh speaks, that will I speak? 14 And now, behold, I go to my people: come, and I will warn you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days. 15 And he took up his parable, and said,
Balaam the son of Beor says,
And the man whose eye was closed says;
16 He says, who hears the words of El,
And knows the knowledge of the Most High,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
17 I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smash through the corners of Moab,
And break down all the sons of tumult.
18 And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir also shall be a possession, who were his enemies;
While Israel does valiantly.
19 And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
And shall destroy the remnant from the city.
20 And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said,
Amalek was the first of the nations;
But in the end he shall come to destruction.
21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said,
Strong is your dwelling-place,
And your nest is set in the rock.
22 Nevertheless the Kenites shall be wasted,
Until Asshur shall carry you away captive.
23 And he took up his parable, and said,
Alas, who shall live when El does this?
24 But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber;
And he also shall come to destruction.
25 And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
