Numbers 23
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1Balaam said to Balak: Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven calves and seven rams for me here.
2Balak did as Balaam told him, and he offered a calf and a ram on each altar.
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.
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.
5God put a word in Balaam's mouth and said: Return to Balak and speak thus.
6He returned to him, and there he stood beside his whole burnt offerings, with all the officials of Moab.
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.
8Why should I curse whom the Lord does not curse? Why should I call down a curse on whom God does not curse?
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.
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!
11Balak said to Balaam: What have you done to me? I summoned you to curse my enemies, and look, you have pronounced a blessing!
12Balaam said to Balak: Must I not take care to speak what God puts in my mouth?
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.
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.
15Balaam said to Balak: Stand beside your sacrifice, while I go to inquire of God.
16God met Balaam, put a word in his mouth, and said: Return to Balak and speak these words.
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?
18He took up his parable and said: Rise, Balak, and hear! Listen as a witness, son of Zippor!
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?
20Look, I have been taken up to bless. I will bless and certainly will not reverse it.
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.
22God is the One who brought them out of Egypt; for them there is glory like that of a one-horned beast.
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.
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.
25Balak said to Balaam: Neither curse them for me nor bless them at all!
26Balaam answered Balak: Did I not tell you that I must do the word that God speaks?
27Balak said to Balaam: Come; I will take you to another place. If it pleases God, curse them for me from there.
28Balak took Balaam to the summit of Peor, which extends toward the wilderness.
29Balaam said to Balak: Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven calves and seven rams for me here.
30Balak did as Balaam told him and offered a calf and a ram on each altar.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.