New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Then Balaam said to King Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.”

1Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here."

2Balak followed his instructions, and the two of them sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.

2Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

3Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offerings, and I will go to see if the LORD will respond to me. Then I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” So Balaam went alone to the top of a bare hill,

3Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you." So he went to a bare hill.

4and God met him there. Balaam said to him, “I have prepared seven altars and have sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar.”

4Now God met Balaam, and he said to Him, "I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar."

5The LORD gave Balaam a message for King Balak. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”

5Then the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus."

6So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab.

6So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab.

7This was the message Balaam delivered: “Balak summoned me to come from Aram; the king of Moab brought me from the eastern hills. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me! Come and announce Israel’s doom.’

7He took up his discourse and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab's king from the mountains of the East, 'Come curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!'

8But how can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn those whom the LORD has not condemned?

8"How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

9I see them from the cliff tops; I watch them from the hills. I see a people who live by themselves, set apart from other nations.

9"As I see him from the top of the rocks, And I look at him from the hills; Behold, a people who dwells apart, And will not be reckoned among the nations.

10Who can count Jacob’s descendants, as numerous as dust? Who can count even a fourth of Israel’s people? Let me die like the righteous; let my life end like theirs.”

10"Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my end be like his!"

11Then King Balak demanded of Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies. Instead, you have blessed them!”

11Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!"

12But Balaam replied, “I will speak only the message that the LORD puts in my mouth.” Balaam’s Second Message

12He replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"

13Then King Balak told him, “Come with me to another place. There you will see another part of the nation of Israel, but not all of them. Curse at least that many!”

13Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there."

14So Balak took Balaam to the plateau of Zophim on Pisgah Peak. He built seven altars there and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.

14So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15Then Balaam said to the king, “Stand here by your burnt offerings while I go over there to meet the LORD.”

15And he said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the LORD over there."

16And the LORD met Balaam and gave him a message. Then he said, “Go back to Balak and give him my message.”

16Then the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak."

17So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. “What did the LORD say?” Balak asked eagerly.

17He came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?"

18This was the message Balaam delivered: “Rise up, Balak, and listen! Hear me, son of Zippor.

18Then he took up his discourse and said, "Arise, O Balak, and hear; Give ear to me, O son of Zippor!

19God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

19"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a 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?

20Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!

20"Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it.

21No misfortune is in his plan for Jacob; no trouble is in store for Israel. For the LORD their God is with them; he has been proclaimed their king.

21"He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; The LORD his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them.

22God brought them out of Egypt; for them he is as strong as a wild ox.

22"God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

23No curse can touch Jacob; no magic has any power against Israel. For now it will be said of Jacob, ‘What wonders God has done for Israel!’

23"For there is no omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done!

24These people rise up like a lioness, like a majestic lion rousing itself. They refuse to rest until they have feasted on prey, drinking the blood of the slaughtered!”

24"Behold, a people rises like a lioness, And as a lion it lifts itself; It will not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain."

25Then Balak said to Balaam, “Fine, but if you won’t curse them, at least don’t bless them!”

25Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!"

26But Balaam replied to Balak, “Didn’t I tell you that I can do only what the LORD tells me?” Balaam’s Third Message

26But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'Whatever the LORD speaks, that I must do '?"

27Then King Balak said to Balaam, “Come, I will take you to one more place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them from there.”

27Then Balak said to Balaam, "Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there."

28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, overlooking the wasteland.

28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which overlooks the wasteland.

29Balaam again told Balak, “Build me seven altars, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.”

29Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here."

30So Balak did as Balaam ordered and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar.

30Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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