| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Then Balaam said to King Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.” | 1Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." |
| 2Balak followed his instructions, and the two of them sacrificed a young bull and a ram on each altar. | 2So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram. |
| 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, | 3Balaam said to Balak, "Station yourself by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went to a deserted height. |
| 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.” | 4Then God met Balaam, who said to him, "I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram." |
| 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 message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you." |
| 6So Balaam returned and found the king standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. | 6So he returned to him, and he was still standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes 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.’ | 7Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying, "Balak, the king of Moab, brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, 'Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; 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? | 8How can I curse one whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce one 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. | 9For from the top of the rocks I see them; from the hills I watch them. Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it 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.” | 10Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let the end of my life be like theirs." |
| 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 brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them!" |
| 12But Balaam replied, “I will speak only the message that the LORD puts in my mouth.” Balaam’s Second Message | 12Balaam replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD has put 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!” | 13Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. 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 Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he 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 Balaam said to Balak, "Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD 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 message in his mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you." |
| 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. | 17When Balaam came to him, he was still standing by his burnt offering, along with the princes of Moab. 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. | 18Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, "Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, 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? | 19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? |
| 20Listen, I received a command to bless; God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it! | 20Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse 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. | 21He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them; his acclamation as king is among them. |
| 22God brought them out of Egypt; for them he is as strong as a wild ox. | 22God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. |
| 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!’ | 23For there is no spell against Jacob, nor is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'Look at 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!” | 24Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain." |
| 25Then Balak said to Balaam, “Fine, but if you won’t curse them, at least don’t bless them!” | 25Balak said to Balaam, "Neither 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, 'All that the LORD speaks, 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.” | 27Balak said to Balaam, "Come, please; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let 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, that looks toward the wilderness. |
| 29Balaam again told Balak, “Build me seven altars, and prepare seven young bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice.” | 29Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams." |
| 30So Balak did as Balaam ordered and offered a young bull and a ram on each altar. | 30So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. |
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