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23 Dixitque Balaam ad Balac: AEdifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.

Cumque fecisset juxta sermonem Balaam, imposuerunt simul vitulum et arietem super aram.

Dixitque Balaam ad Balac: Sta paulisper juxta holocaustum tuum, donec vadam, si forte occurrat mihi Dominus, et quodcumque imperaverit, loquar tibi.

Cumque abiisset velociter, occurrit illi Deus. Locutusque ad eum Balaam: Septem, inquit, aras erexi, et imposui vitulum et arietem desuper.

Dominus autem posuit verbum in ore ejus, et ait: Revertere ad Balac, et haec loqueris.

Reversus invenit stantem Balac juxta holocaustum suum, et omnes principes Moabitarum:

assumptaque parabola sua, dixit: De Aram adduxit me Balac rex Moabitarum, de montibus orientis: Veni, inquit, et maledic Jacob; propera, et detestare Israel.

Quomodo maledicam, cui non maledixit Deus? qua ratione detester, quem Dominus non detestatur?

De summis silicibus videbo eum, et de collibus considerabo illum. Populus solus habitabit, et inter gentes non reputabitur.

10 Quis dinumerare possit pulverem Jacob, et nosse numerum stirpis Israel? Moriatur anima mea morte justorum, et fiant novissima mea horum similia.

11 Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: Quid est hoc quod agis? ut malediceres inimicis meis vocavi te, et tu e contrario benedicis eis.

12 Cui ille respondit: Num aliud possum loqui, nisi quod jusserit Dominus?

13 Dixit ergo Balac: Veni mecum in alterum locum unde partem Israel videas, et totum videre non possis: inde maledicito ei.

14 Cumque duxisset eum in locum sublimem, super verticem montis Phasga, aedificavit Balaam septem aras, et impositis supra vitulo atque ariete,

15 dixit ad Balac: Sta hic juxta holocaustum tuum, donec ego obvius pergam.

16 Cui cum Dominus occurrisset, posuissetque verbum in ore ejus, ait: Revertere ad Balac, et haec loqueris ei.

17 Reversus invenit eum stantem juxta holocaustum suum, et principes Moabitarum cum eo. Ad quem Balac: Quid, inquit, locutus est Dominus?

18 At ille, assumpta parabola sua, ait: Sta, Balac, et ausculta; audi, fili Sephor:

19 non est Deus quasi homo, ut mentiatur, nec ut filius hominis, ut mutetur. Dixit ergo, et non faciet? locutus est, et non implebit?

20 Ad benedicendum adductus sum: benedictionem prohibere non valeo.

21 Non est idolum in Jacob, nec videtur simulacrum in Israel. Dominus Deus ejus cum eo est, et clangor victoriae regis in illo.

22 Deus eduxit illum de AEgypto, cujus fortitudo similis est rhinocerotis.

23 Non est augurium in Jacob, nec divinatio in Israel: temporibus suis dicetur Jacob et Israeli quid operatus sit Deus.

24 Ecce populus ut leaena consurget, et quasi leo erigetur: non accubabit donec devoret praedam, et occisorum sanguinem bibat.

25 Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: Nec maledicas ei, nec benedicas.

26 Et ille ait: Nonne dixi tibi quod quidquid mihi Deus imperaret, hoc facerem?

27 Et ait Balac ad eum: Veni, et ducam te ad alium locum: si forte placeat Deo ut inde maledicas eis.

28 Cumque duxisset eum super verticem montis Phogor, qui respicit solitudinem,

29 dixit ei Balaam: AEdifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.

30 Fecit Balac ut Balaam dixerat: imposuitque vitulos et arietes per singulas aras.

Balaam’s First Message

23 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams(A) for me.” Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(B)

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me.(C) Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went off to a barren height.

God met with him,(D) and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth(E) and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”(F)

So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials.(G) Then Balaam(H) spoke his message:(I)

“Balak brought me from Aram,(J)
    the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.(K)
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;
    come, denounce Israel.’(L)
How can I curse
    those whom God has not cursed?(M)
How can I denounce
    those whom the Lord has not denounced?(N)
From the rocky peaks I see them,
    from the heights I view them.(O)
I see a people who live apart
    and do not consider themselves one of the nations.(P)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob(Q)
    or number even a fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,(R)
    and may my final end be like theirs!(S)

11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies,(T) but you have done nothing but bless them!”(U)

12 He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”(V)

Balaam’s Second Message

13 Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place(W) where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp.(X) And from there, curse them for me.(Y) 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah,(Z) and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(AA)

15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”

16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth(AB) and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”

17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials.(AC) Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”

18 Then he spoke his message:(AD)

“Arise, Balak, and listen;
    hear me, son of Zippor.(AE)
19 God is not human,(AF) that he should lie,(AG)
    not a human being, that he should change his mind.(AH)
Does he speak and then not act?
    Does he promise(AI) and not fulfill?
20 I have received a command to bless;(AJ)
    he has blessed,(AK) and I cannot change it.(AL)

21 “No misfortune is seen in Jacob,(AM)
    no misery observed[a] in Israel.(AN)
The Lord their God is with them;(AO)
    the shout of the King(AP) is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;(AQ)
    they have the strength of a wild ox.(AR)
23 There is no divination against[b] Jacob,
    no evil omens(AS) against[c] Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
    and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
24 The people rise like a lioness;(AT)
    they rouse themselves like a lion(AU)
that does not rest till it devours its prey
    and drinks the blood(AV) of its victims.”

25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”

26 Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”(AW)

Balaam’s Third Message

27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place.(AX) Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me(AY) from there.” 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor,(AZ) overlooking the wasteland.

29 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.(BA)

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 23:21 Or He has not looked on Jacob’s offenses / or on the wrongs found
  2. Numbers 23:23 Or in
  3. Numbers 23:23 Or in