Book of Numbers, Chapter 23
Numbers 23 ASV - American Standard VersionChapter 23 of Numbers—American Standard Version (ASV)
- ¶ And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
- And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
- And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go: peradventure Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to a bare height.
- And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
- And Jehovah put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
- And he returned unto him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
- And he took up his parable, and said,
¶ From Aram hath Balak brought me,
¶ The king of Moab from the mountains of the East:
¶ Come, curse me Jacob,
¶ And come, [a]defy Israel. - ¶ How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?
¶ And how shall I defy, whom Jehovah hath not defied? - ¶ For from the top of the rocks I see him,
¶ And from the hills I behold him:
¶ Lo, it is a people that dwelleth alone,
¶ And shall not be reckoned among the nations. - ¶ Who can count the dust of Jacob,
¶ [b]Or number the fourth part of Israel?
¶ Let [c]me die the death of the righteous,
¶ And let my last end be like his! - ¶ And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
- And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah putteth in my mouth?
- ¶ And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
- 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.
- And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, while I meet Jehovah yonder.
- And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.
- And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath Jehovah spoken?
- And he took up his parable, and said,
¶ Rise up, Balak, and hear;
¶ Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: - ¶ God is not a man, that he should lie,
¶ Neither the son of man, that he should repent:
¶ Hath he said, and will he not do it?
¶ Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good? - ¶ Behold, I have received commandment to bless:
¶ And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it. - ¶ He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob;
¶ Neither hath he seen [d]perverseness in Israel:
¶ Jehovah his God is with him,
¶ And the shout of a king is among them. - ¶ God bringeth them forth out of Egypt;
¶ He hath as it were the [e]strength of the [f]wild-ox. - ¶ Surely there is no enchantment [g]with Jacob;
¶ Neither is there any divination [h]with Israel:
¶ [i]Now shall it be [j]said of Jacob and of Israel,
¶ What hath God wrought! - ¶ Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness,
¶ And as a lion doth he lift himself up:
¶ He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,
¶ And drink the blood of the slain. - ¶ And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
- But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh, that I must do?
- And Balak said unto Balaam, Come now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
- And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh down upon [k]the desert.
- And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
- And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
FOOTNOTES
- ^ Hebrew be wroth against.
- ^ Hebrew Or, by number, the etc.
- ^ Hebrew my soul.
- ^ Or, trouble
- ^ Or, horns
- ^ Or, ox-antelope. Hebrew reem.
- ^ Or, against
- ^ Or, against
- ^ Or, At the due season
- ^ Or, told to . . . what God hath wrought
- ^ Or, Jeshimon
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