| Christian Standard Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." | 1Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." |
| 2So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a 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. |
| 3Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the LORD will meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me." So he went to a barren 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. |
| 4God met with him and Balaam said to him, "I have arranged seven altars and offered a 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." |
| 5Then the LORD put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you." | 5Then the LORD put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you." |
| 6So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering 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. |
| 7Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak brought me from Aram; the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains: "Come, put a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel!" | 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.' |
| 8How can I curse someone God has not cursed? How can I denounce someone the LORD has not denounced? | 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 top of rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. There is a people living alone; it does not consider itself among the 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 has counted the dust of Jacob or numbered even one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright; let the end of my life be 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." |
| 11"What have you done to me?" Balak asked Balaam. "I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only 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!" |
| 12He answered, "Shouldn't I say exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?" | 12Balaam replied, "Must I not be careful to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?" |
| 13Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won't see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me." | 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 him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a 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. |
| 15Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the LORD over there." | 15And Balaam said to Balak, "Station yourself here by your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD there. |
| 16The LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then he said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you." | 16Then the LORD met Balaam and put a message in his mouth and said, "Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you." |
| 17So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?" | 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?" |
| 18Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak, get up and listen; son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say! | 18Balaam uttered his oracle, and said, "Rise up, Balak, and hear; Listen to me, son of Zippor: |
| 19God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill? | 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? |
| 20I have indeed received a command to bless; since he has blessed, I cannot change it. | 20Indeed, I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. |
| 21He considers no disaster for Jacob; he sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and there is rejoicing over the King among them. | 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; he is like the horns of a wild ox for them. | 22God brought them out of Egypt. They have, as it were, the strength of a wild bull. |
| 23There is no magic curse against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said about Jacob and Israel, "What great things God has done!" | 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!' |
| 24A people rise up like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion. They will not lie down until they devour the prey and drink the blood of the slain. | 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 told Balaam, "Don't curse them and don't bless them!" | 25Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!" |
| 26But Balaam answered him, "Didn't I tell you: Whatever the LORD says, I must do?" | 26But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you, 'All that the LORD speaks, I must do'?" |
| 27Again Balak said to Balaam, "Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me 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 Peor, which overlooks the wasteland. | 28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks toward the wilderness. |
| 29Balaam told Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." | 29Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams." |
| 30So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a 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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