English Standard Version

King James Bible

1And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

1And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

2Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram.

2And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

3And 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.” And he went to a bare height,

3And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place.

4and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

4And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.

5And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”

5And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

6And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering.

6And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.

7And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’

7And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

8How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?

8How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?

9For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations!

9For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

10Who 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!”

10Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

11And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.”

11And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

12And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

12And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?

13And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.”

13And 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.

14And 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.

14And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

15Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there.”

15And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder.

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

16And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.

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

17And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?

18And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor:

18And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:

19God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

19God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

20Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

20Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

21He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.

21He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

22God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.

22God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.

23For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What has God wrought!’

23Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

24Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.”

24Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

25And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.”

25And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.

26But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the LORD says, that I must do’?”

26But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

27And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”

27And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.

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

28And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.

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

29And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

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

30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.