Numbers 23 Parallel Bible Translations

Numbers 23 ▼
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1 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.” And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
2 And when he had acted according to the words of Balaam, they placed a calf and a ram together on each altar. Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
3 And Balaam said to Balak: “Stand for a little while next to your holocaust, until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet with me. And whatever he will command, I shall speak to you.” And 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, Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went off to a barren height.
4 And after he had quickly departed, God met with him. And Balaam, speaking to him, said: “I have set up seven altars, and I have placed a calf and a ram on each.” and 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.” God met with him, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”
5 Then the Lord placed the word in his mouth, and he said: “Return to Balak, and you shall say this.” And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
6 Returning, he found Balak standing next to his holocaust, with all the leaders of the Moabites. And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials.
7 And taking up his parable, he said: “Balak, king of the Moabites, has led me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. ‘Come forth,’ he said, ‘and curse Jacob. Hurry and condemn Israel.’ And 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!’ Then Balaam spoke his message: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’
8 How shall I curse him, whom God has not cursed? For what reason would I condemn him, whom the Lord does not condemn? How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?
9 I will look upon him from the tops of the stones, and I will consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and they shall not be counted among the nations. For 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! From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
10 Who can number the dust that is Jacob, and who can know the number of the stock of Israel? May my soul die a just death, and may my end be like theirs.” Who 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!” Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my final end be like theirs!”
11 And Balak said to Balaam: “What is this that you are doing? I called for you, in order to curse my enemies, and to the contrary, you bless them.” And 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.” Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”
12 He answered him, “How can I say anything other than what the Lord orders?” And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?” He answered, “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
13 Therefore, Balak said: “Come with me to another place, from where you may see a portion of Israel, though you cannot see them all. Curse them from there.” And 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.” Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there, curse them for me.”
14 And when he had led him to a lofty place, on the top of mount Pisgah, Balaam built seven altars, and placing upon each a calf and a ram, And 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. So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 he said to Balak, “Stand here next to your holocaust, while I continue on to meet him.” Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there.” Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”
16 And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his mouth, he said, “Return to Balak, and you shall say this to him.” And the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” The LORD met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
17 Returning, he found him standing next to his holocaust, and the leaders of the Moabites were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” And 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?” So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials. Balak asked him, “What did the LORD say?”
18 But, taking up his parable, he said: “Stand, Balak, and pay attention. Listen, you son of Zippor. And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor: Then he spoke his message: “Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor.
19 God is not like a man, so that he would lie, nor is he like a son of man, so that he would be changed. Therefore, having spoken, will he not act? Has he ever spoken, and not fulfilled? God 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? God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
20 I was led here to bless, and I have no strength to hinder the blessing. Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
21 There is no idol in Jacob; neither is there a false image to be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the resound of royal victory is in him. He 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. “No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The LORD their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.
22 God has led him away from Egypt; his strength is like that of the rhinoceros. God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.
23 There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor any divination in Israel. In their times, it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God has wrought. For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What has God wrought!’ There is no divination against Jacob, no evil omens against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
24 Behold, the people will rise up like a lioness, and lie down like a lion. But they will not lie down until they devour the prey and drink the blood of the slain.” Behold, 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.” The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till it devours its prey and drinks the blood of its victims.”
25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse him, nor bless him.” And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
26 And he said, “Have I not told you that whatever God would command of me, I would do?” But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the LORD says, that I must do’?” Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the LORD says?”
27 And Balak said to him: “Come and I will lead you to another place. If perhaps it may please God, then you may curse them from there.” And 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.” Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.”
28 And when he had led him on to the top of mount Peor, which looks out toward the wilderness, So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.
29 Balaam said to him, “Build seven altars here for me, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.” And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and he placed on each altar a calf and a ram. And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
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