Numbers 23 Parallel Bible Translations

Numbers 23 ▼
swipe to see more →
ESV
English Standard Version
NABRE
New American Bible Revised
NIV
New International Version
+Add
1 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and here prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
2 Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. So Balak did as Balaam had ordered, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 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 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, Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I go over there. Perhaps the LORD will meet me, and then I will tell you whatever he lets me see.” And so he went out on the barren 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 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.” Then God met Balaam, and Balak said to him: “I have erected the seven altars, and have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” 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 And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” The LORD put an utterance in Balaam’s mouth, and said: Go back to Balak, and speak accordingly. The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
6 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 Balak, who was still standing by his burnt offering together with all the princes of Moab. So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials.
7 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 recited his poem: From Aram Balak has led me here, Moab’s king, from the mountains of Qedem: “Come, curse for me Jacob, 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 can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? How can I lay a curse on the one whom God has not cursed? How denounce the one 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 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! For from the top of the crags I see him, from the heights I behold him. Here is a people that lives apart and does not reckon 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 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 has ever counted the dust of Jacob, who numbered Israel’s dust-cloud? May I die the death of the just, may my end be like theirs! 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 have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” “What have you done to me?” cried Balak to Balaam. “It was to lay a curse on my foes that I brought you here; but instead, you have blessed 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 And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?” Balaam replied, “Is it not what the LORD puts in my mouth that I take care to repeat?” He answered, “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
13 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, “Please come with me to another place from which you can see them; but you will see only some, not all of them, and from there lay a curse on them for me.” 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 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 brought him to a lookout post on the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each of them. 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 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there.” Balaam then said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I seek a meeting over there.” Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”
16 And the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” Then the LORD met Balaam, and, having put an utterance in his mouth, said to him: Return to Balak, and speak accordingly. The LORD met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
17 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 Balak, who was still standing by his burnt offering together with the princes of Moab. When Balak asked him, “What did the LORD say?” 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 And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor: Balaam recited his poem: Rise, Balak, and listen; give ear to my testimony, son of Zippor! Then he spoke his message: “Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor.
19 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 a human being who speaks falsely, nor a mortal, who feels regret. Is God one to speak and not act, to decree and not bring it to pass? 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 Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. I was summoned to bless; I will bless; I cannot revoke it! I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
21 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. Misfortune I do not see in Jacob, nor do I see misery in Israel. The LORD, their God, is with them; among them is the war-cry of their King. “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 brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. They have the like of a wild ox’s horns: God who brought them out of Egypt. God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.
23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What has God wrought!’ No, there is no augury against Jacob, nor divination against Israel. Now it is said of Jacob, of Israel, “Look what God has done!” 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, 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.” Here is a people that rises up like a lioness, and gets up like a lion; It does not rest till it has devoured its prey and has 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, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” “Neither lay a curse on them nor bless them,” said Balak to Balaam. Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the LORD says, that I must do’?” But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘Everything the LORD tells me I must do’?” Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the LORD says?”
27 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 bring you to another place; perhaps God will approve of your laying a curse on 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 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. So he took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks Jeshimon. And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.
29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” Balaam then said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here; and here prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.” Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. And Balak did as Balaam had ordered, offering a bull and a ram on each altar. Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Previous chapter
Top of Page
Top of Page