Numbers 23 Parallel Bible Translations

Numbers 23 ▼
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1 Balaam told Balak, |Build for me here seven altars and prepare here for me seven bulls and seven 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 So Balak did just as Balaam instructed. Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram 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 Then Balaam instructed Balak, |Stand by your offering and leave me alone by myself. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. I'll tell you whatever he reveals to me.| And so he went to a high place, 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 where the LORD met with Balaam, who told him, |I've prepared seven altars and offered bulls and rams on an altar.| 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 gave Balaam this message. |Return to Balak and speak to him.| 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 So Balaam returned to where Balak had been standing, that is, next to his offerings, accompanied by all the Moabite officials. 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 Then Balaam uttered this prophetic statement: |King Balak of Moab brought me from Aram, from the eastern mountains, and told me, 'Come and curse Jacob for me. Come and curse 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 But how can I curse those whom God hasn't cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD hasn't denounced? 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 saw them from the top of the rocks. I watched them from the hills. Truly this is a people that lives by itself and doesn't matter 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 count the dust of Jacob? Who can number the dust of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may I end up like him.| 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 |What are you doing to me?| Balak asked Balaam. |I brought you to curse my enemies, not pronounce a blessing!| 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 But in response, Balaam asked, |Shouldn't I be careful to communicate only what the LORD puts in my mouth?| 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 |Come with me to another place where you can see them,| Balak replied. |You'll only see a portion of them, because you won't be able to see them completely. Come and curse them from there for me.| 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 So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, and from there to the top of Mount Pisgah, where he built seven altars and then offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 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 Then he told Balak, |Stand by your offering while I go alone to meet the LORD.| 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 Then the LORD met with Balaam and gave a message to him. |Now go back to Balak and speak 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 So Balaam returned to where Balak had been standing, that is, next to his offerings, accompanied by the Moabite officials. |What did the LORD say?| Balak asked him. 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 In response, Balaam uttered this prophetic statement: |Stand up, Balak, and pay attention! Listen to me, 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 a human male— he doesn't lie, nor is he a human being— he never vacillates. Once he speaks up, he's going to act, isn't he? Once he makes a promise, he'll fulfill it, won't he? 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 Look! I've received a blessing, and so I will bless. I won't withdraw it. 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 He has not responded to iniquity in Jacob or gazed at mischief in Israel. The LORD his God is with them, and the triumphant cry of a king is among them. 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 From Egypt God brought them— his strength was like a wild ox! 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 No Satanic plan against Jacob nor divination against Israel can ever prevail. When the time is right, it is to be asked about Jacob and Israel, 'What has God accomplished?' 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 Look! The people are like lions. Like the lion, he rises up! He does not lie down again until he has consumed his prey and drunk 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 Then Balak told Balaam, |Don't curse them or bless them!| 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 |Didn't I tell you,| Balaam responded to Balak, |that I'll say whatever the LORD tells me to say?| 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 So Balak exhorted Balaam, |Let's go right now! I'll take you to another place. Maybe God will agree to have you curse them for me 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 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which overlooks the open 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 told Balak, |Build seven altars for me right here. Then prepare seven bulls and seven 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 just what Balaam had instructed—he offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 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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