Numbers 23:7-12 ▼

7 Balaam 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! ”

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

9 I 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.

10 Who 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.

11 “What have you done to me? ” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them! ”

12 He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth? ”