Numbers 23 · Parashat Balak

And Bil῾am said to Balaq, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.

And Balaq did as Bil῾am had spoken; and Balaq and Bil῾am offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.

And Bil῾am said to Balaq, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: perhaps the Lord will come to meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell thee. And he went to a steep place.

And God met Bil῾am: and he said to him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.

And the Lord put a word in Bil῾am’s mouth, and said, Return to Balaq, and thus thou shalt speak.

And he returned to him, and behold, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Mo᾽av.

And he took up his discourse, and said, Balaq the king of Mo᾽av has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Ya῾aqov, and come, denounce Yisra᾽el.

How shall I curse, whom God has not cursed? or how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?

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

Who can count the dust of Ya῾aqov, and the number of the fourth part of Yisra᾽el? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

And Balaq said to Bil῾am, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse my enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.

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

And Balaq said to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou mayst see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from there.

And he brought him into a field of vantage, at the top of Pisga, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

And he said to Balaq, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I go to the meeting yonder.

And the Lord met Bil῾am, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go back to Balaq, and say thus.

And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Mo᾽av with him. And Balaq said to him, What has the Lord spoken?

And he took up his discourse, and said, Rise up, Balaq and hear; hearken to me, thou son of Żippor:

God is not a man, that he should lie; nor the son of man, that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not perform? or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Behold, I am bidden to bless: and he has blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

He has not beheld iniquity in Ya῾aqov nor has he seen perverseness in Yisra᾽el: the Lord his God is with him, and the trumpet blast of a king is among them.

God who brought them out of Miżrayim; he has as it were the strength of a wild ox.

Surely there is no enchantment in Ya῾aqov, nor is there any divination in Yisra᾽el: in due time Ya῾aqov and Yisra᾽el are told what God has performed.

Behold, 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.

And Balaq said to Bil῾am, Neither curse them, nor bless them.

But Bil῾am answered and said to Balaq, Did not I tell thee, saying, All that the Lord speaks, that I must do?

And Balaq said to Bil῾am, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will please God that thou mayst curse me them from there.

And Balaq brought Bil῾am to the top of Pe῾or, that looks out towards the desert.

And Bil῾am said to Balaq, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.

And Balaq did as Bil῾am had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.