1Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
2Balak did exactly as Balaam said, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
3Balaam told Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me, I will tell you.” Then he went to a barren hilltop.
4God met Balaam, and Balaam said to him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”
5Yahweh put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and tell him this.”
6He returned to Balak, and he and all the officials of Moab were standing by his burnt offering.
7Balaam delivered his message and said, “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. He said, ‘Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, condemn Israel.’
8How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I condemn those whom Yahweh has not condemned?
9From the top of the rocks I see this people; from the hills I observe them. Look, they are a people who live apart and are not counted among the nations.
10Who can count the descendants of Jacob, or even a fourth of the people of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like theirs!
11Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but instead, you have completely blessed them!"
12Balaam answered, "Must I not be careful to say only what Yahweh puts in my mouth?"
13Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will see only some of them, not all. Curse them for me from there."
14So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars there and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15Balaam told Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering while I go to meet with God over there."
16Yahweh met Balaam, put a message in his mouth, and said, "Go back to Balak and tell him this."
17When Balaam came back to Balak, Balak was standing by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, "What has Yahweh said?"
18Then Balaam delivered his message: "Rise up, Balak, and listen! Pay attention to me, son of Zippor.
19God is not a human, so he does not lie. He is not a human being, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever said something and not done it? Has he ever spoken and not made it happen?
20Look, I have received a command to bless. Since he has blessed, I cannot reverse it.
21He sees no wrongdoing in Jacob, no trouble in Israel. Yahweh their God is with them; the shout of a king is among them.
22God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.
23There is no magic against Jacob, no fortune-telling against Israel. Now it will be said of Jacob and Israel, 'See what God has done!'
24Look, this people rises up like a lioness; it stands strong like a lion. It will not lie down until it eats its prey and drinks the blood of those it has killed."
25Balak said to Balaam, "Don't curse them at all, and don't bless them at all!"
26But Balaam answered Balak, "Didn't I tell you that I must do everything Yahweh tells me to do?"
27Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps God will be pleased for you to curse them for me from there."
28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks down on the desert.
29Balaam told Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
30Balak did exactly what Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.