Bemiḏbar (Numbers) 23

Num 23:1 And Bil‛am said to Balaq, “Build seven altars for me here, and
prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
Num 23:2 And Balaq did as Bil‛am had spoken, and Balaq and Bil‛am
offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Num 23:3 Bil‛am then said to Balaq, “Stand by your burnt offering, and let
me go on. It might be that יהוה does come to meet me, and whatever He shows
me I shall declare to you.” And he went to a bare height.
Num 23:4 And Elohim came to Bil‛am, and he said to Him, “I have prepared
the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”
Num 23:5 And יהוה put a word in the mouth of Bil‛am, and said, “Return to
Balaq, and this is what you say.”
Num 23:6 And he returned to him and saw him standing by his burnt
offering, he and all the heads of Mo’aḇ.
Num 23:7 And he took up his proverb and said, “Balaq the sovereign of
Mo’aḇ has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,
curse Ya‛aqoḇ for me, and come, rage at Yisra’ĕl!’
Num 23:8 “How do I curse whom Ĕl has not cursed? And how do I rage at
whom יהוה has not raged?
Num 23:9 “For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I
observe him. Look, a people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the
nations.
Num 23:10 “Who shall count the dust of Ya‛aqoḇ, and the number of one-
fourth of Yisra’ĕl? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like
his!”
Num 23:11 And Balaq said to Bil‛am, “What have you done to me? I took
you to curse my enemies, and look, you have kept on blessing!”
Num 23:12 And he answered and said, “Should I not take heed to speak
what יהוה has put in my mouth?”
Num 23:13 And Balaq said to him, “Please come with me to another place
from where you see them. You only see the extremity but not all of them.
Curse them for me from there.”
Num 23:14 And he took him to the field of Tsophim, to the top of Pisgah, and
built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Num 23:15 And he said to Balaq, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I
meet over there.”
Num 23:16 And יהוה came to Bil‛am, and put a word in his mouth, and said,
“Go back to Balaq, and say this.”
Num 23:17 So he went to him and saw him standing by his burnt offering,
and the heads of Mo’aḇ with him. And Balaq asked him, “What did יהוה
say?”
Num 23:18 And he took up his proverb and said, “Rise up, Balaq, and hear!
Listen to me, son of Tsippor!
Num 23:19 “Ĕl is not a man, to lie; nor a son of man, to repent! Has He said,
and would He not do it; or spoken, and would not confirm it?
Num 23:20 “See, I have received, to bless. And He has blessed, and I do not
reverse it.
Num 23:21 “He has not looked upon wickedness in Ya‛aqoḇ, nor has He
seen trouble in Yisra’ĕl. יהוה his Elohim is with him, and the shout of a
Sovereign is in him.
Num 23:22 “Ĕl who brought them out of Mitsrayim, is for them like the
horns of a wild ox.
Num 23:23 “For there is no sorcery against Ya‛aqoḇ, nor is there any
divination against Yisra’ĕl. Now it is said to Ya‛aqoḇ and to Yisra’ĕl, ‘What
has Ĕl done!’
Num 23:24 “Look, a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a
lion; it lies not down until it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the
slain.”
Num 23:25 And Balaq said to Bil‛am, “Do not curse them at all, nor bless
them at all!”
Num 23:26 And Bil‛am answered and said to Balaq, “Have I not spoken to
you, saying, ‘All that יהוה speaks, that I do’?”
Num 23:27 And Balaq said to Bil‛am, “Please come, let me take you to
another place. It might be right in the eyes of Elohim that you curse them for
me from there.”
Num 23:28 And Balaq took Bil‛am to the top of Pe‛or, that overlooks the
wasteland.
Num 23:29 And Bil‛am said to Balaq, “Build seven alters for me here, and
prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
Num 23:30 And Balaq did as Bil‛am had said, and offered a bull and a ram
on each altar.