⁵ O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,
    what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
    that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”^(A)

²⁸ Let them curse, but you will bless.
    Let my assailants be put to shame;^[a] may your servant be glad.^(A)

⁵ How fair are your tents, O Jacob,
    your encampments, O Israel!
⁶ Like palm groves that stretch far away,
    like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the Lord has planted,
    like cedar trees beside the waters.^(A)
7 Water shall flow from his buckets,
    and his seed shall have abundant water;
his king shall be higher than Agag,
    and his kingdom shall be exalted.^(B)
8 God, who brings him out of Egypt,
    is like the horns of a wild ox for him;
he shall devour the nations that are his foes
    and break their bones.
    He shall strike with his arrows.^[a](C)
9 He crouched; he lay down like a lion
    and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
Blessed is everyone who blesses you,
    and cursed is everyone who curses you.”^(D)

⁸ How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
    How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?^(A)
9 For from the top of the crags I see him;
    from the hills I behold him.
Here is a people living alone
    and not reckoning itself among the nations!^(B)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob
    or number the dust cloud^[a] of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
    and let my end be like his!”^(C)