Numbers 23
Modern English Version
23 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars, and prepare for me seven oxen and seven rams.” 2 Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.
3 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a high place.
4 God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on every altar a bull and a ram.”
5 The Lord put a word in the mouth of Balaam and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you will speak.”
6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing by his burnt offering with all the princes of Moab. 7 Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying:
“Balak has brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the mountains of the east,
saying, ‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
and come, defy Israel!’
8 How will I curse
whom God has not cursed?
Or how will I defy
whom the Lord has not defied?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him,
and from the hills I behold him;
there, the people will dwell alone
and will not be counted among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob
and the number of the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last end be like his!”
11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have certainly blessed them.”
12 He answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Prophecy
13 And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them. You will see part of them, but will not see them all. Curse them for me from there.” 14 He brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 He said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offerings while I meet the Lord over there.”
16 The Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go again to Balak, and thus you will speak.”
17 When he came to him, he was standing by his burnt offerings with the princes of Moab. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”
18 And he took up his parable and said:
“Rise up, Balak, and hear!
Listen to me, you son of Zippor!
19 God is not a man, that He should lie,
nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He spoken, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
20 See, I have received a commandment to bless,
and He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 “He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob,
nor has He seen perverseness in Israel.
The Lord his God is with him,
and the shout of a king is among them.
22 God, who brings them out of Egypt,
has strength like a wild ox.
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
nor is there any divination against Israel.
For this time it will be said of Jacob and of Israel,
‘See what God has done!’
24 A people rises up as a great lion,
and lifts itself up like a lion;
it shall not lie down until it eats the prey
and drinks the blood of the slain.”
25 Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”
26 But Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, ‘All that the Lord speaks, I must do’?”
Balaam’s Third Prophecy
27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Please come. I will bring you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, which looks toward Jeshimon.
29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Numbers 23
21st Century King James Version
23 And Balaam said unto Balak, “Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.”
2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
3 And Balaam said unto Balak, “Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatsoever He showeth me I will tell thee.” And he went to a high place.
4 And God met Balaam; and he said unto Him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram.”
5 And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.”
6 And he returned unto him, and lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the princes of Moab.
7 And he took up his parable and said: “Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, curse for me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.’
8 How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him; lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!”
11 And Balak said unto Balaam, “What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.”
12 And he answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?”
13 And Balak said unto him, “Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place from whence thou mayest see them. Thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all; and curse them for me from thence.”
14 And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
15 And he said unto Balak, “Stand here by thy burnt offering while I meet the Lord yonder.”
16 And the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go again unto Balak, and say thus.”
17 And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, “What hath the Lord spoken?”
18 And he took up his parable and said: “Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor.
19 God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent. Hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless; and He hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel; the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath, as it were, the strength of a unicorn.
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘What hath God wrought!’
24 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.”
25 And Balak said unto Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.”
26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, “Told not I thee, saying, ‘All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do’?”
27 And Balak said unto Balaam, “Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place. Perhaps it will please God that thou mayest curse them for me from thence.”
28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.
29 And Balaam said unto Balak, “Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.”
30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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