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Then Balaam[a] uttered his oracle, saying,

“Balak has brought me from Aram,
    the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me.
    Come, denounce Israel!’(A)
How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
    How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?(B)
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!(C)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob
    or number the dust cloud[b] of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
    and let my end be like his!”(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 23.7 Heb he
  2. 23.10 Or fourth part

Then Balaam(A) spoke his message:(B)

“Balak brought me from Aram,(C)
    the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.(D)
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;
    come, denounce Israel.’(E)
How can I curse
    those whom God has not cursed?(F)
How can I denounce
    those whom the Lord has not denounced?(G)
From the rocky peaks I see them,
    from the heights I view them.(H)
I see a people who live apart
    and do not consider themselves one of the nations.(I)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob(J)
    or number even a fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,(K)
    and may my final end be like theirs!(L)

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