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23:1  Bil‘am said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams here.”
23:2  Balak did as Bil‘am said; then Balak and Bil‘am offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:3  Bil‘am said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering while I go off; maybe Adonai will come and meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” He went off to a bare hill.
23:4  God met Bil‘am, who said to him, “I prepared the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”
23:5  Then Adonai put a word in Bil‘am’s mouth and said, “Go on back to Balak, and speak as I tell you.”
23:6  He went back to him, and there, standing by his burnt offering, he with all the princes of Mo’av,
23:7  he made his pronouncement: “Balak, the king of Mo’av, brings me from Aram, from the eastern hills, saying, ‘Come, curse Ya‘akov for me; come and denounce Isra’el.’
23:8  “How am I to curse those whom God has not cursed? How am I to denounce those whom Adonai has not denounced?
23:9  “From the top of the rocks I see them, from the hills I behold them — yes, a people that will dwell alone and not think itself one of the nations.
23:10  “Who has counted the dust of Ya‘akov or numbered the ashes of Isra’el? May I die as the righteous die! May my end be like theirs!”
23:11  Balak said to Bil‘am, “What have you done to me?! To curse my enemies is why I brought you; and, here, you have totally blessed them!”
23:12  He answered, “Mustn’t I take care to say just what Adonai puts in my mouth?”
23:13  (LY: v) Balak said to him, “All right, come with me to another place where you can see them. You will see only some of them, not all; but you can curse them for me from there.”
23:14  He took him through the field of Tzofim to the top of the Pisgah Range, built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:15  Bil‘am said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I go over there for a meeting.”
23:16  Adonai met Bil‘am, put a word in his mouth and said, “Go on back to Balak, and speak as I tell you.”
23:17  He came to him and stood by his burnt offering, with all the princes of Mo’av. Balak asked him, “What did Adonai say?”
23:18  Then Bil‘am made his pronouncement: “Get up, Balak, and listen! Turn your ears to me, son of Tzippor!
23:19  “God is not a human who lies or a mortal who changes his mind. When he says something, he will do it; when he makes a promise, he will fulfill it.
23:20  Look, I am ordered to bless; when he blesses, I can’t reverse it.
23:21  “No one has seen guilt in Ya‘akov, or perceived perversity in Isra’el; Adonai their God is with them and acclaimed as king among them.
23:22  “God, who brought them out of Egypt, gives them the strength of a wild ox;
23:23  thus one can’t put a spell on Ya‘akov, no magic will work against Isra’el. It can now be said of Ya‘akov and Isra’el, ‘What is this that God has done?!’
23:24  “Here is a people rising up like a lioness; like a lion he rears himself up — he will not lie down till he eats up the prey and drinks the blood of the slain.”
23:25  Balak said to Bil‘am, “Obviously, you won’t curse them. But at least don’t bless them!”
23:26  However, Bil‘am answered Balak, “Didn’t I warn you that I must do everything Adonai says?”
23:27  (RY: vii, LY: vi) Balak said to Bil‘am, “Come, I will take you now to another place; maybe it will please God for you to curse them for me from there.”
23:28  Balak took Bil‘am to the top of P‘or, overlooking the desert.
23:29  Bil‘am said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams.”
23:30  Balak did as Bil‘am said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.