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23:1  Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."
23:2  So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:3  Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the LORD will meet with me. I will tell you whatever He reveals to me." So he went to a barren hill.
23:4  God met with him and Balaam said to Him, "I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar."
23:5  Then the LORD put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you."
23:6  So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab.
23:7  Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak brought me from Aram; the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:" Come, put a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel!"
23:8  How can I curse someone God has not cursed? How can I denounce someone the LORD has not denounced?
23:9  I see them from the top of rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. There is a people living alone; it does not consider itself among the nations.
23:10  Who has counted the dust of Jacob or numbered the dust clouds of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright; let the end of my life be like theirs."
23:11  What have you done to me?" Balak asked Balaam. "I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!"
23:12  He answered, "Shouldn't I say exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?"
23:13  Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won't see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me."
23:14  So Balak took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
23:15  Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the LORD over there."
23:16  The LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you."
23:17  So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?"
23:18  Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak, get up and listen; son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!
23:19  God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?
23:20  I have indeed received a command to bless; since He has blessed, I cannot change it.
23:21  He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and there is rejoicing over the King among them.
23:22  God brought them out of Egypt; He is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
23:23  There is no magic curse against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said about Jacob and Israel," What great things God has done!"
23:24  A people rise up like a lioness; They rouse themselves like a lion. They will not lie down until they devour the prey and drink the blood of the slain.
23:25  Then Balak told Balaam, "Don't curse them and don't bless them!"
23:26  But Balaam answered him, "Didn't I tell you: Whatever the LORD says, I must do?"
23:27  Again Balak said to Balaam, "Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there."
23:28  So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.
23:29  Balaam told Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."
23:30  So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.