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¹ And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks 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; peradventure the LORD will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to a bare height.⁴ And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. 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 offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.⁷ And he took up his parable, and said, From Aram hath Balak brought me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: Come, curse me Jacob, And come, defy Israel.⁸ How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? And 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, it is a people that dwell alone, And shall not be reckoned among the nations.¹⁰ Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number 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 putteth 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 me them from thence. ¹⁴ And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up 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, Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak. ¹⁷ And he came to him, and, lo, 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 bringeth them forth out of Egypt; He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox.²³ Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob, Neither is there any divination with Israel: Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!²⁴ Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness, And as a lion doth he lift himself up: 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 now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence. ²⁸ And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh down upon the desert. 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 up a bullock and a ram on every altar.