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¹ And Balaam said to 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 to Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go: it may be the LORD will come to meet me: and whatever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to a high place.⁴ And God met Balaam: and he said to 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 to Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.⁶ And he returned to 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 Jacob for me, 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 to Balaam, What hast thou done to me? I took thee to curse my 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 to him, Come, I pray thee, with me to another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and from thence curse them for me.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 to 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 to 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 to him, What hath the LORD spoken?¹⁸ And he took up his parable, and said, Rise, Balak, and hear; hearken to 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 spoke, 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 shall eat [of] the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.²⁵ And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.²⁶ But Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not tell thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?²⁷ And Balak said to Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee to another place; perhaps it will please God that thou mayest from thence curse them for me.²⁸ And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, that looketh towards Jeshimon.²⁹ And Balaam said to 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.