1 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me in this place seven altars {mizbechot: raised platforms for sacrifice}, and prepare for me here seven bulls {parim: male cattle} and seven rams.”
2 And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull {par: sacrificial ox} and a ram on each altar {mizbe'ach: place of burnt offering}.
3 And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Decider} may meet me, and whatever word {davar: revealed message} He shows me I will declare to you.” Then he went to a barren height.
4 And God {Elohim, Divine Initiator} met with Balaam, and Balaam said to Him, "I have arranged the seven altars {mizbechot: sacrificial platforms}, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar."
5 Then the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Speaker} put a word {davar: spoken message} in the mouth of Balaam, and He said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
6 And he returned to him, and behold, he was standing {nitzav: in a posture of attention} beside his burnt offering, he and all the officials {sarei: rulers} of Moab.
7 Then he lifted up his oracle {meshal: prophetic utterance} and said, “Balak the king of Moab has led me from Aram from the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, curse {arah: call harm} Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’”
8 How can I curse those whom God {El, Supreme Judge} has not cursed {qabbo: pronounced curse}? Or how can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him; behold, a people who dwells alone {levadad: isolated} and is not reckoned {yitchashav: counted} among the nations.
10 Who can count the dust {afar: symbol of multitude} of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the upright {yesharim: morally right}, and may my end be like his.
11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies {oyevai: adversaries}, but behold, you have surely blessed {barekh: spoken well of} them.”
12 And he answered and said, “Is it not what the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Speaker} puts in my mouth {be-pî: prophetic channel} that I must guard faithfully to speak?”
13 And Balak said to him, “Go, please, with me to another place {makom: vantage point}, where you will see it from there. Only its edge you will see; you will not see all of it. And curse it {kavno: pronounce a curse} for me from there.”
14 So he took him to the field {s’deh: Gathering Ground} of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull {par: Sacrificial Bull} and a ram on each altar.
15 And he said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering {olah: ascending sacrifice}, and I will go over there to meet {ekkareh: niphal imperfect} him.”
16 And the LORD {YHWH, Prophetic Commissioner} met Balaam, and He put a word {davar: revealed command} in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering{olah: whole offering by fire}, and the officials of Moab were with him. Then Balak said to him, “What has the LORD{YHWH, Divine Communicator} spoken?”
18 Then he lifted up his proverb{meshal: prophetic utterance} and said: "Arise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, son of Zippor{tsippor: royal lineage}."
19 God {El, Unchanging One} is not a human that He should speak falsely {viyikazzev: speak falsehood}, nor a son of man that He should relent. Has He spoken, and will He not do it? Or has He declared it, and will He not bring it to pass?
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless; God {Elohim, Sovereign Blesser} has blessed, and I cannot turn it back {ashibennah: return it}.
21 He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen trouble in Israel; the LORD his God {YHWH Elohav, Covenant Defender} is with him, and the shout {teruah: triumphant sound} of a king is among them.
22 God {El, Exodus Deliverer} is bringing them out from Egypt; like the horns of a wild ox are his {lo: Israel’s strength}.
23 For there is no enchantment {nachash: divination attempt exposed} against Jacob, nor is there divination against Israel. Now at this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, “What has God {El, Miracle Worker} done!”
24 Behold, a people rises like a lion {lavi: strong predator} and lifts itself up like a lion; it will not lie down until it eats prey and drinks the blood of the slain {chalalim: fallen warriors}.
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “You must neither curse {gam-kov: intensive expression} them at all nor bless {barekh: bestow blessing} them at all.”
26 And Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the LORD {YHWH, Divine Speaker} will speak {yedabber: ongoing declaration}, that I will do’?”
27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will be right {yishar: acceptable} in the eyes of God {Elohim, Sovereign Arbiter} for you to curse them for me from there.”
28 And Balak took Balaam to the top {rosh: summit} of Peor, which overlooks the face of the wasteland {yeshimon: desolate plain}.
29 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars {mizbechot: offering sites} and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams {eilim: male sheep}.”
30 So Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and he offered a bull {par: mature male bovine} and a ram on each altar {mizbe’ach: sacrificial platform}.