1 And Balaam said to Balak, Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.2 And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.3 And Balaam said to Balak, Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps Jehovah will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will declare to you. So he went to a barren height.4 And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.5 And Jehovah put a word in Balaams mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.6 And he returned to him, and lo, he was standing by his burnt offering, he and all the rulers of Moab.7 And he took up his parable and said: Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse Jacob for me; and come, denounce Israel!8 How shall I curse whom the Mighty God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom Jehovah has not denounced?9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Behold, a people dwelling alone, not being reckoned among the nations.10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number one-fourth of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!11 And Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and lo, you have blessed them to be adored!12 And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak what Jehovah has put in my mouth?13 And Balak said to him, Please come with me to another place from which you can see them; you shall see only the extremity of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there.14 And he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.15 And he said to Balak, Stand here by your burnt offering while I meet over there.16 And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.17 And he came to him, and lo, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the rulers of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, What has Jehovah spoken?18 And he took up his parable and said: Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, son of Zippor!19 The Mighty God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should be sorry. Has He said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good?20 Behold, I have been chosen to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.21 He has not observed trouble in Jacob, nor has He seen toil in Israel. Jehovah his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them.22 The Mighty God who brings them out of Egypt is like the lofty horns of an oryx.23 For there is no omen against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob and of Israel, Oh, what the Mighty God has done!24 Behold, the people rise like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion; it shall not lie down until it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.25 And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!26 And Balaam answered and said to Balak, Did I not speak to you, saying, All that Jehovah speaks, that I must do?27 And Balak said to Balaam, Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable in Gods eyes for you to curse them for me from there.28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down facing the wilderness.29 And Balaam said to Balak, Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
1 And Balaam seide to Balaach, Bilde thou here to me seuene auteris, and make redi so many caluys, and rammes of the same noumbre.2 And whanne he hadde do bi the word of Balaam, thei puttiden a calf and a ram to gidere on the auter.3 And Balaam seide to Balaach, Stond thou a litil while bisidis thi brent sacrifice, while Y go, if in hap the Lord meete me; and Y schal `speke to thee what euer thing he schal comaunde.4 And whanne he hadde go swiftli, God cam to hym; and Balaam spak to hym, and seide, Y reiside seuene auteris, and Y puttide a calf and a ram aboue.5 Forsothe the Lord `puttide a word in his mouth, and seide, Turne ayen to Balaach, and thou schalt speke these thingis.6 He turnede ayen, and fond Balach stondynge bisidis his brent sacrifice, and alle the princes of Moabitis.7 And whanne his parable `was takun, he seide, Balaach, the kyng of Moabitis, brouyte me fro Aran, fro the `hillis of the eest; and he seide, Come thou and curse Jacob; haaste thou, and greetli curse thou Israel.8 How schal Y curse whom God cursid not? bi what resoun schal Y `haue abhomynable whom God `hath not abhomynable?9 Fro the hiyeste flyntis Y schal se hym, and fro litle hillis Y schal biholde hym; the puple schal dwelle aloone, and it schal not be arettid among hethene men.10 Who may noumbre the dust, that is, kynrede, of Jacob, and knowe the noumbre of the generacioun of Israel? My lijf die in the deeth of iust men, and my laste thingis be maad lijk hem!11 And Balaach seide to Balaam, What is this that thou doist? Y clepide thee, that thou schuldist curse myn enemyes, and ayenward thou blessist hem.12 To whom Balaam answeride, Whether Y may speke othir thing no but that that the Lord comaundith?13 Therfor Balaach seide to Balaam, Come with me in to anothir place, fro whennus thou se a part of Israel, and mayst not se al; fro thennus curse thou hym.14 And whanne he hadde led Balaam in to an hiy place, on the cop of the hil of Phasga, he bildide seuene auteris to Balaam, and whanne calues and rammes weren put aboue,15 he seide to Balaach, Stonde here bisidis thi brent sacrifice, while Y go.16 And whanne the Lord hadde `come to him, and hadde put `a word in his mouth, he seide, Turne ayen to Balach, and thou schalt seie these thingis to hym.17 He turnyde ayen, and foond Balach stondynge bisidis his brent sacrifice, and the princis of Moabitis with hym. To whom Balach seide, What spak the Lord?18 And whanne his parable `was takun, he seide, Stonde, Balach, and herkene; here, thou sone of Sephor. God is not `as a man,19 that he lye, nethir he is as the sone of a man, that he be chaungid; therfor he seide, and schal he not do? he spak, and schal he not fulfille?20 Y am brouyt to blesse, Y may not forbede blessyng.21 Noon idol is in Jacob, nethir symylacre is seyn in Israel; his Lord God is with hym, and the sown of victorie of kyng is in hym.22 The Lord God ledde hym out of Egipt, whos strengthe is lijk an vnicorn;23 fals tellyng bi chiteryng of bryddis, `ethir idolatrie, is not in Jacob, nethir fals dyuynyng is in Israel. In his tymes it schal be seide to Jacob and Israel, What the Lord hath wrought!24 Lo! the puple schal rise to gidere as a lionesse, and schal be reisid as a lioun; the lioun schal not reste, til he deuoure prey, and drynke the blood of hem that ben slayn.25 And Balach seide to Balaam, Nether curse thou, nether blesse thou hym.26 And he seide, Whether Y seide not to thee, that what euer thing that God comaundide to me, Y wolde do this?27 And Balach seide to hym, Come, and Y schal lede thee to an other place, if in hap it plesith God that fro thennus thou curse hym.28 And whanne Balaach hadde led hym out on the `cop of the hil of Phegor, that biholdith the wildirnesse,29 Balaam seide to hym, Bilde here seuene auteris to me, and make redi so many caluys, and rammes of the same noumbre.30 Balaach dide as Balaam seide, and he puttide caluys and rammes, bi alle auteris.