1And Bil‛am said to Balaq, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”

2And Balaq did as Bil‛am had spoken, and Balaq and Bil‛am offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

3Bil‛am then said to Balaq, “Stand by your burnt offering, and let me go on. It might be that יהוה does come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I shall declare to you.” And he went to a bare height.

4And Elohim came to Bil‛am, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

5And יהוה put a word in the mouth of Bil‛am, and said, “Return to Balaq, and this is what you say.”

6And he returned to him and saw him standing by his burnt offering, he and all the heads of Mo’aḇ.

7And he took up his proverb and said, “Balaq the sovereign of Mo’aḇ has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. ‘Come, curse Ya‛aqoḇ for me, and come, rage at Yisra’ĕl!’

8“How do I curse whom Ěl has not cursed? And how do I rage at whom יהוה has not raged?

9“For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I observe him. Look, a people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations.

10“Who shall count the dust of Ya‛aqoḇ, and the number of one-fourth of Yisra’ĕl? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”

11And Balaq said to Bil‛am, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have kept on blessing!”

12And he answered and said, “Should I not take heed to speak what יהוה has put in my mouth?”

13And Balaq said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you see them. You only see the extremity but not all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

14And he took him to the field of Tsophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

15And he said to Balaq, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I meet over there.”

16And יהוה came to Bil‛am, and put a word in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balaq, and say this.”

17So he went to him and saw him standing by his burnt offering, and the heads of Mo’aḇ with him. And Balaq asked him, “What did יהוה say?”

18And he took up his proverb and said, “Rise up, Balaq, and hear! Listen to me, son of Tsippor!

19“Ěl is not a man, to lie; nor a son of man, to repent! Has He said, and would He not do it; or spoken, and would not confirm it?

20“See, I have received, to bless. And He has blessed, and I do not reverse it.

21“He has not looked upon wickedness in Ya‛aqoḇ, nor has He seen trouble in Yisra’ĕl. יהוה his Elohim is with him, and the shout of a Sovereign is in him.

22“Ěl who brought them out of Mitsrayim, is for them like the horns of a wild ox.

23“For there is no sorcery against Ya‛aqoḇ, nor is there any divination against Yisra’ĕl. Now it is said to Ya‛aqoḇ and to Yisra’ĕl, ‘What has Ěl done!’

24“Look, a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion; it lies not down until it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”

25And Balaq said to Bil‛am, “Do not curse them at all, nor bless them at all!”

26And Bil‛am answered and said to Balaq, “Have I not spoken to you, saying, ‘All that יהוה speaks, that I do’?”

27And Balaq said to Bil‛am, “Please come, let me take you to another place. It might be right in the eyes of Elohim that you curse them for me from there.”

28And Balaq took Bil‛am to the top of Pe‛or, that overlooks the wasteland.

29And Bil‛am said to Balaq, “Build seven alters for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”

30And Balaq did as Bil‛am had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.