| New International Version | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." | 1Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." |
| 2Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar. | 2So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar. |
| 3Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went off to a barren height. | 3Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the LORD will meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me." So he went to a barren hill. |
| 4God met with him, and Balaam said, "I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram." | 4God met with him and Balaam said to him, "I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar." |
| 5The LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this word." | 5Then the LORD put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you." |
| 6So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials. | 6So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab. |
| 7Then Balaam spoke his message: "Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. 'Come,' he said, 'curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.' | 7Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak brought me from Aram; the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains: "Come, put a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel!" |
| 8How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced? | 8How can I curse someone God has not cursed? How can I denounce someone the LORD has not denounced? |
| 9From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations. | 9I see them from the top of rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. There is a people living alone; it does not consider itself among the nations. |
| 10Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my final end be like theirs!" | 10Who has counted the dust of Jacob or numbered even one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright; let the end of my life be like theirs. |
| 11Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!" | 11"What have you done to me?" Balak asked Balaam. "I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!" |
| 12He answered, "Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?" | 12He answered, "Shouldn't I say exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?" |
| 13Then Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there, curse them for me." | 13Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won't see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me." |
| 14So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. | 14So Balak took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. |
| 15Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there." | 15Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the LORD over there." |
| 16The LORD met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, "Go back to Balak and give him this word." | 16The LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then he said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you." |
| 17So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials. Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?" | 17So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?" |
| 18Then he spoke his message: "Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor. | 18Balaam proclaimed his poem: Balak, get up and listen; son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say! |
| 19God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? | 19God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill? |
| 20I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it. | 20I have indeed received a command to bless; since he has blessed, I cannot change it. |
| 21"No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The LORD their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them. | 21He considers no disaster for Jacob; he sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and there is rejoicing over the King among them. |
| 22God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. | 22God brought them out of Egypt; he is like the horns of a wild ox for them. |
| 23There is no divination against Jacob, no evil omens against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'See what God has done!' | 23There is no magic curse against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said about Jacob and Israel, "What great things God has done!" |
| 24The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till it devours its prey and drinks the blood of its victims." | 24A people rise up like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion. They will not lie down until they devour the prey and drink the blood of the slain. |
| 25Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!" | 25Then Balak told Balaam, "Don't curse them and don't bless them!" |
| 26Balaam answered, "Did I not tell you I must do whatever the LORD says?" | 26But Balaam answered him, "Didn't I tell you: Whatever the LORD says, I must do?" |
| 27Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there." | 27Again Balak said to Balaam, "Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there." |
| 28And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland. | 28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland. |
| 29Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." | 29Balaam told Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." |
| 30Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. | 30So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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