Catholic Public Domain Version

Numbers 24:1-8 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

1. And when Balaam had seen that it was pleasing to the Lord that he should bless Israel, he by no means went out as he had gone before, to seek divination. But directing his face opposite the desert,

2. and lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel dwelling in tents by their tribes. And with the Spirit of God rushing into him,

3. taking up his parable, he said: "Balaam, the son of Beor, the man whose eye has been obstructed,

4. the hearer of the sermon of God, he who has gazed upon a vision of the Almighty, he who falls down and so his eyes are opened, has declared:

5. 'How beautiful are your tabernacles, O Jacob, and your tents, O Israel!

6. They are like forested valleys, like gardens irrigated next to rivers, like tabernacles which the Lord has fixed, like cedars close to waters.

7. Water shall flow from his jar, and his offspring shall be amid many waters, because Agag, his king, shall be taken, and his kingdom shall be removed.

8. Away from Egypt, God has led him, whose strength is like the rhinoceros. They shall devour the nations that are his enemies, and break their bones, and pierce them with arrows.