1. Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
2. So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
3. Balaam 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.
4. God met with him and Balaam said to Him, “I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”
5. Then the Lord put a message in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”
6. So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab.
7. Balaam 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! ”
8. How can I curse someone God has not cursed?How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?
9. I 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.
10. Who has counted the dust of Jacobor numbered the dust clouds of Israel?Let me die the death of the upright;let the end of my life be like theirs.
11. “What have you done to me? ” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them! ”
12. He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth? ”
13. Then 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.”
14. So Balak took him to Lookout Field on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15. Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there.”
16. The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”