15. Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by this altar while I go meet with God over there.”
16. So the Lord came to Balaam and told Balaam what to say. Then he told Balaam to go back to Balak and say these things.
17. So Balaam went to Balak. Balak was still standing near the altar. The leaders of Moab were there with him. Balak saw Balaam coming and said, “What did the Lord say?”
18. Then Balaam said this: “Stand up, Balak, and listen to me. Hear me, Balak son of Zippor.
19. God is not a man; he will not lie. God is not a human being; his decisions will not change. If he says he will do something, then he will do it. If he makes a promise, then he will do what he promised.
20. He told me to bless them. He blessed them, so I cannot change that.
21. God saw no wrong in Jacob’s people. He saw no sin in the Israelites. The Lord is their God, and he is with them. The Great King is with them!
22. God brought them out of Egypt. They are as strong as a wild ox.
23. There is no power that can defeat the people of Jacob. There is no magic that can stop the Israelites. People will say this about Jacob and the Israelites: ‘Look at the great things God did!’
24. The people are as strong as lions, and they fight like lions. And a lion will not rest until it eats what it has caught, until it drinks the blood of what it has killed.”
25. Then Balak said to Balaam, “You didn’t ask for good things to happen to these people, but you didn’t ask for bad things to happen to them either!”
26. Balaam answered, “I told you before that I can only say what the Lord tells me to say.”
27. Then Balak said to Balaam, “So come with me to another place. Maybe God will be pleased and will allow you to curse them from that place.”
28. So Balak led Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which looks out over the desert.
29. Balaam said, “Build seven altars here. Then prepare seven bulls and seven rams for the altars.”
30. Balak did what Balaam asked. Balak offered the bulls and rams on the altars.