New International Reader's Version NIRV
New King James Version NKJV
1 Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here. Prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice."
1 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams."
2 Balak did just as Balaam said. The two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
2 And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering. I'll go and try to find out what the LORD wants me to do. Maybe he'll come and meet with me. Then I'll tell you what he says to me." So Balaam went off to a bare hilltop.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you." So he went to a desolate height.
4 God met with him there. Balaam said, "I've prepared seven altars. On each altar I've offered a bull and a ram.
4 And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.
5 The LORD put a message in Balaam's mouth. The LORD said, "Go back to Balak. Give him my message."
5 Then the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak."
6 So Balaam went back to him. He found Balak standing beside his offering. All of the princes of Moab were with him.
6 So he returned to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.
7 Then Balaam spoke the message he had received from God. He said, "Balak brought me from the land of Aram. The king of Moab sent for me from the mountains in the east. 'Come,' he said. 'Put a curse on Jacob's people for me. Come. Speak against Israel.'
7 And he took up his oracle and said: "Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, From the mountains of the east. 'Come, curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!'
8 But how can I put a curse on people God hasn't cursed? How can I speak against people the LORD hasn't spoken against?
8 "How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 I see them from the rocky peaks. I view them from the hills. I see a group of people who live by themselves. They don't consider themselves to be one of the nations.
9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, And from the hills I behold him; There! A people dwelling alone, Not reckoning itself among the nations.
10 Jacob's people are like the dust of the earth. Can dust be counted? Who can count even a fourth of the people of Israel? Let me die as godly people die. Let my death be like theirs!"
10 "Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, And let my end be like his!"
11 Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you here to put a curse on my enemies! But all you have done is give them a blessing!"
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!"
12 He answered, "I have to speak only the words the LORD puts in my mouth."
12 So he answered and said, "Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?"
13 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come with me to another place. You can see the people of Israel from there. You will see only some of them. You won't see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me."
13 Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there."
14 So Balak took Balaam to the field of Zophim. It was on the highest slopes of Pisgah. There he built seven altars. He offered a bull and a ram on each altar
14 So he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar
15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering. I'll meet with the LORD over there."
15 And he said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering while I meet the Lord over there."
16 The LORD met with Balaam. He put a message in Balaam's mouth. The LORD said, "Go back to Balak. Give him my message."
16 Then the Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak."
17 So he went to him. He found him standing beside his offering. The princes of Moab were with him. Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?"
17 So he came to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the Lord spoken?"
18 Then Balaam spoke the message he had received from God. He said, "Balak, rise up and listen. Son of Zippor, hear me.
18 Then he took up his oracle and said: "Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, son of Zippor!
19 God isn't a mere man. He can't lie. He isn't a human being. He doesn't change his mind. He speaks, and then he acts. He makes a promise, and then he keeps it
19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good
20 He has commanded me to bless Israel. He has given them his blessing. And I can't change it.
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 "I don't see any trouble coming on the people of Jacob. I don't see any suffering in Israel. The LORD their God is with them. The shout of the King is among them
21 "He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, And the shout of a King is among them
22 God brought them out of Egypt. They are as strong as a wild ox.
22 God brings them out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox.
23 There isn't any magic that can hurt the people of Jacob. No one can use magic words to harm Israel. Here is what will be said about the people of Jacob. Here is what will be said about Israel. People will say, 'See what God has done!'
23 "For there is no sorcery against Jacob, Nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob And of Israel, 'Oh, what God has done!'
24 The people of Israel are going to wake up like a female lion. They are going to get up like a male lion. They are like a lion that won't rest until it eats what it has caught. They are like a lion that won't rest until it drinks the blood of what it has killed."
24 Look, a people rises like a lioness, And lifts itself up like a lion; It shall not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain."
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Don't put a curse on them at all! And don't give them a blessing at all!"
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!"
26 Balaam answered, "Didn't I tell you that I have to do only what the LORD says?"
26 So Balaam answered and said to Balak, "Did I not tell you, saying, 'All that the Lord speaks, that I must do'?"
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come. Let me take you to another place. Perhaps God will be pleased to let you put a curse on them for me from there."
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there."
28 Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor. It looks out over a dry and empty land.
28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks the wasteland.
29 Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here. Prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me to sacrifice."
29 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams."
30 Balak did just as Balaam said. He offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on every altar.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.