New International Version NIV
New Revised Standard NRS
1 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
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Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."
2 Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
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Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
3 Then 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.
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Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your burnt offerings while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you." And he went to a bare height.
4 God met with him, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”
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Then God met Balaam; and Balaam said to him, "I have arranged the seven altars, and have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
5 The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
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The Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and this is what you must say."
6 So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials.
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So he returned to Balak, who was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab.
7 Then 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.’
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Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying: "Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: "Come, curse Jacob for me; Come, denounce Israel!'
8 How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?
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How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 From 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.
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For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; Here is a people living alone, and not reckoning itself among the nations!
10 Who 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!”
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Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the dust-cloud of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!"
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”
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Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them."
12 He answered, “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
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He answered, "Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth?"
13 Then 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.”
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So Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only part of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there."
14 So 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.
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So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”
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Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offerings, while I meet the Lord over there."
16 The LORD met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
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The Lord met Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say."
17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials. Balak asked him, “What did the LORD say?”
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When he came to him, he was standing beside his burnt offerings with the officials of Moab. Balak said to him, "What has the Lord said?"
18 Then he spoke his message: “Arise, Balak, and listen; hear me, son of Zippor.
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Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying: "Rise, Balak, and hear; listen to me, O son of Zippor:
19 God 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?
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God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind. Has he promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it
20 I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
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See, I received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot revoke 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.
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He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob; nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, acclaimed as a king among them
22 God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox.
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God, who brings them out of Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
23 There 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!’
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Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, "See what God has done!'
24 The 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.”
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Look, a people rising up like a lioness, and rousing itself like a lion! It does not lie down until it has eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain."
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
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Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all."
26 Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the LORD says?”
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But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, "Whatever the Lord says, that is what I must do'?"
27 Then 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.”
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So Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there."
28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.
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So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.
29 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”
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Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."
30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
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So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.