New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."
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And Balaam said to Balak, Make me here seven altars and get ready seven oxen and seven male sheep.
2 Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
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And Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam made an offering on every altar of an ox and a male sheep.
3 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.
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Then Balaam said to Balak, Take your place by your burned offering, and I will go and see if the Lord comes to me: and I will give you word of whatever he says to me. And he went to an open place on a hill.
4 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.
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And God came to Balaam, and Balaam said to him, I have made ready seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar
5 The Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and this is what you must say."
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And the Lord put words in Balaam's mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.
6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab.
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So he went back to him where he was waiting by his burned offering with all the chiefs of Moab.
7 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!'
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And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, From Aram Balak has sent for me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East: come, put curses on Jacob for me and be angry with Israel.
8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?
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How may I put curses on him who is not cursed by God? how may I be angry with him with whom the Lord is not angry?
9 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!
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From the top of the rocks I see him, looking down on him from the hills: it is a people made separate, not to be numbered among the nations.
10 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!"
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Who is able to take the measure of the dust of Jacob or the number of the thousands of Israel? May my death be the death of the upright and my last end like his!
11 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."
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Then Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I sent for you so that my haters might be cursed, and see, you have given them a blessing.
12 He answered, "Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth?"
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And in answer he said, Am I not ordered to say only what the Lord puts into my mouth?
13 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."
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And Balak said to him, Come with me now into another place from which you will not be able to see them all, but only the outskirts of them; and you will send curses on them from there.
14 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
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So he took him into the country of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and there they made seven altars, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar
15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offerings, while I meet the Lord over there."
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Then he said to Balak, Take your place here by your burned offering, while I go over there to the Lord.
16 The Lord met Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say."
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And the Lord came to Balaam, and put words in his mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and this is what you are to say.
17 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?"
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So he came to him where he was waiting by his burned offering with the chiefs of Moab by his side. And Balak said to him, What has the Lord said?
18 Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying: "Rise, Balak, and hear; listen to me, O son of Zippor:
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And in the words which the Lord had given him he said, Up! Balak, and give ear; give attention to me, O son of Zippor:
19 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
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God is not a man, to say what is false; or the son of man, that his purpose may be changed: what he has said, will he not do? and will he not give effect to the words of his mouth
20 See, I received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
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See, I have had orders to give blessing: and he has given a blessing which I have no power to take away.
21 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
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He has seen no evil in Jacob or wrongdoing in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the glad cry of a king is among them
22 God, who brings them out of Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for them.
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It is God who has taken them out of Egypt; his horns are like those of the mountain ox.
23 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!'
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No evil power has effect against Jacob, no secret arts against Israel; at the right time it will be said of Jacob and of Israel, See what God has done!
24 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."
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See, Israel comes up like a she-lion, lifting himself up like a lion: he will take no rest till he has made a meal of those he has overcome, drinking the blood of those he has put to death.
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all."
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Then Balak said to Balaam, If you will not put a curse on them, at all events do not give them a blessing.
26 But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, "Whatever the Lord says, that is what I must do'?"
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But Balaam in answer said to Balak, Did I not say to you, I may only do what the Lord says?
27 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."
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Then Balak said to Balaam, Come now, I will take you to another place; it may be that God will let you put a curse on them from there.
28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.
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So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, looking down over the waste land.
29 Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."
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And Balaam said to Balak, Make me seven altars here and get seven oxen and seven male sheep ready for me.
30 So Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
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And Balak did as Balaam said, offering an ox and a male sheep on every altar.
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.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.