Then the LORD met Balaam and put a speech in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balak and you shall speak thus.” When Balaam returned to Balak, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?” Balaam took up his [second] discourse (oracle) and said:
“Rise up, O Balak, and hear;
Listen [closely] to me, son of Zippor.
“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 it?
Or has He spoken and will He not make it good and fulfill it?
“Behold, I have received His command to bless [Israel].
He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
“God has not observed wickedness in Jacob [for he is forgiven],
Nor has He seen trouble in Israel.
The LORD their God is with Israel,
And the shout of their King is among the people. [Rom 4:7, 8; 1 John 3:1, 2]
“God brought them out of Egypt;
They have the strength of a wild ox.
“For there is no enchantment or omen against Jacob,
Nor is there any divination against Israel.
At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob
And to Israel, what has God done!
“Behold, a people rises up like a lioness
And lifts itself up like a lion;
He will not lie down until he devours the prey
And drinks the blood of the slain.”
Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!” But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not say to you, ‘All that the LORD speaks, that I must do?’ ”
Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come; I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.” So Balak brought Balaam to the top of [Mount] Peor, that overlooks the wasteland. And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams here.” Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
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