Numbers 23:4-9

⁴and God appeared to him there. Balaam said to him, “We have built seven altars, and I have killed and burned a young bull and a ram as a sacrifice to you on each altar.”

⁵Then Yahweh gave Balaam a message to give to King Balak. Then he said, “Go back and tell him what I told you.”

⁶When Balaam returned to Balak, Balak was standing with the leaders from Moab beside the offerings he had burned on the altar.

⁷This is the message that Balaam told them: “Balak, the King of Moab, summoned me to come here from Syria; he brought me here from the hills at the eastern side of Syria. He said, ‘Come and curse the descendants of Jacob for me, saying that bad things will happen to these Israeli people!’

⁸But ◄how can I curse people whom God has not cursed?/I certainly cannot curse people whom God has not cursed!► RHQ ◄How can I condemn people whom Yahweh has not condemned?/I cannot condemn people whom Yahweh has not condemned!► RHQ

⁹I have seen them from the tops of the rocky peaks, . I see that they are a group of people who live by themselves; they have separated themselves from other nations.