Numbers 23:7-19

⁷Then Balaam began to speak his prophecy and said, “Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. 'Come, curse Jacob for me,' he said. 'Come, defy Israel.'

⁸How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I oppose those whom Yahweh does not oppose?

⁹For from the top of the rocks I see him; from the hills I look at him. See, there is a people who live alone and do not consider themselves as just an ordinary nation.

¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even only one-fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of a righteous person, and let my life's end be like his!”

¹¹Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have blessed them.”

¹²Balaam answered and said, “Should I not be careful to say only what Yahweh puts in my mouth?”

¹³So Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the nearest of them, not all of them. There you will curse them for me.”

¹⁴So he took Balaam into the field of Zophim, to the top of Mount Pisgah, and built seven more altars. He offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

¹⁵Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet with Yahweh over there.”

¹⁶So Yahweh met Balaam and put a message in his mouth. He said, “Return to Balak and give him my message.”

¹⁷Balaam returned to him, and look, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. Then Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh said?”

¹⁸Balaam began his prophecy. He said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear. Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

¹⁹God is not a man, that he should lie, Or a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he promised anything without doing it? Has he said he would do something without carrying it out?