laam said unto Balak, Build
me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on
every altar a bullock and a ram. And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by
thy burnt offering, and I will go; peradventure the LORD will come to
meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to a
bare height. And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared
the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every
altar. And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto
Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. And he returned unto him, and, lo, he
stood by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. And he
took up his parable, and said:

From Aram hath Balak brought me,
The king of Moab from the mountains of the East:
Come, curse me Jacob,
And come, defy Israel.
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?
And how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him:
Lo, it is a people that dwell alone,
And shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob,
Or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
And let my last end be like his!

And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to
curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. And
he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD
putteth in my mouth?

And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place,
from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of
them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. And he
took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven
altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. And he said
unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD
yonder. And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said,
Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak. And he came to him, and,
lo, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him.
And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken? And he took up his
parable, and said:

Rise up, Balak, and hear;
Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
God is not a man, that he should lie;
Neither the son of