7. Then Balaam delivered this message:“Balak brought me from Aram.The king of Moab summoned me from the eastern mountains.‘Come, curse Jacob for me,’ he said.‘Come, condemn Israel.’
8. How can I curse those whom God hasn’t cursed?How can I condemn those whom the Lord hasn’t condemned?
9. I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,I look at them from the hills.I see a nation that lives by itself,people who do not consider themselvesto be like other nations.
10. The descendants of Jacob are like specks of dust.Who can count themor number even one-fourth of the people of Israel?Let me die the death of innocent people.Let my end be like theirs.”
11. Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but all you’ve done is bless them!”
12. Balaam answered, “I must say what the Lord tells me to say.”