4. God came to Balaam at that place, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars. And I have killed a bull and a ram as a sacrifice on each altar.”
5. Then the Lord gave Balaam a message for Balak and said, “Go back to Balak and say the things that I have given you to say.”
6. So Balaam went back to Balak. Balak was still standing near the altar, and all the leaders of Moab were standing there with them.
7. Then Balaam spoke, and this was his message: “Balak, the king of Moab, brought me here from the eastern mountains of Aram. Balak said to me, ‘Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, speak against the Israelites.’
8. But God is not against them, so I cannot speak against them either! The Lord has not asked for bad things to happen to these people. So I cannot do that either.
9. I see these people from the mountain. I see them from the high hills. They live alone. They are not part of another nation.
10. Who can count Jacob’s people? They are as many as the grains of dust. No one can count even a fourth of the Israelites. Let me die like a good man. Let my life end as happy as theirs!”
11. Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them!”
12. But Balaam answered, “I must say the things that the Lord tells me to say.”