3. and he recited his poem:The oracle of Balaam, son of Beor,the oracle of the man whose eye is true,
4. The oracle of one who hears what God says,and knows what the Most High knows,Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,in rapture and with eyes unveiled:
5. How pleasant are your tents, Jacob;your encampments, Israel!
6. Like palm trees spread out,like gardens beside a river,Like aloes the Lord planted,like cedars beside water;
7. Water will drip from their buckets,their seed will have plentiful water;Their king will rise higher than Agagand their dominion will be exalted.
8. They have the like of a wild ox’s horns:God who brought them out of Egypt.They will devour hostile nations,break their bones, and crush their loins.
9. Crouching, they lie like a lion,or like a lioness; who will arouse them?Blessed are those who bless you,and cursed are those who curse you!
10. In a blaze of anger at Balaam, Balak clapped his hands and said to him, “It was to lay a curse on my foes that I summoned you here; yet three times now you have actually blessed them!
11. Now flee to your home. I promised to reward you richly, but the Lord has withheld the reward from you!”
12. Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not even tell the messengers whom you sent to me,
13. ‘Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not of my own accord do anything, good or evil, contrary to the command of the Lord’? Whatever the Lord says I must say.
14. “But now that I am about to go to my own people, let me warn you what this people will do to your people in the days to come.”
15. Then he recited his poem:The oracle of Balaam, son of Beor,the oracle of the man whose eye is true,