17. So he went to him and saw him standing by his burnt offering, and the heads of Mo’aḇ with him. And Balaq asked him, “What did יהוה say?”
18. And he took up his proverb and said, “Rise up, Balaq, and hear! Listen to me, son of Tsippor!
19. “Ěl is not a man, to lie; nor a son of man, to repent! Has He said, and would He not do it; or spoken, and would not confirm it?
20. “See, I have received, to bless. And He has blessed, and I do not reverse it.
21. “He has not looked upon wickedness in Ya‛aqoḇ, nor has He seen trouble in Yisra’ĕl. יהוה his Elohim is with him, and the shout of a Sovereign is in him.
22. “Ěl who brought them out of Mitsrayim, is for them like the horns of a wild ox.
23. “For there is no sorcery against Ya‛aqoḇ, nor is there any divination against Yisra’ĕl. Now it is said to Ya‛aqoḇ and to Yisra’ĕl, ‘What has Ěl done!’
24. “Look, a people rises like a lioness, and lifts itself up like a lion; it lies not down until it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
25. And Balaq said to Bil‛am, “Do not curse them at all, nor bless them at all!”
26. And Bil‛am answered and said to Balaq, “Have I not spoken to you, saying, ‘All that יהוה speaks, that I do’?”
27. And Balaq said to Bil‛am, “Please come, let me take you to another place. It might be right in the eyes of Elohim that you curse them for me from there.”
28. And Balaq took Bil‛am to the top of Pe‛or, that overlooks the wasteland.
29. And Bil‛am said to Balaq, “Build seven alters for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.”
30. And Balaq did as Bil‛am had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.