Chapter 23

  And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams.  

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  And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on [every] altar a bullock and a ram.  

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  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 an high place.  

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  And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon [every] altar a bullock and a ram.  

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  And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.  

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  And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.  

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  And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, [saying], Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.  

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  How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, [whom] the LORD hath not defied?  

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  For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.  

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  Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth [part] of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!  

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  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.  

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  And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth?  

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  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.  

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  And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on [every] altar.  

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  And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet [the LORD] yonder.  

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  And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.  

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  And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken?  

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  And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:  

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  God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?  

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  Behold, I have received [commandment] to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.  

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  He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God [is] with him, and the shout of a king [is] among them.  

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  God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.  

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  Surely [there is] no enchantment against Jacob, neither [is there] any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!  

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  Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat [of] the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.  

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  And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.  

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  But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?  

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  And Balak said unto Balaam, Come, I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.  

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  And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.  

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  And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.  

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  And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bullock and a ram on [every] altar.  

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