Balaam, instead of cursing Israel, is obliged to bless them, and prophesy good things of them.

 1 And Balaam said to Balac: Build me here seven altars, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.
Dixitque Balaam ad Balac : Aedifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.

 2 And when he had done according to the word of Balaam, they laid together a calf and a ram upon every altar.
Cumque fecisset juxta sermonem Balaam, imposuerunt simul vitulum et arietem super aram.

 3 And Balaam said to Balac: Stand a while by thy burnt offering, until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet me, and whatsoever he shall command, I will speak to thee.
Dixitque Balaam ad Balac : Sta paulisper juxta holocaustum tuum, donec vadam, si forte occurrat mihi Dominus, et quodcumque imperaverit, loquar tibi.

 4 And when he was gone with speed, God met him. And Balaam speaking to him, said: I have erected seven altars, and have laid on everyone a calf and a ram.
Cumque abiisset velociter, occurrit illi Deus. Locutusque ad eum Balaam : Septem, inquit, aras erexi, et imposui vitulum et arietem desuper.

 5 And the Lord put the word in his mouth, and said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.
Dominus autem posuit verbum in ore ejus, et ait : Revertere ad Balac, et haec loqueris.

 6 Returning he found Balac standing by his burnt offering, with all the princes of the Moabites:
Reversus invenit stantem Balac juxta holocaustum suum, et omnes principes Moabitarum :

 7 And taking up his parable, he said: Balac king of the Moabites hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east: Come, said he, and curse Jacob: make haste and detest Israel.
assumptaque parabola sua, dixit : De Aram adduxit me Balac rex Moabitarum, de montibus orientis : Veni, inquit, et maledic Jacob; propera, et detestare Israel.

 8 How shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed? By what means should I detest him, whom the Lord detesteth not?
Quomodo maledicam, cui non maledixit Deus? qua ratione detester, quem Dominus non detestatur?

 9 I shall see him from the tops of the rocks, and shall consider him from the hills. This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
De summis silicibus videbo eum, et de collibus considerabo illum. Populus solus habitabit, et inter gentes non reputabitur.

 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and know the number of the stock of Israel? Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be like to them.
Quis dinumerare possit pulverem Jacob, et nosse numerum stirpis Israel? Moriatur anima mea morte justorum, et fiant novissima mea horum similia.

 11 And Balac said to Balaam: What is this that thou dost? I sent for thee to curse my enemies: and thou contrariwise blessest them.
Dixitque Balac ad Balaam : Quid est hoc quod agis? ut malediceres inimicis meis vocavi te, et tu e contrario benedicis eis.

 12 He answered him: Can I speak any thing else but what the Lord commandeth?
Cui ille respondit : Num aliud possum loqui, nisi quod jusserit Dominus?

 13 Balac therefore said: Come with me to another place from whence thou mayest see part of Israel, and canst not see them all: curse them from thence.
Dixit ergo Balac : Veni mecum in alterum locum unde partem Israel videas, et totum videre non possis : inde maledicito ei.

 14 And when he had brought him to a high place, upon the top of mount Phasga, Balaam built seven altars, and laying on every one a calf and a ram,
Cumque duxisset eum in locum sublimem, super verticem montis Phasga, aedificavit Balaam septem aras, et impositis supra vitulo atque ariete,

 15 He said to Balac: Stand here by thy burnt offering while I go to meet him.
dixit ad Balac : Sta hic juxta holocaustum tuum, donec ego obvius pergam.

 16 And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his mouth, he said: Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou say to him.
Cui cum Dominus occurrisset, posuissetque verbum in ore ejus, ait : Revertere ad Balac, et haec loqueris ei.

 17 Returning he found him standing by his burnt sacrifice, and the princes of the Moabites with him. And Balac said to him: What hath the Lord spoken?
Reversus invenit eum stantem juxta holocaustum suum, et principes Moabitarum cum eo. Ad quem Balac : Quid, inquit, locutus est Dominus?

 18 But he taking up his parable, said: Stand, O Balac, and give ear: hear, thou son of Sephor:
At ille, assumpta parabola sua, ait : Sta, Balac, et ausculta; audi, fili Sephor :

 19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor as the son of man, that he should be changed. Hath he said then, and will he not do? hath he spoken, and will he not fulfill?
non est Deus quasi homo, ut mentiatur, nec ut filius hominis, ut mutetur. Dixit ergo, et non faciet? locutus est, et non implebit?

 20 I was brought to bless, the blessing I am not able to hinder.
Ad benedicendum adductus sum : benedictionem prohibere non valeo.

 21 There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there an image god to be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the sound of the victory of the king in him.
Non est idolum in Jacob, nec videtur simulacrum in Israel. Dominus Deus ejus cum eo est, et clangor victoriae regis in illo.

 22 God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the rhinoceros.
Deus eduxit illum de Aegypto, cujus fortitudo similis est rhinocerotis.

 23 There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor divination in Israel. In their times it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God hath wrought.
Non est augurium in Jacob, nec divinatio in Israel : temporibus suis dicetur Jacob et Israeli quid operatus sit Deus.

 24 Behold the people shall rise up as a lioness, and shall lift itself up as a lion: it shall not lie down till it devour the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
Ecce populus ut leaena consurget, et quasi leo erigetur : non accubabit donec devoret praedam, et occisorum sanguinem bibat.

 25 And Balac said to Balaam: Neither curse, nor bless him.
Dixitque Balac ad Balaam : Nec maledicas ei, nec benedicas.

 26 And he said: Did I not tell thee, that whatsoever God should command me, that I would do?
Et ille ait : Nonne dixi tibi quod quidquid mihi Deus imperaret, hoc facerem?

 27 And Balac said to him: Come and I will bring thee to another place; if peradventure it please God that thou mayest curse them from thence.
Et ait Balac ad eum : Veni, et ducam te ad alium locum : si forte placeat Deo ut inde maledicas eis.

 28 And when he had brought him upon the top of mount Phogor, which looketh towards the wilderness,
Cumque duxisset eum super verticem montis Phogor, qui respicit solitudinem,

 29 Balaam said to him: Build me here seven altars, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.
dixit ei Balaam : Aedifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.

 30 Balac did as Balaam had said: and he laid on every altar, a calf and a ram.
Fecit Balac ut Balaam dixerat : imposuitque vitulos et arietes per singulas aras.