And first, Balaam would have Balac raise seven altars there, and provide him with as many bullocks and as many rams.

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: Ædifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.

When his bidding was done, they offered a bullock and a ram on each altar.

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.

Wait here by the sacrifice, he told Balac; I will go and meet the Lord, if he will, and tell thee what message he has charged me with.

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.

No sooner had he withdrawn than the Lord came to meet him, and Balaam told him how he had raised seven altars, offering a bullock and a ram on each.

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 every one 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.

With that, the Lord put a message on his lips, bidding him return to Balac and deliver it;

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 hæc loqueris.

so he returned, to find Balac standing beside the burnt-sacrifice he had made, with the Moabite chiefs about him.

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:

Then Balaam prophesied: I have come from Aram, from the hills out in the east; it was Balac summoned me, the king of the Moabites. He bade me come and curse Jacob, come with all speed, and lay my ban on Israel.

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 Israël.

Curse them, I, when God’s curse does not light on them? I lay a ban, where ban from the Lord is none?

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?

I will climb the high rocks to see them, the hills shall enlarge my view; here is a people destined to dwell apart, not counted among the muster-roll of the nations.

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.

Sons of Israel, countless as the dust, line of Jacob, past all numbering, may death find me faithful as these, be my end like theirs!

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 Israël? Moriatur anima mea morte justorum, et fiant novissima mea horum similia.

And Balac asked Balaam, What trick is this thou hast played on me? I sent for thee to curse my enemies; wilt thou bless them instead?

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.

But he answered, What words should I use, save what the Lord bids me utter?

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?

Nay, said Balac, come with me to another spot, from which thou wilt only be able to see a part of Israel, not the whole people; from this thou shalt lay a curse on them.

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 Israël videas, et totum videre non possis: inde maledicito ei.

So he took him to the high ground at the top of mount Phasga; and there, when Balaam had raised seven altars with an offering of bullocks and rams,

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, ædificavit Balaam septem aras, et impositis supra vitulo atque ariete,

he would have Balac wait by the burnt-sacrifice, while he kept his tryst.

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.

The Lord met him and put a message on his lips to give Balac.

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 hæc loqueris ei.

And Balac, waiting there with the chiefs of Moab by the burnt-sacrifice, asked him what the Lord’s word was.

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?

And again he prophesied: Stand there, Balac, and listen; a message for thee, son of Sephor!

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:

It is not for God to gainsay himself, as men do, to alter, like the things of earth; must he not make good his word, fulfil his promise?

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 fulfil?

non est Deus quasi homo, ut mentiatur, nec ut filius hominis, ut mutetur. Dixit ergo, et non faciet? locutus est, et non implebit?

My errand is to bless, and I cannot retract the blessing.

I was brought to bless, the blessing I am not able to hinder.

Ad benedicendum adductus sum: benedictionem prohibere non valeo.

It is no false God that Jacob worships, no senseless image that has its shrine in Israel; the Lord dwells with them as their God; his royal trumpets sound for victory.

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 Israël. Dominus Deus ejus cum eo est, et clangor victoriæ regis in illo.

This is the God that brought them out of Egypt, and made them like a wild ox for strength.

God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the rhinoceros.

Deus eduxit illum de Ægypto, cujus fortitudo similis est rhinocerotis.

Jacob needs no soothsayer, Israel no divination; time will reveal the marvellous things God does for them;

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 Israël: temporibus suis dicetur Jacob et Israëli quid operatus sit Deus.

a people that is like a lioness roused, a lion ready to spring, never resting till it has devoured its prey, drunk the blood of slaughtered men.

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 leæna consurget, et quasi leo erigetur: non accubabit donec devoret prædam, et occisorum sanguinem bibat.

And now Balac would have no more, either of curse or of blessing;

And Balac said to Balaam: Neither curse, nor bless him.

Dixitque Balac ad Balaam: Nec maledicas ei, nec benedicas.

but Balaam said, Did I not warn thee that I must needs carry out God’s bidding?

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?

Come, said Balac, let me find thee another vantage-point; from this perhaps, God will allow thee to curse them.

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.

And he took him up to the top of mount Phogor, looking out towards the desert.

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,

Here too Balaam must have seven altars, seven bullocks, and seven rams;

Balaam said to him: Build me here seven altars, and prepare as many calves, and the same number of rams.

dixit ei Balaam: Ædifica mihi hic septem aras, et para totidem vitulos, ejusdemque numeri arietes.

and Balac did as he was bidden, offering a bullock and a ram on every altar.

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.