Numbers 24

Balaam the son of Beor saith,

And the man whose eye was closed saith;

⁴He saith, who heareth the words of God,

Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,

Falling down, and having his eyes open:

⁵How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,

Thy tabernacles, O Israel!

⁶As valleys are they spread forth,

As gardens by the river-side,

As lign-aloes which Jehovah hath planted,

As cedar-trees beside the waters.

⁷Water shall flow from his buckets,

And his seed shall be in many waters,

And his king shall be higher than Agag,

And his kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸God bringeth him forth out of Egypt;

He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox:

He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,

And shall break their bones in pieces,

And smite them through with his arrows.

⁹He couched, he lay down as a lion,

And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?

Blessed be every one that blesseth thee,

And cursed be every one that curseth thee.

¹⁰And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together; and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. ¹¹Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honor; but, lo, Jehovah hath kept thee back from honor. ¹²And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers that thou sentest unto me, saying, ¹³If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; what Jehovah speaketh, that will I speak? ¹⁴And now, behold, I go unto my people: come, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. ¹⁵And he took up his parable, and said,

Balaam the son of Beor saith,

And the man whose eye was closed saith;

¹⁶He saith, who heareth the words of God,

And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,

Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,

Falling down, and having his eyes open:

¹⁷I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not nigh:

There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,

And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,

And shall smite through the corners of Moab,

And break down all the sons of tumult.

¹⁸And Edom shall be a possession,

Seir also shall be a possession, who were his enemies;

While Israel doeth valiantly.

¹⁹And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,

And shall destroy the remnant from the city.

Amalek was the first of the nations;

But his latter end shall come to destruction.

Strong is thy dwelling-place,

And thy nest is set in the rock.

²²Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted,

Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.

Alas, who shall live when God doeth this?

²⁴But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,

And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber;

And he also shall come to destruction.