And when Balaam saw that it pleased Jehovah to bless Israel, he went not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him.
And he took up his parable, and said,
Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye {Or, is opened}was closed saith;
He saith, who heareth the words of God,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
Thy tabernacles, O Israel!
As valleys are they spread forth,
As gardens by the river-side,
As lign-aloes which Jehovah hath planted,
As cedar-trees beside the waters.
Water 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.
God 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.
He 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.
And 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.
Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honor; but, lo, Jehovah hath kept thee back from honor.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers that thou sentest unto me, saying,
If 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?
And 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.
And he took up his parable, and said,
Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye {Or, is opened}was closed saith;
He 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:
I 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 {Or, of Sheth}of tumult.
And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir also shall be a possession, who were his enemies;
While Israel doeth valiantly.
And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
And shall destroy the remnant from the city.
And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said,
Amalek was the first of the nations;
But his latter end shall come to destruction.
And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said,
Strong is thy dwelling-place,
And thy nest is set in the rock.
Nevertheless {Or, the Kenites}Kain shall be wasted,
{Or, How long? Asshur &c.}Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
And he took up his parable, and said,
Alas, who shall live when God {Or, established him}doeth this?
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber;
And he also shall come to destruction.
And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
Querverweise zu 4. Mose 24,8 4Mo 24,8
And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loatheth this {Or, vile}light bread.
Only rebel not against Jehovah, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their {Hebrew: shadow.}defence is removed from over them, and Jehovah is with us: fear them not.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
I will heap evils upon them;I will spend mine arrows upon them:
God bringeth them forth out of Egypt;He hath as it were the {Or, horns}strength of the {Or, ox-antelope Hebrew: reem.}wild-ox.
Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness,And as a lion doth he lift himself up:He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,And drink the blood of the slain.
{Or, I thought until morning, As a lion, o will he break &c.}I quieted myself until morning; as a lion, so he breaketh all my bones:From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,And my sword shall devour flesh;With the blood of the slain and the captives, {Or, From the beginning of revenges upon the enemy}From {Or, the hairy head of the enemy}the head of the leaders of the enemy.
When Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall {Hebrew: pluck off.}cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Israel is a {Hebrew: scattered.}hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
For thou wilt make them turn their back;Thou wilt make ready with thy bowstrings against their face.
And the king commanded, and they brought those men that had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.
Thine arrows are sharp;The peoples fall under thee;They are in the heart of the king's enemies.
For, lo, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of {Or, according to another reading, a mighty man that maketh childless.}an expert mighty man; {Or, that returneth not}none shall return in vain.