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 24,24 4Mo 24,24
And the sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
And unto Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, {Or, the brother of Japheth the elder}the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born.
The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram.
And the sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
And Arpachshad begat Shelah; and Shelah begat Eber.
And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was {That is, Division.}Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great {Or, rock}mountain, and filled the whole earth.
The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of Tyre.Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.
And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew: now he dwelt by the {Or, terebinths}oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner. And these were confederate with Abram.
Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was diverse from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet;
And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and {Or, there shall be none belonging to him}shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall {Or, thresh it}tread it down, and break it in pieces.
And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings.
And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.
But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows.
And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the {Or, meal-offering}oblation to cease; and {Or, upon the pinnacle of abominations shall be &c.}upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.
And he shall plant the tents of his palace {Or, between the seas at}between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
And as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and {Hebrew: none touched the ground.}touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
And he came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his power.
And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled upon him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven.
When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation, which was {Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11.}spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in {Or, a holy place}the holy place (let him that readeth understand),
And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a {Or, prison}hold of every unclean spirit, and a {Or, prison}hold of every unclean and hateful bird.
For {Some authorities read of the wine…have drunk.}by {Some ancient authorities omit the wine of.}the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her {Or, luxury}wantonness.
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:
for her sins {Or, clave together}have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Render unto her even as she rendered, and double unto her the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double.
How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed {Or, luxurious}wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning.
Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is {Some ancient authorities omit the Lord.}the Lord God who judged her.
And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived {Or, luxuriously}wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning,
standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their {Greek: cargo.}merchandise any more;
{Greek: cargo.}merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
and cinnamon, and {Greek: amomum.}spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and merchandise of horses and chariots and {Greek: bodies. Genesis 36:6 (Septuagint Version)}slaves; and {Or, lives}souls of men.
And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from thee, and men shall find them no more at all.
The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning;
saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and {Greek: gilded.}decked with gold and precious stone and pearl!
for in one hour so great riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth any whither, and mariners, and as many as {Greek: work the sea.}gain their living by sea, stood afar off,
and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like the great city?
And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.
And {Greek: one.}a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all.
And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, {Some ancient authorities omit of whatsoever craft.}of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee;
and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived.
And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth.
And the rough he-goat is the king of {Hebrew: Javan.}Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
Show me a {See marginal note on chapter 7:41.}denarius. Whose image and superscription hath it? And they said, Cæsar's.
Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I am come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I go forth, lo, the prince of {Hebrew: Javan.}Greece shall come.
For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck.
Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
For ships of Kittim shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and shall return, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and shall do his pleasure: he shall even return, and have regard unto them that forsake the holy covenant.
If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.