American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
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 Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of {Hebrew: El Elyon.}God Most High.
And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of {Hebrew: El Elyon.}God Most High, {Or, maker}possessor of heaven and earth:
and blessed be {Hebrew: El Elyon.}God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him a tenth of all.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bullock and a ram.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt-offering, and I will go: peradventure Jehovah will come to meet me; and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee. And he went to a bare height.
And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
And Jehovah put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.
And he returned unto him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.
And he took up his parable, and said,From Aram hath Balak brought me,The king of Moab from the mountains of the East:Come, curse me Jacob,And come, {Hebrew: be worth against.}defy Israel.
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?And how shall I defy, whom Jehovah hath not defied?
For from the top of the rocks I see him,And from the hills I behold him:Lo, it is a people that dwelleth alone,And shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob, {Hebrew: Or, by number, the &c.}Or number the fourth part of Israel?Let {Hebrew: my soul.}me die the death of the righteous,And let my last end be like his!
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether.
And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which Jehovah putteth in my mouth?
And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.
And he took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt-offering, while I meet Jehovah yonder.
And Jehovah met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak.
And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath Jehovah spoken?
And he took up his parable, and said,Rise up, Balak, and hear;Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
God is not a man, that he should lie,Neither the son of man, that he should repent:Hath he said, and will he not do it?Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?
Behold, I have received commandment to bless:And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob;Neither hath he seen {Or, trouble}perverseness in Israel:Jehovah his God is with him,And the shout of a king is among 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.
Surely there is no enchantment {Or, against}with Jacob;Neither is there any divination {Or, against}with Israel: {Or, At the due season}Now shall it be {Or, told to…what God hath wrought}said of Jacob and of Israel,What hath God wrought!
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.
And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that Jehovah speaketh, that I must do?
And Balak said unto Balaam, Come now, I will take thee unto another place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence.
And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh down upon the {Or, Jeshimon}desert.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
For from the top of the rocks I see him,And from the hills I behold him:Lo, it is a people that dwelleth alone,And shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, {Greek: Magi. Compare Esther 1:13; Daniel 2:12; Acts 13:6, 8.}Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
{Or, Where is the King of the Jews that is born?}Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to {The Greek word denotes an act of reverence whether paid to a creature (see chapter 4:9; 18:26), or to the Creator (see chapter 4:10)}worship him.
And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written through the prophet,
{Micah 5:2.}And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah,Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah:For out of thee shall come forth a governor,Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel.
Then Herod privily called the {Greek: Magi. Compare Esther 1:13; Daniel 2:12; Acts 13:6, 8.}Wise-men, and learned of them exactly {Or, the time of the star that appeared}what time the star appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search out exactly concerning the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word, that I also may come and {The Greek word denotes an act of reverence whether paid to a creature (see chapter 4:9; 18:26), or to the Creator (see chapter 4:10)}worship him.
And they, having heard the king, went their way; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, {Isaiah 59:20 f.}There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer;He shall turn away {Greek: ungodlinesses.}ungodliness from Jacob:
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,Nor {Or, a lawgiver}the ruler's staff from between his feet, {Or, Til he come to Shiloh, having the obedience of the peoples Or, according to Syriac, Til he come whose it is &c.}Until Shiloh come:And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.
And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a {Greek: squalid.}dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts:
and I will give him the morning star.
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things {Greek: over.}for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.
The God of Israel said,The Rock of Israel spake to me: {Or, There shall be one…and it shall be as &c.}One that ruleth over men {Hebrew: a righteous one.}righteously,That ruleth in the fear of God,
He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth,A morning without clouds,When the tender grass springeth out of the earth,Through clear shining after rain.
for ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness;
And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there hath been such a thing.
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.
And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.