Page:JPS-1917-Universal.djvu/215

Rh :When He hath said, will He not do it?
 * Or when He hath spoken, will He not make it good?
 * Behold, I am bidden to bless;
 * And when He hath blessed, I cannot call it back.
 * None hath beheld iniquity in Jacob,
 * Neither hath one seen perverseness in Israel;
 * The his God is with him,
 * And the shouting for the King is among them.
 * God who brought them forth out of Egypt
 * Is for them like the lofty horns of the wild-ox.
 * For there is no enchantment with Jacob,
 * Neither is there any divination with Israel;
 * Now is it said of Jacob and of Israel:
 * 'What hath God wrought! '
 * Behold a people that 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 the 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 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.

And when Balaam saw that it pleased the 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 tribe by tribe; and the spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his parable, and said:


 * The saying of Balaam the son of Beor,
 * And the saying of the man whose eye is opened;
 * The saying of him who heareth the words of God,
 * Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
 * Fallen down, yet with opened eyes:
 * How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
 * Thy dwellings, O Israel!
 * As valleys stretched out,
 * As gardens by the river-side;
 * As aloes planted of the ,
 * As cedars beside the waters;
 * Water shall flow from his branches,
 * And his seed shall be in many waters;
 * And his king shall be higher than Agag,
 * And his kingdom shall be exalted.
 * God who brought him forth out of Egypt
 * Is for him like the lofty horns of the wild-ox;
 * He shall eat up the nations that are his adversaries,
 * And shall break their bones in pieces,
 * And pierce 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.