Spirit of God Comes upon Balaam
And Balaam saw that it was good in the eyes of Yahweh to bless Israel, so he did not go as at other times to encounter aomens, but he set his face toward the bwilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling tribe by tribe; and athe Spirit of God came upon him. 3 Then he took up his discourse and said,
“aThe oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the oracle of the man whose eye is uncovered;
4 The oracle of him who ahears the words of God,
Who beholds the bvision of the Almighty,
Falling down, yet having his eyes opened,
5 How fair are your tents, O Jacob,
Your dwellings, O Israel!
6 Like valleys that stretch out,
Like gardens beside the river,
Like aaloes planted by Yahweh,
Like bcedars beside the waters.
7 Water will flow from his buckets,
And his seed will be by many waters,
And his king shall be lifted up higher than aAgag,
bAnd his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 aGod brings him out of Egypt,
He is for him like the horns of the wild ox.
bHe will devour the nations who are his adversaries,
And will gnaw their bones in pieces,
And shatter them with his carrows.
9 aHe crouches, he lies down as a lion,
And as a lion, who dares rouse him?
bBlessed is everyone who blesses you,
And cursed is everyone who curses you.”