“Balak brought me from Aram,^(C)
    the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.^(D)
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;
    come, denounce Israel.’^(E)
8 How can I curse
    those whom God has not cursed?^(F)
How can I denounce
    those whom the Lord has not denounced?^(G)
9 From the rocky peaks I see them,
    from the heights I view them.^(H)
I see a people who live apart
    and do not consider themselves one of the nations.^(I)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob^(J)
    or number even a fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,^(K)
    and may my final end be like theirs!^(L)”

“Balak brought me from Aram,^(C)
    the king of Moab from the eastern mountains.^(D)
‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;
    come, denounce Israel.’^(E)
8 How can I curse
    those whom God has not cursed?^(F)
How can I denounce
    those whom the Lord has not denounced?^(G)
9 From the rocky peaks I see them,
    from the heights I view them.^(H)
I see a people who live apart
    and do not consider themselves one of the nations.^(I)
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob^(J)
    or number even a fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,^(K)
    and may my final end be like theirs!^(L)”

⁵ “How beautiful are your tents,^(A) Jacob,
    your dwelling places, Israel!

⁶ “Like valleys they spread out,
    like gardens beside a river,^(B)
like aloes^(C) planted by the Lord,
    like cedars beside the waters.^(D)
7 Water will flow from their buckets;
    their seed will have abundant water.

“Their king will be greater than Agag;^(E)
    their kingdom will be exalted.^(F)

⁸ “God brought them out of Egypt;
    they have the strength of a wild ox.
They devour hostile nations
    and break their bones in pieces;^(G)
    with their arrows they pierce them.^(H)
9 Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
    like a lioness^(I)—who dares to rouse them?

“May those who bless you be blessed^(J)
    and those who curse you be cursed!”^(K)

¹⁷ “I see him, but not now;
    I behold him, but not near.^(A)
A star will come out of Jacob;^(B)
    a scepter will rise out of Israel.^(C)
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,^(D)
    the skulls^[a](E) of^[b] all the people of Sheth.^[c]
18 Edom^(F) will be conquered;
    Seir,^(G) his enemy, will be conquered,^(H)
    but Israel^(I) will grow strong.
¹⁹ A ruler will come out of Jacob^(J)
    and destroy the survivors of the city.”

“Amalek was first among the nations,
    but their end will be utter destruction.”^(L)

“Your dwelling place is secure,^(N)
    your nest is set in a rock;
²² yet you Kenites will be destroyed
    when Ashur^(O) takes you captive.”

“Alas! Who can live when God does this?^[d]
24     Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus;^(P)
they will subdue Ashur^(Q) and Eber,^(R)
    but they too will come to ruin.^(S)”