8 How can I curse those whom God hasn’t cursed?How can I condemn those whom the Lord hasn’t condemned?
9 I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,I look at them from the hills.I see a nation that lives by itself,people who do not consider themselvesto be like other nations.
10 The descendants of Jacob are like specks of dust.Who can count themor number even one-fourth of the people of Israel?Let me die the death of innocent people.Let my end be like theirs.”
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but all you’ve done is bless them!”
12 Balaam answered, “I must say what the Lord tells me to say.”
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you can see the Israelites. You will see only some of them, not all of them. Curse them for me from there.”
14 So he took him to the Field of Zophim on top of Mount Pisgah, where he built seven altars. He offered a bull and a ram on each altar.