Numbers 24:13-16

24:13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond ¹  the commandment ²  of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will, ³  but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’? 24:14 And now, I am about to go ⁴  back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.” ⁵ 

Balaam Prophesies a Fourth Time

24:15 Then he uttered this oracle: ⁶ 

“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor;

the oracle of the man whose eyes are open;

24:16 the oracle of the one who hears the words of God,

and who knows the knowledge of the Most High,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

although falling flat on the ground with eyes open:

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¹ tn Heb “I am not able to go beyond.”

² tn Heb “mouth.”

³ tn Heb “from my heart.”

⁴ tn The construction is the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) suffixed followed by the active participle. This is the futur instans use of the participle, to express something that is about to happen: “I am about to go.”

⁵ tn Heb “in the latter days.” For more on this expression, see E. Lipinski, “באחרית הימים dans les textes préexiliques,” VT 20 (1970): 445-50.

⁶ tn Heb “and he took up his oracle and said.”