¹ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

² And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

³ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

⁵ And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first Day.

⁶ And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

⁷ And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

¹¹ And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

¹² And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

¹³ And the evening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

¹⁵ And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

¹⁶ And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

¹⁷ And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

¹⁸ And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

¹⁹ And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

²¹ And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

²² And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

²³ And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

²⁹ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

³¹ And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

¹ Balaam said to Balak, "Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams."

² Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.

³ Balaam said to Balak, "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go: perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you." He went to a bare height.

⁴ God met Balaam: and he said to him, "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar."

⁵ Yahweh put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak."

⁶ He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.

⁷ He took up his parable, and said, "From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.

⁸ How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom Yahweh has not defied?

⁹ For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

¹⁰ Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!"

¹¹ Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether."

¹² He answered and said, "Must I not take heed to speak that which Yahweh puts in my mouth?"

¹³ Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place, where you may see them; you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them from there."

¹⁴ He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

¹⁵ He said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet [Yahweh] yonder."

¹⁶ Yahweh met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and say this."

¹⁷ He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, "What has Yahweh spoken?"

¹⁸ He took up his parable, and said, "Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

¹⁹ God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?

²⁰ Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can't reverse it.

²¹ He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.

²² God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.

²³ Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God done!

²⁴ Behold, the people rises up as a lioness, As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain."

²⁵ Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all."

²⁶ But Balaam answered Balak, "Didn't I tell you, saying, 'All that Yahweh speaks, that I must do?'"

²⁷ Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse me them from there."

²⁸ Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.

²⁹ Balaam said to Balak, "Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams."

³⁰ Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.