Balaam’s Third Oracle
1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to fbless Israel, he did not go, gas at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel hcamping tribe by tribe. And ithe Spirit of God came upon him, 3 jand he ktook up his discourse and said,
l“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,1
4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down with his eyes uncovered:
5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,
your encampments, O Israel!
6 Like palm groves2 that stretch afar,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the Lord has mplanted,
like cedar trees nbeside the waters.
7 Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall be in many waters;
his king shall be higher than oAgag,
and his kingdom shall be pexalted.
8 qGod brings him out of Egypt
and is for him like the horns of the wild ox;
he shall reat up the nations, his adversaries,
and shall break their bones in pieces
and pierce them through with his sarrows.
9 He crouched, he lay down tlike a lion
and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
uBlessed are those who bless you,
and cursed are those who curse you.”
10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, v“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, wyou have blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, x‘I will certainly yhonor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, z“Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? 14 And now, behold, I am going to my people. aCome, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”
Balaam’s Final Oracle
15 And he took up his discourse and said,
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
and knows the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down with his eyes uncovered:
17 bI see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a cstar shall come out of Jacob,
and a dscepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the eforehead3 of Moab
and break down all the sons of Sheth.
18 fEdom shall be dispossessed;
gSeir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.
Israel is hdoing valiantly.
19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion
and destroy the survivors of cities!”
20 Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said,
“Amalek was the first among the nations,
but iits end is utter destruction.”
21 And he looked on the jKenite, and took up his discourse and said,
“Enduring is your dwelling place,
and your nest is set in the rock.
22 Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned
when Asshur takes you away captive.”
23 And he took up his discourse and said,
“Alas, who shall live when God does this?
24 But ships shall come from kKittim
and shall afflict Asshur and Eber;
and he too shall come to utter destruction.”
25 Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.
The Way of Wisdom
1 Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her seven pillars.
2 She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her young women to pcall
from the highest places in the town,
4 q“Whoever is rsimple, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks sense she says,
5 “Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways,1 and live,
and walk in the way of sinsight.”
7 tWhoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,
and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;
ureprove a wise man, and he will love you.
9 Give instruction2 to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
teach a righteous man, and he will vincrease in learning.
10 wThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the xknowledge of the Holy One is yinsight.
11 For by me your days will be zmultiplied,
and years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself;
if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
The Way of Folly
13 The woman Folly is aloud;
she is seductive3 and knows nothing.
14 She sits at the door of bher house;
she takes a seat con the highest places of the town,
15 calling to those who pass by,
who are going straight on their way,
16 d“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
And to him who lacks sense she says,
17 “Stolen ewater is sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 fBut he does not know that the dead4 are there,
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
The Throne in Heaven
1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, fwhich I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, g“Come up here, and I will show you hwhat must take place after this.” 2 At once I was iin the Spirit, jand behold, a kthrone stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a lrainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were mtwenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came nflashes of lightning, and rumblings1 and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are othe seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a psea of glass, like qcrystal.
And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are rfour living creatures, sfull of eyes in front and behind: 7 tthe first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, ueach of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and vday and night they never cease to say,
w“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
xwho was and is and is to come!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders yfall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 z“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
The Scroll and the Lamb
1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne aa scroll written within and on the back, bsealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, cthe Lion dof the tribe of Judah, the eRoot of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a fLamb standing, as though it had been gslain, with seven horns and with hseven eyes, which are ithe seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the jtwenty-four elders kfell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, lwhich are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a mnew song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you nransomed people for God
from every otribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and ppriests to our God,
and they shall qreign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of rmany angels, snumbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
t“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14 And the four living creatures said, u“Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
The Seven Seals
1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a vwhite horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out wconquering, and to conquer.
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, xbright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a yblack horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, z“A quart2 of wheat for a denarius,3 and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and ado not harm the oil and wine!”
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a bpale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, cand Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill dwith sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the ealtar fthe souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, gholy and true, how long before you will judge and havenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a iwhite robe and told to jrest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers4 should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great kearthquake, and lthe sun became mblack as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and nthe stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 oThe sky vanished like a scroll that is being prolled up, and qevery mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave5 and free, rhid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, s“Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the tgreat day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
