Balaam’s First Oracle
1 And Balaam said to Balak, l“Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here mseven bulls and seven rams.” 2 Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3 And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, 4 and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 And the Lord nput a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6 And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. 7 And Balaam otook up his discourse and said,
“From Aram Balak has brought me,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
and come, denounce Israel!’
8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the crags I see him,
from the hills I behold him;
behold, a people dwelling palone,
and qnot counting itself among the nations!
10 Who can count the rdust of Jacob
or number the fourth part1 of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”
11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? sI took you to curse my enemies, and behold, tyou have done nothing but bless them.” 12 And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13 And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a ufraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” 14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” 16 And the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” 17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18 And Balaam took up his discourse and said,
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
19 vGod is not man, that he should wlie,
or a son of man, that he should xchange his mind.
yHas he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
20 Behold, I received a command to bless:
he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
21 He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is zwith them,
and the shout of a king is among them.
22 aGod brings them out of Egypt
and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.
23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no bdivination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘What has God wrought!’
24 Behold, a people! cAs a lioness it rises up
and as a lion it lifts itself;
it does not lie down until it has ddevoured the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”
25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” 26 But Balaam answered Balak, e“Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” 27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.2 29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
The Blessings of Wisdom
1 jDoes not wisdom call?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
2 kOn the heights beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
3 beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
4 “To you, O men, I call,
and my cry is to the children of man.
5 O lsimple ones, learn prudence;
O fools, mlearn sense.
6 Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right,
7 for my mouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;
there is nothing twisted or ncrooked in them.
9 They are all straight to him who understands,
and right to those who find knowledge.
10 oTake my pinstruction instead of qsilver,
and knowledge rather than choice gold,
11 for wisdom is rbetter than jewels,
and sall that you may desire cannot compare with her.
12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
and I find knowledge and discretion.
13 tThe fear of the Lord is uhatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and vperverted speech I hate.
14 I have counsel and sound wisdom;
I have insight; I have strength.
15 By me kings reign,
and rulers decree what is just;
16 by me princes rule,
and nobles, all who govern justly.1
17 I love those who love me,
and those who wseek me diligently find me.
18 Riches and honor are with me,
enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield than xchoice silver.
20 I walk in the yway of righteousness,
in the paths of justice,
21 granting an inheritance to those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.
22 z“The Lord apossessed2 me bat the beginning of his work,3
the first of his acts of old.
23 Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, cbefore the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 dBefore the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 before he had made the earth with its fields,
or ethe first of the dust of the world.
27 When he festablished the heavens, I was there;
when he gdrew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 hwhen he made firm the skies above,
when he established4 the ifountains of the deep,
29 jwhen he kassigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was lbeside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his5 delight,
rejoicing before him always,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the children of man.
32 “And now, O sons, listen to me:
blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not mneglect it.
34 nBlessed is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
35 For whoever finds me finds olife
and obtains favor from the Lord,
36 but he who fails to find me injures himself;
all who hate me love death.”
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?”
