And he took up his parable and said: Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse Jacob for me; and come, denounce Israel!

How shall I curse whom the Mighty God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom Jehovah has not denounced?

He has crouched, he has lain down as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall arouse him? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.

I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who despises you; and in you all families of the earth shall be blessed.

Let nations serve you, and people bow down to you. Be lord over your brethren, and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed is everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!

because they did not meet you with bread and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.

And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you are coming to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.

As he loved cursing, so let it come upon him; as he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.

As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, so let it enter his body like water, and like oil into his bones.

So the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain? And they said, Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of Jehovah; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so!

And the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets with one mouth are agreeable to the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak pleasant things.

Let them curse, but You will bless; when they arise, let them be ashamed, but let Your servant rejoice.

Like a flitting bird, like a flying swallow, so the curse without cause shall not alight.

Stand now with your charms, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored since your youth. Perhaps you will be able to profit; perhaps you may prevail.

You are wearied by your many counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers and the fortunetellers step forth and save you from what shall come upon you.

They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, Jehovah declares! But Jehovah has not sent them; yet they hope that their word may be confirmed.

But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously used sorcery in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great,

to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

And it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortunetelling.