Prayer: Reading the Blessings that Balak Blesses the People of Israel

(39) And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiryat Chutzot. (40) And Balak slaughtered cattle and sheep, and he sent them to Balaam and to the princes who were with him. (41) And it was in the morning, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamot Baal, and from there he saw the edge of the people. (1) And Balaam said to Balak, "Build me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." (2) And Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. (3) And Balaam said to Balak, "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps Hashem will happen to meet me, and whatever word He shows me I will tell you." And he went alone. (4) And God happened to meet Balaam, and he said to Him, "I have arranged the seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on each altar." (5) And Hashem put a word in Balaam's mouth, and He said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak." (6) And he returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. (7) And he took up his parable and said, "From Aram, Balak king of Moab has brought me, from the mountains of the East: 'Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, invoke wrath against Israel.' (8) How can I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I invoke wrath when Hashem has not been wrathful? (9) For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold 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, and number the fourth part of Israel? Let my soul 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? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them completely!" (12) And he answered and said, "Must I not take heed to speak that which Hashem puts in my mouth?" (13) And Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place, from where you will see them; you will see only the edge of them, and will not see them all; and curse them for me from there." (14) And he took him to the Field of Watchers, to the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. (15) And he said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, while I happen to meet [Hashem] yonder." (16) And Hashem happened to meet Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak." (17) And he came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has Hashem spoken?" (18) And he took up his parable and said, "Rise up, Balak, and hear; listen to me, son of Tzippor. (19) God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it? (20) Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

(21) He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen perverseness in Israel; Hashem his God is with him, and the trumpet shout of a King is among them. (22) God, who brought them out of Egypt, is to them like the lofty horns of a wild ox. (23) For there is no divination in Jacob, nor is there any sorcery in Israel; at this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'What has God wrought!' (24) Behold, the people shall rise up like a lioness, and lift himself up like a lion; he shall not lie down until he consumes the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain." (25) And Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!" (26) But Balaam answered and said to Balak, "Did I not speak to you, saying, 'All that Hashem speaks, that I must do'?" (27) And Balak said to Balaam, "Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be right in the eyes of God that you curse them for me from there." (28) And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down upon the wasteland. (29) And Balaam said to Balak, "Build me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams." (30) And Balak did as Balaam had said, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Book of Numbers Chapter 24 (1) And Balaam saw that it was good in the eyes of Hashem to bless Israel, so he did not go, as at other times, to seek out omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness. (2) And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling tribe by tribe; and the spirit of God came upon him. (3) And he took up his parable and said, "The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, and the utterance of the man whose eye is opened; (4) The utterance of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered: (5) How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel! (6) Like valleys they stretch out, like gardens by the river's side; like aloes planted by Hashem, like cedars beside the waters. (7) Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. (8) God, who brought him forth out of Egypt, is to him like the lofty horns of a wild ox; he shall consume the nations his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces, and pierce them through with his arrows. (9) He crouched, he lay down like a lion, and like a lioness; who shall rouse him? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses you." (10) And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times. (11) Therefore now flee to your place; I thought to honor you greatly, but behold, Hashem has kept you back from honor." (12) And Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, (13) 'If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Hashem, to do either good or bad of my own mind; what Hashem speaks, that will I speak'? (14) And now, behold, I go to my people; come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the End of Days." (15) And he took up his parable and said, "The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, and the utterance of the man whose eye is opened; (16) The utterance 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, yet having his eyes uncovered: (17) I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall step forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall crush the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Seth. (18) And Edom shall be a possession, and Seir shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly. (19) And out of Jacob shall one have dominion, and shall destroy the remnant from the city." (20) And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable and said, "Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end shall be destruction." (21) And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable and said, "Strong is your dwelling place, and you set your nest in the rock. (22) Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry you away captive." (23) And he took up his parable and said, "Alas, who shall live when God does this! (24) But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, and they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall come to destruction." (25) And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.

B"H

AND THE READING OF "KOL HANE'ARIM" (ALL THE YOUTHS)

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (2) And the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over 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 there was evening and there was morning, one 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 there was evening and there was morning, a second day. (9) And God said, "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to 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 He called Seas; and God saw that it was good. (11) And God said, "Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth"; and it was so. (12) And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and God saw that it was good. (13) And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (14) And God said, "Let there be luminaries 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 luminaries in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth"; and it was so. (16) And God made the two great luminaries: the greater luminary to rule the day, and the lesser luminary to rule the night; and the stars. (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 there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. (20) And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." (21) And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that creeps, wherewith the waters swarmed, after their kinds, and every winged fowl after its 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 the fowl multiply in the earth." (23) And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. (24) And God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind"; and it was so. (25) And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every thing that creeps upon the ground after its 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 creeps upon the earth." (27) And 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 to 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 creeps upon the earth." (29) And God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed—to you it shall be for food; (30) And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. (31) And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (1) And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (2) And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. (3) And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God created to make.