“King Balak, king of Moab, has brought me

From the land of Aram,

From the eastern mountains.

‘Come,’ he told me, ‘curse Jacob for me!

Let your anger rise on Israel.’

But how can I curse

What God has not cursed?

How can I denounce

A people God has not denounced?

I see them from the cliff tops,

I watch them from the hills.

They live alone,

And prefer to remain distinct

From every other nation.

They are as numerous as dust!

They are beyond numbering.

If only I could die as happy as an Israelite!

Oh, that my end might be like theirs!”