Numbers 民数记24

24Now when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not resort to sorcery as at other times, but turned his face toward the desert.
2When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him
3and he uttered his oracle¹: "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,
4the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty², who falls prostrate³, and whose eyes are opened:
5"How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling⁴ places, O Israel!
6"Like valleys they spread out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by the Lord , like cedars⁵ beside the waters.
7Water will flow from their buckets; their seed will have abundant water. "Their king will be greater than Agag; their kingdom will be exalted⁶.
8"God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. They devour⁷ hostile nations and break their bones in pieces; with their arrows they pierce them.
9Like a lion they crouch⁸ and lie down, like a lioness-who dares to rouse them? "May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!"
10Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, "I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times.
11Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded."
12Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,
13'Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord -and I must say only what the Lord says'?
14Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you of what this people will do to your people in days to come."
15Then he uttered his oracle: "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,
16the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
17"I see him, but not now; I behold⁹ him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls¹⁰ of all the sons of Sheth.
18Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong.
19A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors¹¹ of the city."
20Then Balaam saw Amalek and uttered his oracle: "Amalek was first among the nations, but he will come to ruin at last."
21Then he saw the Kenites and uttered his oracle: "Your dwelling place is secure, your nest is set in a rock;
22yet you Kenites will be destroyed when Asshur takes you captive."
23Then he uttered his oracle: "Ah, who can live when God does this?
24Ships will come from the shores of Kittim; they will subdue¹² Asshur and Eber, but they too will come to ruin."
25Then Balaam got up and returned home and Balak went his own way.

1 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

2 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。

3 prostrate   

v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的

参考例句：

• She was prostrate on the floor.她俯卧在地板上。
• The Yankees had the South prostrate and they intended to keep It'so.北方佬已经使南方屈服了,他们还打算继续下去。

4 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

5 cedars   

雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The old cedars were badly damaged in the storm. 风暴严重损害了古老的雪松。
• Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 1黎巴嫩哪，开开你的门，任火烧灭你的香柏树。

6 exalted   

adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的

参考例句：

• Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
• He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。

7 devour   

v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷

参考例句：

• Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
• Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵，终会被皱纹所吞噬。

8 crouch   

v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏

参考例句：

• I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
• He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。

9 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

10 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

11 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

12 subdue   

vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制

参考例句：

• She tried to subdue her anger.她尽力压制自己的怒火。
• He forced himself to subdue and overcome his fears.他强迫自己克制并战胜恐惧心理。