[1:1] The misfortunes of the Book of Balaam, son of Beor. A divine seer was he.
[1:2] The gods came to him at night. And he beheld a vision in accordance with El's utterance. They said to Balaam, son of Beor:
"So will it be done, with naught surviving.
No one has seen [the likes of] what you have heard!"
[1:5] Balaam arose on the morrow;
He summoned the heads of the assembly to him,
[1:6] And for two days he fasted and wept bitterly.
Then his intimates entered into his presence,
and they said to Balaam, son of Beor,
"Why do you fast, and why do you weep?"
[1:7] Then he said to them:
"Be seated, and I will relate to you what the Shaddai gods have planned,
And go, see the acts of the god!
The gods have banded together;
[1:8] The Shaddai gods have established a council,
And they have said to [the goddess] Shagar:
'Sew up, close up the heavens with dense cloud,
That darkness exist there, not brilliance;
Obscurity and not clarity;
[1:9] So that you instill dread in dense darkness.
And - never utter a sound again!'
[1:10] It shall be that the swift and crane will shriek insult to the eagle,
And a nest of vultures shall cry out in response.
The stork, the young of the falcon and the owl,
[1:11] The chicks of the heron, sparrow and cluster of eagles;
Pigeons and birds, [and fowl in the s]ky.
And a rod [shall flay the cat]tle;
Where there are ewes, a staff shall be brought.
Hares - eat together!
Free[ly feed], oh beasts [of the field]!
And [freely] drink, asses and hyenas!"
[1:12] Heed the admonition, adversaries of Sha[gar-and-Ištar]!
... skilled diviner.
To skilled diviners shall one take you, and to an oracle;
[1:14] To a perfumer of myrrh and a priestess.
Who covers his body with oil,
And rubs himself with olive oil.
To one bearing an offering in a horn;
One augurer after another, and yet another.
As one augurer broke away from his colleagues,
The strikers departed ...
[1:15] They heard incantations from afar
...
Then disease was unleashed
[1:16] And all beheld acts of distress.
Shagar-and-Ištar did not ...
[1:17] The piglet [drove out] the leopard
And the ... drove out the young of the ...
... double offerings
And he beheld ...
[2:4] .. a girl those who were used? to be saturated with love ...
[2:5] .. a blinded one and the whole moistened? soil? ...
[2:6] El satisfied himself with [lovemaking]
And then El fashioned an eternal house;
[A house ...]
[2:7] A house where no traveler enters
Nor does a bridegroom enter there
[2:8] Worm rot from a grave.
From the reckless affairs of men.
And from the lustful desires of people.
... for me
[2:9] If it is for counsel, one will not counsel with you!
Or for advising him, one will not take advice!
He breaks ...
[2:10] From the bed they cover themselves with a wrap.
One, behold, you hate him!
He will be mortally afflicted. If you ...
...
... punishment.
[Worm rot] is under your head.
You shall lie on your eternal bedding,
To pass away to ...
[2:12] all ... in their heart.
The corpse moans in his heart,
He moans ...
... a daughter.
There, kings shall behold ּBal[aam]
[2:13] There is no mercy when Death seizes an infant.
And an infant ...
An infant ...
There ... shall endure.
[2:14] The heart of the corpse is desolate
As he approaches [Sheol].
...
To the edge of She[ol],
And the shadow of the hedge ...
[2:15] "The quest of a king becomes his moth (rot),
And the quest of ...
... and ... seers.
[2:16] Your quest is distant from you.
Why ...
To know how to deliver an oracle to his people.
You have been condemned for your speech
[2:17] And [banned] from pronouncing words of execration.
[Lines 2:18-29 are incomprehensible.]
[2:30-37] El will be wrathful ... ...
he will eat ... ...
my heart is a heart? ...
[Incomprehensible]
... for three?...
She? will drip of abundant? rain ...
She? will drip of dew and ...
... look for fodder and he? will eat ...