| The misfortunes of the Book of Balaam, son of Beor. A divine seer was he. |
| 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!” |
| Balaam arose on the morrow; |
| He summoned the heads of the assembly to him, |
| 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?” |
| 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; |
| 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; |
| So that you instill dread in dense darkness. |
| And – never utter a sound again!’ |
| 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, |
| 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!” |
| Heed the admonition, adversaries of Sha[gar-and-Ištar]! |
| … skilled diviner. |
| To skilled diviners shall one take you, and to an oracle; |
| 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 … |
| The Admonitions are Heeded; The Malevolent Gods are Punished, the Goddess Rescued, and the Land Saved |
| They heard incantations from afar |
| … |
| Then disease was unleashed |
| And all beheld acts of distress. |
| Shagar-and-Ištar did not … |
| The piglet [drove out] the leopard |
| And the … drove out the young of the … |
| … double offerings |
| And he beheld … |