Balaam was the last to speak at the behest of the king, and
he said: "From all that the king may devise against the
Hebrews, they will be delivered. If thou thinkest to diminish
them by the flaming fire, thou wilt not prevail over them,
for their God delivered Abraham their father from the furnace
in which the Chaldeans cast him. Perhaps thou thinkest
to destroy them with a sword, but their father Isaac was
delivered from being slaughtered by the sword. And if
thou thinkest to reduce them through hard and rigorous
labor, thou wilt also not prevail, for their father Jacob
served Laban in all manner of hard work, and yet he prospered.
If it please the king, let him order all the male
children that shall be born in Israel from this day forward
to be thrown into the water. Thereby canst thou wipe out
their name, for neither any of them nor any of their fathers