< Numbers 21 >
1 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim, and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.
2 And Israel vowed a vow to Jehovah, and said, If thou will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
3 And Jehovah hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites. And they utterly destroyed them and their cities. And the name of the place was called Hormah.
4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to encompass the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5 And the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water, and our soul loathes this light bread.
6 And Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many people of Israel died.
7 And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee. Pray to Jehovah, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And Jehovah said to Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard. And it shall come to pass, that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard. And it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the serpent of brass, he lived.
10 And the sons of Israel journeyed, and encamped in Oboth.
11 And they journeyed from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrise.
12 From there they journeyed, and encamped in the valley of Zered.
13 From there they journeyed, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
14 Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Jehovah, Vaheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,
15 and the slope of the valleys that inclines toward the dwelling of Ar, and leans upon the border of Moab.
16 And from there they journeyed to Beer. That is the well of which Jehovah said to Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
17 Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well. Sing ye to it,
18 the well, which the rulers dug, which the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter, and with their staves. And from the wilderness they journeyed to Mattanah,
19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
20 and from Bamoth to the valley which is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down upon the desert.
21 And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22 Let me pass through thy land. We will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard. We will not drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king's highway, until we have passed thy border.
23 And Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel.
24 And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the sons of Ammon, for the border of the sons of Ammon was strong.
25 And Israel took all these cities. And Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the towns of it.
26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon.
27 Therefore those who speak in proverbs say, Come ye to Heshbon. Let the city of Sihon be built and established.
28 For a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of the Arnon.
29 Woe to thee, Moab! Thou are undone, O people of Chemosh. He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites.
30 We have shot at them. Heshbon is perished even to Dibon, and we have laid waste even to Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.
31 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
32 And Moses sent to spy out Jazer. And they took the towns of it, and drove out the Amorites that were there.
33 And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.
34 And Jehovah said to Moses, Fear him not, for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land. And thou shall do to him as thou did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.
35 So they smote him, and his sons and all his people, until there was none left to him remaining. And they possessed his land.
