< Numbers 21 >
1 And it came to the ears of the Canaanite, the king of Arad, living in the South, that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, and he came out against them and took some of them prisoners.
And when king Arad the Chanaanite, who dwelt towards the south, had heard this, to wit, that Israel was come by the way of the spies, he fought against them, and overcoming them carried off their spoils.
2 Then Israel made an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give up this people into my hands, then I will send complete destruction on all their towns.
But Israel binding himself by vow to the Lord, said: It thou wilt deliver this people into my hand, I will utterly destroy their cities.
3 And the Lord, in answer to the voice of Israel, gave the Canaanites up to them; and they put them and their towns completely to destruction: and that place was named Hormah.
And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and delivered up the Chanaanite, and they cut them off and destroyed their cities: and they called the name of that place Horma, that is to say, Anathema.
4 Then they went on from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, going round the land of Edom: and the spirit of the people was overcome with weariness on the way.
And they marched from mount Hor, by the way that leadeth to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom. And the people began to be weary of their journey and labour:
5 And crying out against God and against Moses, they said, Why have you taken us out of Egypt to come to our death in the waste land? For there is no bread and no water, and this poor bread is disgusting to us.
And speaking against God and Moses, they said: Why didst thou bring us out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, nor have we any waters: our soul now loatheth this very light food.
6 Then the Lord sent poison-snakes among the people; and their bites were a cause of death to numbers of the people of Israel.
Wherefore the Lord sent among the people fiery serpents, which bit them and killed many of them.
7 Then the people came to Moses and said, We have done wrong in crying out against the Lord and against you: make prayer to the Lord to take away the snakes from us. So Moses made prayer for the people.
Upon which they came to Moses, and said: We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and thee: pray that he may take away these serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said to Moses, Make an image of a snake and put it on a rod, and anyone who has been wounded by the snakes, looking on it will be made well.
And the Lord said to him: Make brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: whosoever being struck shall look on it, shall live.
9 So Moses made a snake of brass and put it on a rod; and anyone who had a snakebite, after looking on the snake of brass, was made well.
Moses therefore made a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were healed.
10 Then the children of Israel went on and put up their tents in Oboth.
And the children of Israel setting forwards camped in Oboth.
11 And journeying on again from Oboth, they put up their tents in Iye-abarim, in the waste land before Moab looking east.
And departing thence they pitched their tents in Jeabarim, in the wilderness, that faceth Moab toward the east.
12 And moving on from there, they put up their tents in the valley of Zered.
And removing from thence, they came to the torrent Zared:
13 From there they went on and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon, which is on the waste land at the edge of the land of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the line of division between Moab and the Amorites:
Which they left and encamped over against Arnon, which is in the desert and standeth out on the borders of the Amorrhite. For Arnon is the border of Moab, dividing the Moabites and the Amorrhites.
14 As it says in the book of the Wars of the Lord, Vaheb in Suphah, and the valley of the Amon;
Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord: As he did in the Red Sea, so will he do in the streams of Amen.
15 The slope of the valleys going down to the tents of Ar and touching the edge of Moab.
The rocks of the torrents were bowed down that they might rest in Ar, and lie down in the borders of the Moabites.
16 From there they went on to Beer, the water-spring of which the Lord said to Moses, Make the people come together and I will give them water.
When they went from that place, the well appeared whereof the Lord said to Moses: Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
17 Then Israel gave voice to this song: Come up, O water-spring, let us make a song to it:
Then Israel sung this song: Let the well spring up. They sung thereto:
18 The fountain made by the chiefs, made deep by the great ones of the people, with the law-givers' rod, and with their sticks. Then from the waste land they went on to Mattanah:
The well, which the princes dug, and the chiefs of the people prepared by the direction of the lawgiver, and with their staves. And they marched from the wilderness to Mathana.
19 And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:
From Mathana unto Nahaliel: from Nahaliel unto Bamoth.
20 And from Bamoth to the valley in the open country of Moab, and to the top of Pisgah looking over Jeshimon.
From Bamoth, is a valley in the country of Moab, to the top of Phasga, which looked towards the desert.
21 And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,
And Israel sent messengers to Sehon king of the Amorrhites, saying:
22 Let me go through your land: we will not go into field or vine-garden, or take the water of the springs; we will go by the highway till we have gone past the limits of your land.
I beseech thee that I may have leave to pass through thy land: we will not go aside into the fields or the vineyards, we will not drink waters of the wells, we will go the king’s highway, till we be past thy borders.
23 And Sihon would not let Israel go through his land; but got all his people together and went out against Israel into the waste land, as far as Jahaz, to make war on Israel.
And he would not grant that Israel should pass by his borders: but rather gathering an army, went forth to meet them in the desert, and came to Jasa, and fought against them.
24 But Israel overcame him, and took all his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the country of the children of Ammon, for the country of the children of Ammon was strongly armed.
And he was slain by them with the edge of the sword, and they possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jeboc, and to the confines of the children of Ammon: for the borders of the Ammonites, were kept with a strong garrison.
25 And Israel took all their towns, living in Heshbon and all the towns and small places of the Amorites.
So Israel took all his cities, and dwelt in the cities of the Amorrhite, to wit, in Hesebon, and in the villages thereof.
26 For Heshbon was the town of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had made war against an earlier king of Moab and taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.
Hesebon was the city of Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, who fought against the king of Moab: and took all the land, that had been of his dominions, as far as the Arnon.
27 So the makers of wise sayings say, Come to Heshbon, building up the town of Sihon and making it strong:
Therefore it is said in the proverb: Come into Hesebon, let the city of Sehon be built and set up:
28 For a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon: for the destruction of Ar in Moab, and the lords of the high places of the Arnon.
A fire is gone out of Hesebon, a flame from the city of Sehon, and hath consumed Ar of the Moabites, and the inhabitants of the high places of the Arnon.
29 Sorrow is yours, O Moab! Destruction is your fate, O people of Chemosh: his sons have gone in flight, and his daughters are prisoners, in the hands of Sihon, king of the Amorites.
Woe to thee Moab: thou art undone, O people of Chamos. He hath given his sons to flight, and his daughters into captivity to Sehon the king of the Amorrhites.
30 They are wounded with our arrows; destruction has come on Heshbon, even to Dibon; and we have made the land waste as far as Nophah, stretching out to Medeba.
Their yoke is perished from Hesebon unto Dibon, they came weary to Nophe, and unto Medaba.
31 So Israel put up their tents in the land of the Amorites.
So Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorrhite.
32 And Moses sent men secretly to Jazer, and they took its towns, driving out the Amorites who were living there.
And Moses sent some to take a view of Jazer: and they took the villages of it, and conquered the inhabitants.
33 Then turning they went up by the way of Bashan; and Og, king of Bashan, went out against them with all his people, to the fight at Edrei.
And they turned themselves, and went up by the way of Basan, and Og the king of Basan came against them with all his people, to fight in Edrai.
34 And the Lord said to Moses, Have no fear of him: for I have given him up into your hands, with all his people and his land; do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, at Heshbon.
And the Lord said to Moses: Fear him not, for I have delivered him and all his people, and his country into thy hand: and thou shalt do to him as thou didst to Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, the inhabitant of Hesebon.
35 So they overcame him and his sons and his people, driving them all out: and they took his land for their heritage.
So they slew him also with his sons, and all his people, not letting any one escape, and they possessed his land.