Numbers 21
1 When King Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt toward the South, heard tel that Israel came by the way of the spies, then fought hee against Israel, and tooke of them prysoners.
The king of Arad [city] lived in the area where the Canaan people-group lived, in the desert in the southern part of the land. He heard a report that the Israelis were approaching on the road to Atharim [village]. So his army attacked the Israelis and captured some of them.
2 So Israel vowed a vowe vnto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt deliuer and giue this people into mine hand, then I wil vtterly destroy their cities.
Then the Israelis solemnly vowed: “Yahweh, if you will help us to defeat these people, we will completely destroy all their towns.”
3 And the Lord heard the voyce of Israel, and deliuered them the Canaanites: and they vtterly destroied them and their cities, and called ye name of the place Hormah.
Yahweh heard what they requested, and he enabled them to defeat the army of the Canaan people-group. The Israeli soldiers killed all the people and destroyed their towns. [Ever since that time], that place has been called Hormah [which means ‘destruction’].
4 After, they departed from the mount Hor by the way of the red Sea, to compasse the land of Edom: and the people were sore grieued because of the way.
Then the Israelis left Hor Mountain and traveled on the road towards the Red Sea, in order to go around [the land of] Edom. But the people became impatient along the way,
5 And the people spake against God and against Moses, saying, Wherefore haue ye brought vs out of Egypt, to die in the wildernesse? for here is neither bread nor water, and our soule lotheth this light bread.
and they began to grumble/complain against God and against Moses/me. They said, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in this desert [RHQ]? There is nothing to eat here, and nothing to drink. And we detest this lousy [manna] food!”
6 Wherefore the Lord sent fierie serpents among ye people, which stung the people: so that many of the people of Israel died.
So Yahweh sent poisonous snakes among them. Many of the people were bitten by the snakes and died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We haue sinned: for wee haue spoken against the Lord, and against thee: pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from vs: and Moses prayed for the people.
Then the people came to Moses/me and cried out, saying, “We [now know that we] have sinned against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, asking that he will take away the snakes!” So Moses/I prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said vnto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it vp for a signe, that as many as are bitten, may looke vpon it, and liue.
Then Yahweh told him/me, “Make a model/image of a poisonous snake, and attach it to the top of a pole. If those who are bitten by the snakes look at that model, they will (recover/get well).”
9 So Moses made a serpent of brasse, and set it vp for a signe: and when a serpent had bitten a man, then he looked to the serpent of brasse, and liued.
So Moses/I made a snake from bronze and attached it to the top of a pole. Then, when those who had been bitten by a snake looked at the bronze snake, they recovered!
10 And ye children of Israel departed thence, and pitched in Oboth.
Then the Israelis traveled to Oboth and (camped/set up their tents) there.
11 And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in lie-abarim, in the wildernesse, which is before Moab on the Eastside.
Then they left there, and went to Iye-Abarim, in the desert on the eastern border of Moab.
12 They remoued thence, and pitched vpon the riuer of Zared.
From there they traveled to the valley where the Zered riverbed is, and camped there.
13 Thence they departed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wildernesse, and commeth out of the coasts of the Amorites: (for Arnon is the border of Moab, betweene the Moabites and the Amorites)
Then they traveled to the north side of the Arnon [River]. That area is in the desert next to the land where the Amor people-group lived. The Arnon [River] is the boundary between Moab and where the Amor people-group lived.
14 Wherefore it shall be spoken in the booke of the battels of the Lord, what thing he did in the red sea, and in the riuers of Arnon,
That is why in the book called ‘The Book of the Wars of Yahweh’ it tells about “Waheb [town] in the Suphah area, and the ravines there; and the Arnon [River]
15 And at the streame of the riuers that goeth downe to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth vpon the border of Moab.
and the ravines there, which extend as far as Ar [village] on the border of Moab.”
16 And from thence they turned to Beer: the same is the well where the Lord said vnto Moses, Assemble the people, and I wil giue them water.
From there, the Israelis traveled to Beer. There was a well there, where Yahweh previously had said to Moses/me, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”
17 Then Israel sang this song, Rise vp well, sing ye vnto it.
There the Israelis sang this song: “O well, give us water! Sing about this well!
18 The princes digged this well, the captaines of the people digged it, euen the lawe giuer, with their staues. And from the wildernesse they came to Mattanah,
Sing about this well which our leaders dug; they dug out [the dirt] with their royal scepters and their walking sticks.” Then the Israelis left that desert and went through Mattanah,
19 And from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
Nahaliel, and Bamoth [villages].
20 And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the plaine of Moab, to the top of Pisgah that looketh toward Ieshimon.
Then they went to the valley in Moab where Pisgah [Mountain] rises above the desert.
21 Then Israel sent messengers vnto Sihon, King of the Amorites, saying,
Then the Israelis sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group. This was the message [that they/we gave him]:
22 Let me goe through thy land: we wil not turne aside into the fieldes, nor into the vineyardes, neither drinke of the waters of ye welles: we will goe by the kings way, vntill we be past thy countrey.
“Allow us to travel through your country. We will stay on the king’s highway, [the main road that goes from the south to the north], until we have finished traveling through your land. We will not walk through any field or vineyard, or drink water from your wells.”
23 But Sihon gaue Israel no licence to passe through his countrey, but Sihon assembled all his people, and went out against Israel into the wildernesse: and he came to Iahoz, and fought against Israel.
But King Sihon refused. He would not allow them to walk through his land. Instead, he sent his whole army to attack the Israelis in the desert. They attacked the Israelis at Jahaz [village].
24 But Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and conquered his land, from Arnon vnto Iabok, euen vnto ye children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
But the Israelis completely defeated them and occupied their land, from the Arnon [River in the south] to the Jabbok [River in the north]. They stopped at the border of the land where the Ammon people-group lived, because [the Ammon army was defending] the border strongly.
25 And Israel tooke al these cities, and dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites in Heshbon and in all the villages thereof.
So the Israelis occupied all the cities and towns where the Amor people-group lived, and some of the Israelis began to live in them. They occupied Heshbon [city] and the nearby villages.
26 For Heshbon was the citie of Sihon the king of the Amorites, which had fought beforetime against the king of the Moabites, and had taken al his land out of his hand, euen vnto Arnon.
Heshbon was the capital of the country. It was the city where King Sihon ruled. His army had previously defeated the army of the king of Moab, and then his people had begun to live in all of the land of Moab as far as the Arnon [River in the south].
27 Wherefore they that speake in prouerbes, say, Come to Heshbon, let the citie of Sihon bee built and repaired:
For that reason, one of the poets wrote long ago, “Come to Heshbon, the city where King Sihon [ruled]. We want the city to be restored/rebuilt.
28 For a fire is gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from the citie of Sihon, and hath consumed Ar of the Moabites, and the lords of Bamoth in Arnon.
A fire blazed from Heshbon; it burned down Ar [city] in Moab, it destroyed [everything on] the hills along the Arnon [River].
29 Wo be to thee, Moab: O people of Chemosh, thou art vndone: he hath suffered his sonnes to be pursued, and his daughters to be in captiuitie to Sihon the king of the Amorites.
You people of Moab, terrible things have happened to you! You people who [worship your god] Chemosh have been (annihilated/wiped out)! The men who [worshiped] [MET] Chemosh have run away and are now refugees, and the women [who worshiped him] have been captured by [the army of] Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group.
30 Their empire also is lost from Heshbon vnto Dibon, and wee haue destroyed them vnto Nophah, which reacheth vnto Medeba.
But we have defeated [Sihon and] those descendants of Amor, all the way from Heshbon [in the north] to Dibon [city in the south]. We have completely obliterated/destroyed them as far as Nophah and Medeba [towns].”
31 Thus Israel dwelt in the lande of the Amorites.
So the Israeli people began to live in the land where the Amor people-group lived.
32 And Moses sent to searche out Iaazer, and they tooke the townes belonging thereto, and rooted out the Amorites that were there.
After Moses/I sent some men to explore the area near Jazer [city], Israeli people began to live in all the towns in that region and expelled the Amor people-group who lived there.
33 And they turned and went vp toward Bashan: and Og the King of Bashan came out against them, hee, and all his people, to fight at Edrei.
Then they turned [north] toward the Bashan region, but King Og of Bashan and all his army attacked them at Edrei [town].
34 Then the Lord said vnto Moses, Feare him not: for I haue deliuered him into thine hand and all his people, and his land: and thou shalt do to him as thou diddest vnto Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.
Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Do not be afraid of Og, because I am going to enable your men to defeat him and his army, and to take possession of all his land. You will do to him what you did to Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group, who ruled in Heshbon.”
35 They smote him therefore, and his sonnes, and all his people, vntill there was none left him: so they conquered his land.
And that is what happened. We Israelis defeated Og’s army, and killed King Og and his sons and all his people. Not a person survived! And then we Israelis began to live in their land.
