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.
The Canaanite king of Arad who lived in the Negev learned that the Israelites were approaching on the road to Atharim. He went and attacked Israel and took some of them prisoners.
2 And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said: 'If Thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.'
So Israel made a solemn promise to the Lord: “If you hand these people over to us, we pledge to completely destroy their towns.”
3 And the LORD 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.
The Lord responded to their appeal and handed over the Canaanites to them. The Israelites completely destroyed them and their towns, and named the place Hormah.
4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became impatient because of the way.
The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road leading to the Red Sea so they could avoid traveling through the country of Edom. But the people became bad-tempered on the way
5 And the people spoke against God, and against Moses: 'Wherefore 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 loatheth this light bread.'
and made complaints against God and against Moses, saying, “Why did you lead us out of Egypt to die in the desert? We don't have bread or water, and we hate this awful food!”
6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
So the Lord sent poisonous snakes to attack them, and many Israelites were bitten and died.
7 And the people came to Moses, and said: 'We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that He take away the serpents from us.' And Moses prayed for the people.
The people went to see Moses and told him, “We were wrong to make complaints against the Lord and against you. Please pray to the Lord to get rid of the snakes from us.” Moses prayed to the Lord on their behalf.
8 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live.'
The Lord told Moses, “Make a model of a snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitten looks at it, they will live.”
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived.
Moses made a snake out of bronze and put it on a pole. Those who looked at it did live.
10 And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in Oboth.
The Israelites left and camped at Oboth.
11 And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which is in front of Moab, toward the sun-rising.
Then they moved on from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the desert on the east side of Moab.
12 From thence they journeyed, and pitched in the valley of Zered.
They left there and camped in the Valley of Zered.
13 From thence they journeyed, and pitched on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that cometh out of the border of the Amorites. — For Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites;
Then they moved on from there and camped on the far side of the Arnon River, in the desert near Amorite territory. The Arnon River is the border between the Moab and the Amorites.
14 wherefore it is said in the book of the Wars of the LORD: Vaheb in Suphah, and the valleys of Arnon,
That's why the Book of the Wars of the Lord refers to “the town of Waheb in Suphah and the canyon of the Arnon,
15 And the slope of the valleys that inclineth toward the seat of Ar, and leaneth upon the border of Moab. —
the canyon slopes that reach the village of Ar that lies on the border with Moab.”
16 And from thence to Beer; that is the well whereof the LORD said unto Moses: 'Gather the people together, and I will give them water.'
From there they moved on to Beer, the well where the Lord told Moses, “Have the people gather together so I can give them water.”
17 Then sang Israel this song: Spring up, O well — sing ye unto it —
Then the Israelites sang this song: “Pour out water, well! Everyone of you sing to it!
18 The well, which the princes digged, which the nobles of the people delved, with the sceptre, and with their staves. And from the wilderness to Mattanah;
The tribal chiefs dug the well; yes the leaders of the people dug the well with their rods of authority and their walking sticks.” The Israelites left the desert and carried on to Mattanah.
19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;
From Mattanah they traveled to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, by the top of Pisgah, which looketh down upon the desert.
and from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of Moab where the top of Mount Pisgah looks down on the wastelands.
21 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying:
Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, with the following request:
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.'
“Please allow us to travel through your country. We won't cross any of your fields or vineyards, or drink water from any of your wells. We will stay on the King's Highway until we have passed through your country.”
23 And Sihon would not suffer 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.
But Sihon refused to allow the Israelites to travel through his territory. Instead, he called out his whole army and went out to meet the Israelites head-on in the desert. When he arrived at Jahaz, he attacked the Israelites.
24 And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
The Israelites defeated them, killing them with their swords. They took over his land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River —but only as far as the border of the Ammonites, because it was well defended.
25 And Israel took all these cities; and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the towns thereof.
The Israelites conquered all the Amorite towns and took them over, including Heshbon and its surrounding villages.
26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto the Arnon.
Heshbon was the capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the previous king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon River.
27 Wherefore they that speak in parables say: Come ye to Heshbon! let the city of Sihon be built and established!
That's why the old songwriters wrote: “Come to Heshbon and have it be rebuilt; restore the town of Sihon!
28 For a fire is gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it hath devoured Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of Arnon.
For a fire blazed out from Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon. It burned up Ar in Moab where the rulers live on the high places of Arnon.
29 Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh; he hath given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, unto Sihon king of the Amorites.
What a disaster you face, Moab! You are all going to die, people of Chemosh! You handed over your sons as exiles and your daughters as prisoners to Sihon, king of the Amorites.
30 We have shot at them — Heshbon is perished — even unto Dibon, and we have laid waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.
But now we have defeated the Amorites! Heshbon's rule has been destroyed all the way to Dibon. We wiped them out all the way to Nophah and on to Medeba.”
31 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
The Israelites occupied the country of the Amorites.
32 And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they took the towns thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.
Moses sent men to explore Jazer. The Israelites conquered its surrounding villages and expelled the Amorites living 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.
Then they continued on the road towards Bashan. Og, king of Bashan, led his whole army out to meet them head on, and fought them at Edrei.
34 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Fear him not; for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.'
The Lord told Moses, “You don't need to be afraid of him, because I have handed him over to you, along with all his people and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon.”
35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him remaining; and they possessed his land.
So they killed Og, his sons, and all his army. Nobody survived, and the Israelites took over his country.
