Liber Numeri 21
1 Quod cum audisset Chananæus rex Arad, qui habitabat ad meridiem, venisse scilicet Israël per exploratorum viam, pugnavit contra illum, et victor existens, duxit ex eo prædam.
When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked Israel and captured some prisoners.
2 At Israël voto se Domino obligans, ait: Si tradideris populum istum in manu mea, delebo urbes ejus.
So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.”
3 Exaudivitque Dominus preces Israël, et tradidit Chananæum, quem ille interfecit subversis urbibus ejus: et vocavit nomen loci illius Horma, id est, anathema.
And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.
4 Profecti sunt autem et de monte Hor, per viam quæ ducit ad mare Rubrum, ut circumirent terram Edom. Et tædere cœpit populum itineris ac laboris:
Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey
5 locutusque contra Deum et Moysen, ait: Cur eduxisti nos de Ægypto, ut moreremur in solitudine? deest panis, non sunt aquæ: anima nostra jam nauseat super cibo isto levissimo.
and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”
6 Quam ob rem misit Dominus in populum ignitos serpentes, ad quorum plagas et mortes plurimorum,
So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.
7 venerunt ad Moysen, atque dixerunt: Peccavimus, quia locuti sumus contra Dominum et te: ora ut tollat a nobis serpentes. Oravitque Moyses pro populo,
Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.
8 et locutus est Dominus ad eum: Fac serpentem æneum, et pone eum pro signo: qui percussus aspexerit eum, vivet.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”
9 Fecit ergo Moyses serpentem æneum, et posuit eum pro signo: quem cum percussi aspicerent, sanabantur.
So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.
10 Profectique filii Israël castrametati sunt in Oboth.
Then the Israelites set out and camped at Oboth.
11 Unde egressi fixere tentoria in Jeabarim, in solitudine quæ respicit Moab contra orientalem plagam.
They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness opposite Moab to the east.
12 Et inde moventes, venerunt ad torrentem Zared.
From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered.
13 Quem relinquentes castrametati sunt contra Arnon, quæ est in deserto, et prominet in finibus Amorrhæi. Siquidem Arnon terminus est Moab, dividens Moabitas et Amorrhæos.
From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends into the Amorite territory. Now the Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.
14 Unde dicitur in libro bellorum Domini: Sicut fecit in mari Rubro, sic faciet in torrentibus Arnon.
Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: “Waheb in Suphah and the wadis of the Arnon,
15 Scopuli torrentium inclinati sunt, ut requiescerent in Ar, et recumberent in finibus Moabitarum.
even the slopes of the wadis that extend to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”
16 Ex eo loco apparuit puteus, super quo locutus est Dominus ad Moysen: Congrega populum, et dabo ei aquam.
From there they went on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I may give them water.”
17 Tunc cecinit Israël carmen istud: Ascendat puteus. Concinebant:
Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well, all of you sing to it!
18 Puteus, quem foderunt principes et paraverunt duces multitudinis in datore legis, et in baculis suis. De solitudine, Matthana.
The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,
19 De Matthana in Nahaliel: de Nahaliel in Bamoth.
and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
20 De Bamoth, vallis est in regione Moab, in vertice Phasga, quod respicit contra desertum.
and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.
21 Misit autem Israël nuntios ad Sehon regem Amorrhæorum, dicens:
Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22 Obsecro ut transire mihi liceat per terram tuam: non declinabimus in agros et vineas; non bibemus aquas ex puteis: via regia gradiemur, donec transeamus terminos tuos.
“Let us pass through your land. We will not cut through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.”
23 Qui concedere noluit ut transiret Israël per fines suos: quin potius exercitu congregato, egressus est obviam in desertum, et venit in Jasa, pugnavitque contra eum.
But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.
24 A quo percussus est in ore gladii, et possessa est terra ejus ab Arnon usque Jeboc, et filios Ammon: quia forti præsidio tenebantur termini Ammonitarum.
And Israel put him to the sword and took possession of his land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok—but only up to the border of the Ammonites, because it was fortified.
25 Tulit ergo Israël omnes civitates ejus, et habitavit in urbibus Amorrhæi, in Hesebon scilicet, et viculis ejus.
Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its villages.
26 Urbs Hesebon fuit Sehon regis Amorrhæi, qui pugnavit contra regem Moab: et tulit omnem terram, quæ ditionis illius fuerat usque Arnon.
Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land as far as the Arnon.
27 Idcirco dicitur in proverbio: Venite in Hesebon: ædificetur, et construatur civitas Sehon:
That is why the poets say: “Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt; let the city of Sihon be restored.
28 ignis egressus est de Hesebon, flamma de oppido Sehon, et devoravit Ar Moabitarum, et habitatores excelsorum Arnon.
For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights.
29 Væ tibi Moab; peristi popule Chamos. Dedit filios ejus in fugam, et filias in captivitatem regi Amorrhæorum Sehon.
Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
30 Jugum ipsorum disperiit ad Hesebon usque Dibon: lassi pervenerunt in Nophe, et usque Medaba.
But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon. We demolished them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.”
31 Habitavit itaque Israël in terra Amorrhæi.
So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.
32 Misitque Moyses qui explorarent Jazer: cujus ceperunt viculos, et possederunt habitatores.
After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.
33 Verteruntque se, et ascenderunt per viam Basan, et occurrit eis Og, rex Basan, cum omni populo suo, pugnaturus in Edrai.
Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet them in battle at Edrei.
34 Dixitque Dominus ad Moysen: Ne timeas eum, quia in manu tua tradidi illum, et omnem populum ac terram ejus: faciesque illi sicut fecisti Sehon, regi Amorrhæorum habitatori Hesebon.
But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, along with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”
35 Percusserunt igitur et hunc cum filiis suis, universumque populum ejus usque ad internecionem, et possederunt terram illius.
So they struck down Og, along with his sons and his whole army, until no remnant was left. And they took possession of his land.
