NumbersChapter 21

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¹The Canaanite king of Arad lived in the Negev. He heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim. So he attacked Israel and took some of them as prisoners. ²Then Israel made a vow to the LORD. They said, "If you will hand these people over to us, we will destroy their cities completely."a ³The LORD listened to Israel's request and handed the Canaanites over to them. Israel completely destroyed them and their cities. So the place was named Hormah.b ⁴Then they set out from Mount Hor along the road toward the Red Sea. They went that way to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way. ⁵They spoke against God and against Moses. They said, "Why did you lead us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There's no bread or water! And we hate this awful food!" ⁶So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people. They bit many of the Israelites, and they died. ⁷Then the people came to Moses. They said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD for us. Ask him to take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery snake and put it up on a pole. Anyone who is bitten can look at it, and he will live." ⁹So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live. ¹⁰Then the Israelites set out. They camped at Oboth. ¹¹They traveled on from Oboth. They camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness east of Moab. ¹²From there they set out. They camped in the Valley of Zered. ¹³From there they moved on. They camped on the other side of the Arnon River. This was in the wilderness that reaches into the land of the Amorites. The Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites. ¹⁴That is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says,
"Waheb in Suphah and the dry riverbeds of the Arnon, ¹⁵and the slopes of the riverbeds
that reach to the town of Ar
and lie along the border of Moab." ¹⁶From there they went on to Beer. That is the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water."c ¹⁷Then Israel sang this song:
"Spring up, O well!
All of you, sing to it! ¹⁸The princes dug the well.
The leaders of the people dug it out
with their scepters and their staffs."
Then the Israelites went from the wilderness to Mattanah. ¹⁹They went from Mattanah to Nahaliel. And they went from Nahaliel to Bamoth. ²⁰Then they went from Bamoth to the valley in Moab. There the top of Pisgah looks down over the wasteland. ²¹Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites. They said, ²²"Let us pass through your land. We won't turn off into any field or vineyard. We won't drink water from any well. We'll stay on the King's Highway until we've passed through your land." ²³But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his land. Instead, he gathered his whole army. He went out into the wilderness to fight Israel. He came to Jahaz and fought against Israel there. ²⁴But Israel killed him with the sword. They took over his land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. They went only as far as the land of the Ammonites, because its border was strongly guarded. ²⁵Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and lived in them. This included Heshbon and all the villages around it. ²⁶Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites. He had fought against the king of Moab who ruled before. He had taken all his land as far as the Arnon. ²⁷That is why the poets say,
"Come to Heshbon! Let it be built again!
Let Sihon's city be made strong again! ²⁸For a fire went out from Heshbon.
Flames came from Sihon's city.
It burned up Ar of Moab
and the rulers of the hills of the Arnon. ²⁹How terrible for you, Moab!
You are destroyed, you people of Chemosh!
He let his sons run away as refugees.
He gave his daughters as captives
to Sihon king of the Amorites. ³⁰But we have defeated them.
Heshbon is destroyed all the way to Dibon.
We have torn them down as far as Nophah,
which reaches to Medeba." ³¹So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ³²Moses sent spies to Jazer. Then Israel captured its villages. They drove out the Amorites who lived there. ³³Then they turned and went up the road toward Bashan. Og king of Bashan and his whole army came out to fight them at Edrei. ³⁴But the LORD said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him. 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 lived in Heshbon." ³⁵So they killed Og, his sons, and his whole army. No one was left alive. And they took over his land.