Arad Conquered

21 When the Canaanite, the king of ^(A)Arad, who lived in the ^[a]Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ² So ^(B)Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed hand over this people to me, then I will ^[b]utterly destroy their cities.” ³ The Lord heard the voice of Israel and turned over the Canaanites; then they ^[c]utterly destroyed them and their cities. And the place was named ^[d](C)Hormah.

⁴ Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the ^[e]Red Sea, to ^(D)go around the land of Edom; and the ^[f]people became impatient because of the journey. ⁵ So the people spoke against God and Moses: “^(E)Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no ^[g]food and no water, and ^[h](F)we are disgusted with ^[i]this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

^6 (G)Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and ^(H)they bit the people, so that ^(I)many people of Israel died. ^7 (J)So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; ^(K)intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. ⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^[j]Make a ^(L)fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.” ⁹ So Moses made a ^(M)bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

^10 (N)Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth. ¹¹ Then they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the ^[k]east. ^12 (O)From there they set out and camped in ^[l]Wadi Zered. ¹³ From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; ^(P)for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ For that reason it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,

^16 (R)From there they continued to ^[n]Beer, that is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”

^17 (S)Then Israel sang this song:

And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah, ¹⁹ and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the ^[o]desert.

Two Victories

^21 (T)Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, ²² “^(U)Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s road until we have passed through your border.” ^23 (V)But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to ^(W)Jahaz and fought against Israel. ²⁴ Then ^(X)Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the ^(Y)border of the sons of Ammon was ^[p]Jazer. ²⁵ Israel took all these cities, and ^(Z)Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her ^[q]villages. ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. ²⁷ For that reason those who use proverbs say,

³¹ So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ³² Now Moses sent men to spy out ^(AI)Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

^33 (AJ)Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them ^[t]with all his people, for battle at ^(AK)Edrei. ³⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “^(AL)Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” ³⁵ So ^(AM)they ^[u]killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land.

Balak Sends for Balaam

22 ^(AN)Then the sons of Israel journeyed on, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.

² Now ^(AO)Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ^3 (AP)So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel. ⁴ Moab said to the elders of ^(AQ)Midian, “Now this ^[v]horde will eat up all that is around us, as the ox eats up the grass of the field!” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ So he sent messengers to ^(AR)Balaam the son of Beor, at ^(AS)Pethor, which is near the Euphrates River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call for him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they have covered the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me. ^6 (AT)Now, therefore, please come, ^(AU)curse this people for me since they are too ^[w]mighty for me; perhaps I will be able to ^[x]defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left with the fees for ^(AV)divination in their hands; and they came to Balaam and ^[y]repeated Balak’s words to him. ⁸ And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you just as the Lord may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹ Then ^(AW)God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent word to me: ¹¹ ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” ¹² But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; ^(AX)you shall not curse the people, for they ^(AY)are blessed.” ¹³ So Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak’s representatives, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” ¹⁴ And the representatives from Moab got up and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵ Then Balak sent representatives once again, more numerous and more distinguished than ^[z]the previous. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak the son of Zippor says: ‘I beg you, let nothing keep you from coming to me; ¹⁷ for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you tell me. ^(AZ)Please come then, curse this people for me.’” ¹⁸ But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “^(BA)Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the ^[aa]command of the Lord my God. ¹⁹ Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the Lord will say to me.” ²⁰ And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do ^(BB)only the thing that I tell you.”

Jesus’ Birth Foretold

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel ^(A)Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named ^(B)Nazareth, ²⁷ to ^(C)a virgin ^[a]betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(D)of the ^[b]descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was ^[c]Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord ^[d]is with you.” ²⁹ But she ^(E)was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “^(F)Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you ^(G)shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(H)the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him ^(I)the throne of His father David; ^33 (J)and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, ^(K)and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I ^[e]am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “^(L)The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(M)the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also ^(N)the ^[f]holy Child will be called ^(O)the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and ^[g]she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For ^(P)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ Now ^[h]at this time Mary set out and went in a hurry to ^(Q)the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was ^(R)filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And ^[i]how has it happened to me that the mother of ^(S)my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And ^(T)blessed is she who ^[j]believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her ^[k]by the Lord.”

Mary’s Song: The Magnificat

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.

For the music director; set to ^[a]Al-tashheth. A ^[b]Mikhtam of David, ^[c]when he fled from Saul in the cave.