¹⁴ From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to ^(A)the king of Edom to say, “This is what your brother Israel has said: ‘You ^(B)know all the hardship that has ^[a]overtaken us; ¹⁵ that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. ¹⁶ But ^(C)when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent ^(D)an angel, and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please ^(E)let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s road, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”

^18 (F)Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through ^[b]us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” ¹⁹ Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the road, and if I and ^(G)my livestock do drink any of your water, ^(H)then I will ^[c]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, ^[d]nothing more.” ²⁰ But he said, “^(I)You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy ^[e]force and a strong hand. ^21 (J)So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; ^(K)then Israel turned away from him.

²² Now when they set out from ^(L)Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

Death of Aaron

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at ^(M)Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ “Aaron will be ^(N)gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because ^(O)you rebelled against My ^[f]command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and his son ^(P)Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Hor. ²⁶ Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be ^(Q)gathered to his people and will die there.” ²⁷ So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸ And after Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and ^(R)put them on his son Eleazar, ^(S)Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, the whole house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty ^(T)days.

Arad Conquered

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