Numbers 21
BRG Bible
21 And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against 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.
3 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
4 ¶ And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 ¶ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for 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.
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 looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
10 ¶ And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.
11 And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.
12 ¶ From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.
13 From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
14 Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
15 And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.
16 And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
17 ¶ Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:
18 The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah:
19 And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:
20 And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.
21 ¶ And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22 Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders.
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 he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
24 And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
25 And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.
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 Arnon.
27 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:
28 For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.
29 Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.
30 We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.
31 ¶ Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
32 And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were 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 the battle 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, which dwelt at Heshbon.
35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.
Numbers 21
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 21
Israel Destroys Arad. 1 When the Canaanite king Arad (who lived in the Negeb) heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the people of Israel and took some of them prisoner. 2 [a]Israel made a vow to the Lord saying, “If you will deliver this people into our hands, then we will utterly destroy their cities!” 3 The Lord listened to the plea of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites. They totally destroyed them and their cities, therefore the place is called Hormah.
The Bronze Serpent.[b] 4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the way to the Red Sea in order to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became discouraged along the way. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses, saying, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to have us die in the desert. There is no bread, no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”[c]
6 The Lord sent seraph[d] serpents among the people. They bit the people, and many of the people of Israel died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord so that he might save us from the serpents.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a seraph serpent and put it upon a pole. Whoever has been bitten and looks upon it will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it upon a pole. If someone had been bitten by a serpent and he looked up at the bronze serpent, he lived.
10 The Move to Moab. The people of Israel moved on and camped in Oboth. 11 They left Oboth and camped in Iye-abarim in the desert that lie to the east of Moab. 12 From there they moved on and camped in the Valley of Zered. 13 They then moved on from there and camped on the other side of the Arnon in the desert that extends from the boundary of the Amorites. The Arnon is the boundary of Moab, the border between Moab and the Amorites. 14 Thus, it is written in the Book of Wars of the Lord,
“Waheb in Suphah,
and the wadis of the Arnon,
15 and the slope of the wadis
that extend to the site of Ar,
that lies along the boundary of Moab.”
16 From there they continued on to Beer, which is where the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Gather up the people and I will give them water.”
17 Then Israel sang this song,
“Spring up, O well! Sing to it!
18 The well which the leaders dug,
which the nobles of the people sank,
with the scepter and with their staves.”
From the desert they continued on to Mattanah, 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley in the land of Moab which is on the heights of the Pisgah overlooking the wasteland.
21 Victory over Sihon and Og.[e] Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, 22 “Let us pass through your land. We will not wander into the fields nor into the vineyards. We will not drink water from any well. We will pass along the King’s Highway until we have crossed over your borders.”
23 But Sihon would not allow Israel to cross over his border. Sihon gathered all of his people and marched out into the desert against Israel. He went out to Jahaz and fought with Israel.
24 But Israel put him to the sword and occupied his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok up to the Ammonite territory (for the boundary with the Ammonites was fortified). 25 Israel captured all of these cities, and Israel settled in all of the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all of its surrounding villages. 26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, for he had fought with the former king of Moab, conquering all of his lands up to the Arnon. 27 [f]This is why those who speak in proverbs say,
“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.
Let Sihon’s city be restored.
28 For fire went out from Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It devoured Ar of Moab,
the lords of the heights of the Arnon.
29 Woe to you, Moab.
You have perished, O people of Chemosh.[g]
He has given up his sons as fugitives,
his daughters as captives to Sihon,
the king of the Amorites.
30 But we have shot at them,
Heshbon has perished even as far as Dibon.
We have laid them waste up to Nophah,
which extends to the Medeba.”
31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent out spies to Jazer, and they captured those villages, driving out the Amorites who lived there. 33 They then turned and went along the road to Bashan.[h] Og, the king of Bashan, went out with all his people to battle them in Edrei.
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him and all his people and land into your hands. You will do to him what you did to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon.” 35 So they killed him and his sons and all of his people until there was not a single one alive, and they conquered his land.
Footnotes
- Numbers 21:2 Hormah means “dedicated to destruction.” The entire booty taken in war is destroyed as an act of homage to God. See Num 18:14; Jos 6:7.
- Numbers 21:4 The bronze serpent, a sign of repentance and forgiveness, will be used by Jesus as a prefiguration of his own being lifted up on the cross (Jn 3:14).
- Numbers 21:5 We loathe this miserable food: this statement showed more than a distaste for the manna that the Lord had provided and that had been the brunt of ongoing complaints by the people. While they were rejecting the Lord’s physical nourishment, they were turning away from his gift of grace.
- Numbers 21:6 Seraph: the Hebrew for a type of poisonous viper. The etymology suggests “fiery one,” “burning one.”
- Numbers 21:21 God fights alongside his people; nothing can resist him. These incidents will remain as exemplars for Israel and will be repeatedly extolled in national songs (see Pss 135:11; 136:10-20).
- Numbers 21:27 An ancient Amorite song of victory, taken over by the Israelites.
- Numbers 21:29 Chemosh is the god of the Moabites. See Jdg 11:24; 1 Ki 11:7.
- Numbers 21:33 Bashan: a region on the border between present day Syria and Jordan. Og: a legendary giant; see Deut 3:11.
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