⁷ Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out^(A) because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings, ⁸ and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey^(B)—the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.^{(C) 9} So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing^(D) them,

⁷ The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”^{(A) 9} So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.

²⁶ For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter^(A) for both slaves and free people.^[a] There was no one to help Israel.