¹⁸ And they ^(A)went along through the wilderness and ^(B)bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.

The Desert Years

2 “Then we turned and ^(A)journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, ^(B)as the Lord spoke to me, and we ^[a]skirted Mount Seir for many days.

² “And the Lord spoke to me, saying: ³ ‘You have skirted this mountain ^(C)long enough; turn northward. ⁴ And command the people, saying, ^(D)“You are about to pass through the territory of ^(E)your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. ⁵ Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, ^(F)because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ⁶ You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.

⁷ “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your ^[b]trudging through this great wilderness. ^(G)These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ’

⁸ “And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from ^(H)Elath and Ezion Geber, we ^(I)turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab.

³⁷ They moved from ^(A)Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the boundary of the land of Edom.

³⁸ Then ^(B)Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and died there in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. ³⁹ Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰ Now ^(C)the king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.

⁴¹ So they departed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. ⁴² They departed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. ⁴³ They departed from Punon and ^(D)camped at Oboth. ^44 (E)They departed from Oboth and camped at Ije Abarim, at the border of Moab.

³⁶ Now when Balak heard that Balaam was coming, ^(A)he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, ^(B)which is on the border at the Arnon, the boundary of the territory.

The Bronze Serpent

⁴ Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to ^(A)go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very ^[a]discouraged on the way. ⁵ And the people ^(B)spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul ^[b]loathes this worthless bread.” ⁶ So ^(C)the Lord sent ^(D)fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

^7 (E)Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have ^(F)sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; ^(G)pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(H)“Make a ^(I)fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” ⁹ So ^(J)Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

From Mount Hor to Moab

¹⁰ Now the children of Israel moved on and ^(K)camped in Oboth. ¹¹ And they journeyed from Oboth and camped at ^[c]Ije Abarim, in the wilderness which is east of Moab, toward the sunrise. ^12 (L)From there they moved and camped in the Valley of Zered. ¹³ From there they moved and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites; for ^(M)the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

Death of Aaron

²² Now the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from ^(A)Kadesh ^(B)and came to Mount Hor.