Numbers 21
Legacy Standard Bible
Destruction of Canaanite Cities
21 Then the Canaanite, the king of (A)Arad, who lived in the [a]Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of [b]Atharim, and he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. 2 So (B)Israel made a vow to Yahweh and said, “If You will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.” 3 Then Yahweh heard the voice of Israel and gave the Canaanites over; so they devoted them and their cities to destruction. Thus the name of the place was called [c](C)Hormah.
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way to the [d]Red Sea, to (D)go around the land of Edom; and the [e]people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “(E)Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no [f]food and no water, and [g](F)we loathe this miserable food.”
The Bronze Serpent
6 (G)So Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and (H)they bit the people so that (I)many people of Israel died. 7 (J)Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you; (K)pray to Yahweh, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “[h]Make a (L)fiery serpent and set it on a standard; and it will be that everyone who is bitten and looks at it, will live.” 9 And Moses made a (M)bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it happened, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
10 (N)Then the sons of Israel set out and camped in Oboth. 11 They then set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, east toward the sunrise. 12 (O)From there they set out and camped in [i]Wadi Zered. 13 From there they set out 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 Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of Yahweh,
“Waheb in Suphah,
And the wadis of the Arnon,
15 And the slope of the wadis
That extends to the site of (Q)Ar,
And leans to the border of Moab.”
16 (R)And from there they continued to [j]Beer, that is the well where Yahweh said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”
17 (S)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 carved out,
With the scepter and with their staffs.”
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 [k]wasteland.
Sihon and Og Struck Down
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 highway until we have passed through your border.” 23 (V)But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border. So Sihon gathered all his people and went out to meet Israel in the wilderness and came to (W)Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24 Then (X)Israel [l]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 [m]Jazer. 25 And Israel took all these cities, and (Z)Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all her [n]towns. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites. Now it was he 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 Therefore those who use proverbs say,
“Come to Heshbon! Let it be built!
So let the city of Sihon be established.
28 (AA)For a fire went forth from Heshbon,
A flame from the town of Sihon;
It devoured (AB)Ar of Moab,
The [o](AC)dominant [p]heights of the Arnon.
29 (AD)Woe to you, O Moab!
You perish, O people of (AE)Chemosh!
(AF)He has given his sons as fugitives,
(AG)And his daughters into captivity,
To an Amorite king, Sihon.
30 But we have cast them down,
Heshbon perishes as far as (AH)Dibon,
And we have made desolate even to Nophah,
Which reaches to Medeba.”
31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 And Moses sent to spy out (AI)Jazer, and they captured its towns 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 to meet them, he and all his people for battle at (AK)Edrei. 34 But Yahweh said to Moses, “(AL)Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So (AM)they struck down him and his sons and all his people, until [q]there was no survivor remaining for him; and they possessed his land.
Footnotes
- Numbers 21:1 South country
- Numbers 21:1 Or the spies
- Numbers 21:3 Lit a devoted thing, destruction
- Numbers 21:4 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Numbers 21:4 Lit soul of the people was short
- Numbers 21:5 Lit bread
- Numbers 21:5 Lit our soul loathes
- Numbers 21:8 Lit Make for yourself
- Numbers 21:12 A dry ravine except during rainy season
- Numbers 21:16 Lit a well
- Numbers 21:20 Or Jeshimon
- Numbers 21:24 Lit smote, as in Gr and Lat
- Numbers 21:24 M.T. strong
- Numbers 21:25 Lit daughters
- Numbers 21:28 Lit lords of the
- Numbers 21:28 Or Bamoth
- Numbers 21:35 Lit he had no survivor
Numbers 21
New Living Translation
Victory over the Canaanites
21 The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were approaching on the road through Atharim. So he attacked the Israelites and took some of them as prisoners. 2 Then the people of Israel made this vow to the Lord: “If you will hand these people over to us, we will completely destroy[a] all their towns.” 3 The Lord heard the Israelites’ request and gave them victory over the Canaanites. The Israelites completely destroyed them and their towns, and the place has been called Hormah[b] ever since.
The Bronze Snake
4 Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea[c] to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, 5 and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”
6 So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” 9 So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!
Israel’s Journey to Moab
10 The Israelites traveled next to Oboth and camped there. 11 Then they went on to Iye-abarim, in the wilderness on the eastern border of Moab. 12 From there they traveled to the valley of Zered Brook and set up camp. 13 Then they moved out and camped on the far side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness adjacent to the territory of the Amorites. The Arnon is the boundary line between the Moabites and the Amorites. 14 For this reason The Book of the Wars of the Lord speaks of “the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the ravines of the Arnon River, 15 and the ravines that extend as far as the settlement of Ar on the border of Moab.”
16 From there the Israelites traveled to Beer,[d] which is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Assemble the people, and I will give them water.” 17 There the Israelites sang this song:
“Spring up, O well!
Yes, sing its praises!
18 Sing of this well,
which princes dug,
which great leaders hollowed out
with their scepters and staffs.”
Then the Israelites left the wilderness and proceeded on through Mattanah, 19 Nahaliel, and Bamoth. 20 After that they went to the valley in Moab where Pisgah Peak overlooks the wasteland.[e]
Victory over Sihon and Og
21 The Israelites sent ambassadors to King Sihon of the Amorites with this message:
22 “Let us travel through your land. We will be careful not to go through your fields and vineyards. We won’t even drink water from your wells. We will stay on the king’s road until we have passed through your territory.”
23 But King Sihon refused to let them cross his territory. Instead, he mobilized his entire army and attacked Israel in the wilderness, engaging them in battle at Jahaz. 24 But the Israelites slaughtered them with their swords and occupied their land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. They went only as far as the Ammonite border because the boundary of the Ammonites was fortified.[f]
25 So Israel captured all the towns of the Amorites and settled in them, including the city of Heshbon and its surrounding villages. 26 Heshbon had been the capital of King Sihon of the Amorites. He had defeated a former Moabite king and seized all his land as far as the Arnon River. 27 Therefore, the ancient poets wrote this about him:
“Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt!
Let the city of Sihon be restored.
28 A fire flamed forth from Heshbon,
a blaze from the city of Sihon.
It burned the city of Ar in Moab;
it destroyed the rulers of the Arnon heights.
29 What sorrow awaits you, O people of Moab!
You are finished, O worshipers of Chemosh!
Chemosh has left his sons as refugees,
his daughters as captives of Sihon, the Amorite king.
30 We have utterly destroyed them,
from Heshbon to Dibon.
We have completely wiped them out
as far away as Nophah and Medeba.[g]”
31 So the people of Israel occupied the territory of the Amorites. 32 After Moses sent men to explore the Jazer area, they captured all the towns in the region and drove out the Amorites who lived there. 33 Then they turned and marched up the road to Bashan, but King Og of Bashan and all his people attacked them at Edrei. 34 The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, along with all his people and his land. Do the same to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.” 35 And Israel killed King Og, his sons, and all his subjects; not a single survivor remained. Then Israel occupied their land.
Footnotes
- 21:2 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 21:3.
- 21:3 Hormah means “destruction.”
- 21:4 Hebrew sea of reeds.
- 21:16 Beer means “well.”
- 21:20 Or overlooks Jeshimon.
- 21:24 Or because the terrain of the Ammonite frontier was rugged; Hebrew reads because the boundary of the Ammonites was strong.
- 21:30 Or until fire spread to Medeba. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
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