Numbers 21

Wycliffe Bible

21 And when [the] Canaanite, the king of Arad, that dwelled at the south, had heard this, that is, that Israel came by the way of [the] spyers (that the Israelites came by the way of Atharim), he fought against them; and (the) Canaanite was the overcomer, and he led away (as) prey (some of) the men of Israel.

² And Israel bound himself by a vow to the Lord, and said, If thou shalt betake this people in(to) mine hand, I shall do away their cities. (And the Israelites bound themselves with a vow to the Lord, and said, If thou shalt deliver these people into our hands, we shall do away their cities.)

³ And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and betook to them the Canaanites; and Israel killed him, and destroyed his cities; and Israel called the name of that place Hormah, that is, cursing. (And the Lord heard the prayers of the Israelites, and delivered the Canaanites unto them; and the Israelites killed them, and destroyed their cities; and the Israelites called the name of that place Hormah, that is, Cursing.)

⁴ Soothly Israel went forth from the hill of Hor, by the way that leadeth to the Red Sea, that they would compass the land of Edom; and it began to annoy the people, of the way and [of the] travail. (And the Israelites went forth from Mount Hor, by the way that leadeth to the Red Sea, to by-pass the land of Edom; and the way, and all the tribulation, began to vex the people.)

⁵ And the people spake against the Lord, and Moses, and said, Why leddest thou us out of Egypt, that we should die in wilderness? bread faileth, waters be not; our soul loatheth now on this meat most light. (And the people spoke against the Lord, and Moses, and said, Why leddest thou us out of Egypt, so that we would die here in this wilderness? bread faileth us, waters be not; and our souls now loathe this most light food, yea, this manna!)

⁶ Wherefore the Lord sent fired serpents/fiery adders into the people; at the wounds of which serpents, and (after) the deaths of full many men, (And so the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people; and they bit many of them, and after many people had died,)

⁷ they came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we spake against the Lord, and thee; pray thou (the Lord), that he take away from us the serpents (pray thou to the Lord, that he take these snakes away from us). And Moses prayed for the people;

⁸ and the Lord said to him, Make thou a [brazen] serpent, and set thou it in a perch; he that is smitten and beholdeth it, shall live. (and the Lord said to him, Make thou a bronze snake, and put it up on a pole; he who is struck, or is bitten, and seeth it, shall live.)

⁹ Therefore Moses made a serpent of brass, and setted (it) in a perch; and (those) men (who were) hurt, and beholding it, were healed. (And so Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it up on a pole; and those who were bitten, and looked at it, were healed.)

¹⁰ And the sons of Israel went forth, and setted tents in Oboth; (And the Israelites went forth, and pitched their tents at Oboth;)

¹¹ from whence they went forth, and setted tents in Iyeabarim, in the wilderness that beholdeth Moab, against the east coast. (and they went forth from there, and pitched their tents in Iyeabarim, in the wilderness on Moab’s eastern border.)

¹² And they moved from thence, and came to the strand of Zared; (And they went from there, and came to the valley of the Zared River;)

¹³ which they left, and setted tents against (the) Arnon, which is in the desert, and it appeareth in the coasts of Amorites. Forsooth (the) Arnon is the term of Moab, and parteth Moabites and Amorites. (and they left there, and pitched their tents on the north side of the Arnon River, which is in the wilderness, that goeth into the land of the Amorites. The Arnon River is the border of Moab, and it separateth the Moabites and the Amorites.)

¹⁴ Wherefore it is said in the book of battles of the Lord, As he did in the Red Sea, so he shall do in the strands of (the) Arnon; (And so it is said in the Book of the Battles of the Lord, As he did at the Red Sea, so he also did at the Arnon River,)

¹⁵ the hard rocks of the strands were bowed down, that they shall rest in Ar, or abide there, and should lie in the coasts of Moabites. (and from the cliffs of the river, down to the city of Ar, that sitteth on the border of Moab.)

¹⁶ From that place (they went to where) the well appeared, of which the Lord spake to Moses, Gather thou together the people, and I shall give water to it. (From there they went to Beer, that is, The Well, of which the Lord spoke to Moses, and said, Gather thou the people together, and I shall give them water.)

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song, The water of the well, ascend up; they sang together, (Then Israel sang this song, Go ye up, water of the well; yea, we sing to thee,)

¹⁸ The well which the princes digged, and the dukes of the multitude made ready, in the giver of the law, and in their staves (The well from the Giver of the Law, which the leaders dug, yea, which the leaders of the multitude brought forth with their staffs). And (then) they went forth from the wilderness to Mattanah,

¹⁹ from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel into Bamoth;

²⁰ Bamoth is a valley in the country of Moab, in the top of Pisgah, that beholdeth against the desert. (and from Bamoth to the valley in the country of Moab, below the top of Mount Pisgah, that looketh towards Jeshimon, that is, towards the wilderness.)

²¹ Soothly Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of Amorites, and said, (And the Israelites sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and they said,)

²² I beseech thee, that it be leaveful to me to pass through thy land; we shall not bow into thy fields, and vineries; we shall not drink waters of thy wells; we shall go in the king’s way, till we pass (by) thy terms. (We beseech thee, that it be lawful for us to pass through thy land; we shall not go into thy fields, or into thy vineyards; we shall not drink any water from thy wells; we shall go on the king’s highway, until we go out again over thy border.)

²³ Which would not grant that Israel should pass through his coasts, but rather, when his host was gathered, he went out against Israel, into desert. And he came into Jahaz, and fought against Israel; (But Sihon would not allow the Israelites to pass through his land, but rather, when his host was gathered together, he went out into the wilderness against them. And he came into Jahaz, and fought against the Israelites;)

²⁴ of whom he was smitten in the sharpness of sword, and his land was wielded of Israel from (the) Arnon unto (the) Jabbok, and Ammon’s sons, or his host; for the coasts of Ammonites were holden with strong help, or power. (but Sihon and the Amorites were struck down by the sharpness of the Israelites’ swords, and his land was taken by them, from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, that is, up to the land of the Ammonites; for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended.)

²⁵ Therefore Israel took all his cities, and dwelled in the cities of Amorites, that is, in Heshbon, and in his towns. (And so the Israelites took all the cities of the Amorites, and lived in them, that is, in Heshbon, and its towns.)

²⁶ The city of Heshbon was Sihon’s, king of Amorites, which Sihon fought against the king of Moab, and took all the land that was of his lordship, till to (the) Arnon. (The city of Heshbon was Sihon’s, the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the king of Moab, and had taken all the land that was under his rule, unto the Arnon River.)

²⁷ Therefore it is said in proverb, Come ye into Heshbon, be it builded (again), and (re)made, the city of Sihon; (And so it is said in a proverb, Come ye into Heshbon, let Sihon’s city be rebuilt, and be remade;)

²⁸ fire went out of Heshbon, flame went out of the city of Sihon, and devoured (the city of) Ar of (the) Moabites, and the dwellers of the high places of (the) Arnon (and the inhabitants of the high places of the Arnon River).

²⁹ Moab, woe to thee! thou, people of Chemosh, hast perished; it gave the sons thereof into flight, and the daughters into captivity to Sihon, king of Amorites; (Moab, woe to thee! O people of Chemosh, now ye have perished; thy god hath given his sons into flight, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon, the king of the Amorites;)

³⁰ the yoke, or lordship, of them perished (their yoke, or their rule, hath now ended), from Heshbon unto Dibon; the weary men came into Nophah, and unto Medeba.

³¹ And so Israel dwelled in the land of (the) Amorites.

³² And Moses sent men that should espy Jaazer, whose towns they took, and wielded the dwellers. (And Moses sent men to spy out Jaazer, and then they took it, and its towns, and drove out all of its inhabitants.)

³³ And they turned themselves (And then they turned), and went up by the way of Bashan. And Og, the king of Bashan, with all his people, came against them, to fight in Edrei.

³⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, Dread thou not him, for I have betaken him, and all his land, and all his people, in thine hand; and thou shalt do to him as thou didest to Sihon, king of Amorites, the dweller of Heshbon. (And the Lord said to Moses, Do not thou fear him, for I have delivered him, and all his land, and all his people, into thy hands; and thou shalt do to him as thou didest to Sihon, the king of Amorites, and the inhabitants of Heshbon.)

³⁵ Therefore they smote Og with his sons, and all his people, unto [the] death; and they wielded his land. (And so they struck down Og and his sons, and all his people, unto the death; and then they occupied his land.)