Numbers 21:1-20

New King James Version

Canaanites Defeated at Hormah

21 The ^(A)king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Atharim. Then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. ^2 (B)So Israel made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then ^(C)I will utterly destroy their cities.” ³ And the Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called ^[a]Hormah.

The Bronze Serpent

⁴ Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to ^(D)go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very ^[b]discouraged on the way. ⁵ And the people ^(E)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 ^[c]loathes this worthless bread.” ⁶ So ^(F)the Lord sent ^(G)fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

^7 (H)Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have ^(I)sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; ^(J)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, ^(K)“Make a ^(L)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 ^(M)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 ^(N)camped in Oboth. ¹¹ And they journeyed from Oboth and camped at ^[d]Ije Abarim, in the wilderness which is east of Moab, toward the sunrise. ^12 (O)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 ^(P)the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord:

¹⁶ From there they went ^(R)to Beer, which is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.” ^17 (S)Then Israel sang this song:

And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah, ¹⁹ from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth, in the valley that is in the ^[f]country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks ^(U)down on the ^[g]wasteland.