Numbers 20:14-21:9

English Standard Version

Edom Refuses Passage

^14 (A)Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to ^(B)the king of Edom: “Thus says ^(C)your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: ^15 (D)how our fathers went down to Egypt, ^(E)and we lived in Egypt a long time. ^(F)And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. ¹⁶ And ^(G)when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and ^(H)sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. ^17 (I)Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, ^(J)or drink water from a well. We will go along the King's Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.” ¹⁸ But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.” ¹⁹ And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, ^(K)and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, ^(L)then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” ²⁰ But he said, ^(M)“You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. ²¹ Thus Edom ^(N)refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel ^(O)turned away from him.

The Death of Aaron

²² And they journeyed from ^(P)Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to ^(Q)Mount Hor. ²³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, ^24 (R)“Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because ^(S)you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor. ²⁶ And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron ^(T)shall be gathered to his people and shall die there.” ²⁷ Moses did as the Lord commanded. And they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ^28 (U)And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there ^(V)on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished, ^(W)all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

Arad Destroyed

21 When ^(X)the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in ^(Y)the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. ^2 (Z)And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.”^{[a] 3} And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called ^(AA)Hormah.^[b]

The Bronze Serpent

⁴ From Mount Hor ^(AB)they set out by the way to the Red Sea, ^(AC)to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. ⁵ And the people ^(AD)spoke against God and against Moses, ^(AE)“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and ^(AF)we loathe this worthless food.” ^6 (AG)Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and ^(AH)they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. ^7 (AI)And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. ^(AJ)Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” ⁹ So ^(AK)Moses made a bronze^[c] serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.