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.

^4 (A)He removed the ^[a]high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the ^[b]wooden image and broke in pieces the ^(B)bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it ^[c]Nehushtan. ⁵ He ^(C)trusted in the Lord God of Israel, ^(D)so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. ⁶ For he ^(E)held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁷ The Lord ^(F)was with him; he ^(G)prospered wherever he went. And he ^(H)rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.