Arad Destroyed

21 When the Canaanite king of Arad,^(A) who lived in the Negev,^(B) heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them. ² Then Israel made this vow^(C) to the Lord: “If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy^[a](D) their cities.” ³ The Lord listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites^(E) over to them. They completely destroyed them^(F) and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.^[b](G)

The Bronze Snake

⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor^(H) along the route to the Red Sea,^[c](I) to go around Edom.^(J) But the people grew impatient on the way;^{(K) 5} they spoke against God^(L) and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt^(M) to die in the wilderness?^(N) There is no bread! There is no water!^(O) And we detest this miserable food!”^(P)

⁶ Then the Lord sent venomous snakes^(Q) among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.^{(R) 7} The people came to Moses^(S) and said, “We sinned^(T) when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord^(U) will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed^(V) for the people.

⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole;^(W) anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake^(X) and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.^(Y)

The Journey to Moab

¹⁰ The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth.^{(Z) 11} Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab^(AA) toward the sunrise. ¹² From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley.^{(AB) 13} They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon^(AC), which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.^{(AD) 14} That is why the Book of the Wars^(AE) of the Lord says:

¹⁶ From there they continued on to Beer,^(AG) the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.”

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song:^(AH)

Then they went from the wilderness to Mattanah, ¹⁹ from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah^(AI) overlooks the wasteland.

Defeat of Sihon and Og

²¹ Israel sent messengers^(AJ) to say to Sihon^(AK) king of the Amorites:^(AL)

²³ But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory.^(AN) He mustered his entire army and marched out into the wilderness against Israel. When he reached Jahaz,^(AO) he fought with Israel.^{(AP) 24} Israel, however, put him to the sword^(AQ) and took over his land^(AR) from the Arnon to the Jabbok,^(AS) but only as far as the Ammonites,^(AT) because their border was fortified. ²⁵ Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites^(AU) and occupied them,^(AV) including Heshbon^(AW) and all its surrounding settlements. ²⁶ Heshbon was the city of Sihon^(AX) king of the Amorites,^(AY) who had fought against the former king of Moab^(AZ) and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.^(BA)

²⁷ That is why the poets say:

³¹ So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.^(BL)

³² After Moses had sent spies^(BM) to Jazer,^(BN) the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there. ³³ Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan^(BO),^(BP) and Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet them in battle at Edrei.^(BQ)

³⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.^(BR)”

³⁵ So they struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors.^(BS) And they took possession of his land.^(BT)

22 If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner.^{(A) 2} If they do not live near you or if you do not know who owns it, take it home with you and keep it until they come looking for it. Then give it back. ³ Do the same if you find their donkey or cloak or anything else they have lost. Do not ignore it.

⁴ If you see your fellow Israelite’s donkey^(B) or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help the owner get it to its feet.^(C)

⁵ A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.

⁶ If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young.^{(D) 7} You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go,^(E) so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.^(F)

⁸ When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.^(G)

⁹ Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard;^(H) if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled.^[a]

¹⁰ Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.^(I)

¹¹ Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.^(J)

¹² Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.^(K)

Marriage Violations

¹³ If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her^(L), dislikes her ¹⁴ and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” ¹⁵ then the young woman’s father and mother shall bring to the town elders at the gate^(M) proof that she was a virgin. ¹⁶ Her father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. ¹⁷ Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, ¹⁸ and the elders^(N) shall take the man and punish him. ¹⁹ They shall fine him a hundred shekels^[b] of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

²⁰ If, however, the charge is true^(O) and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, ²¹ she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing^(P) in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you.

²² If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept^(Q) with her and the woman must die.^(R) You must purge the evil from Israel.

²³ If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, ²⁴ you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.^(S)

²⁵ But if out in the country a man happens to meet a young woman pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. ²⁶ Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, ²⁷ for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed,^(T) there was no one to rescue her.

²⁸ If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered,^{(U) 29} he shall pay her father fifty shekels^[c] of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

³⁰ A man is not to marry his father’s wife; he must not dishonor his father’s bed.^[d](V)

Psalm 102^[a]

A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.