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Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way to the [a]Red Sea, to (A)go around the land of Edom; and the [b]people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “(B)Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no [c]food and no water, and [d](C)we loathe this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

(D)So Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and (E)they bit the people so that (F)many people of Israel died. (G)Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you; (H)pray to Yahweh, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses prayed for the people. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “[e]Make a (I)fiery serpent and set it on a standard; and it will be that everyone who is bitten and looks at it, will live.” And Moses made a (J)bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it happened, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 21:4 Lit Sea of Reeds
  2. Numbers 21:4 Lit soul of the people was short
  3. Numbers 21:5 Lit bread
  4. Numbers 21:5 Lit our soul loathes
  5. Numbers 21:8 Lit Make for yourself

They set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea[a] to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient[b] along the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the desert? There is no food and no water, and our hearts detest this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

And Yahweh sent among the people poisonous snakes; they bit the people, and many people from Israel died. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh and let him remove the snakes[c] from among us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Make for yourself a snake and place it on a pole. When[d] anyone is bitten and looks at it, that person will live.” So Moses made a snake of bronze, and he placed it on the pole; whenever[e] a snake bit someone, and that person looked at the snake of bronze, he lived.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 21:4 Literally “sea of reed”
  2. Numbers 21:4 Literally “the life of the people became short”
  3. Numbers 21:7 Hebrew “snake”
  4. Numbers 21:8 Hebrew “And it will happen”
  5. Numbers 21:9 Hebrew “And it will happen”