Numbers 21:4-9
New King James Version
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.
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- Numbers 21:4 impatient
- Numbers 21:5 detests
Numbers 21:4-9
Lexham English Bible
4 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. 5 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
6 And Yahweh sent among the people poisonous snakes; they bit the people, and many people from Israel died. 7 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. 8 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.” 9 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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- Numbers 21:4 Literally “sea of reed”
- Numbers 21:4 Literally “the life of the people became short”
- Numbers 21:7 Hebrew “snake”
- Numbers 21:8 Hebrew “And it will happen”
- Numbers 21:9 Hebrew “And it will happen”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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