Beginning
Chapter 21
Israel Destroys Arad. 1 When the Canaanite king Arad (who lived in the Negeb) heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the people of Israel and took some of them prisoner. 2 [a]Israel made a vow to the Lord saying, “If you will deliver this people into our hands, then we will utterly destroy their cities!” 3 The Lord listened to the plea of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites. They totally destroyed them and their cities, therefore the place is called Hormah.
The Bronze Serpent.[b] 4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the way to the Red Sea in order to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became discouraged along the way. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses, saying, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to have us die in the desert. There is no bread, no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”[c]
6 The Lord sent seraph[d] serpents among the people. They bit the people, and many of the people of Israel died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord so that he might save us from the serpents.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a seraph serpent and put it upon a pole. Whoever has been bitten and looks upon it will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it upon a pole. If someone had been bitten by a serpent and he looked up at the bronze serpent, he lived.
10 The Move to Moab. The people of Israel moved on and camped in Oboth. 11 They left Oboth and camped in Iye-abarim in the desert that lie to the east of Moab. 12 From there they moved on and camped in the Valley of Zered. 13 They then moved on from there and camped on the other side of the Arnon in the desert that extends from the boundary of the Amorites. The Arnon is the boundary of Moab, the border between Moab and the Amorites. 14 Thus, it is written in the Book of Wars of the Lord,
“Waheb in Suphah,
and the wadis of the Arnon,
15 and the slope of the wadis
that extend to the site of Ar,
that lies along the boundary of Moab.”
16 From there they continued on to Beer, which is where the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Gather up the people and I will give them water.”
17 Then Israel sang this song,
“Spring up, O well! Sing to it!
18 The well which the leaders dug,
which the nobles of the people sank,
with the scepter and with their staves.”
From the desert they continued on to Mattanah, 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley in the land of Moab which is on the heights of the Pisgah overlooking the wasteland.
21 Victory over Sihon and Og.[e] Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, 22 “Let us pass through your land. We will not wander into the fields nor into the vineyards. We will not drink water from any well. We will pass along the King’s Highway until we have crossed over your borders.”
23 But Sihon would not allow Israel to cross over his border. Sihon gathered all of his people and marched out into the desert against Israel. He went out to Jahaz and fought with Israel.
24 But Israel put him to the sword and occupied his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok up to the Ammonite territory (for the boundary with the Ammonites was fortified). 25 Israel captured all of these cities, and Israel settled in all of the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all of its surrounding villages. 26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, for he had fought with the former king of Moab, conquering all of his lands up to the Arnon. 27 [f]This is why those who speak in proverbs say,
“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.
Let Sihon’s city be restored.
28 For fire went out from Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It devoured Ar of Moab,
the lords of the heights of the Arnon.
29 Woe to you, Moab.
You have perished, O people of Chemosh.[g]
He has given up his sons as fugitives,
his daughters as captives to Sihon,
the king of the Amorites.
30 But we have shot at them,
Heshbon has perished even as far as Dibon.
We have laid them waste up to Nophah,
which extends to the Medeba.”
31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent out spies to Jazer, and they captured those villages, driving out the Amorites who lived there. 33 They then turned and went along the road to Bashan.[h] Og, the king of Bashan, went out with all his people to battle them in Edrei.
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him and all his people and land into your hands. You will do to him what you did to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon.” 35 So they killed him and his sons and all of his people until there was not a single one alive, and they conquered his land.
Chapter 22[i]
1 [j]Then the people of Israel traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.
Balak Summons Balaam. 2 Now Balak, the son of Zippor, had seen everything that Israel had done to the Amorites, 3 and Moab was terrified because there were so many people, and Moab was filled with dread of the people of Israel. 4 Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This mob will lick up everything around us just like an ox licks up grass in the pasture.”
Balak, the son of Zippor, was the king of the Moabites at this time. 5 He sent messengers to Pethor which is near the river[k] in his native land, to Balaam, the son of Beor, to summon him. He said, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt and they cover the surface of the earth. They are now living opposite me. 6 Please come now and curse this people for me for they are too powerful for me. Maybe then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. I know well that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”
7 The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left, carrying the fee for the divination in their hands. They came to Balaam, and they told him what Balak had said. 8 He said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring you the answer the Lord gives me.” So the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 Balaam said to God, “Balak, the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, sent for me, saying, 11 ‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt who now covers the face of the earth. Now come and curse them for me. Perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them away.’ ” 12 But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. Do not curse the people, for they are blessed.”[l]
13 The next morning Balaam arose and said to Balak’s representatives, “Go back to your country, for the Lord refuses to allow me to go with you.”
14 The leaders of Moab returned and said to Balak, “Balaam refused to come with us.” 15 So Balak sent some more leaders, even more distinguished than the others. 16 They came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak, the son of Zippor: ‘Please, let nothing keep you from coming to me 17 for I will honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you ask of me. Please come and curse this people.’ ” 18 Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak: “If Balak were to grant me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, small or great, contrary to the word of the Lord, my God. 19 But now, please stay here this night as well, so that I may know what the Lord says to me.” 20 God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If these men have come to summon you, rise up and go with them, but do only what I tell you.”
21 Balaam’s Donkey. Balaam arose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab. 22 But God grew very angry because he had gone, and so an angel of the Lord blocked his path on the roadway. He was riding on a donkey and his two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the angel of the Lord[m] standing in the roadway with his drawn sword in his hand, and the donkey left the roadway and wandered into the field. Balaam beat the donkey to force it back onto the roadway.
24 Then an angel of the Lord stood in the narrow pathway in the vineyards, walls standing on either side. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed so close to the wall that it crushed Balaam’s foot against it, so he beat it again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place that had no room to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam who became angry and beat it with a staff.
28 The Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” 29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me. If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, which you have always ridden, even til today? Have I ever done this to you before?” He said, “No.” 31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. He bowed down and fell flat on his face. 32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you for the path before you is wrong. 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. Otherwise, I would surely have killed you, but it I would have spared.”
34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I did not realize that you were standing there opposing my way. If I have displeased you, then I will go back.” 35 The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but say only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the leaders to Balak.
36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to Moab to meet him, a city which is on the Arnon border, at the farthest edge of his territory. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not summon you urgently? Why have you not come to me? Am I not able to reward you?” 38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you now. Do I have any power to say anything? I will only speak the word that God puts in my mouth.”
39 Balaam went with Balak, and they arrived in Kiriath-huzoth. 40 Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some of its meat to Balaam and the leaders who were with him. 41 The next day Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal so that he might see the outposts of the people.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.