Numbers 21
1 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the road to Atharim. He fought against Israel and took some of them captive.
2 Then Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If you will indeed hand this people over to me, I will devote their cities to destruction.”
3 The LORD heard Israel’s plea and handed over the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction, and named that place Hormah.
4 They set out from Mount Hor by way of the Sea of Reeds, to go around the land of Edom, and the people grew impatient along the way.
5 The people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread and no water, and we are sick of this miserable food.”
6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people. They bit the people, and many Israelites died.
7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD to take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a venomous snake and put it on a pole. Everyone who is bitten and looks at it will live.”
9 Moses made a bronze snake and put it on the pole. Whenever a snake bit someone, that person looked at the bronze snake and lived.
10 The Israelites set out and camped at Oboth.
11 They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness opposite Moab, toward the sunrise.
12 From there they set out and camped at the Valley of Zered.
13 From there they set out and camped beyond the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the territory of the Amorites. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
14 That is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: “Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon;
15 and the slope of the valleys that extends to the settlement of Ar and rests against the border of Moab.”
16 From there they went to Beer. This is the well about which the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people, and I will give them water.”
17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Sing to it!
18 The well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people opened with the ruler’s staff and their own staffs.” From the wilderness they went to Mattanah.
19 From Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth.
20 From Bamoth to the valley in the fields of Moab, to the summit of Pisgah, which overlooks Jeshimon.
21 Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying:
22 “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into a field or a vineyard, and we will not drink water from a well. We will travel along the king’s highway until we have passed through your territory.”
23 But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness. He came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.
24 Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, because the Ammonite border was strong.
25 Israel took all these cities and settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its surrounding villages.
26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites. He had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land from him, as far as the Arnon.
27 That is why the poets say: “Come to Heshbon! Let the city of Sihon be rebuilt and 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 are lost, people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives and his daughters captives of Sihon, king of the Amorites.
30 We shot them down; Heshbon perished as far as Dibon. We laid waste as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.”
31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.
32 Moses sent men to spy out Jazer. They captured its villages, and he drove out the Amorites who were there.
33 Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan. Og, king of Bashan, came out against them for battle at Edrei, he and all his people.
34 The LORD said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him, all his people, and his land over to you. You will do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”
35 They struck him, his sons, and all his people, until no survivor was left, and they took possession of his land.
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