21:1 1 When the Canaanite king of Arad 2 who lived in the Negev 3 heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.
21:2 So Israel made a vow 4 to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver 5 this people into our 6 hand, then we will utterly destroy 7 their cities.” 21:3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, 8 and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called 9 Hormah.
21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, 10 to go around the land of Edom, but the people 11 became impatient along the way. 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we 12 detest this worthless 13 food.”
21:6 So the Lord sent poisonous 14 snakes 15 among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died. 21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away 16 the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
21:8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks 17 at it, he will live.” 21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. 18
21:10 19 The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth. 21:11 Then they traveled on from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, 20 in the wilderness that is before Moab, on the eastern side. 21 21:12 From there they moved on and camped in the valley of Zered. 21:13 From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the regions 22 of the Amorites, for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 21:14 This is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,
“Waheb in Suphah 23 and the wadis,
the Arnon 21:15 and the slope of the valleys 24
that extends to the dwelling of Ar, 25
and falls off at the border of Moab.”
21:16 And from there they traveled 26 to Beer; 27 that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.” 21:17 Then Israel sang 28 this song:
“Spring up, O well, sing to it!
21:18 The well which the princes 29 dug,
which the leaders of the people opened
with their scepters and their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; 21:19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; 21:20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, near the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the wilderness. 30
21:21 31 Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying, 32
21:22 “Let us 33 pass through your land; 34 we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.” 21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he 35 gathered all his forces 36 together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When 37 he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. 21:24 But the Israelites 38 defeated him in battle 39 and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended. 21:25 So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 40 21:26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, 41 as far as the Arnon.