Num 21 | NASB1995 | STEP | When the Canaanite , the king of Arad , who lived in the Negev , heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim , then he fought against Israel and took some of them captive .

Numbers 21

Arad Conquered

1 When the Canaanite, the king of ^aArad, who lived in the ^{▼▼ I.e. South country}Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of ^{▼▼ Or the spies}Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. 2 So ^dIsrael made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will ^{▼▼ Lit devote to destruction}utterly destroy their cities.” 3 The Lord heard the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites; then they ^{▼▼ Lit devoted to destruction}utterly destroyed them and their cities. Thus the name of the place was called ^{▼▼ I.e. a devoted thing; or Destruction
,} ^hHormah.

4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the ^{▼▼ Lit Sea of Reeds}Red Sea, to ^jgo around the land of Edom; and the ^{▼▼ Lit soul of the people was short}people became impatient because of the journey. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses, ^l“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no ^{▼▼ Lit bread}food and no water, and ^{▼▼ Lit our soul loathes
,} ^owe loathe this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

6 ^pThe Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and ^qthey bit the people, so that ^rmany people of Israel died. 7 ^sSo the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; ^tintercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^{▼▼ Lit Make for yourself}“Make a ^vfiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9 And Moses made a ^wbronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

10 ^xNow the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth. 11 They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the ^{▼▼ Lit sunrise}east. 12 ^zFrom there they set out and camped in ^{▼▼ I.e. a dry ravine except during rainy season}Wadi Zered. 13 From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites, ^abfor the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord, “Waheb in Suphah,
And the wadis of the Arnon,
15 And the slope of the wadis
That extends to the site of ^acAr,
And leans to the border of Moab.”

16 ^adFrom there they continued to ^{▼▼ I.e. a well}Beer, that is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”

17 ^afThen Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Sing to it!
18 “The well, which the leaders sank,
Which the nobles of the people dug,
With the scepter and with their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah,

19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah which overlooks the ^{▼▼ Or Jeshimon}wasteland.

Two Victories

21 ^ahThen Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, 22 ^ai“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s highway until we have passed through your border.” 23 ^ajBut Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. So Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to ^akJahaz and fought against Israel. 24 Then ^alIsrael ^{▼▼ Lit smote, so with Gr and Lat}struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the ^anborder of the sons of Ammon was ^{▼▼ M.T. reads strong}Jazer. 25 Israel took all these cities and ^apIsrael lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all her ^{▼▼ Lit daughters}villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore those who use proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon! Let it be built!
So let the city of Sihon be established.
28 ^ar“For a fire went forth from Heshbon,
A flame from the town of Sihon;
It devoured ^asAr of Moab,
The ^{▼▼ Lit lords of the
,} ^audominant ^{▼▼ Or Bamoth}heights of the Arnon.
29 ^aw“Woe to you, O Moab!
You are ruined, O people of ^axChemosh!
^ayHe has given his sons as fugitives,
^azAnd his daughters into captivity,
To an Amorite king, Sihon.
30 “But we have cast them down,
Heshbon is ruined as far as ^baDibon,
Then we have laid waste even to Nophah,
Which reaches to Medeba.”

31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent to spy out ^bbJazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

33 ^bcThen they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out ^{▼▼ Lit he and}with all his people, for battle at ^beEdrei. 34 But the Lord said to Moses, ^bf“Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So ^bgthey ^{▼▼ Lit smote}killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no remnant left him; and they possessed his land.