Num 21:1-9 | ESV | STEP | When the Canaanite , the king of Arad , who lived in the Negeb , heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim , he fought against Israel , and took some of them captive .

Numbers 21:1-9

Arad Destroyed

1 When ^athe Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in ^bthe Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2 ^cAnd Israel vowed a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.” ^{▼▼That is, set apart ( devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 3} 3 And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called ^eHormah. ^{▼▼ Hormah means destruction}

The Bronze Serpent

4 From Mount Hor ^gthey set out by the way to the Red Sea, ^hto go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people ⁱspoke against God and against Moses, ^j“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and ^kwe loathe this worthless food.” 6 ^lThen the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and ^mthey bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 ⁿAnd the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. ^oPray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So ^pMoses made a bronze ^{▼▼Or copper} serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.