Numbers 20–21

WATER FROM THE ROCK

20The entire Israelite community entered the Wilderness of Zin^e in the first month, and they^A settled in Kadesh.^f Miriam^g died and was buried there.

²There was no water for the community, so they assembled against Moses and Aaron. ³The people quarreled with Moses and said,^h “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord.^{i 4}Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness^j for us and our livestock to die here?^{k 5}Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It’s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates,^l and there is no water to drink!”

⁶Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷The Lord spoke to Moses, ⁸“Take the staff^m and assemble the community. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rockⁿ while they watch, and it will yield its water. You will bring out water for them from the rock and provide drink for the community and their livestock.”

⁹So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence^o just as he had commanded him. ¹⁰Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?” ¹¹Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that abundant water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.^p

¹²But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.”^{a 13}These are the Waters of Meribah,^Bb where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, and he demonstrated his holiness to them.^c

EDOM DENIES PASSAGE

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel^d says, ‘You know all the hardships that have overtaken us. ¹⁵Our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt many years, but the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. ¹⁶When we cried out to the Lord, he heard our plea,^C and sent an angel,^De and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the border of your territory. ¹⁷Please let us travel through your land. We won’t travel through any field or vineyard, or drink any well water. We will travel the King’s Highway; we won’t turn to the right or the left until we have traveled through your territory.’ ”^f

¹⁸But Edom answered him, “You will not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.”

¹⁹“We will go on the main road,” the Israelites replied to them, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay its price.^g There will be no problem; only let us travel through on foot.”

²⁰Yet Edom insisted, “You may not travel through.” And they came out to confront them with a large force of heavily-armed people.^{A 21}Edom refused to allow Israel to travel through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

AARON’S DEATH

²²After they set out from Kadesh, the entire Israelite community came to Mount Hor.^{h 23}The Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor on the border of the land of Edom, ²⁴“Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will not enter the land I have given the Israelites, because you both rebelled against my command at the Waters of Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up Mount Hor. ²⁶Remove Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will be gathered to his people and die there.”

²⁷So Moses did as the Lord commanded, and they climbed Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. ²⁸After Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹When the whole community saw that Aaron had passed away, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.

CANAANITE KING DEFEATED

21When the Canaanite king of Arad,ⁱ who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming on the Atharim road, he fought against Israel and captured some prisoners. ²Then Israel made a vow to the Lord, “If you will hand this people over to us, we will completely destroy their cities.”^{j 3}The Lord listened to Israel’s request and handed the Canaanites over to them, and Israel completely destroyed them and their cities. So they named the place Hormah.^Bk

THE BRONZE SNAKE

⁴Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey. ⁵The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” ⁶Then the Lord sent poisonous^C snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died.^l

⁷The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.

⁸Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”^{m 9}So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.

JOURNEY AROUND MOAB

¹⁰The Israelites set out and camped at Oboth.^{n 11}They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness that borders Moab on the east. ¹²From there they went and camped at Zered Valley. ¹³They set out from there and camped on the other side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness that extends from the Amorite border, because the Arnon was the Moabite border between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Lord’s Wars:

Waheb in Suphah

and the ravines of the Arnon,

¹⁵even the slopes of the ravines

that extend to the site of Ar^a

and lie along the border of Moab.

¹⁶From there they went to Beer,^A the well the Lord told Moses about, “Gather the people so I may give them water.” ¹⁷Then Israel sang this song:

Spring up, well—sing to it!

¹⁸The princes dug the well;

the nobles of the people hollowed it out

with a scepter and with their staffs.

They went from the wilderness to Mattanah, ¹⁹from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of Moab near the Pisgah highlands^b that overlook the wasteland.^Bc

AMORITE KINGS DEFEATED

²¹Israel sent messengers to say to King Sihon^d of the Amorites, ²²“Let us travel through your land. We won’t go into the fields or vineyards. We won’t drink any well water. We will travel the King’s Highway until we have traveled through your territory.”^{e 23}But Sihon would not let Israel travel through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz,^f he fought against Israel. ²⁴Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok,^g but only up to the Ammonite border, because it was fortified.^C

²⁵Israel took all the cities and lived in all these Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its surrounding villages. ²⁶Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken control of all his land as far as the Arnon. ²⁷Therefore the poets^D say:

Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt;

let the city of Sihon be restored.^E

²⁸For fire came out of Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It consumed Ar of Moab,

the citizens of Arnon’s heights.

²⁹Woe to you, Moab!

You have been destroyed, people of Chemosh!^h

He gave up his sons as refugees,

and his daughters into captivity

to Sihon the Amorite king.

³⁰We threw them down;

Heshbon has been destroyed as far as Dibon.ⁱ

We caused desolation as far as Nophah,

which reaches as far as Medeba.^j

³¹So Israel lived in the Amorites’ land. ³²After Moses sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its surrounding villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.

³³Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan^k came out against them with his whole army to do battle at Edrei.^{l 34}But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”^{m 35}So they struck him, his sons, and his whole army until no one was left,^A and they took possession of his land.ⁿ