Numbers 20–21

Chapter 20

¹And the children of Israel, the whole assembly, came into the wilderness of Zin, in the first month; and the people abode at Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. ²And there was no water for the assembly, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ³And the people contended with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah! ⁴And why have ye brought the congregation of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts? ⁵And why have ye made us to go up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink. ⁶And Moses and Aaron went from before the congregation to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces; and the glory of Jehovah appeared to them. ⁷And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸Take the staff, and gather the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock, and shalt give the assembly and their beasts drink. ⁹And Moses took the staff from before Jehovah, as he had commanded him. ¹⁰And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, ye rebels: shall we bring forth to you water out of this rock? ¹¹And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his staff smote the rock twice, and much water came out, and the assembly drank, and their beasts. ¹²And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to hallow me before the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land that I have given them. ¹³These are the waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel contended with Jehovah, and he hallowed himself in them.

¹⁴And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, Thus says thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all the trouble that hath befallen us, ¹⁵how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians evil entreated us and our fathers; ¹⁶and when we cried to Jehovah, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt; and behold, we are at Kadesh, a city at the extremity of thy border. ¹⁷Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country; we will not pass through fields, or through vineyards, neither will we drink water out of the wells: we will go by the king’s road; we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy border. ¹⁸But Edom said to him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. ¹⁹And the children of Israel said to him, We will go by the high way; and if we drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then I will pay for it: I will only, without anything else, go through on my feet. ²⁰And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. ²¹Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; and Israel turned away from him.

²²And they removed from Kadesh; and the children of Israel, the whole assembly, came to mount Hor. ²³And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron in mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴Aaron shall be gathered unto his peoples; for he shall not enter into the land that I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my commandment at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor, ²⁶and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered to his peoples, and shall die there. ²⁷And Moses did as Jehovah had commanded, and they went up mount Hor before the eyes of the whole assembly. ²⁸And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there upon the top of the mountain; and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹And the whole assembly saw that Aaron was dead, and they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even the whole house of Israel.

Chapter 21

¹And the Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelt in the south, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim, and he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. ²Then Israel vowed a vow to Jehovah, and said, If thou give this people wholly into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. ³And Jehovah listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them, and their cities. And they called the name of the place Hormah.

⁴And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to go round the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became impatient on the way; ⁵and the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have ye brought us up out of Egypt that we should die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and no water, and our soul loathes this light bread. ⁶Then Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, which bit the people; and much people of Israel died. ⁷And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, in that we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee: pray to Jehovah that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. ⁸And Jehovah said to Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, and looketh upon it, shall live. ⁹And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, if a serpent had bitten any man, and he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

¹⁰And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in Oboth. ¹¹And they removed from Oboth, and encamped at Ijim-Abarim, in the wilderness that is before Moab, toward the sun-rising. ¹²From thence they removed, and encamped at the torrent Zered. ¹³From thence they removed, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites. For the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴Therefore it is said in the book of the wars of Jehovah, Vaheb in Suphah, and the brooks of Arnon; ¹⁵And the stream of the brooks which turneth to the dwelling of Ar, And inclineth toward the border of Moab. ¹⁶And from thence to Beer: that is the well of which Jehovah spoke to Moses, Assemble the people, and I will give them water. ¹⁷Then Israel sang this song, Rise up, well! sing unto it: ¹⁸Well which princes digged, which the nobles of the people hollowed out at the word of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah; ¹⁹and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; ²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the fields of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks over the surface of the waste.

²¹And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ²²Let us pass through thy land; we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink water out of the wells; on the king’s road will we go until we have passed thy border. ²³But Sihon would not suffer Israel to go through his border; and Sihon gathered all his people, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. ²⁴And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. ²⁵And Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, at Heshbon, and in all its dependent villages. ²⁶For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites; and he had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land out of his hand, even unto the Arnon. ²⁷Therefore the poets say, Come to Heshbon; let the city of Sihon be built and established. ²⁸For there went forth fire from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; It consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of the Arnon. ²⁹Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, people of Chemosh: He gave his sons that had escaped, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon the king of the Amorites. ³⁰And we have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon; and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba. ³¹And Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. ³²And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took its dependent villages, and he dispossessed the Amorites that were there. ³³And they turned and went up by the way to Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, for battle to Edrei. ³⁴And Jehovah said to Moses, Fear him not! for into thy hand have I given him, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon. ³⁵And they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, so that they left him none remaining, and took possession of his land.