Numbers 21:1–9

Arad Destroyed

21When ^wthe Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in ^xthe Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. ^2yAnd 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.”^{1 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 ^zHormah.²

The Bronze Serpent

⁴From Mount Hor ^athey set out by the way to the Red Sea, ^bto go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. ⁵And the people ^cspoke against God and against Moses, ^d“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and ^ewe loathe this worthless food.” ^6fThen the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and ^gthey bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. ^7hAnd the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. ⁱPray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸And 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.” ⁹So ^jMoses made a bronze³ serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.