Numbers 20–21

Events at Kadesh

20In the first month the whole community of Israel came to the wilderness of Zin and camped at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

^2*There was no water where they camped, so the people gathered round Moses and Aaron ^3*and complained: “It would have been better if we had died in front of the Lord’s Tent along with our fellow-Israelites. ^4*Why have you brought us out into this wilderness? Just so that we can die here with our animals? ^5*Why did you bring us out of Egypt into this miserable place where nothing will grow? There’s no corn, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates. There is not even any water to drink!” ^6*Moses and Aaron moved away from the people and stood at the entrance of the Tent. They bowed down with their faces to the ground, and the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence appeared to them.

^7*The Lord said to Moses, ^8*“Take the stick that is in front of the Covenant Box, and then you and Aaron assemble the whole community. There in front of them all speak to that rock over there, and water will gush out of it. In this way you will bring water out of the rock for the people, for them and their animals to drink.” ^9*Moses went and got the stick, as the Lord had commanded.

^10*He and Aaron assembled the whole community in front of the rock, and Moses said, “Listen, you rebels! Do we have to get water out of this rock for you?” ^11*Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it, and a great stream of water gushed out, and all the people and animals drank.

^12*But the Lord reprimanded Moses and Aaron. He said, “Because you did not have enough faith to acknowledge my holy power before the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land that I promised to give them.”

^13*This happened at Meribah,^p where the people of Israel complained against the Lord and where he showed them that he was holy.

The King of Edom Refuses to Let Israel Pass

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. They said, “This message is from your kinsmen, the tribes of Israel. You know the hardships we have suffered, ¹⁵how our ancestors went to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians ill-treated our ancestors and us, ¹⁶and we cried to the Lord for help. He heard our cry and sent an angel, who led us out of Egypt. Now we are at Kadesh, a town at the border of your territory. ¹⁷Please permit us to pass through your land. We and our cattle will not leave the road or go into your fields or vineyards, and we will not drink from your wells. We will stay on the main road^q until we are out of your territory.”

¹⁸But the Edomites answered, “We refuse to let you pass through our country! If you try, we will march out and attack you.”

¹⁹The people of Israel said, “We will stay on the main road, and if we or our animals drink any of your water, we will pay for it—all we want is to pass through.”

²⁰The Edomites repeated, “We refuse!” and they marched out with a powerful army to attack the people of Israel. ²¹Because the Edomites would not let the Israelites pass through their territory, the Israelites turned and went another way.

The Death of Aaron

²²The whole community of Israel left Kadesh and arrived at Mount Hor, ²³on the border of Edom. There the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁴“Aaron is not going to enter the land which I promised to give to Israel; he is going to die, because the two of you rebelled against my command at Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and his son Eleazar up Mount Hor, ²⁶and there remove Aaron’s priestly robes and put them on Eleazar. Aaron is going to die there.” ²⁷Moses did what the Lord had commanded. They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community, ^28*and Moses removed Aaron’s priestly robes and put them on Eleazar. There on the top of the mountain Aaron died, and Moses and Eleazar came back down. ²⁹The whole community learnt that Aaron had died, and they all mourned for him for 30 days.

Victory over the Canaanites

21^*When the Canaanite king of Arad in the southern part of Canaan heard that the Israelites were coming by way of Atharim, he attacked them and captured some of them. ²Then the Israelites made a vow to the Lord: “If you will let us conquer these people, we will unconditionally dedicate^r them and their cities to you and will destroy them.” ³The Lord heard them and helped them to conquer the Canaanites. So the Israelites completely destroyed them and their cities, and named the place Hormah.^s

The Snake Made of Bronze

^4*The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road that leads to the Gulf of Aqaba, in order to go round the territory of Edom. But on the way the people lost their patience ^5*and spoke against God and Moses. They complained, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We can’t stand any more of this miserable food!” ^6*Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many Israelites were bitten and died. ⁷The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Now pray to the Lord to take these snakes away.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸Then the Lord told Moses to make a metal snake and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could look at it and be healed. ^9*So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten would look at the bronze snake and be healed.

From Mount Hor to the Valley of the Moabites

¹⁰The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth. ¹¹After leaving that place, they camped at the ruins of Abarim in the wilderness east of Moabite territory. ¹²Then they camped in the Valley of Zered. ¹³From there they moved again and camped on the north side of the River Arnon, in the wilderness which extends into Amorite territory. (The Arnon was the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.) ¹⁴That is why The Book of the Lord’s Battles speaks of “… the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the valleys; the River Arnon, ¹⁵and the slope of the valleys that extend to the town of Ar and towards the border of Moab.”

¹⁶From there they went on to a place called Wells, where the Lord said to Moses, “Bring the people together, and I will give them water.” ¹⁷At that time the people of Israel sang this song:

“Wells, produce your water;

And we will greet it with a song-

¹⁸The well dug by princes

And by leaders of the people,

Dug with a royal sceptre

And with their sticks.”

They moved from the wilderness to Mattanah, ¹⁹and from there they went on to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of the Moabites, below the top of Mount Pisgah, looking out over the desert.

Victory over King Sihon and King Og

²¹Then the people of Israel sent messengers to the Amorite king Sihon to say: ²²“Let us pass through your land. We and our cattle will not leave the road and go into your fields or vineyards, and we will not drink water from your wells; we will stay on the main road^t until we are out of your territory.” ²³But Sihon would not permit the people of Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered his army and went out to Jahaz in the wilderness and attacked the Israelites. ²⁴But the Israelites killed many of the enemy in battle and occupied their land from the River Arnon north to the Jabbok, that is, to the Ammonites, because the Ammonite border was strongly defended.^{u 25}So the people of Israel captured all the Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all the surrounding towns, and settled in them. ²⁶Heshbon was the capital city of the Amorite king Sihon, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had captured all his land as far as the River Arnon. ²⁷That is why the poets sing,

“Come to Heshbon, to King Sihon’s city!

We want to see it rebuilt and restored.

^28*Once from this city of Heshbon

Sihon’s army went forth like a fire;

It destroyed the city of Ar in Moab

And devoured^v the hills of the upper Arnon.

^29*How terrible for you, people of Moab!

You worshippers of Chemosh are brought to ruin!

Your god let the men become refugees,

And the women became captives of the Amorite king.

³⁰But now their descendants are destroyed,

All the way from Heshbon to Dibon,

From Nashim to Nophah, near Medeba.”^w

³¹So the people of Israel settled in the territory of the Amorites, ³²and Moses sent men to find the best way to attack the city of Jazer. The Israelites captured it and its surrounding towns and drove out the Amorites living there.

³³Then the Israelites turned and took the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan marched out with his army to attack them at Edrei. ³⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him. I will give you victory over him, all his people, and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled at Heshbon.” ³⁵So the Israelites killed Og, his sons, and all his people, leaving no survivors, and then they occupied his land.