Numbers 21–22

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.

The King of Moab Sends for Balaam

22The Israelites moved on and set up camp in the plains of Moab east of the Jordan and opposite Jericho.

²When the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, heard what the Israelites had done to the Amorites and how many Israelites there were, ³he and all his people became terrified. ⁴The Moabites said to the leaders of the Midianites, “This horde will soon destroy everything round us, like a bull eating the grass in a pasture.” So King Balak ^5*sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor near the River Euphrates in the land of Amaw. They brought him this message from Balak: “I want you to know that a whole nation has come from Egypt; its people are spreading out everywhere and threatening to take over our land. ⁶They outnumber us, so please come and put a curse on them for me. Then perhaps we will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. I know that when you pronounce a blessing, people are blessed, and when you pronounce a curse, they are placed under a curse.”

⁷So the Moabite and Midianite leaders took with them the payment for the curse, went to Balaam, and gave him Balak’s message. ⁸Balaam said to them, “Spend the night here, and tomorrow I will report to you whatever the Lord tells me.” So the Moabite leaders stayed with Balaam.

⁹God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men that are staying with you?”

¹⁰He answered, “King Balak of Moab has sent them to tell me ¹¹that a people who came from Egypt has spread out over the whole land. He wants me to curse them for him, so that he can fight them and drive them out.”

¹²God said to Balaam, “Do not go with these men, and do not put a curse on the people of Israel, because they have my blessing.”

¹³The next morning Balaam went to Balak’s messengers and said, “Go back home; the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” ¹⁴So they returned to Balak and told him that Balaam had refused to come with them.

¹⁵Then Balak sent a larger number of leaders, who were more important than the first. ¹⁶They went to Balaam and gave him this message from Balak: “Please don’t let anything prevent you from coming to me! ¹⁷I will reward you richly and do anything you say. Please come and curse these people for me.”

¹⁸But Balaam answered, “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not disobey the command of the Lord my God in even the smallest matter. ¹⁹But please stay the night, as the others did, so that I may learn whether or not the Lord has something else to tell me.”

²⁰That night God came to Balaam and said, “If these men have come to ask you to go with them, get ready to go, but do only what I tell you.” ²¹So the next morning Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite leaders.

Balaam and His Donkey

²²God was angry that Balaam was going, and as Balaam was riding along on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants, the angel of the Lord stood in the road to bar his way. ²³When the donkey saw the angel standing there holding a sword, it left the road and turned into the fields. Balaam beat the donkey and brought it back on to the road. ²⁴Then the angel stood where the road narrowed between two vineyards and had a stone wall on each side. ²⁵When the donkey saw the angel, it moved over against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against it. Again Balaam beat the donkey. ²⁶Once more the angel moved ahead; he stood in a narrow place where there was no room at all to pass on either side. ²⁷This time, when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down. Balaam lost his temper and began to beat the donkey with his stick. ²⁸Then the Lord gave the donkey the power of speech, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me these three times?”

²⁹Balaam answered, “Because you have made a fool of me! If I had a sword, I would kill you.”

³⁰The donkey replied, “Am I not the same donkey on which you have ridden all your life? Have I ever treated you like this before?”

“No,” he answered.

³¹Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel standing there with his sword; and Balaam threw himself face downwards on the ground. ³²The angel demanded, “Why have you beaten your donkey three times like this? I have come to bar your way, because you should not be making this journey.^{x 33}But your donkey saw me and turned aside three times. If it hadn’t, I would have killed you and spared the donkey.”

³⁴Balaam replied, “I have sinned. I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me; but now if you think it is wrong for me to go on, I will return home.”

³⁵But the angel said, “Go on with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went on with them.

Balak Welcomes Balaam

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went to meet him at Ar, a city on the River Arnon at the border of Moab. ³⁷Balak said to him, “Why didn’t you come when I sent for you the first time? Did you think I wasn’t able to reward you enough?”

³⁸Balaam answered, “I came, didn’t I? But now, what power have I got? I can say only what God tells me to…