Numbers 21:1–9

And when ^aking Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came ^bby the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. ^2cAnd Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then ^dI will utterly destroy their cities. ³And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place ^||Hormah.

⁴And ^ethey journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to ^fcompass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much ^||discouraged because of the way. ⁵And the people ^gspake against God, and against Moses, ^hWherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and ⁱour soul loatheth this light bread. ⁶And the Lord sent ^kfiery serpents among the people, and ^lthey bit the people; and much people of Israel died. ^7mTherefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for ⁿwe have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; ^opray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses ^oprayed for the people. ⁸And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. ⁹And Moses made ^pa serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.