Numbers 20–21

Miriam Dies

20Then the entire community of the Israelites^a came to the desert of Zin on the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; Miriam died and was buried there.

²There was no water for the community, and they were gathered before Moses and Aaron. ³And the people quarreled with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we died when our brothers were dying before^b Yahweh! ⁴Why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh, us and our livestock, into this desert to die here? ⁵Why have you brought us from Egypt to bring us to this bad place? It is not a place of seed or figs^c or vines^d or pomegranate trees,^e and there is not water to drink.” ⁶And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of assembly. They fell on their faces, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them. ⁷Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸“Take the staff and summon the community, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will give water. Bring out for them water from the rock, and let the community and their livestock drink.”

⁹So Moses took the staff from before^f Yahweh just as he command him, ¹⁰and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly to the presence of the rock, and he said to them, “Please listen, you rebels; can we bring out water for you from this rock?” ¹¹Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice. And abundant water went out, and the community and their livestock drank. ¹²But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not trusted in me, to regard me as holy in the sight of^g the Israelites,^h you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given to them.” ¹³Those were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelitesⁱ quarreled with Yahweh, and he showed himself holy among them.

¹⁴From Kadesh Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom: “Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You know all the hardship that has found us; ¹⁵our ancestors^j went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time,^k and the Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors.^{l 16}Then we cried to Yahweh, and he heard our voice; he sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt. And look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷Please let us go through your land. We will not go through a field or vineyard, and we will not drink water from a well. We will go along the road of the king; we will not turn aside right or left until we have gone through your territory.’ ”

¹⁸Then Edom said to him, “You will not pass through us^m lest we will go outⁿ to meet you with the sword.” ¹⁹The Israelites^o said to him, “We will go up on the main road, and if we^p and our livestock^q drink your water, we will pay for it.^r It is only a small matter; let us pass through on our feet.”^{s 20}But he said, “You will not go through.” And Edom went out to meet them^t with a large army and a strong hand. ²¹So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, and Israel turned aside from him.

Aaron Dies

²²And they set out from Kadesh. The Israelites,^u the whole community, came to Mount Hor. ²³Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron on Mount Hor, on the boundary of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴“Let Aaron be gathered to his people; he will not come into the land that I have given to the Israelites^v because you rebelled against my word^w at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and take them up Mount Hor. ²⁶Strip off Aaron’s garments, and put them on Eleazar his son; Aaron will be gathered to his people, and he will die there.” ²⁷So Moses did just as Yahweh commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor before the eyes of all the community. ²⁸And Moses stripped off Aaron’s garments and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain; and Moses and Eleazar went down from the mountain. ²⁹All the community saw that Aaron died; so all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.^x

Arad Captured

21The Canaanite king of Arad, who was dwelling in the Negev,^a heard that Israel came along the way of Atharim; he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ²Israel made a vow to Yahweh, and they said, “If you will surely give this people into our^b hand, then we^c will destroy^d their cities.” ³Yahweh heard the voice of Israel; he gave to them the Canaanites, and they destroyed them^e and their cities. They called the name of the place Hormah.

⁴They set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea^f to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient^g along the way. ⁵The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the desert? There is no food and no water, and our hearts detest this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

⁶And Yahweh sent among the people poisonous snakes; they bit the people, and many people from Israel died. ⁷The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh and let him remove the snakes^h from among us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸And Yahweh said to Moses, “Make for yourself a snake and place it on a pole. Whenⁱ anyone is bitten and looks at it, that person will live.” ⁹So Moses made a snake of bronze, and he placed it on the pole; whenever^j a snake bit someone, and that person looked at the snake of bronze, he lived.

¹⁰The Israelites^k set out and encamped at Oboth. ¹¹They set out from Oboth and encamped at Iye Abarim in the desert, which was in front of Moab toward the sunrise.^{l 12}From there they set out and encamped at the valley of Zered. ¹³From there they set out and encamped beyond Arnon, which is in the desert that goes out from the boundary of the Amorites,^m because Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.^{n 14}Therefore thus it is said in the scroll of the Wars of Yahweh,

“Waheb in Suphah,

and the wadis of Arnon,

¹⁵and the slope of the wadis

that spreads out to the dwelling of Ar

and lies at the boundary of Moab.”

¹⁶From there they went to Beer, which is the water well where Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Gather the people, that I may give them water.” ¹⁷Then Israel sang this song, “Arise, well water! Sing to it! ¹⁸Well water that the princes dug, that the leaders of the people dug, with a staff and with their rods.” And from the desert they continued to Mattanah, ¹⁹and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; ²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the territory of Moab, by the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the surface of the wasteland.

Sihon and Og Defeated

²¹Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites,^o saying, ²²“Let us go through your land; we will not turn aside into a field or vineyard; we will not drink well water along the way of the king until we have gone through your territory.” ²³But Sihon did not allow Israel to go through his territory. Sihon gathered all his people and went out to meet Israel; he came to the desert, to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel. ²⁴But Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and they took possession of his land from Arnon to Jabbok, until the Ammonites,^p because the boundary of the Ammonites^q was strong. ²⁵Israel took all these cities, and Israel inhabited all the cities of the Amorites,^r in Heshbon, and in all its environs.^{s 26}Because Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites,^t who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land from his hand until Arnon. ²⁷Thus the ones who quote proverbs say,

“Come to Heshbon! Let it be built!

And let the city of Sihon be established.

²⁸Because fire went out from Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon;

it consumed Ar of Moab,

the lords of the^u high places of Arnon.

²⁹Woe to you, Moab!

You have perished, people of Chemosh.

He has given his sons as fugitives,

and his daughters into captivity,

to the king of the Amorites,^v Sihon.

³⁰We destroyed them;

Heshbon has perished up to Dibon;

we laid waste up to Nophah,

which reaches^w Medeba.”

³¹Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.^{x 32}Moses sent to explore Jaazer; they captured its environs^y and dispossessed the Amorites^z who were there.

³³Then they turned and went up by the way of the Bashan, and Og king of the Bashan and all his people went out to meet them for battle at Edrei. ³⁴And Yahweh said to Moses, “Do not fear him because I will give him and all his people and all his land into your hand. You will do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites,^a who was living in Heshbon.” ³⁵And so they destroyed him and his sons, and all his people until they had not spared a survivor; and they took possession of his land.