Numbers 20–21

Moses Disobeys God

20In the first month all the people of Israel arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. ²There was no water for the people, so they came together against Moses and Aaron. ³They argued with Moses and said, “We should have died in front of the Lord as our brothers did. ⁴Why did you bring the Lord’s people into this desert? Are we and our animals to die here? ⁵Why did you bring us from Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain, figs, grapevines, or pomegranates, and there’s no water to drink!”

⁶So Moses and Aaron left the people and went to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. There they bowed facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷The Lord said to Moses, ⁸“Take your walking stick, and you and your brother Aaron should gather the people. Speak to that rock in front of them so that its water will flow from it. When you bring the water out from that rock, give it to the people and their animals.”

⁹So Moses took the stick from in front of the Lord, as he had said. ¹⁰Moses and Aaron gathered the people in front of the rock, and Moses said, “Now listen to me, you who turn against God! Do you want us to bring water out of this rock?” ¹¹Then Moses lifted his hand and hit the rock twice with his stick. Water began pouring out, and the people and their animals drank it.

¹²But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe me, and because you did not honor me as holy before the people, you will not lead them into the land I will give them.”

¹³These are the waters of Meribah, ⁿ where the Israelites argued with the Lord and where he showed them he was holy.

Edom Will Not Let Israel Pass

¹⁴From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom. He said, “Your brothers, the Israelites, say to you: You know about all the troubles we have had, ¹⁵how our ancestors went down into Egypt and we lived there for many years. The people of Egypt were cruel to us and our ancestors, ¹⁶but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard us and sent us an angel to bring us out of Egypt.

“Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your land. ¹⁷Please let us pass through your country. We will not touch any fields of grain or vineyards, and will not drink water from the wells. We will travel only along the king’s road, not turning right or left until we have passed through your country.”

¹⁸But the king of Edom answered: “You may not pass through here. If you try, I will come and meet you with swords.”

¹⁹The Israelites answered: “We will go along the main road, and if we or our animals drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to walk through. That’s all.”

²⁰But he answered: “You may not pass through here.”

Then the Edomites went out to meet the Israelites with a large and powerful army. ²¹The Edomites refused to let them pass through their country, so the Israelites turned back.

Aaron Dies

²²All the Israelites moved from Kadesh to Mount Hor, ²³near the border of Edom. There the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁴“Aaron will die. He will not enter the land that I’m giving to the Israelites, because you both acted against my command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and his son Eleazar up on Mount Hor, ²⁶and take off Aaron’s special clothes and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will die there; he will join his ancestors.”

²⁷Moses obeyed the Lord’s command. They climbed up Mount Hor, and all the people saw them go. ²⁸Moses took off Aaron’s clothes and put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. Then Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Moses and Eleazar came back down the mountain, ²⁹and when all the people learned that Aaron was dead, everyone in Israel cried for him for thirty days.

War with the Canaanites

21The Canaanite king of Arad lived in the southern area. When he heard that the Israelites were coming on the road to Atharim, he attacked them and captured some of them. ²Then the Israelites made this promise to the Lord: “If you will help us defeat these people, we will completely destroy their cities.” ³The Lord listened to the Israelites, and he let them defeat the Canaanites. The Israelites completely destroyed the Canaanites and their cities, so the place was named Hormah. ⁿ

The Bronze Snake

⁴The Israelites left Mount Hor and went on the road toward the Red Sea, in order to go around the country of Edom. But the people became impatient on the way ⁵and grumbled at God and Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert? There is no bread and no water, and we hate this terrible food!”

⁶So the Lord sent them poisonous snakes; they bit the people, and many of the Israelites died. ⁷The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we grumbled at you and the Lord. Pray that the Lord will take away these snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸The Lord said to Moses, “Make a bronze snake, and put it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, that person will live.” ⁹So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Then when a snake bit anyone, that person looked at the bronze snake and lived.

The Journey to Moab

¹⁰The Israelites went and camped at Oboth. ¹¹They went from Oboth to Iye Abarim, in the desert east of Moab. ¹²From there they went and camped in the Zered Valley. ¹³From there they went and camped across the Arnon, in the desert just inside the Amorite country. The Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites. ¹⁴That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says:

“… and Waheb in Suphah, and the ravines,

the Arnon, ¹⁵and the slopes of the ravines

that lead to the settlement of Ar.

These places are at the border of Moab.”

¹⁶The Israelites went from there to Beer; a well is there where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.”

¹⁷Then the Israelites sang this song:

“Pour out water, well!

Sing about it.

¹⁸Princes dug this well.

Important men made it.

With their scepters and poles, they dug it.”

The people went from the desert to Mattanah. ¹⁹From Mattanah they went to Nahaliel and on to Bamoth. ²⁰From Bamoth they went to the valley of Moab where the top of Mount Pisgah looks over the desert.

Israel Kills Sihon and Og

²¹The Israelites sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, ²²“Let us pass through your country. We will not go through any fields of grain or vineyards, or drink water from the wells. We will travel only along the king’s road until we have passed through your country.”

²³But King Sihon would not let the Israelites pass through his country. He gathered his whole army together, and they marched out to meet Israel in the desert. At Jahaz they fought the Israelites. ²⁴Israel killed the king and captured his land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. They took the land as far as the Ammonite border, which was strongly defended. ²⁵Israel captured all the Amorite cities and lived in them, taking Heshbon and all the towns around it. ²⁶Heshbon was the city where Sihon, the Amorite king, lived. In the past he had fought with the king of Moab and had taken all the land as far as the Arnon.

²⁷That is why the poets say:

“Come to Heshbon

and rebuild it;

rebuild Sihon’s city.

²⁸A fire began in Heshbon;

flames came from Sihon’s city.

It destroyed Ar in Moab,

and it burned the Arnon highlands.

²⁹How terrible for you, Moab!

The people of Chemosh are ruined.

His sons ran away

and his daughters were captured

by Sihon, king of the Amorites.

³⁰But we defeated those Amorites.

We ruined their towns from Heshbon to Dibon,

and we destroyed them as far as Nophah, near Medeba.”

³¹So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.

³²After Moses sent spies to the town of Jazer, they captured the towns around it, forcing out the Amorites who lived there.

³³Then the Israelites went up the road toward Bashan. Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet the Israelites, and they fought at Edrei.

³⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Don’t be afraid of him. I will hand him, his whole army, and his land over to you. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who lived in Heshbon.”

³⁵So the Israelites killed Og and his sons and all his army; no one was left alive. And they took his land.