Numbers 21–22

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.

Balak Sends for Balaam

22Then the people of Israel went to the plains of Moab, and they camped near the Jordan River across from Jericho.

²Balak son of Zippor saw everything the Israelites had done to the Amorites. ³And Moab was scared of so many Israelites; truly, Moab was terrified by them.

⁴The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “These people will take everything around us like an ox eating grass.”

Balak son of Zippor was the king of Moab at this time. ⁵He sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, near the Euphrates River in his native land. Balak said, “A nation has come out of Egypt that covers the land. They have camped next to me, ⁶and they are too powerful for me. So come and put a curse on them. Maybe then I can defeat them and make them leave the area. I know that if you bless someone, the blessings happen, and if you put a curse on someone, it happens.”

⁷The elders of Moab and Midian went with payment in their hands. When they found Balaam, they told him what Balak had said.

⁸Balaam said to them, “Stay here for the night, and I will tell you what the Lord tells me.” So the Moabite leaders stayed with him.

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

¹⁰Balaam said to God, “The king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, sent them to me with this message: ¹¹‘A nation has come out of Egypt that covers the land. So come and put a curse on them, and maybe I can fight them and force them out of my land.’ ”

¹²But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. Don’t put a curse on those people, because I have blessed them.”

¹³The next morning Balaam awoke and said to Balak’s leaders, “Go back to your own country; the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

¹⁴So the Moabite leaders went back to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵So Balak sent other leaders—this time there were more of them, and they were more important. ¹⁶They went to Balaam and said, “Balak son of Zippor says this: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to me. ¹⁷I will pay you very well, and I will do what you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.”

¹⁸But Balaam answered Balak’s servants, “King Balak could give me his palace full of silver and gold, but I cannot disobey the Lord my God in anything, great or small. ¹⁹You stay here tonight as the other men did, and I will find out what more the Lord tells me.”

²⁰That night God came to Balaam and said, “These men have come to ask you to go with them. Go, but only do what I tell you.”

Balaam’s Donkey Speaks

²¹Balaam got up the next morning and put a saddle on his donkey. Then he went with the Moabite leaders. ²²But God became angry because Balaam went, so the angel of the Lord stood in the road to stop Balaam. Balaam was riding his donkey, and he had two servants with him. ²³When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a sword in his hand, the donkey left the road and went into the field. Balaam hit the donkey to force her back on the road.

²⁴Later, the angel of the Lord stood on a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. ²⁵Again the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, and she walked close to one wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he hit her again.

²⁶The angel of the Lord went ahead again and stood at a narrow place, too narrow to turn left or right. ²⁷When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. This made him so angry that he hit her with his stick. ²⁸Then the Lord made the donkey talk, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to make you hit me three times?”

²⁹Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made me look foolish! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!”

³⁰But the donkey said to Balaam, “I am your very own donkey, which you have ridden for years. Have I ever done this to you before?”

“No,” Balaam said.

³¹Then the Lord let Balaam see the angel of the Lord, who was standing in the road with his sword drawn. Then Balaam bowed facedown on the ground.

³²The angel of the Lord asked Balaam, “Why have you hit your donkey three times? I have stood here to stop you, because what you are doing is wrong. ³³The donkey saw me and turned away from me three times. If she had not turned away, I would have killed you by now, but I would have let her live.”

³⁴Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned; I did not know you were standing in the road to stop me. If I am wrong, I will go back.”

³⁵The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with these men, but say only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s leaders.

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at Ar in Moab, which was beside the Arnon, at the edge of his country. ³⁷Balak said to Balaam, “I had asked you before to come quickly. Why didn’t you come to me? I am able to reward you well.”

³⁸But Balaam answered, “I have come to you now, but I can’t say just anything. I can only say what God tells me to say.”

³⁹Then Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth. ⁴⁰Balak offered cattle and sheep as a sacrifice and gave some meat to Balaam and the leaders with him.

⁴¹The next morning Balak took Balaam to Bamoth Baal; from there he could see the edge of the Israelite camp.