20In the first month the whole community of Israel arrived at the Desert of Zin. They stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there. Her body was also buried there.

²The people didn’t have any water. So they gathered together to oppose Moses and Aaron. ³They argued with Moses. They said, “We wish we had died when our people fell dead in front of the Lord.

⁴“Why did you bring the Lord’s people into this desert? We and our livestock will die here. ⁵Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? Why did you bring us to this terrible place? It doesn’t have any grain or figs. It doesn’t have any grapes or pomegranates. There isn’t even any water for us to drink!”

⁶Moses and Aaron left the people. They went to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. There they fell with their faces to the ground.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them. ⁷The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ⁸“Get your wooden staff. You and your brother Aaron gather the people together. Then speak to that rock while everyone is watching. It will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community. Then they and their livestock can drink it.”

⁹So Moses took the wooden staff from the tent. He did just as the Lord had commanded him. ¹⁰He and Aaron gathered the people together in front of the rock. Moses said to them, “Listen, you who refuse to obey! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?”

¹¹Then Moses raised his arm. He hit the rock twice with his staff. Water poured out. And the people and their livestock drank it.

¹²But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “You did not trust in me enough to honor me. You did not honor me as the holy God in front of the people of Israel. So you will not bring this community into the land I am giving them.”

¹³Those were the waters of Meribah. That’s where the people of Israel argued with the Lord. And that’s where he showed them he is holy.

Edom Doesn’t Let Israel Pass Through Its Territory

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. The messengers said,

“The nation of Israel is your brother. They say, ‘You know about all of the hard times we’ve had. ¹⁵Long ago our people went down into Egypt. We lived there for many years. The Egyptians treated us and our people badly. ¹⁶But we cried out to the Lord. He heard our cry. He sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt.

“ ‘Now here we are at the town of Kadesh. It’s on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷Please let us pass through your country. We won’t go through any field or vineyard. We won’t drink water from any well. We’ll travel along the king’s highway. We won’t turn to the right or the left. We’ll just go straight through your territory.’ ”

¹⁸But the people of Edom answered,

“You can’t pass through here. If you try to, we’ll march out against you. We’ll attack you with our swords.”

¹⁹The people of Israel replied,

“We’ll go along the main road. We and our livestock won’t drink any of your water. If we do, we’ll pay for it. We only want to walk through your country. That’s all we ask.”

²⁰Again the people of Edom answered,

“You can’t pass through here.”

Then the people of Edom came out against them. They came with a large and powerful army. ²¹Edom refused to let Israel go through their territory. So Israel turned away from them.

Aaron Dies

²²The whole community of Israel started out from Kadesh. They arrived at Mount Hor. ²³It was near the border of Edom. There the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, ²⁴“Aaron will join the members of his family who have already died. He will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel. Both of you refused to obey my command. You did it at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵“So get Aaron and his son Eleazar. Take them up Mount Hor. ²⁶Take Aaron’s official robes off him. Put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will die on Mount Hor. He will join the members of his family who have already died.”

²⁷Moses did just as the Lord had commanded. The three men went up Mount Hor while the whole community was watching. ²⁸Moses took Aaron’s official robes off him. He put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

²⁹The whole community found out that Aaron had died. So the entire nation of Israel sobbed over him for 30 days.

Israel Destroys Arad

21The Canaanite king of the city of Arad lived in the Negev Desert. He heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim. So he attacked the people of Israel. He captured some of them.

²Then Israel made a promise to the Lord. They said, “Hand these people over to us. If you do, we will set their cities apart to you in a special way to be destroyed.”

³The Lord gave Israel what they asked for. He handed the Canaanites over to them. Israel completely destroyed them. They also destroyed their towns. So that place was named Hormah.

Moses Makes a Bronze Snake

⁴The people of Israel traveled from Mount Hor along the way to the Red Sea. They wanted to go around Edom. But they grew tired on the way. ⁵So they spoke against God. They also spoke against Moses. They said to them, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? Do you want us to die here in the desert? We don’t have any bread! We don’t have any water! And we hate this awful food!”

⁶Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people of Israel. The snakes bit them. Many of the people died. ⁷The others came to Moses. They said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake. Put it up on a pole. Then anyone who is bitten can look at it and remain alive.” ⁹So Moses made a bronze snake. He put it up on a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake remained alive.

The People Continue On to Moab

¹⁰The people of Israel moved on. They camped at Oboth. ¹¹Then they started out from Oboth. They camped in Iye Abarim. It’s in the desert on the eastern border of Moab. ¹²From there they moved on. They camped in the Zered Valley. ¹³They started out from there and camped by the Arnon River. It’s in the desert that spreads out into the territory of the Amorites. The Arnon is the border of Moab. It’s between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴Here is what the Book of the Wars of the Lord says about it. It says,

“Sing about Waheb in Suphah and the valleys.

Sing about the Arnon ¹⁵and the slopes of the valleys.

They lead to the place called Ar.

They lie along the border of Moab.”

¹⁶From there the people of Israel continued on to Beer. That was the well where the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Gather the people together. I will give them water to drink.”

¹⁷Then Israel sang a song. They said,

“Spring up, you well!

Sing about it.

¹⁸Sing about the well the princes dug.

Sing about the well the nobles of the people dug.

All of their rulers were holding their rods and staffs.”

Then the people of Israel went from the desert to Mattanah. ¹⁹They went from Mattanah to Nahaliel. They went from Nahaliel to Bamoth. ²⁰And they went from Bamoth to a valley in Moab. It’s the valley where the highest slopes of Pisgah look out over a dry and empty land.

Israel Wins the Battle Over Sihon and Og

²¹The people of Israel sent messengers to speak to Sihon. He was the king of the Amorites. The messengers said to him,

²²“Let us pass through your country. We won’t go off the road into any field or vineyard. We won’t drink water from any well. We’ll travel along the king’s highway. We’ll just go straight through your territory.”

²³But Sihon wouldn’t let Israel pass through his territory. He gathered his whole army together. Then he marched out into the desert against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

²⁴But Israel put him to death with their swords. They took over his land. They took everything from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. But they didn’t take over any of the land of the Ammonites. That’s because the Ammonites had built strong forts along their border. ²⁵The people of Israel captured all of the cities of the Amorites. Then they settled down in them. They captured the city of Heshbon. They also captured all of the settlements that were around it.

²⁶Sihon, the king of the Amorites, ruled in Heshbon. He had fought against an earlier king of Moab. Sihon had taken from him all of his land all the way to the Arnon River.

²⁷That’s why the poets say,

“Come to Heshbon. Let it be built again.

Let Sihon’s city be made as good as new.

²⁸“Fire went out from Heshbon.

A blaze went out from the city of Sihon.

It burned up Ar in Moab.

It burned up the citizens who lived on Arnon’s hills.

²⁹Moab, how terrible it is for you!

People of Chemosh, you are destroyed!

Chemosh has deserted his sons and daughters.

His sons have run away from the battle.

His daughters have become prisoners.

He has handed all of them over to Sihon,

the king of the Amorites.

³⁰“But we have taken them over.

Heshbon is destroyed all the way to Dibon.

We have destroyed them as far as Nophah.

Nophah goes all the way to Medeba.”

³¹So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.

³²Moses sent spies to the city of Jazer. The people of Israel captured the settlements that were around it. They drove out the Amorites who were there. ³³Then they turned and went up along the road toward Bashan. Og was the king of Bashan. He and his whole army marched out. They went to fight against Israel at Edrei.

³⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of Og. I have handed him over to you. I have given you his whole army. I have also given you his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He ruled in Heshbon.”

³⁵So the people of Israel struck Og down. They struck his sons down. And they wiped out his whole army. They didn’t leave anyone alive. They took over his land for themselves.

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