Numbers 21:1-24

¹And Arad the Chananitish king who dwelt by the wilderness, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharin; and he made war on Israel, and carried off some of them captives.

²And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, If thou wilt deliver this people into my power, I will devote it and its cities to thee.

³And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered the Chananite into his power; and Israel devoted him and his cities, and they called the name of that place Anathema.

⁴And having departed from mount Or by the way leading to the Red Sea, they compassed the land of Edom, and the people lost courage by the way.

⁵And the people spoke against God and against Moses, saying, Why is this? Hast thou brought us ought of Egypt to slay us in the wilderness? for there is not bread nor water; and our soul loathes this light bread.

⁶And the Lord sent among the people deadly serpents, and they bit the people, and much people of the children of Israel died.

⁷And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee: pray therefore to the Lord, and let him take away the serpent from us.

⁸And Moses prayed to the Lord for the people; and the Lord said to Moses, Make thee a serpent, and put it on a signal-staff; and it shall come to pass that whenever a serpent shall bite a man, every one so bitten that looks upon it shall live.

⁹And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a signal-staff: and it came to pass that whenever a serpent bit a man, and he looked on the brazen serpent, he lived.

¹⁰And the children of Israel departed, and encamped in Oboth.

¹¹And having departed from Oboth, they encamped in Achalgai, on the farther side in the wilderness, which is opposite Moab, toward the east.

¹²And thence they departed, and encamped in the valley of Zared.

¹³And they departed thence and encamped on the other side of Arnon in the wilderness, the country which extends from the coasts of the Amorites; for Arnon is the borders of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴Therefore it is said in a book, A war of the Lord has set on fire Zoob, and the brooks of Arnon.

¹⁵And he has appointed brooks to cause Er to dwell there; and it lies near to the coasts of Moab.

¹⁶And thence they came to the well; this is the well of which the Lord said to Moses, Gather the people, and I will give them water to drink.

¹⁷Then Israel sang this song at the well, Begin to sing of the well;

¹⁸the princes digged it, the kings of the nations in their kingdom, in their lordship sank it in the rock: and they went from the well to Manthanain,

¹⁹and from Manthanain to Naaliel, and from Naaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to Janen, which is in the plain of Moab as seen from the top of the quarried rock that looks toward the wilderness.

²⁰And Moses sent ambassadors to Seon king of the Amorites, with peaceable words, saying,

²¹We will pass through thy land, we will go by the road; we will not turn aside to the field or to the vineyard.

²²We will not drink water out of thy well; we will go by the king's highway, until we have past thy boundaries.

²³And Seon did not allow Israel to pass through his borders, and Seon gathered all his people, and went out to set the battle in array against Israel into the wilderness; and he came to Jassa, and set the battle in array against Israel.

²⁴And Israel smote him with the slaughter of the sword, and they became possessors of his land, from Arnon to Jaboc, as far as the children of Amman, for Jazer is the borders of the children of Amman.