Numbers 21:7-25

⁷The people went to see Moses and told him, “We were wrong to make complaints against the Lord and against you. Please pray to the Lord to get rid of the snakes from us.” Moses prayed to the Lord on their behalf.

⁸The Lord told Moses, “Make a model of a snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitten looks at it, they will live.”

⁹Moses made a snake out of bronze and put it on a pole. Those who looked at it did live.

¹⁰The Israelites left and camped at Oboth.

¹¹Then they moved on from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the desert on the east side of Moab.

¹²They left there and camped in the Valley of Zered.

¹³Then they moved on from there and camped on the far side of the Arnon River, in the desert near Amorite territory. The Arnon River is the border between the Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴That's why the Book of the Wars of the Lord refers to “the town of Waheb in Suphah and the canyon of the Arnon,

¹⁵the canyon slopes that reach the village of Ar that lies on the border with Moab.”

¹⁶From there they moved on to Beer, the well where the Lord told Moses, “Have the people gather together so I can give them water.”

¹⁷Then the Israelites sang this song: “Pour out water, well! Everyone of you sing to it!

¹⁸The tribal chiefs dug the well; yes the leaders of the people dug the well with their rods of authority and their walking sticks.” The Israelites left the desert and carried on to Mattanah.

¹⁹From Mattanah they traveled to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of Moab where the top of Mount Pisgah looks down on the wastelands.

²¹Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, with the following request:

²²“Please allow us to travel through your country. We won't cross any of your fields or vineyards, or drink water from any of your wells. We will stay on the King's Highway until we have passed through your country.”

²³But Sihon refused to allow the Israelites to travel through his territory. Instead, he called out his whole army and went out to meet the Israelites head-on in the desert. When he arrived at Jahaz, he attacked the Israelites.

²⁴The Israelites defeated them, killing them with their swords. They took over his land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River —but only as far as the border of the Ammonites, because it was well defended.

²⁵The Israelites conquered all the Amorite towns and took them over, including Heshbon and its surrounding villages.