Numbers 21
1 The king of Arad [city] lived in the area where the Canaan people-group lived, in the desert in the southern part of the land. He heard a report that the Israelis were approaching on the road to Atharim [village]. So his army attacked the Israelis and captured some of them.
The Canaanite king of Arad who lived in the Negev learned that the Israelites were approaching on the road to Atharim. He went and attacked Israel and took some of them prisoners.
2 Then the Israelis solemnly vowed: “Yahweh, if you will help us to defeat these people, we will completely destroy all their towns.”
So Israel made a solemn promise to the Lord: “If you hand these people over to us, we pledge to completely destroy their towns.”
3 Yahweh heard what they requested, and he enabled them to defeat the army of the Canaan people-group. The Israeli soldiers killed all the people and destroyed their towns. [Ever since that time], that place has been called Hormah [which means ‘destruction’].
The Lord responded to their appeal and handed over the Canaanites to them. The Israelites completely destroyed them and their towns, and named the place Hormah.
4 Then the Israelis left Hor Mountain and traveled on the road towards the Red Sea, in order to go around [the land of] Edom. But the people became impatient along the way,
The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road leading to the Red Sea so they could avoid traveling through the country of Edom. But the people became bad-tempered on the way
5 and they began to grumble/complain against God and against Moses/me. They said, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in this desert [RHQ]? There is nothing to eat here, and nothing to drink. And we detest this lousy [manna] food!”
and made complaints against God and against Moses, saying, “Why did you lead us out of Egypt to die in the desert? We don't have bread or water, and we hate this awful food!”
6 So Yahweh sent poisonous snakes among them. Many of the people were bitten by the snakes and died.
So the Lord sent poisonous snakes to attack them, and many Israelites were bitten and died.
7 Then the people came to Moses/me and cried out, saying, “We [now know that we] have sinned against Yahweh and against you. Pray to Yahweh, asking that he will take away the snakes!” So Moses/I prayed for the people.
The 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.
8 Then Yahweh told him/me, “Make a model/image of a poisonous snake, and attach it to the top of a pole. If those who are bitten by the snakes look at that model, they will (recover/get well).”
The 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.”
9 So Moses/I made a snake from bronze and attached it to the top of a pole. Then, when those who had been bitten by a snake looked at the bronze snake, they recovered!
Moses made a snake out of bronze and put it on a pole. Those who looked at it did live.
10 Then the Israelis traveled to Oboth and (camped/set up their tents) there.
The Israelites left and camped at Oboth.
11 Then they left there, and went to Iye-Abarim, in the desert on the eastern border of Moab.
Then they moved on from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the desert on the east side of Moab.
12 From there they traveled to the valley where the Zered riverbed is, and camped there.
They left there and camped in the Valley of Zered.
13 Then they traveled to the north side of the Arnon [River]. That area is in the desert next to the land where the Amor people-group lived. The Arnon [River] is the boundary between Moab and where the Amor people-group lived.
Then 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.
14 That is why in the book called ‘The Book of the Wars of Yahweh’ it tells about “Waheb [town] in the Suphah area, and the ravines there; and the Arnon [River]
That's why the Book of the Wars of the Lord refers to “the town of Waheb in Suphah and the canyon of the Arnon,
15 and the ravines there, which extend as far as Ar [village] on the border of Moab.”
the canyon slopes that reach the village of Ar that lies on the border with Moab.”
16 From there, the Israelis traveled to Beer. There was a well there, where Yahweh previously had said to Moses/me, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”
From there they moved on to Beer, the well where the Lord told Moses, “Have the people gather together so I can give them water.”
17 There the Israelis sang this song: “O well, give us water! Sing about this well!
Then the Israelites sang this song: “Pour out water, well! Everyone of you sing to it!
18 Sing about this well which our leaders dug; they dug out [the dirt] with their royal scepters and their walking sticks.” Then the Israelis left that desert and went through Mattanah,
The 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.
19 Nahaliel, and Bamoth [villages].
From Mattanah they traveled to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
20 Then they went to the valley in Moab where Pisgah [Mountain] rises above the desert.
and from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of Moab where the top of Mount Pisgah looks down on the wastelands.
21 Then the Israelis sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group. This was the message [that they/we gave him]:
Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, with the following request:
22 “Allow us to travel through your country. We will stay on the king’s highway, [the main road that goes from the south to the north], until we have finished traveling through your land. We will not walk through any field or vineyard, or drink water from your wells.”
“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.”
23 But King Sihon refused. He would not allow them to walk through his land. Instead, he sent his whole army to attack the Israelis in the desert. They attacked the Israelis at Jahaz [village].
But 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.
24 But the Israelis completely defeated them and occupied their land, from the Arnon [River in the south] to the Jabbok [River in the north]. They stopped at the border of the land where the Ammon people-group lived, because [the Ammon army was defending] the border strongly.
The 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.
25 So the Israelis occupied all the cities and towns where the Amor people-group lived, and some of the Israelis began to live in them. They occupied Heshbon [city] and the nearby villages.
The Israelites conquered all the Amorite towns and took them over, including Heshbon and its surrounding villages.
26 Heshbon was the capital of the country. It was the city where King Sihon ruled. His army had previously defeated the army of the king of Moab, and then his people had begun to live in all of the land of Moab as far as the Arnon [River in the south].
Heshbon was the capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the previous king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon River.
27 For that reason, one of the poets wrote long ago, “Come to Heshbon, the city where King Sihon [ruled]. We want the city to be restored/rebuilt.
That's why the old songwriters wrote: “Come to Heshbon and have it be rebuilt; restore the town of Sihon!
28 A fire blazed from Heshbon; it burned down Ar [city] in Moab, it destroyed [everything on] the hills along the Arnon [River].
For a fire blazed out from Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon. It burned up Ar in Moab where the rulers live on the high places of Arnon.
29 You people of Moab, terrible things have happened to you! You people who [worship your god] Chemosh have been (annihilated/wiped out)! The men who [worshiped] [MET] Chemosh have run away and are now refugees, and the women [who worshiped him] have been captured by [the army of] Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group.
What a disaster you face, Moab! You are all going to die, people of Chemosh! You handed over your sons as exiles and your daughters as prisoners to Sihon, king of the Amorites.
30 But we have defeated [Sihon and] those descendants of Amor, all the way from Heshbon [in the north] to Dibon [city in the south]. We have completely obliterated/destroyed them as far as Nophah and Medeba [towns].”
But now we have defeated the Amorites! Heshbon's rule has been destroyed all the way to Dibon. We wiped them out all the way to Nophah and on to Medeba.”
31 So the Israeli people began to live in the land where the Amor people-group lived.
The Israelites occupied the country of the Amorites.
32 After Moses/I sent some men to explore the area near Jazer [city], Israeli people began to live in all the towns in that region and expelled the Amor people-group who lived there.
Moses sent men to explore Jazer. The Israelites conquered its surrounding villages and expelled the Amorites living there.
33 Then they turned [north] toward the Bashan region, but King Og of Bashan and all his army attacked them at Edrei [town].
Then they continued on the road towards Bashan. Og, king of Bashan, led his whole army out to meet them head on, and fought them at Edrei.
34 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Do not be afraid of Og, because I am going to enable your men to defeat him and his army, and to take possession of all his land. You will do to him what you did to Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group, who ruled in Heshbon.”
The Lord told Moses, “You don't need to be afraid of him, because I have handed him over to you, along with all his people and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon.”
35 And that is what happened. We Israelis defeated Og’s army, and killed King Og and his sons and all his people. Not a person survived! And then we Israelis began to live in their land.
So they killed Og, his sons, and all his army. Nobody survived, and the Israelites took over his country.
