Numbers 21

And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.

1King Arad was a Canaanite king who lived in the dry southern land. He heard that Israel was coming up the road. So he attacked Israel and took some people as prisoners.

2And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

2Israel made a promise to the LORD. They said, "If you help us beat these people, we will completely destroy their cities."

3And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

3The LORD listened to Israel and handed the Canaanites over to them. Israel completely destroyed the people and their cities. So they named that place Hormah.

4And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

4The people left Mount Hor and took the road toward the Red Sea. They went that way to go around the land of Edom. But the long, hard walk made the people upset and tired.

5And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

5The people spoke against God and against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die out here? There is no bread and no water. And we hate this awful food!"

NoteThe KJV says "our soul loatheth this light bread." Here "light" does not mean easy or fluffy. It means worthless, so the people are calling the food terrible.

6And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

6So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people. The snakes bit them, and many Israelites died.

NoteThe KJV calls them "fiery serpents." They were not on fire. Their bite burned and hurt badly.

7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

7The people came to Moses and said, "We did wrong. We spoke against the LORD and against you. Please ask the LORD to take the snakes away." So Moses prayed for the people.

8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

8The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a tall pole. Anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."

9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

9So Moses made a snake out of bronze and put it on a pole. When a bitten person looked at the bronze snake, that person lived.

10And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.

10The people of Israel moved on. They set up their camp at a place called Oboth.

11And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.

11They left Oboth and camped at Ije-abarim. That place is in the desert east of Moab.

12From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.

12From there they moved on again. They camped in the valley of Zered.

13From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

13From there they moved on and camped across the Arnon river. That desert stretches into land where the Amorites lived. The Arnon river was the line between Moab and the Amorites.

14Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,

14This is why an old book called the Book of the Wars of the LORD says: "Waheb in Suphah, and the streams of the Arnon,

15And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.

15and the slopes of those streams that go down toward the town of Ar, along the edge of Moab."

16And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.

16From there they went on to a place called Beer, which means "well." The LORD had said to Moses there, "Gather the people, and I will give them water."

17Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:

17Then Israel sang this song: "Come up, water! Fill the well! Everybody sing to it!

18The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah:

18Our leaders dug this well. The great men dug it out with their walking sticks and their staffs. The lawgiver showed them where." Then the people left the desert and went on to Mattanah.

19And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:

19From Mattanah they went to Nahaliel. From Nahaliel they went to Bamoth.

20And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.

20From Bamoth they went to the valley in the land of Moab. There the top of Mount Pisgah looks out over the empty desert.

21And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

21Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites. They gave him this message:

22Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders.

22"Please let us walk through your land. We will not go into your fields or your grape farms. We will not drink water from your wells. We will stay on the main road until we are past your land."

23And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

23But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his land. Instead he gathered all his army and marched out to fight them in the desert. He came to a place called Jahaz and fought Israel there.

NoteIn the KJV, "suffer" means allow. Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through.

24And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

24Israel beat him in battle with swords. They took his land from the Arnon river to the Jabbok river. They stopped at the land of the Ammonites, because its border was too strong to break.

NoteThe KJV says the Ammonite border "was strong." That means it was well guarded and hard to attack.

25And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.

25Israel took over all these cities. They lived in the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its small towns.

26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.

26Heshbon had been King Sihon's city. He had once fought the king of Moab who ruled before. Sihon took all that king's land, right up to the Arnon river.

27Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:

27That is why the old poets sing: "Come to Heshbon! Let it be built again. Let Sihon's city be made strong.

28For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.

28A fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from Sihon's city. It burned up Ar in Moab and the rulers on the hills by the Arnon.

29Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.

29How sad for you, Moab! You are ruined, you people of Chemosh, the god you pray to. He let his sons run away and his daughters be taken by King Sihon.

30We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

30But we shot at them and won. Heshbon is broken all the way to Dibon. We ruined them as far as Nophah, near Medeba."

31Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

31So Israel settled down and lived in the land of the Amorites.

32And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

32Moses sent men to look over the town of Jaazer. Then Israel took its small towns and drove out the Amorites there.

33And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei.

33Then they turned and went up the road toward Bashan. Og, the king of Bashan, came out with his whole army to fight them at Edrei.

34And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.

34The LORD said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him. I have handed him over to you, with his people and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king at Heshbon."

35So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.

35So Israel beat Og, his sons, and his whole army. No one was left alive. And Israel took over his land.