21 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelt in the South (the Negeb), heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim [the route traveled by the spies sent out by Moses], he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.

² And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

³ And the Lord hearkened to Israel and gave over the Canaanites. And they utterly destroyed them and their cities; and the name of the place was called Hormah [a banned or devoted thing].

⁴ And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, and the people became impatient (depressed, much discouraged), because [of the trials] of the way.

⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and we loathe this light (contemptible, unsubstantial) manna.

⁶ Then the Lord sent fiery (burning) serpents among the people; and they bit the people, and many Israelites died.

⁷ And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that He may take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent [of bronze] and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.

⁹ And Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it on a pole, and if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the serpent of bronze [^[a]attentively, expectantly, with a steady and absorbing gaze], he lived.

¹⁰ And the Israelites journeyed on and encamped at Oboth.

¹¹ They journeyed from Oboth and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness opposite Moab, toward the sunrise.

¹² From there they journeyed and encamped in the Valley of Zared.

¹³ From there they journeyed and encamped on the other side of [the river] Arnon, which is in the desert or wilderness that extends from the frontier of the Amorites; for [the river] Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴ That is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord: Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of [the branches of] the Arnon [River],

¹⁵ And the slope of the valleys that stretch toward the site of Ar and find support on the border of Moab.

¹⁶ From there the Israelites went on to Beer [a well], the well of which the Lord had said to Moses, Assemble the people together and I will give them water.^(A)

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well! Let all sing to it,^(B)

¹⁸ The fountain that the princes opened, that the nobles of the people hollowed out from their staves. And from the wilderness or desert [Israel journeyed] to Mattanah,

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

²⁰ And from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down upon Jeshimon and the desert.

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

²² Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vineyard; we will not drink the water of the wells. We will go by the king’s highway until we have passed your border.

²³ But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border. Instead Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel.

²⁴ And Israel smote the king of the Amorites with the edge of the sword and possessed his land from the river Arnon to the river Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the boundary of the Ammonites was strong.

²⁵ And Israel took all these cities and dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its towns.

²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as [the river] Arnon.

²⁷ That is why those who sing ballads say, Come to Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and established.

²⁸ For fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it has devoured Ar of Moab and the lords of the heights of the Arnon.

²⁹ Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, O people of [the god] Chemosh! Moab has given his sons as fugitives and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.

³⁰ We have shot them down; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon, and we have laid them waste as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.

³¹ Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

³² And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they took its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

³³ Then 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 battle at Edrei.

³⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.

³⁵ So the Israelites slew Og and his sons and all his people until there was not one left alive, And they possessed his land.

³³ Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and of Reuben and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land with its cities and their territories, even the cities round about the country.

2 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord directed me; and for many days we journeyed around Mount Seir.

² And the Lord spoke to me [Moses], saying,

³ You have roamed around this mountain country long enough; turn northward.

⁴ And command the Israelites, You are to pass through the territory of your kinsmen the sons of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So watch yourselves carefully.

⁵ Do not provoke or stir them up, for I will not give you of their land, no, not enough for the sole of your foot to tread on, for I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession.

⁶ You shall buy food from them for money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them for money, that you may drink.

⁷ For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.

⁸ So we passed on from our brethren the sons of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, away from the Arabah (wilderness), and from Elath and from Ezion-geber. We turned and went by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

⁹ And the Lord said to me, Do not trouble or assault Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot for a possession.

¹⁰ (The Emim dwelt there in times past, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim.

¹¹ These also are known as Rephaim [of giant stature], as are the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.

¹² The Horites also formerly lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and dwelt in their stead, as Israel did to the land of their possession which the Lord gave to them.)

¹³ Now rise up and go over the brook Zered. So we went over the brook Zered.

¹⁴ And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we had come over the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the whole generation of the men of war had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.

¹⁵ Moreover the hand of the Lord was against them to exterminate them from the midst of the camp, until they were all gone.

¹⁶ So when all the men of war had died from among the people,

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to me [Moses], saying,

¹⁸ You are this day to pass through Ar, the border of Moab.

¹⁹ But when you come near the territory of the sons of Ammon, do not trouble or assault them or provoke or stir them up, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites for a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.

²⁰ (That also is known as a land of Rephaim [of giant stature]; Rephaim dwelt there formerly, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,

²¹ A people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before [Ammon], and they dispossessed them and settled in their stead,

²² As He did for the sons of Esau, who dwell in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them, and they dispossessed them and settled in their stead even to this day.

²³ As for the Avvim who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim who came from Caphtor destroyed them and dwelt in their stead.)

²⁴ Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it and contend with him in battle.

²⁵ This day will I begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples who are under the whole heavens, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.

²⁶ So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

²⁷ Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road, turning aside neither to the right nor to the left.

²⁸ You shall sell me food to eat and sell me water to drink; only let me walk through,

²⁹ As the sons of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites, who dwell in Ar, ^[a]did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land which the Lord our God gives us.

³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might give him into your hand, as at this day.

³¹ And the Lord said to me [Moses], Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may succeed him and occupy his land.

³² Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.

³³ And the Lord our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people.

³⁴ At the same time we took all his cities and utterly destroyed every city—men, women, and children. We left none to remain.

³⁵ Only the cattle we took as booty for ourselves and the spoil of the cities which we had captured.

³⁶ From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Valley, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was no city too high and strong for us; the Lord our God delivered all to us.

³⁷ Only you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, that is, to any bank of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the Lord our God had forbidden us.

3 Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

² And the Lord said to me, Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.

³ So the Lord our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his people, and we smote him until not one was left to him.

⁴ And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them, sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

⁵ All these cities were fortified with high and haughty walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many unwalled villages.

⁶ And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every city—men, women, and children.

⁷ But all the cattle and the spoil of the cities we took for booty for ourselves.

⁸ So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon

⁹ (The Sidonians call Hermon, Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir),

¹⁰ All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

¹¹ For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the [gigantic] Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length and four cubits its breadth, using the cubit of a man [the forearm to the end of the middle finger].

¹² When we took possession of this land, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead and its cities.

¹³ The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob in Bashan, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It is called the land of Rephaim [of giant stature].

¹⁴ Jair son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called it after his own name, Havvoth-jair, so called to this day.

¹⁵ And I gave Gilead to Machir [son of Manasseh].

¹⁶ And to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as the boundary of it, as far over as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites,

¹⁷ The Arabah also, with the Jordan as its boundary, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt [Dead] Sea, under the cliffs [of the headlands] of Pisgah on the east.

¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time, saying, The Lord your God has given you this land to possess it; you [Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh] shall go over [the Jordan] armed before your brethren the other Israelites, all that are able for war.

¹⁹ But your wives and your little ones and your cattle—I know that you have many cattle—shall remain in your cities which I have given you,

²⁰ Until the Lord has given rest to your brethren as to you, and until they also possess the land which the Lord your God has given them beyond the Jordan. Then shall you return every man to the possession which I have given you.

²¹ And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Your own eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings [Sihon and Og]; so shall the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are going over [the Jordan].

²² You shall not fear them, for the Lord your God shall fight for you.

²³ And I besought the Lord at that time, saying,

²⁴ O Lord God, You have only begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth that can do according to Your works and according to Your might?

²⁵ I pray You, [will You not just] let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain country [with Hermon] and Lebanon?

²⁶ But the Lord was angry with me on your account and would not listen to me; and the Lord said to me, That is enough! Say no more to Me about it.

²⁷ Get up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and behold it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan.

²⁸ But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over before this people and he shall cause them to possess the land which you shall see.

²⁹ So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.