1 W hen the Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelt in the South (the Negeb), heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.

2 A nd 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 A nd 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.

4 A nd 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 way.

5 A nd 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 T hen the Lord sent fiery (burning) serpents among the people; and they bit the people, and many Israelites died.

7 A nd 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 A nd the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.

9 A nd 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 '> attentively, expectantly, with a steady and absorbing gaze], he lived.

10 A nd the Israelites journeyed on and encamped at Oboth.

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

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

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

14 T hat is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord: Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,

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

16 F rom there the Israelites went on to Beer, the well of which the Lord had said to Moses, Assemble the people together and I will give them water.

17 T hen Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well! Let all sing to it,

18 T he fountain that the princes opened, that the nobles of the people hollowed out from their staves. And from the wilderness or desert to Mattanah,

19 A nd from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

20 A nd 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 A nd Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

22 L et 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 B ut 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 A nd 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 A nd Israel took all these cities and dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its towns.

26 F or 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 Arnon.

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

28 F or 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 W oe to you, Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh! Moab has given his sons as fugitives and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.

30 W e 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 T hus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

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

33 T hen 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 B ut 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 S o the Israelites slew Og and his sons and all his people until there was not one left alive, And they possessed his land.