The Defeat of Arad

1And the Canaanite, the king of Arad who dwelt in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming on the road of the Atharim; and he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. 2And Israel made a vow to YHWH, and said, “If You will fully deliver this people into my hand, then I will devote to destruction† their cities.”

3And YHWH listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanite. And they devoted to destruction them and their cities. And the name of the place was called Hormah.†

The Bronze Serpent

4And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea,† to go around the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was short on the way. 5And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you⁺ brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”

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

7And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against YHWH and against you. Pray to YHWH, that He take away from us the serpents.” And Moses prayed for the people.

8And YHWH said to Moses, “Make for yourself a fiery serpent and set it on a pole; and it shall come to pass that anyone who is bitten, and he looks at it, he shall live.” 9And Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. And it came to pass that, if a serpent had bitten anyone, and he looked unto the bronze serpent, he lived.

The Journey to Moab

10And the sons of Israel set out and camped in Oboth. 11And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is east of Moab toward the sunrise. 12From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered. 13From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorite.

For the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and between the Amorite. 14Upon thus it is said in the Book of the Wars of YHWH:

“Waheb in Suphah,

and the brooks of the Arnon,

15and the slope of the brooks

that reaches to the dwelling of Ar

and lies on the border of Moab.”

16And from there they went to Beer;† it is the well where YHWH said to Moses, “Gather together the people and I will give them water.” 17Then Israel sang this song:

“Spring up, O well,

all of you sing to it.

18The princes dug the well,

the nobles of the nation hollowed it out

by the lawgiver,

by their staffs.”

And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah, 19and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20and from Bamoth in the valley that is in the country of Moab to the top of Pisgah, which looks toward the face of Jeshimon.†

The Defeat of Sihon
(Deuteronomy 2:24–37)

21And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorite, saying, 22“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into a field or into a vineyard; we will not drink the water of a well. By the Highway of the King we will go, until that we have passed through your territory.”

23And Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. And Sihon gathered together all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and he came to Jahaz† and fought against Israel. 24And Israel defeated him by the mouth of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the border of the sons of Ammon was strong.†

25And Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorite, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorite, and he had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon. 27Upon thus the speakers of proverbs say:

“Come to Heshbon,

let the city of Sihon be built and be repaired.

28For fire went out from Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It consumed Ar of Moab,

the lords of the heights of the Arnon.

29Woe to you, O Moab!

You have perished, O people of Chemosh!

He has given his sons as fugitives,

and his daughters into captivity,

to a king of the Amorite, Sihon.

30And we have shot at them;

has perished Heshbon as far as Dibon.

And we laid waste as far as Nophah,

which is as far as Medeba.†”

The Defeat of Og
(Deuteronomy 3:1–11)

31And Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorite. 32And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they took its villages and drove out the Amorite who was there.

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

34And YHWH said to Moses, “Fear him not, for into your hand I have delivered him and all his people and his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorite, who dwelt at Heshbon.”

35And they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until there was left to him no survivor. And they took possession of his land.

Footnotes:

2 Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons to YHWH, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in verse 3.
3 Hormah means destruction.
4 Or the Sea of Reeds
16 Beer means well.
20 That is, the wasteland
23 Jahaz is a variant of Jahzah; see 1 Chronicles 6:78.
24 Or rugged, or fortified
30 Or We laid waste to them until fire spread to Medeba