[ Numbers Chapter 20 ]
1 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert
of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh, and Miriam died
there, and was buried there.
2 And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron.
3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died
when our brethren died before the LORD!
4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness,
that we and our cattle should die there?
5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto
this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of
pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink.
6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the
glory of the LORD appeared unto them.
7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy
brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth
his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou
shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and
he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this
rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and
the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts
also.
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to
sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring
this congregation into the land which I have given them.
13 This is the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel strove with the
LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy
brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
15 How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time,
and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:
16 And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and
hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the
uttermost of thy border:
17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the
fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the
wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor
to the left, until we have passed thy borders.
18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against
thee with the sword.
19 And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if
I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without
doing anything else, go through on my feet.
20 And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with
much people, and with a strong hand.
21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel
turned away from him.
22 And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from
Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the
land of Edom, saying,
24 Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land
which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my
word at the water of Meribah.
25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:
26 And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron
shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
27 And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the
sight of all the congregation.
28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son,
and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down
from the mount.
29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron
thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
[ Numbers Chapter 21 ]
1 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.
2 And 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.
3 And 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.
4 And 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.
5 And 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.
6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people,
and much people of Israel died.
7 Therefore 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.
8 And 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.
9 And 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.
10 And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.
11 And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness
which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.
12 From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.
13 From 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.
14 Wherefore 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,
15 And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and
lieth upon the border of Moab.
16 And 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.
17 Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it:
18 The 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:
19 And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:
20 And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of
Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.
21 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22 Let 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.
23 And 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.
24 And 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.
25 And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the
Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.
26 For 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.
27 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of
Sihon be built and prepared:
28 For 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.
29 Woe 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.
30 We have shot at them, Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid
them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.
31 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
32 And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and
drove out the Amorites that were there.
33 And 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.
34 And 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.
35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none
left him alive: and they possessed his land.
[ Numbers Chapter 22 ]
1 And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on
this side Jordan by Jericho.
2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
3 And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was
distressed because of the children of Israel.
4 And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all
that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak
the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.
5 He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is
by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying,
Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of
the earth, and they abide over against me:
6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people, for they are too mighty
for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may
drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and
he whom thou cursest is cursed.
7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of
divination in their hand, and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the
words of Balak.
8 And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again,
as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.
9 And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee?
10 And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent
unto me, saying,
11 Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the
earth: come now, curse me them, peradventure I shall be able to overcome them,
and drive them out.
12 And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them, thou shalt not curse
the people: for they are blessed.
13 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get
you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you.
14 And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam
refuseth to come with us.
15 And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they.
16 And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor,
Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:
17 For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou
sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.
18 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give
me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my
God, to do less or more.
19 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know
what the LORD will say unto me more.
20 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call
thee, rise up, and go with them, but yet the word which I shall say unto thee,
that shalt thou do.
21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the
princes of Moab.
22 And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood
in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his
two servants were with him.
23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword
drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the
field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
24 But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on
this side, and a wall on that side.
25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall,
and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again.
26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where
was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and
Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.
28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have
I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?
29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were
a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.
30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden
ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he
said, Nay.
31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD
standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his
head, and fell flat on his face.
32 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine
ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is
perverse before me:
33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had
turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.
34 And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned, for I knew not
that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I
will get me back again.
35 And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the
word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with
the princes of Balak.
36 And when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a
city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost coast.
37 And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee?
wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to
honour?
38 And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at
all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.
39 And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kirjathhuzoth.
40 And Balak offered oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that
were with him.
41 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up
into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost part of the
people.