When the Canaanite, the king of ^aArad, who lived in the ¹Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. 2 So ^aIsrael made a vow to the LORD and said, “If You will indeed hand over this people to me, then I will ¹utterly destroy their cities.” 3 The LORD heard the voice of Israel and turned over the Canaanites; then they ¹utterly destroyed them and their cities. And the place was named ^2aHormah.

4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the ¹Red Sea, to ^ago around the land of Edom; and the ²people became impatient because of the journey. 5 So the people spoke against God and Moses: “^aWhy have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no ¹food and no water, and ^2bwe are disgusted with ³this miserable food.”

6 ^aThen the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and ^bthey bit the people, so that ^cmany people of Israel died. 7 ^aSo the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and against you; ^bintercede with the LORD, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “¹Make a ^afiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.” 9 So Moses made a ^abronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

10 ^aNow the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth. 11 Then they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the ¹east. 12 ^aFrom there they set out and camped in ¹Wadi Zered. 13 From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; ^afor the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 For that reason it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD,“Waheb in Suphah,And the ¹wadis of the Arnon,

16 ^aFrom there they continued to ¹Beer, that is the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”

17 ^aThen Israel sang this song:“Spring up, O well! Sing to it!

19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the ¹desert.

21 ^aThen Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, 22 “^aLet me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s road until we have passed through your border.” 23 ^aBut Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to ^bJahaz and fought against Israel. 24 Then ^aIsrael struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the ^bborder of the sons of Ammon was ¹Jazer. 25 Israel took all these cities, and ^aIsrael lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her ¹villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. 27 For that reason those who use proverbs say,“Come to Heshbon! Let it be built!So let the city of Sihon be established.

31 So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 Now Moses sent men to spy out ^aJazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

33 ^aThen they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them ¹with all his people, for battle at ^bEdrei. 34 But the LORD said to Moses, “^aDo not fear him, for I have handed him over to you, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” 35 So ^athey ¹killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land.