Numbers 21:12-32
Holman Christian Standard Bible
12 From there they went and camped at Zered Valley. 13 They set out from there and camped on the other side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness that extends from the Amorite border, because the Arnon was the Moabite border between Moab and the Amorites. 14 Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Lord’s Wars:
Waheb[a] in Suphah
and the ravines of the Arnon,
15 even the slopes of the ravines
that extend to the site of Ar[b](A)
and lie along the border of Moab.
16 From there they went to Beer,[c] the well the Lord told Moses about, “Gather the people so I may give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song:
Spring up, well—sing to it!
18 The princes dug the well;
the nobles of the people hollowed it out
with a scepter and with their staffs.
They went from the wilderness to Mattanah, 19 from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of Moab near the Pisgah highlands[d](B) that overlook the wasteland.[e](C)
Amorite Kings Defeated
21 Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon(D) king of the Amorites: 22 “Let us travel through your land. We won’t go into the fields or vineyards. We won’t drink any well water. We will travel the King’s Highway until we have traveled through your territory.”(E) 23 But Sihon would not let Israel travel through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz,(F) he fought against Israel. 24 Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok,(G) but only up to the Ammonite border, because it was fortified.[f][g]
25 Israel took all the cities and lived in all these Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its villages. 26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken control of all his land as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore the poets[h] say:
Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt;
let the city of Sihon be restored.[i]
28 For fire came out of Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It consumed Ar of Moab,
the lords of[j] Arnon’s heights.
29 Woe to you, Moab!
You have been destroyed, people of Chemosh!(H)
He gave up his sons as refugees,
and his daughters into captivity
to Sihon the Amorite king.
30 We threw them down;
Heshbon has been destroyed as far as Dibon.[k](I)
We caused desolation as far as Nophah,
which reaches as far as Medeba.[l](J)
31 So Israel lived in the Amorites’ land. 32 After Moses sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 21:14 = the source of the Arnon River
- Numbers 21:15 A city in Moab; Nm 21:28; Dt 2:9,18,29; Is 15:1
- Numbers 21:16 = well
- Numbers 21:20 = Moabite mountain plateau; Nm 23:14; Dt 3:17,27; 4:49; 34:1; Jos 12:3; 13:20
- Numbers 21:20 Or overlook Jeshimon
- Numbers 21:24 LXX reads was Jazer
- Numbers 21:24 Or was at Az
- Numbers 21:27 Lit ones who speak proverbs
- Numbers 21:27 Or firmly founded
- Numbers 21:28 LXX reads Moab, and swallowed
- Numbers 21:30 LXX reads Their seed will perish from Heshbon; Vg reads Their yoke has perished from Heshbon
- Numbers 21:30 LXX reads Dibon. And their women have further kindled a fire against Moab; Hb uncertain
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