Numbers 21

¹And whanne Chananei, the kyng of Arad, that dwellide at the south, hadde herd this, that is, that Israel cam bi the weye of aspieris, he fauyt ayens hem; and Chananei was ouercomere and ledde pray of Israel.

²And Israel bounde hym sylf bi avow to the Lord, and seide, If thou schalt bitake this puple in myn hond, Y schal do awei `the citees therof.

³And the Lord herde the preieris of Israel, and bitook the Chananey; and Israel killid hym, and distruyede hise citees; and clepide the name of that place Horma, that is, cursyng, `ethir hangyng up.

⁴`Forsothe thei yeden forth also fro the hil of Hor, bi the weie that ledith to the reed see, that thei schulden cumpasse the lond of Edom; and it bigan to anoye the puple, of the weie and trauel.

⁵And the puple spak ayens the Lord and Moises, and seide, Whi leddist thou vs out of Egipt, that we schulden die in wildirnesse? breed failith, watris ben not; oure soule wlatith now on this `meete moost liyt.

⁶Wherfor the Lord sente `firid serpentis in to the puple; at the woundis of whiche serpentis, and the dethis of ful many men,

⁷thei camen to Moyses, and seiden, We synneden, for we spaken ayens the Lord and thee; preie thou, that he take awey fro vs the serpentis.

⁸And Moises preiede for the puple; and the Lord seide to hym, Make thou a serpent of bras , and sette thou it for a signe ; he that is smytun and biholdith it, schal lyue.

⁹Therfor Moyses made a serpent of bras, and settide for a signe; and men smytun and biholdynge it, weren heelid.

¹⁰And the sones of Israel yeden forth,

¹¹and settiden tentis in Oboth; fro whennus thei yeden forth, and settiden tentis in Neabarym , in the wildirnesse, that biholdith Moab, ayens the eest coost.

¹²And thei moueden fro thennus, and camen to the stronde of Zareth;

¹³which thei leften, and settiden tentis ayens Arnon, which is in the deseert, and apperith in the coostis of Amorrei. Forsothe Arnon is the terme of Moab, and departith Moabitis and Ammoreis.

¹⁴Wherfor it is seid in the book of batels of the Lord, As he dide in the reed see, so he schal do in the strondis of Arnon;

¹⁵the harde rochis of the strondis weren bowid, that tho schulen reste in Arnon, and schulden ligge in the coostis of Moabitis.

¹⁶Fro that place the pit apperide, of which the Lord spak to Moyses, Gadere thou the puple, and Y schal yyue watir to it.

¹⁷Thanne Israel soong this song, The pit stie;

¹⁸thei sungen togidere, The pit which the princes diggiden, and the duykis of the multitude maden redi, in the yyuere of the lawe, and in her stauys. And thei yeden forth fro the wildirnesse to Mathana,

¹⁹fro Mathana to Naaliel, fro Naaliel in to Bamoth;

²⁰Bamoth is a valey in the cuntrey of Moab, in the cop of Phasga, that biholdith ayens the deseert.

²¹Forsothe Israel sente messangeris to Seon, kyng of Ammorreis, and seide,

²²Y biseche that it be leueful to me to passe thorou thi loond; we schulen not bowe in to the feeldis and vyneris; we schulen not drynke watris of pittis; we schulen go in the kyngis weie, til we passen thi termes.

²³Which nolde graunte that Israel schulde passe thury hise coostis, but rather, whanne the oost was gaderid, he yede out ayens Israel, in to deseert. And he cam in to Yasa, and fauyt ayens Israel;

²⁴of whom he was smytun in the scharpnesse of swerd, and his lond was weldid fro Arnon `til to Jeboth and `the sones of Amon; for the termes of Amonytis weren holdun bi strong help.

²⁵Therfor Israel took alle `the citees of hym, and dwelliden in the citees of Amorrei, that is, in Esebon, and hise townes.

²⁶The citee of Esebon was Seons, kyng of Ammorei, which Seon fauyt ayens the kyng of Moab, and took al the lond that was of his lordschip, `til to Arnon.

²⁷Therfor it is seid in prouerbe , Come ye in to Esebon, be it bildid, and maad the citee of Seon;

²⁸fier yede out of Esebon, flawme yede out of the citee `ethir greet castel of Seon, and deuouryde Ar of Moabitis, and the dwelleris of the `hiye places of Arnon.

²⁹Moab, wo to thee! thou, puple of Chamos, perischidist; it yaf the sones therof in to fliyt, and the douytris in to caitifte to Seon, kyng of Ammoreis;

³⁰the yok of hem perischide, fro Esebon `til to Dibon; the wery men camen in to Jophe, and `til to Medaba.

³¹And so Israel dwellide in the lond of Ammorrey.

³²And Moises sente men that schulden aspie Jaser, whos `townes thei token, and weldiden the dwelleris.

³³And thei turniden hem silf, and stieden bi the weie of Basan. And Og, the kyng of Basan, with al his puple cam ayens hem, to fiyte in Edray.

³⁴And the Lord seide to Moises, Drede thou not hym, for Y haue bitake hym, and al his loond, and puple, in thin hoond; and thou schalt do to hym as thou didist to Seon, kyng of Ammorreis, the dwellere of Esebon.

³⁵Therfor thei smytiden `bothe hym with hise sones and al his puple, `til to deeth; and thei weldiden `the lond of hym.

Numbers 21

¹And 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.

²And 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.

³And 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.

⁴And 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.

⁵And 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.

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

⁷Therefore 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.

⁸And 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.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.

¹¹And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije–abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.

¹²From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.

¹³From 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.

¹⁴Wherefore 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,

¹⁵And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:

¹⁸The 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:

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 looketh toward Jeshimon.

²¹And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

²²Let 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.

²³And 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.

²⁴And 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.

²⁵And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.

²⁶For 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.

²⁷Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:

²⁸For 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.

²⁹Woe 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.

³⁰We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

³¹Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

³²And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

³³And 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.

³⁴And 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.

³⁵So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.