heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 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 the name of the place was called 6Hormah.
4And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became impatient because of the way. 5And the people spoke against God, and against Moses: 'Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no 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. 7And the people came to Moses, and said: 'We have sinned, because 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 seeth it, shall live.' 9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived. 10And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in Oboth. 11And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which is in front of Moab, toward the sunrising. 12From thence they journeyed, and pitched in the valley of Zered. 13From thence they journeyed, and pitched on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that cometh out of the border 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:
Vaheb in Suphah,And the valleys of Arnon,15And the slope of the valleysThat inclineth toward the seat of Ar,And leaneth upon the border of Moab.—
16And from thence to 7Beer; that is the well whereof the Lord said unto Moses: 'Gather the people together, and I will give them water.' 17Then sang Israel this song:
Spring up, O well—sing ye unto it—18The well, which the princes digged,Which the nobles of the people delved,With the sceptre, and with their staves.
And from the wilderness to Mattanah; 19and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; 20and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, by the top of Pisgah, which looketh down upon the desert.
21And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying: 22'Let me pass through thy land; we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard; we will not drink of the water of the wells; we will go by the king's highway, until we have passed thy border.' 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 came to Jahaz; and he fought against Israel. 24And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon unto the 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 towns 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 the Arnon. 27Wherefore they that speak in parables say:
Come ye to Heshbon!Let the city of Sihon be built and established!28For a fire is gone out of Heshbon,A flame from the city of Sihon;It hath devoured Ar of Moab,The lords of the high places of Arnon.29Woe to thee, Moab!Thou art undone, O people of Chemosh;He hath given his sons as fugitives,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 waste even unto Nophah,Which reacheth unto Medeba.
31Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. 32And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they took the towns 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 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, who dwelt at Heshbon.' 35So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him remaining; and they possessed his land.
22And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.
בלק
2And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many; and Moab was overcome with dread because of the children of Israel. 4And Moab said unto the elders of Midian: 'Now will this multitude lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.'—And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.— 5And he sent messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to 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. 6Come 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 know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.' 7And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spoke unto him the words of Balak. 8And he said unto them: 'Lodge here this night, and I will bring you back word, as the Lord may speak unto me'; and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. 9And God came unto Balaam, and said: 'What men are these with thee?' 10And Balaam said unto God: 'Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me [saying]: 11Behold the people that is come out of Egypt, it covereth the face of the earth; now, come curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.' 12And God said unto Balaam: 'Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed.' 13And 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.' 14And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said: 'Balaam refuseth to come with us.' 15And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. 16And 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; 17for I will promote thee unto very great honour, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do; come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.' 18And 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 any thing, small or great. 19Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will speak unto me more.' 20And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him: 'If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.' 21And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. 22And God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the Lord placed himself in the way for an adversary against him.— Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.— 23And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with 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. 24Then the angel of the Lord stood in a hollow way between the vineyards, a fence being on this side, and a fence on that side. 25And the ass saw the angel of the Lord, and she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall; and he smote her again. 26And 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. 27And