When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming on the Atharim road, he fought against Israel and captured some prisoners.
Then Israel made a vow to the LORD, “If you will hand this people over to us, we will completely destroy their cities.”
Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey.
The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food! ”
The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so that he will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”
So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.
They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness that borders Moab on the east.
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.
Therefore it is stated in the Book of the LORD’s Wars:
Waheb in Suphah
and the ravines of the Arnon,
even the slopes of the ravines
that extend to the site of Ar
and lie along the border of Moab.
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,
“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.”
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, he fought against Israel.
Israel took all the cities and lived in all these Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its surrounding villages.
Heshbon was the city of King Sihon 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.
For fire came out of Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It consumed Ar of Moab,
the citizens of Arnon’s heights.
Woe to you, Moab!
You have been destroyed, people of Chemosh!
He gave up his sons as refugees,
and his daughters into captivity
to Sihon the Amorite king.
We threw them down;
Heshbon has been destroyed as far as Dibon.
We caused desolation as far as Nophah,
which reaches as far as Medeba.
After Moses sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its surrounding villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.
Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan came out against them with his whole army to do battle at Edrei.
But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”
Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.
Additional information is provided here.
For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.
Translations available: King James Version, New King James Version, New Living Translation, New International Version, English Standard Version, Christian Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible 2020, New American Standard Bible 1995, Legacy Standard Bible 2021, New English Translation, Revised Standard Version, American Standard Version, Young's Literal Translation, Darby Translation, Webster's Bible, Hebrew Names Version, Reina-Valera 1960, Latin Vulgate, Westminster Leningrad Codex, Septuagint, Morphological Greek New Testament, and Textus Receptus.