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Numbers 21 King James Version (with Apocrypha)

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  • Protestant
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • NT: Textus Receptus
  • Protestant, with the Apocrypha
  • Formal (word for word)
  • 1611
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

1 And [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. 2 And 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. 3 And 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.

4 ¶ And 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. 5 And 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. 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

7 ¶ Therefore 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. 8 And 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. 9 And 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.

10 ¶ And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth. 11 And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which [is] before Moab, toward the sunrising.

12 ¶ From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared. 13 From 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. 14 Wherefore 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, 15 And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab. 16 And 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.

17 ¶ Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it: 18 The 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: 19 And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth: 20 And from Bamoth [in] the valley, that [is] in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.

21 ¶ And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22 Let 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. 23 And 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. 24 And 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. 25 And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. 26 For 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. 27 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared: 28 For 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. 29 Woe 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. 30 We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which [reacheth] unto Medeba.

31 ¶ Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. 32 And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that [were] there.

33 ¶ And 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. 34 And 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. 35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

People

  • Moses

    Deliverer and lawgiver

    Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.

    Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34

  • Og

    Amorite king of Bashan

    The king of Bashan, last of the remnant of the Rephaim, who came out against Israel at Edrei and was struck down with his sons and his whole army.

    Cited in the guide: Numbers 21:33–35; Deuteronomy 3:1; Deuteronomy 3:11

  • Sihon

    Amorite king of Heshbon

    The Amorite king who reigned in Heshbon, refused to let Israel pass through his land, fought Israel at Jahaz, and lost his territory from the Arnon to the Jabbok.

    Cited in the guide: Numbers 21:21; Numbers 21:23–24; Deuteronomy 2:26

Cross references (32)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Numbers 33:40; Judges 1:16; Joshua 12:14; Joshua 7:5; Numbers 14:45
  2. 2 Judges 11:30; Genesis 28:20; 1 Samuel 1:11; Joshua 6:26; 2 Samuel 15:7–8
  3. 3 Numbers 14:45; Deuteronomy 1:44; Psalm 91:15; Psalm 102:17; Psalm 10:17
  4. 4 Exodus 6:9; Judges 11:18; Acts 14:22; Numbers 32:7; Numbers 32:9
  5. 5 Psalm 78:19; Exodus 17:2–3; Numbers 16:41; Numbers 16:13–14; Exodus 14:11
  6. 6 1 Corinthians 10:9; Deuteronomy 8:15; Jeremiah 8:17; Amos 9:3–4; Isaiah 30:6
  7. 7 Acts 8:24; Psalm 78:34; Exodus 8:8; Numbers 11:2; Exodus 8:28
  8. 8 John 3:14; Psalm 106:43–45; Psalm 145:8
  9. 9 John 3:14–15; Hebrews 12:2; John 6:40; 2 Kings 18:4; John 12:32
  10. 10 Numbers 33:43–45
  11. 12 Deuteronomy 2:13–14
  12. 13 Judges 11:18; Numbers 22:36; Isaiah 16:2; Numbers 21:14; Jeremiah 48:20
  13. 14 Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18
  14. 15 Numbers 21:28; Deuteronomy 2:18; Deuteronomy 2:9; Deuteronomy 2:29; Isaiah 15:1
  15. 16 Numbers 20:8; Isaiah 41:17–18; Isaiah 12:3; Judges 9:21; Revelation 22:17
  16. 17 Psalm 105:2; Judges 5:1; Psalm 106:12; James 5:13; Isaiah 12:1–2
  17. 18 Isaiah 33:22; Deuteronomy 33:4; Deuteronomy 5:31; James 4:12; John 1:17
  18. 20 Numbers 23:28; Numbers 23:14; Numbers 22:1; Numbers 33:49–50; Numbers 26:63
  19. 21 Deuteronomy 2:26–28; Judges 11:19–21; Numbers 20:14–19
  20. 22 Numbers 20:17
  21. 23 Judges 11:20; Deuteronomy 29:7–8; Jeremiah 48:34; Numbers 20:21; Deuteronomy 2:30–32
  22. 24 Amos 2:9; Nehemiah 9:22; Genesis 32:22; Joshua 24:8; Psalm 136:19
  23. 25 Deuteronomy 2:12; Ezekiel 16:53; Jeremiah 48:34; Numbers 21:31; Song of Songs 7:4
  24. 27 Isaiah 14:4; Habakkuk 2:6; Numbers 21:14
  25. 28 Numbers 21:15; Jeremiah 48:45–46; Amos 2:2; Numbers 22:41; Amos 1:14
  26. 29 2 Kings 23:13; Judges 11:24; Jeremiah 48:46; 1 Kings 11:7; 1 Kings 11:33
  27. 30 Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:18; Jeremiah 48:22; Numbers 32:34; Joshua 13:17
  28. 31 Deuteronomy 3:16–17; Joshua 12:1–6; Numbers 32:33–42; Joshua 13:8–12
  29. 32 Jeremiah 48:32; Numbers 32:1; Numbers 32:35; Numbers 32:3; Isaiah 16:8–9
  30. 33 Joshua 13:12; Deuteronomy 1:4; Deuteronomy 29:7; Deuteronomy 3:1–6; Numbers 32:33
  31. 34 Psalm 135:10–11; Numbers 21:24–25; Joshua 8:7; Deuteronomy 3:2–3; Judges 11:30
  32. 35 Deuteronomy 3:3–17; Joshua 12:4–6; Joshua 13:12; Psalm 135:10–12; Deuteronomy 29:7–8

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Quotes verse 21:8 Justin Martyr, First Apology (Chapters LVI–LXI)

    … that Moses, by the inspiration and influence of God, took brass, and made it into the figure of a cross, and set it in the holy tabernacle, and said to the people, "If ye look to this figure, and believe, ye shall be saved thereby." And when this was done, it is recorded that the serpents died, and it is …

    Read in context · Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885)

  2. Quotes verse 21:6–9 Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John (Chapter III — 6-21)

    This was done: men were bitten; they looked and were healed. What are the biting serpents?

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)

  3. Quotes verse 21:9 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture XIII)

    This was the figure which Moses completed by fixing the serpent to a cross, that whoso had been bitten by the living serpent, and looked to the brasen serpent, might be saved by believing.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)