The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And it came to the ears of the Canaanite, the king of Arad, living in the South, that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, and he came out against them and took some of them prisoners.
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When the Canaanite king of Arad in the southern part of Canaan heard that the Israelites were coming by way of Atharim, he attacked them and captured some of them.
2 Then Israel made an oath to the Lord, and said, If you will give up this people into my hands, then I will send complete destruction on all their towns.
2
Then the Israelites made a vow to the Lord: "If you will let us conquer these people, we will unconditionally dedicate them and their cities to you and will destroy them."
3 And the Lord, in answer to the voice of Israel, gave the Canaanites up to them; and they put them and their towns completely to destruction: and that place was named Hormah.
3
The Lord heard them and helped them conquer the Canaanites. So the Israelites completely destroyed them and their cities, and named the place Hormah.
4 Then they went on from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, going round the land of Edom: and the spirit of the people was overcome with weariness on the way.
4
The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road that leads to the Gulf of Aqaba, in order to go around the territory of Edom. But on the way the people lost their patience
5 And crying out against God and against Moses, they said, Why have you taken us out of Egypt to come to our death in the waste land? For there is no bread and no water, and this poor bread is disgusting to us.
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and spoke against God and Moses. They complained, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We can't stand any more of this miserable food!"
6 Then the Lord sent poison-snakes among the people; and their bites were a cause of death to numbers of the people of Israel.
6
Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many Israelites were bitten and died.
7 Then the people came to Moses and said, We have done wrong in crying out against the Lord and against you: make prayer to the Lord to take away the snakes from us. So Moses made prayer for the people.
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The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Now pray to the Lord to take these snakes away." So Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said to Moses, Make an image of a snake and put it on a rod, and anyone who has been wounded by the snakes, looking on it will be made well.
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Then the Lord told Moses to make a metal snake and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could look at it and be healed.
9 So Moses made a snake of brass and put it on a rod; and anyone who had a snakebite, after looking on the snake of brass, was made well.
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So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten would look at the bronze snake and be healed.
10 Then the children of Israel went on and put up their tents in Oboth.
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The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth.
11 And journeying on again from Oboth, they put up their tents in Iye-abarim, in the waste land before Moab looking east.
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After leaving that place, they camped at the ruins of Abarim in the wilderness east of Moabite territory.
12 And moving on from there, they put up their tents in the valley of Zered.
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Then they camped in Zered Valley.
13 From there they went on and put up their tents on the other side of the Arnon, which is on the waste land at the edge of the land of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the line of division between Moab and the Amorites:
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From there they moved again and camped on the north side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness which extends into Amorite territory. (The Arnon was the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.)
14 As it says in the book of the Wars of the Lord, Vaheb in Suphah, and the valley of the Amon;
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That is why [The Book of the Lord's Battles ]speaks of ". . . the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the valleys; the Arnon River,
15 The slope of the valleys going down to the tents of Ar and touching the edge of Moab.
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and the slope of the valleys that extend to the town of Ar and toward the border of Moab."
16 From there they went on to Beer, the water-spring of which the Lord said to Moses, Make the people come together and I will give them water.
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From there they went on to a place called Wells, where the Lord said to Moses, "Bring the people together, and I will give them water."
17 Then Israel gave voice to this song: Come up, O water-spring, let us make a song to it:
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At that time the people of Israel sang this song: "Wells, produce your water; And we will greet it with a song -
18 The fountain made by the chiefs, made deep by the great ones of the people, with the law-givers' rod, and with their sticks. Then from the waste land they went on to Mattanah:
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The well dug by princes And by leaders of the people, Dug with a royal scepter And with their walking sticks." They moved from the wilderness to Mattanah,
19 And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth:
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and from there they went on to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,
20 And from Bamoth to the valley in the open country of Moab, and to the top of Pisgah looking over Jeshimon.
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and from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of the Moabites, below the top of Mount Pisgah, looking out over the desert.
21 And Israel sent men to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,
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Then the people of Israel sent messengers to the Amorite king Sihon to say:
22 Let me go through your land: we will not go into field or vine-garden, or take the water of the springs; we will go by the highway till we have gone past the limits of your land.
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"Let us pass through your land. We and our cattle will not leave the road and go into your fields or vineyards, and we will not drink water from your wells; we will stay on the main road until we are out of your territory."
23 And Sihon would not let Israel go through his land; but got all his people together and went out against Israel into the waste land, as far as Jahaz, to make war on Israel.
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But Sihon would not permit the people of Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered his army and went out to Jahaz in the wilderness and attacked the Israelites.
24 But Israel overcame him, and took all his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the country of the children of Ammon, for the country of the children of Ammon was strongly armed.
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But the Israelites killed many of the enemy in battle and occupied their land from the Arnon River north to the Jabbok, that is, to the Ammonites, because the Ammonite border was strongly defended.
25 And Israel took all their towns, living in Heshbon and all the towns and small places of the Amorites.
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So the people of Israel captured all the Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all the surrounding towns, and settled in them.
26 For Heshbon was the town of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had made war against an earlier king of Moab and taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.
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Heshbon was the capital city of the Amorite king Sihon, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had captured all his land as far as the Arnon River.
27 So the makers of wise sayings say, Come to Heshbon, building up the town of Sihon and making it strong:
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That is why the poets sing, "Come to Heshbon, to King Sihon's city! We want to see it rebuilt and restored.
28 For a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the town of Sihon: for the destruction of Ar in Moab, and the lords of the high places of the Arnon.
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Once from this city of Heshbon Sihon's army went forth like a fire; It destroyed the city of Ar in Moab And devoured the hills of the upper Arnon.
29 Sorrow is yours, O Moab! Destruction is your fate, O people of Chemosh: his sons have gone in flight, and his daughters are prisoners, in the hands of Sihon, king of the Amorites.
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How terrible for you, people of Moab! You worshipers of Chemosh are brought to ruin! Your god let the men become refugees, And the women became captives of the Amorite king.
30 They are wounded with our arrows; destruction has come on Heshbon, even to Dibon; and we have made the land waste as far as Nophah, stretching out to Medeba.
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But now their descendants are destroyed, All the way from Heshbon to Dibon, From Nashim to Nophah, near Medeba."
31 So Israel put up their tents in the land of the Amorites.
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So the people of Israel settled in the territory of the Amorites,
32 And Moses sent men secretly to Jazer, and they took its towns, driving out the Amorites who were living there.
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and Moses sent men to find the best way to attack the city of Jazer. The Israelites captured it and its surrounding towns and drove out the Amorites living there.
33 Then turning they went up by the way of Bashan; and Og, king of Bashan, went out against them with all his people, to the fight at Edrei.
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Then the Israelites turned and took the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan marched out with his army to attack them at Edrei.
34 And the Lord said to Moses, Have no fear of him: for I have given him up into your hands, with all his people and his land; do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, at Heshbon.
34
The Lord said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him. I will give you victory over him, all his people, and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled at Heshbon."
35 So they overcame him and his sons and his people, driving them all out: and they took his land for their heritage.
35
So the Israelites killed Og, his sons, and all his people, leaving no survivors, and then they occupied his land.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.