Chronological Plan

¹The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were approaching on the road through Atharim. So he attacked the Israelites and took some of them as prisoners.

²Then the people of Israel made this vow to the LORD: “If you will hand these people over to us, we will completely destroy all their towns.”

³The LORD heard the Israelites’ request and gave them victory over the Canaanites. The Israelites completely destroyed them and their towns, and the place has been called Hormah ever since.

⁴Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey,

⁵and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”

⁶So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died.

⁷Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸Then the LORD told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!”

⁹So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!

¹⁰The Israelites traveled next to Oboth and camped there.

¹¹Then they went on to Iye-abarim, in the wilderness on the eastern border of Moab.

¹²From there they traveled to the valley of Zered Brook and set up camp.

¹³Then they moved out and camped on the far side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness adjacent to the territory of the Amorites. The Arnon is the boundary line between the Moabites and the Amorites.

¹⁴For this reason The Book of the Wars of the LORD speaks of “the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the ravines of the Arnon River,

¹⁵and the ravines that extend as far as the settlement of Ar on the border of Moab.”

¹⁶From there the Israelites traveled to Beer, which is the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Assemble the people, and I will give them water.”

¹⁷There the Israelites sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Yes, sing its praises!

¹⁸Sing of this well, which princes dug, which great leaders hollowed out with their scepters and staffs.” Then the Israelites left the wilderness and proceeded on through Mattanah,

¹⁹Nahaliel, and Bamoth.

²⁰After that they went to the valley in Moab where Pisgah Peak overlooks the wasteland.

²¹The Israelites sent ambassadors to King Sihon of the Amorites with this message:

²²“Let us travel through your land. We will be careful not to go through your fields and vineyards. We won’t even drink water from your wells. We will stay on the king’s road until we have passed through your territory.”

²³But King Sihon refused to let them cross his territory. Instead, he mobilized his entire army and attacked Israel in the wilderness, engaging them in battle at Jahaz.

²⁴But the Israelites slaughtered them with their swords and occupied their land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. They went only as far as the Ammonite border because the boundary of the Ammonites was fortified.

²⁵So Israel captured all the towns of the Amorites and settled in them, including the city of Heshbon and its surrounding villages.

²⁶Heshbon had been the capital of King Sihon of the Amorites. He had defeated a former Moabite king and seized all his land as far as the Arnon River.

²⁷Therefore, the ancient poets wrote this about him: “Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt! Let the city of Sihon be restored.

²⁸A fire flamed forth from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It burned the city of Ar in Moab; it destroyed the rulers of the Arnon heights.

²⁹What sorrow awaits you, O people of Moab! You are finished, O worshipers of Chemosh! Chemosh has left his sons as refugees, his daughters as captives of Sihon, the Amorite king.

³⁰We have utterly destroyed them, from Heshbon to Dibon. We have completely wiped them out as far away as Nophah and Medeba. ”

³¹So the people of Israel occupied the territory of the Amorites.

³²After Moses sent men to explore the Jazer area, they captured all the towns in the region and drove out the Amorites who lived there.

³³Then they turned and marched up the road to Bashan, but King Og of Bashan and all his people attacked them at Edrei.

³⁴The LORD said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, along with all his people and his land. Do the same to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.”

³⁵And Israel killed King Og, his sons, and all his subjects; not a single survivor remained. Then Israel occupied their land.

¹Then the people of Israel traveled to the plains of Moab and camped east of the Jordan River, across from Jericho.

²Balak son of Zippor, the Moabite king, had seen everything the Israelites did to the Amorites.

³And when the people of Moab saw how many Israelites there were, they were terrified.

⁴The king of Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This mob will devour everything in sight, like an ox devours grass in the field!” So Balak, king of Moab,

⁵sent messengers to call Balaam son of Beor, who was living in his native land of Pethor near the Euphrates River. His message said: “Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt. They cover the face of the earth and are threatening me.

⁶Please come and curse these people for me because they are too powerful for me. Then perhaps I will be able to conquer them and drive them from the land. I know that blessings fall on any people you bless, and curses fall on people you curse.”

⁷Balak’s messengers, who were elders of Moab and Midian, set out with money to pay Balaam to place a curse upon Israel. They went to Balaam and delivered Balak’s message to him.

⁸“Stay here overnight,” Balaam said. “In the morning I will tell you whatever the LORD directs me to say.” So the officials from Moab stayed there with Balaam.

⁹That night God came to Balaam and asked him, “Who are these men visiting you?”

¹⁰Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message:

¹¹‘Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come and curse these people for me. Then perhaps I will be able to stand up to them and drive them from the land.’”

¹²But God told Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!”

¹³The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak’s officials, “Go on home! The LORD will not let me go with you.”

¹⁴So the Moabite officials returned to King Balak and reported, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵Then Balak tried again. This time he sent a larger number of even more distinguished officials than those he had sent the first time.

¹⁶They went to Balaam and delivered this message to him: “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to help me.

¹⁷I will pay you very well and do whatever you tell me. Just come and curse these people for me!”

¹⁸But Balaam responded to Balak’s messengers, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the LORD my God.

¹⁹But stay here one more night, and I will see if the LORD has anything else to say to me.”

²⁰That night God came to Balaam and told him, “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But do only what I tell you to do.”

²¹So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials.

²²But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the LORD to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along,

²³Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road.

²⁴Then the angel of the LORD stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls.

²⁵When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again.

²⁶Then the angel of the LORD moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all.

²⁷This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.

²⁸Then the LORD gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.

²⁹“You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”

³⁰“But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted.

³¹Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him.

³²“Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the LORD demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me.

³³Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”

³⁴Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned. I didn’t realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I will return home if you are against my going.”

³⁵But the angel of the LORD told Balaam, “Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s officials.

³⁶When King Balak heard that Balaam was on the way, he went out to meet him at a Moabite town on the Arnon River at the farthest border of his land.

³⁷“Didn’t I send you an urgent invitation? Why didn’t you come right away?” Balak asked Balaam. “Didn’t you believe me when I said I would reward you richly?”

³⁸Balaam replied, “Look, now I have come, but I have no power to say whatever I want. I will speak only the message that God puts in my mouth.”

³⁹Then Balaam accompanied Balak to Kiriath-huzoth,

⁴⁰where the king sacrificed cattle and sheep. He sent portions of the meat to Balaam and the officials who were with him.

⁴¹The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth-baal. From there he could see some of the people of Israel spread out below him.