Moses laver en kobberslange
1Da kongen af Arad i Negev hørte, at israelitterne kom op ad vejen mod Atarim, samlede han sin hær og angreb dem, og det lykkedes ham at tage en del af dem til fange. 2Da lovede Israels folk højt og helligt Herren, at hvis han ville hjælpe dem med at besejre kongen af Arad og hans hær, ville de totalt udslette alle de kana’anæiske byer i området uden at tage noget bytte til sig selv. 3Herren hørte deres bøn og gav dem sejr over kana’anæerne, så alle byerne og deres indbyggere blev udslettet. Stedet er siden kendt under navnet Horma.21,3 Det hebraiske ord betyder „udslettelse” og henviser til noget, som er overgivet til Herrens dom.
4Derfra vendte israelitterne tilbage til Hors bjerg, hvorefter de fortsatte ad vejen mod Det Røde Hav i en bue uden om Edom. Men undervejs blev de utålmodige, 5og de begyndte atter at kritisere både Gud og Moses. „Hvorfor førte du os ud af Egypten?” klagede de. „Var det for at lade os dø her i ørkenen? Her er jo hverken vand eller mad—og vi er trætte af den evindelige manna.”
6Da sendte Herren giftslanger imod dem, og mange blev bidt og døde.
7Nu kom folket til Moses og sagde: „Vi har syndet ved at gøre oprør mod dig og Herren. Bed Herren om at fjerne slangerne fra os.” Da gik Moses i forbøn for folket, 8og Herren sagde Moses: „Lav en slange af kobber21,8 Eller: „bronze”. Hebraisk brugte det samme ord for kobber og bronze. og hæng den op på en stang—så skal alle, som ser hen på den, leve, selvom de er blevet bidt af giftslangerne.”
9Så lavede Moses en kobberslange og satte den op på en stang. Og alle, som så hen på den, når de var blevet bidt af en slange, reddede livet.
Rejsen fortsætter uden om Edom gennem Moab
10Derefter rejste Israels folk videre og slog lejr ved Obot. 11Fra Obot tog de til Ijje-ha-Abarim i ørkenen umiddelbart øst for Moab, 12og videre til Zereddalen, hvor de igen slog lejr. 13Fra Zereddalen rejste de videre mod nord til det øde område på den anden side af Arnonfloden ved grænsen til amoritternes land. Arnonfloden danner grænse mellem moabitterne og amoritterne. 14„Bogen om Herrens krige” nævner byen Vaheb med dens bække i Sufaområdet i Arnonflodens kløft, 15som strækker sig langs grænsen til Moab helt til byen Ar.
16Derfra rejste israelitterne til Be’er.21,16 Det betyder: „brønd”. Det var ved dette vandsted, at Herren sagde til Moses: „Kald folket sammen, så vil jeg give dem vand.” 17-18Episoden står beskrevet i følgende sang:
„Du ældgamle brønd, hvor kilden fremsprang,
vi viser vor glæde ved at synge en sang.
Denne brønd lod stormænd grave,
fyrster med scepter og herskerstave.”
Så forlod de ørkenen og fortsatte gennem Mattana, 19Nahaliel og Bamot 20og videre gennem dalen i Moabs højland, hvorfra man kan se ørkenen og Pisgas bjergtinder længere borte.
Israelitterne besejrer kong Sihon og Kong Og
21Da sendte Israel følgende budskab til amoritterkongen Sihon: 22„Giv os tilladelse til at rejse igennem dit land. Vi lover, at vi ikke vil nedtrampe jeres marker og vingårde eller drikke jeres vand, men holde os på Kongevejen, så længe vi er i jeres land.”
23Men kong Sihon gav dem ikke lov. I stedet samlede han sin hær og rykkede ud mod israelitterne i ørkenen. Ved Jahatz mødtes de to hære, 24og Israel huggede amoritterne ned. Derefter besatte de området fra Arnonfloden i syd til Jabbokfloden mod nord og ud til ammonitternes område mod øst, men ikke længere, for ammonitternes grænse var stærkt befæstet.
25-26Israelitterne indtog således amoritternes byer, og de slog sig ned i disse byer, også i Heshbon, kong Sihons residensby, og i området op til Arnonfloden, der tidligere havde tilhørt moabitterne, men som kong Sihon havde erobret. 27-30Den gamle digter udtrykker det sådan:
„Kom til Heshbon, Sihons by
som nu bygges op på ny.
Ild fór ud fra Heshbon,
flammer skød frem fra Sihon.
Moabs byer gik op i røg,
Arnons fjelde, hver en høj.
Moabitter, nu er det forbi
med jeres Kemosh-afguderi.
Han sendte jo jer alle på flugt,
kvinder blev fanger—åh, hvor smukt!
Men vi erobred’ Heshbon,
indtog landet op til Dibon.
Vi dræbte dem helt til Nofa
som ligger tæt ved Medeba.”
31-32Mens Israels folk opholdt sig i amoritternes land, sendte Moses nogle spioner ud for at undersøge, hvordan han lettest kunne indtage byen Jazer. Derefter angreb de byen og de omkringliggende landsbyer, og amoritterne måtte flygte.
33Derefter satte de kursen nordpå mod Bashan, hvor kong Og straks mobiliserede sin hær og rykkede ud mod dem ved byen Edrei. 34Men Herren sagde til Moses: „Du skal ikke være bange. Jeg vil udlevere kongen og hans hær og hans land til dig. Du skal gøre med ham, som du gjorde med amoritternes kong Sihon af Heshbon.” 35Og ganske rigtigt: Israelitterne sejrede og dræbte kong Og, hans sønner og hans hær, så der ikke var en eneste overlevende tilbage. Således lykkedes det israelitterne at erobre hele området.
Arad destroyed
1When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them. 2Then Israel made this vow to the Lord: ‘If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy21:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or people to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 3. their cities.’ 3The Lord listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.21:3 Hormah means destruction.
The bronze snake
4They travelled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,21:4 Or the Sea of Reeds to go round Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!’
6Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people.
8The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ 9So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
The journey to Moab
10The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth. 11Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab towards the sunrise. 12From there they moved on and camped in the Zered Valley. 13They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the wilderness extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says:
‘…Zahab21:14 Septuagint; Hebrew Waheb in Suphah and the ravines,
the Arnon 15and21:14,15 Or ‘I have been given from Suphah and the ravines / of the Arnon 15 to the slopes of the ravines
that lead to the settlement of Ar
and lie along the border of Moab.’
16From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather the people together and I will give them water.’
17Then Israel sang this song:
‘Spring up, O well!
Sing about it,
18about the well that the princes dug,
that the nobles of the people sank –
the nobles with sceptres and staffs.’
Then they went from the wilderness to Mattanah, 19from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.
Defeat of Sihon and Og
21Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites:
22‘Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.’
23But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. He mustered his entire army and marched out into the wilderness against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he fought with Israel. 24Israel, however, put him to the sword and took over his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only as far as the Ammonites, because their border was fortified. 25Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its surrounding settlements. 26Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.
27That is why the poets say:
‘Come to Heshbon and let it be rebuilt;
let Sihon’s city be restored.
28‘Fire went out from Heshbon,
a blaze from the city of Sihon.
It consumed Ar of Moab,
the citizens of Arnon’s heights.
29Woe to you, Moab!
You are destroyed, people of Chemosh!
He has given up his sons as fugitives
and his daughters as captives
to Sihon king of the Amorites.
30‘But we have overthrown them;
Heshbon’s dominion has been destroyed all the way to Dibon.
We have demolished them as far as Nophah,
which extends to Medeba.’
31So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites.
32After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its surrounding settlements and drove out the Amorites who were there. 33Then they turned and went up along the road towards Bashan, and Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet them in battle at Edrei.
34The Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.’
35So they struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army, leaving them no survivors. And they took possession of his land.
