¹The king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners. ²So Israel made a vow to the Lᴏʀᴅ, and said, “If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” ³And the Lᴏʀᴅ listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called Hormah. ⁴Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. ⁵And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” ⁶So the Lᴏʀᴅ sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. ⁷Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lᴏʀᴅ and against you; pray to the Lᴏʀᴅ that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸Then the Lᴏʀᴅ said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” ⁹So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. ¹⁰Now the children of Israel moved on and camped in Oboth. ¹¹And they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Ije Abarim, in the wilderness which is east of Moab, toward the sunrise. ¹²From there they moved and camped in the Valley of Zered. ¹³From there they moved and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lᴏʀᴅ: “Waheb in Suphah, The brooks of the Arnon, ¹⁵And the slope of the brooks That reaches to the dwelling of Ar, And lies on the border of Moab.” ¹⁶From there they went to Beer, which is the well where the Lᴏʀᴅ said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.” ¹⁷Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! All of you sing to it— ¹⁸The well the leaders sank, Dug by the nation’s nobles, By the lawgiver, with their staves.” And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah, ¹⁹from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰and from Bamoth, in the valley that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah which looks down on the wasteland. ²¹Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ²²“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into fields or vineyards; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.” ²³But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. ²⁴Then Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the people of Ammon; for the border of the people of Ammon was fortified. ²⁵So Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all its villages. ²⁶For Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land from his hand as far as the Arnon. ²⁷Therefore those who speak in proverbs say: “Come to Heshbon, let it be built; Let the city of Sihon be repaired. ²⁸“For fire went out from Heshbon, A flame from the city of Sihon; It consumed Ar of Moab, The lords of the heights of the Arnon. ²⁹Woe to you, Moab! You have perished, O people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, And his daughters into captivity, To Sihon king of the Amorites. ³⁰“But we have shot at them; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. Then we laid waste as far as Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.” ³¹Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. ³²Then Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there. ³³And they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. So Og king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. ³⁴Then the Lᴏʀᴅ said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.” ³⁵So they defeated him, his sons, and all his people, until there was no survivor left him; and they took possession of his land.

¹To the Chief Musician. Set to ‘Lily of the Testimony.’ A Michtam of David. For teaching. When he fought against Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. O God, You have cast us off; You have broken us down; You have been displeased; Oh, restore us again! ²You have made the earth tremble; You have broken it; Heal its breaches, for it is shaking. ³You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion. ⁴You have given a banner to those who fear You, That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah ⁵That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and hear me. ⁶God has spoken in His holiness: “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem And measure out the Valley of Succoth. ⁷Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver. ⁸Moab is My washpot; Over Edom I will cast My shoe; Philistia, shout in triumph because of Me.” ⁹Who will bring me to the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom? ¹⁰Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies? ¹¹Give us help from trouble, For the help of man is useless. ¹²Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.

¹To the Chief Musician. On a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. ²From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. ³For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. ⁴I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah ⁵For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. ⁶You will prolong the king’s life, His years as many generations. ⁷He shall abide before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him! ⁸So I will sing praise to Your name forever, That I may daily perform my vows.

¹“Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, Who write misfortune, Which they have prescribed ²To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless. ³What will you do in the day of punishment, And in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory? ⁴Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners, And they shall fall among the slain.” For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still. ⁵“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. ⁶I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets. ⁷Yet he does not mean so, Nor does his heart think so; But it is in his heart to destroy, And cut off not a few nations. ⁸For he says, ‘Are not my princes altogether kings? ⁹Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? ¹⁰As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria, ¹¹As I have done to Samaria and her idols, Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ ” ¹²Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lᴏʀᴅ has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.” ¹³For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, And by my wisdom, for I am prudent; Also I have removed the boundaries of the people, And have robbed their treasuries; So I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. ¹⁴My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people, And as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; And there was no one who moved his wing, Nor opened his mouth with even a peep.” ¹⁵Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood! ¹⁶Therefore the Lᴏʀᴅ, the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts, Will send leanness among his fat ones; And under his glory He will kindle a burning Like the burning of a fire. ¹⁷So the Light of Israel will be for a fire, And his Holy One for a flame; It will burn and devour His thorns and his briers in one day. ¹⁸And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, Both soul and body; And they will be as when a sick man wastes away. ¹⁹Then the rest of the trees of his forest Will be so few in number That a child may write them. ²⁰And it shall come to pass in that day That the remnant of Israel, And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, Will never again depend on him who defeated them, But will depend on the Lᴏʀᴅ, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. ²¹The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, To the Mighty God. ²²For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, A remnant of them will return; The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness. ²³For the Lᴏʀᴅ God of hosts Will make a determined end In the midst of all the land. ²⁴Therefore thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt. ²⁵For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.” ²⁶And the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt. ²⁷It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. ²⁸He has come to Aiath, He has passed Migron; At Michmash he has attended to his equipment. ²⁹They have gone along the ridge, They have taken up lodging at Geba. Ramah is afraid, Gibeah of Saul has fled. ³⁰Lift up your voice, O daughter of Gallim! Cause it to be heard as far as Laish— O poor Anathoth! ³¹Madmenah has fled, The inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge. ³²As yet he will remain at Nob that day; He will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, The hill of Jerusalem. ³³Behold, the Lᴏʀᴅ, The Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts, Will lop off the bough with terror; Those of high stature will be hewn down, And the haughty will be humbled. ³⁴He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

¹Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? ²You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⁴Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? ⁶But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” ⁷Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. ¹¹Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹²There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? ¹³Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.