Numbers 21:4–13

⁴Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,^c in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey ⁵and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”

⁶So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.

⁷Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.

⁸Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” ⁹So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.

¹⁰Then the Israelites set out and camped at Oboth. ¹¹They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness opposite Moab to the east. ¹²From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered. ¹³From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends into the Amorite territory.

Now the Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.