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Numbers 21:4-9
New King James Version
Numbers 21:4-9
New King James Version
The Bronze Serpent
4 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to (A)go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very [a]discouraged on the way. 5 And the people (B)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 [b]loathes this worthless bread.” 6 So (C)the Lord sent (D)fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
7 (E)Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have (F)sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; (G)pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, (H)“Make a (I)fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So (J)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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 21:4 impatient
- Numbers 21:5 detests
Numbers 21:4-9
New International Version
Numbers 21:4-9
New International Version
The Bronze Snake
4 They traveled from Mount Hor(A) along the route to the Red Sea,[a](B) to go around Edom.(C) But the people grew impatient on the way;(D) 5 they spoke against God(E) and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt(F) to die in the wilderness?(G) There is no bread! There is no water!(H) And we detest this miserable food!”(I)
6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes(J) among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.(K) 7 The people came to Moses(L) and said, “We sinned(M) when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord(N) will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed(O) for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole;(P) anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake(Q) and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.(R)
Footnotes
- Numbers 21:4 Or the Sea of Reeds
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.