Cush (Ethiopia)

A¹nd it was in those days that there was a great war between the children of Cush and the children of the east and Aram, and they rebelled against the king of Cush in whose hands they were.

² So Kikianus king of Cush went forth with all the children of Cush, a people numerous as the sand, and he went to fight against Aram and the children of the east, to bring them under subjection. ³ And when Kikianus went out, he left Balaam the magician, with his two sons, to guard the city, and the lowest sort of the people of the land. ⁴ So Kikianus went forth to Aram and the children of the east, and he fought against them and smote them, and they all fell down wounded before Kikianus and his people. ⁵ And he took many of them captives and he brought them under subjection as at first, and he encamped upon their land to take tribute from them as usual. ⁶ And Balaam the son of Beor, when the king of Cush had left him to guard the city and the poor of the city, he rose up and advised with the people of the land to rebel against king Kikianus, not to let him enter the city when he should come home. ⁷ And the people of the land hearkened to him, and they swore to him and made him king over them, and his two sons for captains of the army. ⁸ So they rose up and raised the walls of the city at the two corners, and they built an exceeding strong building. ⁹ And at the third corner they dug ditches without number, between the city and the river which surrounded the whole land of Cush, and they made the waters of the river burst forth there. ¹⁰ At the fourth corner they collected numerous serpents by their incantations and enchantments, and they fortified the city and dwelt therein, and no one went out or in before them. ¹¹ And Kikianus fought against Aram and the children of the east and he subdued them as before, and they gave him their usual tribute, and he went and returned to his land. ¹² And when Kikianus the king of Cush approached his city and all the captains of the forces with him, they lifted up their eyes and saw that the walls of the city were built up and greatly elevated, so the men were astonished at this. ¹³ And they said one to the other, It is because they saw that we were delayed, in battle, and were greatly afraid of us, therefore have they done this thing and raised the city walls and fortified them so that the kings of Canaan might not come in battle against them. ¹⁴ So the king and the troops approached the city door and they looked up and behold, all the gates of the city were closed, and they called out to the sentinels, saying, Open unto us, that we may enter the city. ¹⁵ But the sentinels refused to open to them by the order of Balaam the magician, their king, they suffered them not to enter their city. ¹⁶ So they raised a battle with them opposite the city gate, and one hundred and thirty men of the army at Kikianus fell on that day. ¹⁷ And on the next day they continued to fight and they fought at the side of the river; they endeavored to pass but were not able, so some of them sank in the pits and died. ¹⁸ So the king ordered them to cut down trees to make rafts, upon which they might pass to them, and they did so. ¹⁹ And when they came to the place of the ditches, the waters revolved by mills, and two hundred men upon ten rafts were drowned. ²⁰ And on the third day they came to fight at the side where the serpents were, but they could not approach there, for the serpents slew of them one hundred and seventy men, and they ceased fighting against Cush, and they besieged Cush for nine years, no person came out or in.

I¹n the fifty-fifth year of the reign of Pharaoh king of Egypt, that is in the hundred and fifty-seventh year of the Israelites going down into Egypt, reigned Moses in Cush.

² Moses was twenty-seven years old when he began to reign over Cush, and forty years did he reign. ³ And the Lord granted Moses favor and grace in the eyes of all the children of Cush, and the children of Cush loved him exceedingly, so Moses was favored by the Lord and by men. ⁴ And in the seventh day of his reign, all the children of Cush assembled and came before Moses and bowed down to him to the ground. ⁵ And all the children spoke together in the presence of the king, saying, Give us counsel that we may see what is to be done to this city. ⁶ For it is now nine years that we have been besieging round about the city, and have not seen our children and our wives. ⁷ So the king answered them, saying, If you will hearken to my voice in all that I shall command you, then will the Lord give the city into our hands and we shall subdue it. ⁸ For if we fight with them as in the former battle which we had with them before the death of Kikianus, many of us will fall down wounded as before. ⁹ Now therefore behold here is counsel for you in this matter; if you will hearken to my voice, then will the city be delivered into our hands. ¹⁰ So all the forces answered the king, saying, All that our lord shall command that will we do. ¹¹ And Moses said unto them, Pass through and proclaim a voice in the whole camp unto all the people, saying, ¹² Thus says the king, Go into the forest and bring with you of the young ones of the stork, each man a young one in his hand. ¹³ And any person transgressing the word of the king, who shall not bring his young one, he shall die, and the king will take all belonging to him. ¹⁴ And when you shall bring them they shall be in your keeping, you shall rear them until they grow up, and you shall teach them to dart upon, as is the way of the young ones of the hawk. ¹⁵ So all the children of Cush heard the words of Moses, and they rose up and caused a proclamation to be issued throughout the camp, saying, ¹⁶ Unto you, all the children of Cush, the king's order is, that you go all together to the forest, and catch there the young storks each man his young one in his hand, and you shall bring them home. ¹⁷ And any person violating the order of the king shall die, and the king will take all that belongs to him. ¹⁸ And all the people did so, and they went out to the wood and they climbed the fir trees and caught, each man a young one in his hand, all the young of the storks, and they brought them into the desert and reared them by order of the king, and they taught them to dart upon, similar to the young hawks. ¹⁹ And after the young storks were reared, the king ordered them to be hungered for three days, and all the people did so. ²⁰ And on the third day, the king said unto them, strengthen yourselves and become valiant men, and put on each man his armor and gird on his sword upon him, and ride each man his horse and take each his young stork in his hand.