Numbers 21:21-35
Numbers 21:21-35 NCV
The Israelites sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, “Let us pass through your country. We will not go through any fields of grain or vineyards, or drink water from the wells. We will travel only along the king’s road until we have passed through your country.” But King Sihon would not let the Israelites pass through his country. He gathered his whole army together, and they marched out to meet Israel in the desert. At Jahaz they fought the Israelites. Israel killed the king and captured his land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. They took the land as far as the Ammonite border, which was strongly defended. Israel captured all the Amorite cities and lived in them, taking Heshbon and all the towns around it. Heshbon was the city where Sihon, the Amorite king, lived. In the past he had fought with the king of Moab and had taken all the land as far as the Arnon. That is why the poets say: “Come to Heshbon and rebuild it; rebuild Sihon’s city. A fire began in Heshbon; flames came from Sihon’s city. It destroyed Ar in Moab, and it burned the Arnon highlands. How terrible for you, Moab! The people of Chemosh are ruined. His sons ran away and his daughters were captured by Sihon, king of the Amorites. But we defeated those Amorites. We ruined their towns from Heshbon to Dibon, and we destroyed them as far as Nophah, near Medeba.” So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. After Moses sent spies to the town of Jazer, they captured the towns around it, forcing out the Amorites who lived there. Then the Israelites went up the road toward Bashan. Og king of Bashan and his whole army marched out to meet the Israelites, and they fought at Edrei. The LORD said to Moses, “Don’t be afraid of him. I will hand him, his whole army, and his land over to you. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who lived in Heshbon.” So the Israelites killed Og and his sons and all his army; no one was left alive. And they took his land.