Numbers 21:21–32

AMORITE KINGS DEFEATED

²¹Israel sent messengers to say to King Sihon^d of the Amorites, ²²“Let us travel through your land. We won’t go into the fields or vineyards. We won’t drink any well water. We will travel the King’s Highway until we have traveled through your territory.”^{e 23}But Sihon would not let Israel travel through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz,^f he fought against Israel. ²⁴Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok,^g but only up to the Ammonite border, because it was fortified.^C

²⁵Israel took all the cities and lived in all these Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its surrounding villages. ²⁶Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken control of all his land as far as the Arnon. ²⁷Therefore the poets^D say:

Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt;

let the city of Sihon be restored.^E

²⁸For fire came out of Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It consumed Ar of Moab,

the citizens of Arnon’s heights.

²⁹Woe to you, Moab!

You have been destroyed, people of Chemosh!^h

He gave up his sons as refugees,

and his daughters into captivity

to Sihon the Amorite king.

³⁰We threw them down;

Heshbon has been destroyed as far as Dibon.ⁱ

We caused desolation as far as Nophah,

which reaches as far as Medeba.^j

³¹So Israel lived in the Amorites’ land. ³²After Moses sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its surrounding villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.