Numbers 21:12–35

¹²Then they camped in the Valley of Zered. ¹³From there they moved again and camped on the north side of the River Arnon, in the wilderness which extends into Amorite territory. (The Arnon was the border between the Moabites and the Amorites.) ¹⁴That is why The Book of the Lord’s Battles speaks of “… the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the valleys; the River Arnon, ¹⁵and the slope of the valleys that extend to the town of Ar and towards the border of Moab.”

¹⁶From there they went on to a place called Wells, where the Lord said to Moses, “Bring the people together, and I will give them water.” ¹⁷At that time the people of Israel sang this song:

“Wells, produce your water;

And we will greet it with a song-

¹⁸The well dug by princes

And by leaders of the people,

Dug with a royal sceptre

And with their sticks.”

They moved from the wilderness to Mattanah, ¹⁹and from there they went on to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰and from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of the Moabites, below the top of Mount Pisgah, looking out over the desert.

Victory over King Sihon and King Og

²¹Then the people of Israel sent messengers to the Amorite king Sihon to say: ²²“Let us pass through your land. We and our cattle will not leave the road and go into your fields or vineyards, and we will not drink water from your wells; we will stay on the main road^t until we are out of your territory.” ²³But Sihon would not permit the people of Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered his army and went out to Jahaz in the wilderness and attacked the Israelites. ²⁴But the Israelites killed many of the enemy in battle and occupied their land from the River Arnon north to the Jabbok, that is, to the Ammonites, because the Ammonite border was strongly defended.^{u 25}So the people of Israel captured all the Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all the surrounding towns, and settled in them. ²⁶Heshbon was the capital city of the Amorite king Sihon, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had captured all his land as far as the River Arnon. ²⁷That is why the poets sing,

“Come to Heshbon, to King Sihon’s city!

We want to see it rebuilt and restored.

^28*Once from this city of Heshbon

Sihon’s army went forth like a fire;

It destroyed the city of Ar in Moab

And devoured^v the hills of the upper Arnon.

^29*How terrible for you, people of Moab!

You worshippers of Chemosh are brought to ruin!

Your god let the men become refugees,

And the women became captives of the Amorite king.

³⁰But now their descendants are destroyed,

All the way from Heshbon to Dibon,

From Nashim to Nophah, near Medeba.”^w

³¹So the people of Israel settled in the territory of the Amorites, ³²and Moses sent men to find the best way to attack the city of Jazer. The Israelites captured it and its surrounding towns and drove out the Amorites living there.

³³Then the Israelites turned and took the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan marched out with his army to attack them at Edrei. ³⁴The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him. I will give you victory over him, all his people, and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled at Heshbon.” ³⁵So the Israelites killed Og, his sons, and all his people, leaving no survivors, and then they occupied his land.