Judges 11:12–28

¹²Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, ⁿ“What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my land?”

¹³And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, ^o“Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from ^pthe Arnon as far as ^qthe Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably.”

¹⁴So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, ¹⁵and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: ^r‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon; ¹⁶for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and ^scame to Kadesh. ¹⁷Then ^tIsrael sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let me pass through your land.” ^uBut the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the ^vking of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ^wremained in Kadesh. ¹⁸And they ^xwent along through the wilderness and ^ybypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹Then ^zIsrael sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please ^alet us pass through your land into our place.” ^20bBut Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. ²¹And the Lord God of Israel ^cdelivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they ^ddefeated ³them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. ²²They took possession of ^eall the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

²³‘And now the Lord God of Israel has ⁴dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it? ²⁴Will you not possess whatever ^fChemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever ^gthe Lord our God takes possession of before us, we will possess. ²⁵And now, are you any better than ^hBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them? ²⁶While Israel dwelt in ⁱHeshbon and its villages, in ^jAroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? ²⁷Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the Lord, ^kthe Judge, ^lrender judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon.’ ” ²⁸However, the king of the people of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah sent him.