Two Victories

21 (A)Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, 22 (B)Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s road until we have passed through your border.” 23 (C)But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to (D)Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24 Then (E)Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the (F)border of the sons of Ammon was [a]Jazer. 25 Israel took all these cities, and (G)Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her [b]villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. 27 For that reason those who use proverbs say,

“Come to Heshbon! Let it be built!
So let the city of Sihon be established.
28 (H)For a fire spread from Heshbon,
A flame from the town of Sihon;
It devoured (I)Ar of Moab,
The [c](J)dominant [d]heights of the Arnon.
29 (K)Woe to you, Moab!
You are destroyed, people of (L)Chemosh!
(M)He has given his sons as fugitives,
(N)And his daughters into captivity,
To an Amorite king, Sihon.
30 But we have shot them down with arrows,
Heshbon is destroyed as far as (O)Dibon,
Then we have laid waste as far as Nophah,
Which reaches to Medeba.”

31 So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 Now Moses sent men to spy out (P)Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

33 (Q)Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them [e]with all his people, for battle at (R)Edrei. 34 But the Lord said to Moses, “(S)Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” 35 So (T)they [f]killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 21:24 So LXX; MT strong
  2. Numbers 21:25 Lit daughters
  3. Numbers 21:28 Lit lords of the
  4. Numbers 21:28 Or Bamoth
  5. Numbers 21:33 Lit he and
  6. Numbers 21:35 Lit struck

21 And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

22 Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's high way, until we be past thy borders.

23 And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

24 And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

25 And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.

26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.

27 Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:

28 For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.

29 Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.

30 We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

31 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

32 And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

33 And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and og the king of bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at edrei.

34 And the Lord said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.

35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.

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21 Israel now sent ambassadors to King Sihon of the Amorites.

22 “Let us travel through your land,” they requested. “We will not leave the road until we have passed beyond your borders. We won’t trample your fields or touch your vineyards or drink your water.”

23 But King Sihon refused. Instead he mobilized his army and attacked Israel in the wilderness, battling them at Jahaz. 24 But Israel slaughtered them and occupied their land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, as far as the borders of the Ammonites; but they were stopped there by the rugged terrain.[a]

25-26 So Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and lived in them, including the city of Heshbon, which had been King Sihon’s capital. 27-30 The ancient poets had referred to King Sihon in this poem:

Come to Heshbon,

King Sihon’s capital,

For a fire has flamed forth

And devoured

The city of Ar in Moab,

On the heights of the Arnon River.

Woe to Moab!

You are finished,

O people of Chemosh;

Your sons have fled,

And your daughters are captured

By King Sihon of the Amorites.

He has destroyed

The little children

And the men and women

As far as Dibon, Nophah, and Medeba.

31-32 While Israel was there in the Amorite country, Moses sent spies to look over the Jazer area; he followed up with an armed attack, capturing all of the towns and driving out the Amorites. 33 They next turned their attention to the city of Bashan, but King Og of Bashan met them with his army at Edrei. 34 The Lord told Moses not to fear—that the enemy was already conquered! “The same thing will happen to King Og as happened to King Sihon at Heshbon,” the Lord assured him. 35 And sure enough, Israel was victorious and killed King Og, his sons, and his subjects, so that not a single survivor remained; and Israel occupied the land.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 21:24 but they were stopped there by the rugged terrain, literally, “for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.” Deuteronomy 2:19 indicates that God had promised the land of the Ammonites to the descendants of Lot.