Numbers 21:21-35

Amorite Kings Defeated

21 Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon[a] king 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."[b]
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,[c] he fought against Israel.
24 Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok,[d] [but only up] to the Ammonite border, because it was fortified.[e]
25 Israel took all the cities and lived in all these Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its villages.
26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon king 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.
27 Therefore the poets[f] say: Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt; let the city of Sihon be restored.[g]
28 For fire came out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of[h] Arnon's heights.
29 Woe to you, Moab! You have been destroyed, people of Chemosh![i] He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon the Amorite king.
30 We threw them down; Heshbon has been destroyed as far as Dibon.[j] [k] We caused desolation as far as Nophah, which reaches as far as Medeba.[l] [m]
31 So Israel lived in the Amorites' land.
32 After Moses sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.
33 Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan[n] came out against them with his whole army to do battle at Edrei.[o]
34 But the Lord said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon."
35 So they struck him, his sons, and his whole army until no one was left,[p] and they took possession of his land.[q]

Footnotes 17

  • [a]. Nm 32:33; Dt 1:4; 2:24-4:46
  • [b]. Nm 20:17; Dt 2:26-33
  • [c]. Dt 2:32; Jdg 11:20; 1 Ch 6:78
  • [d]. Jdg 11:19-22
  • [e]. Or was at Az; LXX reads was Jazer
  • [f]. Lit ones who speak proverbs
  • [g]. Or firmly founded
  • [h]. LXX reads Moab, and swallowed
  • [i]. Jdg 11:24; 1 Kg 11:7,33; Jr 48:45-47
  • [j]. LXX reads Their seed will perish from Heshbon; Vg reads Their yoke has perished from Heshbon
  • [k]. Nm 32:34; Neh 11:25; Jr 48:18,22
  • [l]. LXX reads Dibon. And their women have further kindled a fire against Moab; Hb uncertain
  • [m]. Jos 13:9,16; 1 Ch 19:7; Isa 15:2
  • [n]. Nm 32:33; Dt 3:1-13; 4:47
  • [o]. Dt 3:1,10; Jos 12:4; 13:12,31
  • [p]. Lit left to him
  • [q]. Ps 135:10-11
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