The Israelites fight against Sihon and Og
21 The Israelites sent men with a message to Sihon, the king of the Amorites. 22 They said, ‘Please let us travel through your country. We will not go through any fields or through any vineyards. We will not even drink water from your wells. We will go along the main road. We will not leave that road on either side until we have gone through all your land.’
23 But Sihon would not let the Israelites travel through his land. Sihon and his army marched to Jahaz, in the desert. They attacked the Israelites there. 24 The Israelites fought against the army of Sihon and they won. They got power over the land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. But the border of the Ammonites' land had strong towns, so they could not go beyond them.
25 The Israelites took all the cities of the Amorites for themselves. Those cities included Heshbon and the towns around it. 26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He had fought against the king of Moab. He had taken from the king of Moab the land as far as the Arnon River. 27 Because of that, the Amorite singers wrote this song:
‘Come to Heshbon and build it up again.
Build the city of Sihon again.
28 An army that was like a fire went out from Heshbon.
It was like a flame that went out from Sihon's city.
It destroyed Ar in Moab,
and everything on the hills near the Arnon River.
29 It will be very bad for you, people of Moab.
King Sihon has destroyed you people who worship the god Chemosh.
Your men have run away
and your women have become prisoners.
30 We have completely won against the Moabites!
We have destroyed Heshbon, and as far as Dibon.
We have killed them as far as Nophah,
and all the way to Medeba.’
31 So the Israelites lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent men to find the best way to attack Jazer. Then the Israelites attacked Jazer and the towns around it. They caused the Amorites who lived there to run away.
33 After that, the Israelites travelled towards Bashan. Og, the king of Bashan, marched out with his army to fight against them at Edrei.
34 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not be afraid of Og. I will put him under your power, as well as his army and his land. Attack him in the same way that you attacked Sihon, the king of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon.’
35 So the Israelites killed Og and his sons and all his army. Nobody was left alive. Their land became the Israelites' land.
