21. But the Lord God helped Israel defeat Sihon and his army. Israel took over all of the Amorite land where Sihon's people had lived,
22. from the River Arnon in the south to the River Jabbok in the north, and from the desert in the east to the River Jordan in the west.
23. The messengers also told the king of Ammon that Jephthah had said:The Lord God of Israel helped his nation get rid of the Amorites and take their land. Now do you think you're going to take over that same territory?
24. If Chemosh your god takes over a country and gives it to you, don't you have a right to it? And if the Lord takes over a country and gives it to us, the land is ours!
25. Are you better than Balak the son of Zippor? He was the king of Moab, but he didn't quarrel with Israel or start a war with us.
26. For three hundred years, Israelites have been living in Heshbon and Aroer and the nearby villages, and in the towns along the Arnon gorge. If the land really belonged to you Ammonites, you wouldn't have waited until now to try to get it back.
27. I haven't done anything to you, but it's certainly wrong of you to start a war. I pray that the Lord will show whether Israel or Ammon is in the right.
28. But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah's message.
29. Then the Lord's Spirit took control of Jephthah, and Jephthah went through Gilead and Manasseh, raising an army. Finally, he arrived at Mizpah in Gilead, where