13. And the Lord said to me, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.” So we crossed the valley.
14. It had been 38 years since we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, all the fighting men from that time had died. This is what the Lord had promised would happen.
15. The Lord had continued to destroy them until they were all gone from the camp.
16. Now the last of those fighting men had died.
17. Then the Lord said to me,
18. “Today you must go by Ar, on the border of Moab.
19. When you come near the people of Ammon, don’t bother them. Don’t go to war against them. I am not giving you their land. I have given that land to the descendants of Lot.”
20. (That land was also thought to be a land of Rephaites. Those people used to live there. But the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
21. They were strong people, and there were many of them. They were very tall, like the Anakites. The Lord went before the Ammonites and destroyed the Zamzummites. The Ammonites forced them out of the land and took their place.
22. The Lord did the same thing for the descendants of Esau. They lived in Edom. He destroyed the Horites. The Edomites forced them out of the land and took their place. And they live there to this day.
23. The Caphtorite people came from Crete. They destroyed the Avvites. The Avvites lived in towns all the way to Gaza. But the Caphtorites destroyed them and took their place.)
24. The Lord said, “Get up. Cross the Arnon Ravine. See, I am giving you the power to defeat Sihon the Amorite. He is king of Heshbon. I am giving you his land. So fight against him and begin taking his land.