15. and the slopes of the ravinesthat lead to the settlement of Ar.These places are at the border of Moab.”
16. The Israelites went from there to Beer. A well is there where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people. I will give them water.”
17. Then the Israelites sang this song:“Pour out water, well!Sing about it.
18. Princes dug this well.Important men made this hole.With their scepters and poles, they dug it.”The people went from the desert to Mattanah.
19. From Mattanah they went to Nahaliel and on to Bamoth.
20. From Bamoth they went to the valley of Moab. There the top of Mount Pisgah looks over the desert.
21. The people of Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites. They said to him,
22. “Let us pass through your country. We will not go through any fields of grain or vineyards. We will not drink water from the wells. We will travel only along the king’s road. We will stay on it until we have passed through your country.”
23. But King Sihon would not let the Israelites pass through his country. He gathered his army together. They marched out to meet Israel in the desert. At Jahaz they fought the Israelites.
24. Israel killed the king. Then they captured his land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. They took the land as far as the Ammonite border. That border was strongly defended.
25. Israel captured all the Amorite cities and lived in them. They took Heshbon and all the towns around it.
26. Heshbon was the city where Sihon, the Amorite king, lived. In the past he had fought with the king of Moab. Sihon had taken all the land as far as the Arnon.
27. That is why the poets say:“Come to Heshbonand rebuild it.Rebuild Sihon’s city.
28. A fire began in Heshbon.Flames came from Sihon’s city.It destroyed Ar in Moab.It burned the Arnon highlands.
29. How terrible for you, Moab!The people of Chemosh are ruined.His sons ran away.His daughters were capturedby Sihon, king of the Amorites.
30. But we defeated those Amorites.We ruined their towns from Heshbon to Dibon.We destroyed them as far as Nophah, near Medeba.”
31. So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.