¹⁷ Then Israel sent messengers^(A) to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Give us permission to go through your country,’^(B) but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab,^(C) and he refused.^(D) So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

¹⁸ “Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom^(E) and Moab, passed along the eastern side^(F) of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon.^(G) They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.

¹⁹ “Then Israel sent messengers^(H) to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon,^(I) and said to him, ‘Let us pass through your country to our own place.’^(J)