Israel Defeats King Sihon the Amorite

(Deuteronomy 2.26-37)

²¹ The Israelites sent this message to King Sihon of the Amorites:

²² Please let us pass through your territory. We promise to stay away from your fields and vineyards, and we won't drink any water from your wells. As long as we're in your land, we'll stay on the main road.^[a]

²³ But Sihon refused to let Israel travel through his land. Instead, he called together his entire army and marched into the desert to attack Israel near the town of Jahaz. ²⁴ Israel defeated them and took over the Amorite territory from the Arnon River gorge in the south to the Jabbok River gorge in the north. Beyond the Jabbok was the territory of the Ammonites, who were much stronger than Israel.

²⁵ The Israelites settled in the Amorite towns, including the capital city of Heshbon with its surrounding villages. ²⁶ King Sihon had ruled from Heshbon, after defeating the Moabites and taking over their land north of the Arnon River gorge. ²⁷ That's why the Amorites had written this poem about Heshbon:

³¹ After the Israelites had settled in the Amorite territory, ³² Moses sent some men to explore the town of Jazer. Later, the Israelites captured the villages surrounding it and forced out the Amorites who lived there.

Israel Defeats King Og of Bashan

(Deuteronomy 3.1-11)

³³ The Israelites headed toward the region of Bashan, where King Og ruled, and he led his entire army to Edrei to meet Israel in battle.

³⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Don't be afraid of Og. I will help you defeat him and his army, just as you did King Sihon who ruled in Heshbon. Og's territory will be yours.”

³⁵ So the Israelites wiped out Og, his family, and his entire army—there were no survivors. Then Israel took over the land of Bashan.

The Defeat of King Sihon of Heshbon

(Numbers 21.21-30)

Moses said to Israel:

²⁶ After we had crossed the Arnon and had set up camp in the Kedemoth Desert, I sent messengers to King Sihon of Heshbon, telling him that his nation and ours could be at peace. I said:

²⁷ Please let Israel go across your country. We will walk straight through, without turning off the road. ^28-29 You can even sell us food and water, and we will pay with silver. We need to reach the Jordan River and cross it, because the Lord our God is giving us the land on the west side. The Edomites and Moabites^[a] have already let us cross their land. Please let us cross your land as well.

^30-31 But Sihon refused to let us go across his country, because the Lord made him stubborn and eager to fight us. The Lord told me, “I am going to help you defeat Sihon and take his land, so attack him!”

³² We met Sihon and his army in battle at Jahaz, ³³ and the Lord our God helped us defeat them. We killed Sihon, his sons, and everyone else in his army. ³⁴ Then we captured and destroyed every town in Sihon's kingdom, killing everyone, ³⁵ but keeping the livestock and everything else of value. ³⁶ The Lord helped us capture every town from the Arnon River gorge north to the boundary of Gilead, including the town of Aroer on the edge of the gorge and the town in the middle of the gorge.

³⁷ However, we stayed away from all the Ammonite towns, both in the hill country and near the Jabbok River, just as the Lord had commanded.

The Defeat of King Og of Bashan

(Numbers 21.31-35)

Moses said to Israel:

3 When we turned onto the road that leads to Bashan, King Og of Bashan led out his whole army to fight us at Edrei. ² But the Lord told me, “Moses, don't be afraid of King Og. I am going to help you defeat him and his army and take over his land. Destroy him and his people, just as you did with the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon.”

^3-6 The Lord our God helped us destroy Og and his army and conquer his entire kingdom of Bashan, including the Argob region. His kingdom had lots of villages and 60 towns with high walls and gates that locked with bars. We completely destroyed^[b] them all, killing everyone, ⁷ but keeping the livestock and everything else of value.

⁸ Sihon and Og had ruled Amorite kingdoms east of the Jordan River. Their land stretched from the Arnon River gorge in the south to Mount Hermon in the north, and we captured it all. ⁹ Mount Hermon is called Mount Sirion by the people of Sidon, and it is called Mount Senir by the Amorites. ¹⁰ We captured all the towns in the highlands, all of Gilead, and all of Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, two of the towns that Og had ruled.

Og's Coffin

¹¹ King Og was the last of the Rephaim,^[c] and his coffin^[d] is in the town of Rabbah in Ammon. It is made of hard black rock^[e] and is four meters long and almost two meters wide.