Sihon

21Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites. They gave him this message:

And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,

NoteMessengers were people sent to carry words to someone far away. There were no phones or mail, so a person had to walk there.

22"Please let us walk through your land. We will not go into your fields or your grape farms. We will not drink water from your wells. We will stay on the main road until we are past your land."

Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders.

NoteThe main road was called the King's Highway. Traders and travelers used it for hundreds of years. Israel promised not to step off it and take anyone's food.

23But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his land. Instead he gathered all his army and marched out to fight them in the desert. He came to a place called Jahaz and fought Israel there.

And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

24Israel beat him in battle with swords. They took his land from the Arnon river to the Jabbok river. They stopped at the land of the Ammonites, because its border was too strong to break.

And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

NoteThe Arnon and the Jabbok were rivers. Rivers often marked where one people's land stopped. The Ammonites were another group living nearby.

25Israel took over all these cities. They lived in the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its small towns.

And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.

26Heshbon had been King Sihon's city. He had once fought the king of Moab who ruled before. Sihon took all that king's land, right up to the Arnon river.

For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.

27That is why the old poets sing: "Come to Heshbon! Let it be built again. Let Sihon's city be made strong.

Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:

NoteLong ago people made up songs about big battles. Singers passed the songs down for many years. This is one of those old songs.

28A fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from Sihon's city. It burned up Ar in Moab and the rulers on the hills by the Arnon.

For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.

NoteThe "fire" in the song is not a real fire. It means Sihon's army sweeping through the land.

29How sad for you, Moab! You are ruined, you people of Chemosh, the god you pray to. He let his sons run away and his daughters be taken by King Sihon.

Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.

NoteTaken away as prisoners meant carried off to live in another country. People never expected to come home again.

30But we shot at them and won. Heshbon is broken all the way to Dibon. We ruined them as far as Nophah, near Medeba."

We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba.

NoteDibon, Nophah, and Medeba were towns in that land. The song lists them to show how far the fighting went.

31So Israel settled down and lived in the land of the Amorites.

Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.

24"Get up. Start walking. Cross the Arnon River. Look, I have handed King Sihon the Amorite over to you. He rules Heshbon. His land is yours too. Start taking it. Go and fight him.

Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

NoteThe Arnon was a river in a deep valley. It was the edge of Moab's land. The Amorites were one of the peoples living nearby. Heshbon was King Sihon's main city.

25Starting today, I will make all the nations afraid of you. They will hear about you. They will shake and feel sick with fear."

This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.

26From the desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon, king of Heshbon. They carried a friendly message. It said:

And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

NoteThere were no phones or letters in the mail. Messengers were people who walked a long way to say your words out loud.

27"Please let us walk through your land. We will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or the left.

Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.

NoteThe main road was a big road that traders used. Staying on it meant not walking through people's fields or farms.

28Sell us food to eat and water to drink. We will pay you money. Just let us walk through.

Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet;

29Esau's family in Seir let us do this. So did the Moabites in Ar. We only want to reach the Jordan River. The LORD our God is giving us the land on the other side."

(As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us.

NoteThe Jordan is the river Israel had to cross. The land God promised them was on the other side.

30But King Sihon would not let us pass through. The LORD your God made his spirit stubborn. He made his heart hard. This was so God could hand him over to you, as happened.

But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.

Note"His heart was hard" does not mean a sick heart. In the Bible, the heart means how a person thinks and chooses. A hard heart means he would not change his mind.

31The LORD said to me, "Look, I have started to hand Sihon and his land over to you. Begin taking it. The land will be yours."

And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.

32Then Sihon came out to fight us. He brought all his people with him. They met us at Jahaz.

Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.

33The LORD our God handed him over to us. We beat him, his sons, and all his people.

And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

34We captured all his cities then. We destroyed everyone in every city: the men, the women, and the children. We left no one alive.

And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:

NoteThe King James says "utterly destroyed." That old word means a city was given over to God completely. Nothing there could be kept by anyone. Wars were fought this way long ago.

35We kept only the animals for ourselves. We also kept the goods we took from the cities.

Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.

NoteAfter a battle, an army took what was left behind. That meant animals, food, tools and clothes.

36Not one city was too strong for us. That was true from Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon valley, all the way to Gilead. It was true of the town down in the valley too. The LORD our God gave them all to us.

From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us:

NoteCities then had thick walls all around them. "No city too strong" means no walls could keep Israel out. Aroer and Gilead were places along their way.

37But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites. You stayed away from the Jabbok River and the cities in the hills. You stayed away from every place the LORD our God told you to avoid.

Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbad us.

NoteThe Jabbok was a river that ran into the Jordan. It marked the edge of someone else's land.

44This is the law that Moses gave to the people of Israel.

And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

45These are the teachings and rules Moses spoke to them. He spoke them after they came out of Egypt.

These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt,

46They were east of the Jordan, in the valley across from Beth-peor. This was the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites. He lived in a city called Heshbon. Moses and Israel had beaten him after they left Egypt.

On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:

NoteThe Amorites were a people who lived in that land. Sihon was their king. Heshbon was his main city.

47They took his land. They also took the land of Og, king of Bashan. These two Amorite kings ruled east of the Jordan.

And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;

NoteBashan was a land east of the Jordan River. It had rich grass, so it was good for cows and sheep.

48Their land went from Aroer, beside the edge of the Arnon valley. It reached all the way to Mount Sion, which is also called Hermon.

From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,

NoteAroer and the Arnon were at the south end of this land. Mount Hermon is a tall mountain far to the north. Snow sits on its top.

49It included all the flat valley east of the Jordan. It reached the sea in that valley, below the slopes of Pisgah.

And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.

NoteThe sea here is the Dead Sea. Its water is so salty that no fish can live in it. Pisgah is a mountain nearby with long slopes going down.

2Moses called all Israel together. He said, "You saw what the LORD did in Egypt. You saw it with your own eyes. He acted against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He acted against Pharaoh's helpers and his whole land."

And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;

NoteLORD written in big letters is God's own special name. Egypt was the big country where Israel had lived as slaves. Pharaoh was its king, and God set the people free from him.

3"You saw the hard tests God sent there. You saw the signs and the great wonders."

The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:

NoteSigns and wonders are amazing things only God can do. In Egypt these were the ten terrible troubles God sent on the land.

4"But even today the LORD has not given you minds that understand. He has not given you eyes that truly see. He has not given you ears that truly hear."

Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

5"I led you forty years in the desert. Your clothes did not wear out. The sandals on your feet did not wear out."

And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

NoteThe desert here is dry, rocky land with very little water. Israel walked and camped there for forty years.

6"You had no bread to eat. You had no wine or strong drink. This was so you would know that I am the LORD your God."

Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.

NoteThey had no ordinary bread in the desert. God sent them special food called manna every morning. Strong drink means a drink that can make a person drunk.

7"When you came to this place, two kings came out to fight us. They were Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan. We beat them."

And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:

NoteSihon and Og were kings of lands Israel passed on the way. Heshbon and Bashan were their lands, east of the Jordan River.

8"We took their land. We gave it to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. We gave part of it to half the tribe of Manasseh. It became their family land to keep."

And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.

NoteIsrael was one big family made of twelve smaller families called tribes. Each tribe came from one of Jacob's sons. Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh got land on this side of the river. Family land was passed from parents to children and stayed in the family.

1Here is a list of kings that the people of Israel beat in war. Israel took their land. This land was east of the Jordan River. It reached from the Arnon Valley up to Mount Hermon. It also took in all the flat land on the east side.

Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east:

NoteThe King James word "smote" means beat in a fight. This chapter is a list, like a record kept after a war. Back then a king often ruled just one town and the fields around it. So a small land could have many kings.

2One king was Sihon. He ruled the Amorites and lived in the town of Heshbon. His land began at Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Valley. It went through the middle of the valley to the Jabbok River. That river was the edge of the land of Ammon. His land was half of the area called Gilead.

Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;

3Sihon also ruled the flat land east of the Sea of Chinneroth. His land went down to the Salt Sea, on the east side. It reached toward the town of Bethjeshimoth. In the south it went below the slopes of Pisgah.

And from the plain to the sea of Chinneroth on the east, and unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea on the east, the way to Bethjeshimoth; and from the south, under Ashdothpisgah:

4Another king was Og, the king of Bashan. He was one of the last of the giants, a very tall and strong people. He lived in the towns of Ashtaroth and Edrei.

And the coast of Og king of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,

5Og ruled Mount Hermon, the town of Salcah, and all of Bashan. His land reached to the edge of the Geshurites and the Maachathites. He also ruled half of Gilead, up to the land of King Sihon of Heshbon.

And reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

6Moses, who served the LORD, and the people of Israel beat these two kings. Then Moses gave that land to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. He gave part of it to half the tribe of Manasseh too.

Them did Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel smite: and Moses the servant of the LORD gave it for a possession unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

15Here is the land Moses gave to the families of the tribe of Reuben.

And Moses gave unto the tribe of the children of Reuben inheritance according to their families.

Note"Families" here means groups of relatives, like cousins and aunts and uncles all together. Each group got its own piece of the land.

16Their land started at Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon valley. It took in the town in the middle of the valley. It took in the whole flat land near Medeba.

And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba;

17It took in Heshbon and all its towns on the flat land. That included Dibon, Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon.

Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plain; Dibon, and Bamothbaal, and Bethbaalmeon,

NoteMany town names start with "Beth." In their language, Beth means "house." So Beth-baal-meon means "house of Baal-meon."

18It also took in Jahaz, Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

And Jahaza, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,

19It took in Kiriathaim, Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar, on the hill in the valley.

And Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zarethshahar in the mount of the valley,

20It took in Beth-peor, the slopes of Mount Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth.

And Bethpeor, and Ashdothpisgah, and Bethjeshimoth,

NotePisgah was the mountain Moses climbed near the end of his life. From the top he looked out over the land.

21It took in all the towns on the flat land. It took in all the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. Moses beat him. Moses also beat the leaders of Midian named Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They were Sihon's chiefs and lived in that land.

And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country.

NoteMidian was a desert land with its own people. The King James calls their leaders "dukes." That just means chiefs, the men in charge.

22The Israelites also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. He was a man who tried to tell the future. He died with the others who were killed.

Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.

NoteBalaam was known from long before. A king once paid him to speak against Israel. The King James calls him a "soothsayer." That means a man who used magic to try to tell the future.

23The edge of Reuben's land was the Jordan River. This was the land given to Reuben's families, with its towns and villages.

And the border of the children of Reuben was Jordan, and the border thereof. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben after their families, the cities and the villages thereof.

24Moses also gave land to the families of the tribe of Gad.

And Moses gave inheritance unto the tribe of Gad, even unto the children of Gad according to their families.

25Their land was Jazer and all the towns of Gilead. It took in half the land of the Ammonites, as far as Aroer, near Rabbah.

And their coast was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that is before Rabbah;

NoteRabbah was the main city of the Ammonites. It is the same place as the city of Amman today.

26It ran from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim. It ran from Mahanaim to the border of Debir.

And from Heshbon unto Ramathmizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim unto the border of Debir;

27In the valley it took in Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon. It took in the rest of the kingdom of Sihon, king of Heshbon. This land lay east of the Jordan River, up to the end of Lake Chinnereth.

And in the valley, Betharam, and Bethnimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, Jordan and his border, even unto the edge of the sea of Chinnereth on the other side Jordan eastward.

NoteLake Chinnereth is a big lake shaped a little like a harp. Later people called it the Sea of Galilee.

28This was the land given to the families of Gad, with its towns and villages.

This is the inheritance of the children of Gad after their families, the cities, and their villages.

19"Israel sent men to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. They said, 'Please let us walk through your land to our own place.'"

And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.

NoteThe Amorites were another people living east of the Jordan River. Heshbon was the city where their king lived.

20"But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his land. He gathered all his people, camped at Jahaz, and fought Israel."

But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

21"The LORD, the God of Israel, handed Sihon and all his people over to Israel. Israel beat them. So Israel took all the land of the Amorites who lived there."

And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

Note"Handed over" is a way of saying God let Israel win the fight.

22"They took all the land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. It went from the desert all the way to the Jordan River."

And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.

23"The LORD, the God of Israel, drove the Amorites out for his people. So should you take that land now?"

So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?

24"You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, don't you? In the same way, we keep whatever the LORD our God gives us."

Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.

NoteChemosh was the god that the people of Moab and Ammon prayed to. Jephthah is talking to the king in the king's own words.

25"Are you better than Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab? Did he ever argue with Israel or fight against them?"

And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,

NoteBalak was a king of Moab many years before this. He never went to war with Israel.

26"For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon and its towns, in Aroer and its towns, and in all the towns by the Arnon. Why did you not take them back in all that time?"

While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?

NoteThree hundred years is a very long time. Jephthah is saying, "You waited far too long to ask for this land."