Catholic Public Domain Version

Numbers 21:14-26 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

14. About this place, it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord: "As he did at the Red Sea, so will he do at the Torrents of Arnon."

15. The stones of the torrents were bent, so that they might rest in Ar and lie back within the borders of the Moabites.

16. Beyond that place appeared a well, about which the Lord said to Moses: "Gather the people together, and I will give them water."

17. Then Israel sang this verse: "Let the well rise up." They sang:

18. "The well, the leaders dug it, and the commanders of the multitude prepared it, at the direction of the lawgiver, and with their staffs."

19. They went from the wilderness to Mattanah, from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

20. from Bamoth, a valley in the region of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks out opposite the desert.

21. Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, saying:

22. "I beg you to permit me to cross through your land. We will not turn aside into the fields or the vineyards. We will not drink waters from the wells. We will travel by the royal way, until we have passed your borders."

23. And he was not willing to allow Israel to cross through his borders. But instead, gathering an army, he went out to meet them in the desert, and he arrived at Jahaz and fought against them.

24. And he was struck down by them with the edge of the sword, and they possessed his land from Arnon, even to Jabbok and the sons of Ammon. For the borders of the Ammonites were held by a strong fortress.

25. Therefore, Israel took all his cities and lived in the cities of the Amorite, namely, in Heshbon and its villages.

26. Heshbon was the city of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who fought against the king of Moab. And he took all the land, which had been under his sovereignty, as far as Arnon.