18. A little later, the Israelites set out into the desert, going east of Edom and Moab, and camping on the eastern side of the gorge of the River Arnon. The Arnon is the eastern border of Moab, and since the Israelites didn't cross it, they didn't even set foot in Moab.
19. The Israelites sent messengers to the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon. “Please,” they said, “let our people go through your country to get to our own land.”
20. Sihon didn't think the Israelites could be trusted, so he called his army together. They set up camp at Jahaz, then they attacked the Israelite camp.
21. But the Lord God helped Israel defeat Sihon and his army. Israel took over all of the Amorite land where Sihon's people had lived,
22. from the River Arnon in the south to the River Jabbok in the north, and from the desert in the east to the River Jordan in the west.
23. The messengers also told the king of Ammon that Jephthah had said:The Lord God of Israel helped his nation get rid of the Amorites and take their land. Now do you think you're going to take over that same territory?