21. These people were as strong, as numerous, and as tall as the people of Anak. But the Lord wiped them out before the Ammonites came so that the Ammonites claimed their land and took their place.
22. The Lord did the same thing for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir. Before the descendants of Esau came, he wiped out the Horites so that Esau’s descendants claimed their land and took their place. Esau’s descendants are still there today.
23. The same thing happened to the Avvites who lived in villages as far away as Gaza. The Caphtorites, who came from Crete, wiped them out and took their place.
24. ⌊The Lord continued,⌋ “Now break camp. Cross the Arnon Valley. I’m going to hand King Sihon of Heshbon, the Amorite, over to you. Fight him, and take possession of his country.
25. Today I will start to make all the people under heaven terrified of you. When they hear about you, they will tremble and shake because of you.”
26. From the desert of Kedemoth, I sent messengers to King Sihon of Heshbon with the following offer of peace:
27. “If you allow us to travel through your country, we’ll go straight through and won’t ever leave the road.
28. We’ll pay you in silver for the food we eat and the water we drink. Please let us go through,
29. as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us. We’ll keep going until we cross the Jordan River into the land the Lord our God is giving us.”
30. But King Sihon of Heshbon wouldn’t allow us to pass through. The Lord your God made him stubborn and overconfident in order to hand him over to you, as he has now done.