21. a great and numerous people, tall as the Anakim. The Lord destroyed the Rephaim at the advance of the Ammonites, so that they drove them out and settled in their place.
22. This was just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites before them; they drove them out and have lived in their place until now.
23. The Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, and settled in their place.
24. “The Lord also said, ‘Get up, move out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have handed Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land over to you. Begin to take possession of it; engage him in battle.
25. Today I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on the peoples everywhere under heaven. They will hear the report about you, tremble, and be in anguish because of you.’
26. “So I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon from the Wilderness of Kedemoth, saying,
27. ‘Let us travel through your land; we will keep strictly to the highway. We will not turn to the right or the left.
28. You can sell us food in exchange for silver so we may eat, and give us water for silver so we may drink. Only let us travel through on foot,
29. just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for us, and the Moabites who live in Ar, until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’
30. But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us travel through his land, for the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to hand him over to you, as has now taken place.
31. “Then the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to take possession of it.’
32. So Sihon and his whole army came out against us for battle at Jahaz.
33. The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his whole army.
34. At that time we captured all his cities and completely destroyed the people of every city, including the women and children. We left no survivors.
35. We took only the livestock and the spoil from the cities we captured as plunder for ourselves.
36. There was no city that was inaccessible to us, from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead. The Lord our God gave everything to us.
37. But you did not go near the Ammonites’ land, all along the bank of the Jabbok River, the cities of the hill country, or any place that the Lord our God had forbidden.