¹⁰ “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt;^(A) so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.

“This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab^(A) or the land of the Ammonites.^{(B) 16} But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea^[a](C) and on to Kadesh.^{(D) 17} Then Israel sent messengers^(E) to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Give us permission to go through your country,’^(F) but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab,^(G) and he refused.^(H) So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

¹⁸ “Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom^(I) and Moab, passed along the eastern side^(J) of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon.^(K) They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.

¹⁷ Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.^(A)”

“You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.^(C)”

“We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock^(D) drink any of your water, we will pay for it.^(E) We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.”

“You may not pass through.^(F)”