Israel Passes through Ammonite Territory

¹⁶ “And so all the soldiers among the people died. ¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to me, ¹⁸ ‘Today, you are about to cross the border of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹ When you come to the Ammonites, don’t harass or provoke them to war, for I won’t give any part of Ammonite land to you, since I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their property.

²⁰ “‘(Indeed, it was considered Rephaim^[a] territory, since the Rephaim^[b] used to lived there. The Ammonites called them Zamzummites, ²¹ a great people, numerous, and tall as the Anakim.^[c] But the Lord destroyed the Rephaim,^[d] so that the Ammonites dispossessed them and settled there instead. ²² This is what he did for the descendants of Esau who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them. So they dispossessed them and settled there in their place, where they live^[e] to this day. ²³ It was the same for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza. The Caphtorites, who came from Crete,^[f] destroyed them and settled there in their place.) ²⁴ Get ready and set out for the Wadi^[g] Arnon. Look! I’ve given into your control Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, along with his land. Prepare to take possession by provoking him to war. ²⁵ Starting today I will begin to instill fear and terror of you on the part of every nation under heaven who hears reports about you. They’ll tremble in anguish before you.’”