The Wilderness Years

and the slope of the vadis extending as far as the site of 'Ar, which lie next to the territory of Mo'av."

From there they went on to Be'er [well]; that is the well about which ADONAI said to Moshe, "Assemble the people, and I will give them water."

Then Isra'el sang this song: "Spring up, oh well! Sing to the well

sunk by the princes, dug by the people's leaders with the scepter, with their staffs!" From the desert they went to Mattanah,

from Mattanah to Nachali'el, from Nachali'el to Bamot,

and from Bamot to the valley by the plain of Mo'av at the start of the Pisgah range, where it overlooks the desert.

Isra'el sent messengers to Sichon, king of the Emori, with this message:

"Let me pass through your land. We won't turn aside into fields or vineyards, and we won't drink any water from the wells. We will go along the King's Highway until we have left your territory."

But Sichon would not allow Isra'el to pass through his territory. Instead, Sichon mustered all his people and went out into the desert to fight Isra'el. On reaching Yachatz, he fought Isra'el.

Isra'el defeated him by force of arms and took control of his land from the Arnon to the Yabok River, but only as far as the people of 'Amon, because the territory of the people of 'Amon was well defended.

Isra'el took all these cities - Isra'el lived in all the cities of the Emori, in Heshbon and all its surrounding towns.

Heshbon was the city of Sichon, the king of the Emori, who had fought against the former king of Mo'av and conquered all his land up to the Arnon.

This is why the storytellers say, "Come to Heshbon! Let it be rebuilt! Let Sichon's city be restored!

"For fire burst out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sichon. It consumed 'Ar of Mo'av, the lords of Arnon's high places.

"Woe to you, Mo'av! You are destroyed, people of K'mosh! He let his sons be fugitives and his daughters captives of Sichon, king of the Emori.

"We shot them down; Heshbon is destroyed, all the way to Divon. We even laid waste to Nofach, which extends as far as Meidva."

Thus Isra'el lived in the land of the Emori.

Moshe sent men to reconnoiter Ya'zer; they captured its towns and drove out the Emori who were there.

Then they turned and went up along the road to Bashan; and 'Og, the king of Bashan, marched out against them, he with all his people, to fight at Edre'i.

ADONAI said to Moshe, "Don't be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with all his people and his land. You will treat him just as you did Sichon, king of the Emori, who lived at Heshbon."

So they struck him down, with his sons and all his people, until there was no one left alive; and then they took control of his land.

Then the people of Isra'el traveled on and camped in the plains of Mo'av beyond the Yarden River, opposite Yericho.

Now Balak the son of Tzippor saw all that Isra'el had done to the Emori.

Mo'av was very afraid of the people, because there were so many of them; Mo'av was overcome with dread because of the people of Isra'el.

So Mo'av said to the leaders of Midyan, "This horde will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up grass in the field." Balak the son of Tzippor was king of Mo'av at that time.