Bible Verses About The Amorites

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.

But when the inhabitants of Giv'ah heard what Y'hoshua had done to Yericho and 'Ai,

they developed a clever deception: they made themselves look as if they had been on a long journey by putting old sacks on their donkeys and taking used wineskins that had burst and been mended back together.

They put old, patched sandals on their feet and dressed in worn-out clothes; and took as provisions nothing but dried-up bread that was crumbling to pieces.

Then they went to Y'hoshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Isra'el, "We have come from a country far away. Now, make a covenant with us."

The men of Isra'el said to the Hivi, "How do we know that you don't live here among us? If you do, we don't want to make a covenant with you."

But they answered Y'hoshua, "We are your servants." Y'hoshua asked, "Who are you, and where do you come from?"

They answered him, "Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the reputation of ADONAI your God. We have heard reports about him - everything he did in Egypt,

and everything he did to the two kings of the Emori across the Yarden, Sichon king of Heshbon and 'Og king of Bashan at 'Ashtarot.

So our leaders and all the people living in our country said to us, "Take provisions with you for the journey, go to meet them, and say to them, 'We are your servants, and now make a covenant with us.'

Here is the bread which we took for our provisions. It was still warm when we took it out of our homes the day we left to come to you. Now look at it! It's dry and turned to crumbs!