Study Desk

So Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, "What conflict do you and I have, that you have come to me to fight against my land?"

And the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, "It is because Israel ^(C1)took my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the ^(C2)Jabbok and the Jordan; so return them peaceably now."

But Jephthah sent messengers once again to the king of the sons of Ammon,

and they said to him, "This is what Jephthah says: 'Israel did not take the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon.

'For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel ^(C1)went through the wilderness to the ^(F1)Red Sea, and ^(C2)came to Kadesh,

then Israel ^(C1)sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, "Please let us pass through your land"; but the king of Edom would not listen. ^(C2)And they also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh.

'Then they went through the wilderness and ^(C1)around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they ^(C2)did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.

'And Israel sent ^(C1)messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, "Please let us pass through your land to our place."

'But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel.

'And the LORD, the God of Israel, handed Sihon and all his people over to Israel, and they ^(F1)(C1)defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

'^(C1)So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan.

'And now the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from His people Israel; so should you possess it?

'Do you not possess what ^(C1)Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess it.

'Now then, are you any better than ^(C1)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel, or did he ever fight against them?

'^(C1)While Israel was living in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time?

'So I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me. ^(C1)May the LORD, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.'"

But the king of the sons of Ammon ^(F1)disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him.