¹ Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying, ² 

Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent a message to me, saying,

He will pour the water out of his buckets, ¹  and their descendants will be like abundant ²  water; ³  their king will be greater than Agag, ⁴  and their kingdom will be exalted.

The king of Arad, the Canaanite king who lived in the south of the land of Canaan, heard about the approach of the Israelites.

For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, ¹  as far as the Arnon.

They killed the kings of Midian in addition to those slain – Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba – five Midianite kings. ¹  They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. ² 

So Moses gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the realm of King Sihon of the Amorites, and the realm of King Og of Bashan, the entire land with its cities and the territory surrounding them. ¹ 

¹ Moses ²  sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: ³  “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, ⁴ 

¹ When the Canaanite king of Arad ²  who lived in the Negev ³  heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.

“Let us ¹  pass through your land; ²  we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.”

Woe to you, Moab. You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! ¹  He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.

Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan. And King Og of Bashan and all his forces ¹  marched out against them to do battle at Edrei.

Then Balaam ¹  uttered ²  his oracle, saying, “Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ³  from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.’ ⁴ 

He ¹  has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, ²  nor has he seen trouble ³  in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; his acclamation ⁴  as king is among them.

Please let us pass through ¹  your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King’s Highway; ²  we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.’” ³ 

And the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.

So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “Now this mass of people ¹  will lick up everything around us, as the bull devours the grass of the field. Now Balak son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at this time.