Moses reminded them of crossing the Arnon River

24 “After we had gone through the Moab region, Yahweh said to us, ‘Now cross the Arnon River. I will help you to defeat [IDM] the army of Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group, who lives in Heshbon city. So attack their army and start to take their land from them. 25 Today I will begin to cause everyone, everywhere, to be afraid of you. Everyone who hears about you will tremble and be terrified.’

26 Then I sent messengers to go from the desert to King Sihon at Heshbon. I told them to give this peaceful message to the king: 27 ‘Please allow us to travel through your land. We promise that we will stay on the road; we will not turn off to the right or to the left. 28 We will pay for any food or water that you allow us to buy. We want only to walk through your country, 29 until we cross the Jordan River into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us. Do for us just as the descendants of Esau who live in the Edom area and the Moab people-group did for us when they allowed us to go through their areas.’ 30 But King Sihon would not allow us to go through his country. That was because Yahweh our God caused him to be stubborn [IDM]. The result was that Yahweh enabled us to defeat his army and take his land [IDM], which we still live in.

31 Yahweh said to me, ‘Listen! I am about to allow you to defeat Sihon’s army and to take the people’s land from them. So start to occupy it!’

32 Then Sihon came out of the city with all his army to fight against us at Jahaz town. 33 But God enabled us to defeat [DOU] them, and we killed Sihon and his sons and all his soldiers. 34 We captured all their cities and destroyed them all. We killed all the men and women and children; we did not allow any of them to remain alive. 35 We took the valuable things that were in the cities that we captured and also their cattle. 36 Yahweh our God enabled us to capture [IDM] all their towns from Aroer in the south, which is at the edge of the Arnon River Valley, to the Gilead region in the north. Some of their cities had walls around them, but we were able to climb over them. 37 But we did not go near the area where the Ammon people-group live, or the banks of the Jabbok riverbed, or the towns in the hilly area, or any other place where Yahweh our God told us not to go.”