Judges 11:12-28 - Jephthah Rejects Ammonite Claims
12 So then Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, - What occasion is there between us, that thou shouldst have come unto me, to fight against my land?
13 And the king of the sons of Ammon said unto the messengers of Jephthah - Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and unto the Jordan, - now, therefore, restore them in peace.
14 And Jephthah yet once more sent messengers unto the king of the sons of Ammon; 15 and said a unto him, Thus, saith Jephthah, - Israel took not away the land of Moab, or the land of the sons of Ammon; 16 for, when they came up out of Egypt, and Israel journeyed through the desert as far as the Red Sea, and came in unto Kadesh, 17 then did Israel send messengers unto the king of Edom, saying - Let me pass, I pray thee, through thy land, but the king of Edom hearkened not, unto the king of Moab also, sent they, but he would not consent, - so Israel abode in Kadesh.
18 Then journeyed they through the desert, and went round the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and so came, from the rising of the sun, to the land of Moab, but encamped beyond Arnon, - and entered not within the boundary of Moab, for, Arnon, is the boundary of Moab.
19 Then did Israel send messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, - and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land as far as my own place. 20 But Sihon trusted not Israel, to pass through his boundary, so Sihon gathered together all his people, and encamped in Jahaz, - and fought against Israel. 21 Then did Yahweh, God of Israel, deliver up Sihon, and all his people, into the hand of Israel, and they smote them, - so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that land. 22 Yea they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites, - from Arnon, even as far as the Jabbok, and from the desert, even as far as the Jordan.
23 Now, therefore, it was, Yahweh God of Israel, that dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, - and shalt, thou, possess it? 24 What Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess, that, wilt thou not possess? and, whatsoever Yahweh our God hath set before us to possess, that, shall we not possess? 25 Now, therefore, art thou, really better, than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Hath there been any, striving at all, with Israel, or any, fighting at all, with them, 26 all the time that Israel hath been dwelling in Heshbon and in her towns, and in Aroer and in her towns, and in all the cities that are on the banks of Arnon, - for three hundred years? Wherefore, then, have ye not made a rescue within that time? 27 I, therefore, have not sinned against thee; but, thou, art doing me a wrong, in fighting against me, - Let Yahweh, the Judge, give judgment today, between the sons of Israel, and the sons of Ammon! 28 But the king of the sons of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah, which he sent unto him.