28 BATTLES OF THE BIBLE.

ed in the Bible. The Israelites had now arrived at the
border of the land of Sihon, the Amorite, king of Hesh-
bon. They sent to ask him to let them pass through his
land, engaging to do no harm to anything, and to keep
on the highway. Sihon, like the Edomites, refused
permission, and raised an army; not only did he do
that, but marched out into the wilderness against the
Israelites.

George. I hope they beat him.

Grandfather. They did; they smote him with the
edge of the sword, and took possession of his land. He
himself had taken it a short time before from a king of
Moab. Sihon little thought when he took possession
of the land by conquest, that he must soon resign it to
the people to whom it rightfully belonged, the people
to whom it had been promised many hundreds of years
before by Him to whom all lands belong. The Israel-
ites speedily encountered another enemy. Og, king of
Bashan, marched out at the head of an army to fight
against them. He was a powerful king; he reigned
over no fewer than sixty fortified cities, besides many
unwalled towns. In his own person he was a very
formidable opponent, for he was a giant. We are not
told his height, but judging from the length of his bed,
it must have been immense. His bedstead was made of
iron, and was nine cubits long, and four cubits broad.
Reckoning a cubit at half a yard, it would be four yards
and a half long, double the length of an ordinary bed.
When this king marched against the Israelites, the

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