Deuteronomy 2

The Desert Years

1 Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days. Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.2 And the Lord spoke to me, saying:3 You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward.4 And command the people, saying, You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully.5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.6 You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.8 And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from Elath and Ezion Geber, we turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab.9 Then the Lord said to me, Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.10 (The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim.11 They were also regarded as giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.12 The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the Lord gave them.)13 Now rise and cross over the Valley of the Zered. So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered.14 And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the Lord had sworn to them.15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed.16 So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people,17 that the Lord spoke to me, saying:18 This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab.19 And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot as a possession.20 (That was also regarded as a land of giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,21 a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place,22 just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day.23 And the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)24 Rise, take your journey, and cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle.25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.

King Sihon Defeated

26 And I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying,27 Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left.28 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on foot,29 just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord our God is giving us.30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.31 And the Lord said to me, See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess it, that you may inherit his land.32 Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz.33 And the Lord our God delivered him over to us; so we defeated him, his sons, and all his people.34 We took all his cities at that time, and we utterly destroyed the men, women, and little ones of every city; we left none remaining.35 We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we took.36 From Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and from the city that is in the ravine, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; the Lord our God delivered all to us.37 Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammonanywhere along the River Jabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, or wherever the Lord our God had forbidden us.

DEUTERONOMY 2

1  t We spent many years wandering around outside the hill country of Seir, t

2 until the [Lord] said:
Moses, 3 Israel has wandered in these hills long enough. Turn and go north. 4 t And give the people these orders: “Be very careful, because you will soon go through the land that belongs to your relatives, the descendants of Esau.t They are afraid of you, 5 but don't start a war with them. I have given them the hill country of Seir, so I won't give any of it to you, not even enough to set a foot on.

6 And as you go through their land, you will have to buy food and water from them.”

7 The [Lord] has helped us and taken care of us during the past 40 years that we have been in this huge desert. We've had everything we needed, and the [Lord] has blessed us and made us successful in whatever we have done.

8 We went past the territory that belonged to our relatives, the descendants of Esau.t We followed Arabah Road that starts in the south at Elath and Ezion-Geber, then we turned onto the desert road that leads to Moab.

9  t The [Lord] told me, “Don't try to start a war with Moab. Leave them alone, because I gave the land of Art to them, t and I will not let you have any of it.”

Tribes That Lived //near Canaan

11 The Moabites called them Emim, though others sometimes used the name Rephaimt for both the Anakim and the Emim.

12 The Horites used to live in Seir, but the Edomitest took over that region. They killed many of the Horites and forced the rest of them to leave, just as Israel did to the people in the land that the [Lord] gave them.

Israel Crossed //the Zered Gorge

Moses said to Israel:

15-16 The [Lord] kept getting rid oft them until finally none of them were left.
17 Then the [Lord] told me, 18 “Moses, now go past the town of Ar and cross Moab's northern border

19 t into Ammon. But don't start a war with the Ammonites. I gave themt their land, and I won't give any of it to Israel.”

More Nations That Lived //near Canaan

22 The [Lord] helped them as he had helped the Edomites, t who killed many of the Horites in Seir and forced the rest to leave before settling there themselves.

23 A group called the Avvim used to live in villages as far south as Gaza, but the Philistinest killed them and settled on their land.

Israel Crossed //the Arnon Gorge

Moses said:

24 After we went through Ammon, the [Lord] told us:
Israel, pack up your possessions, take down your tents, and cross the Arnon River gorge.t The territory of the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon lies on the other side of the river, but I now give you his land. So attack and take it!

25 Today I will start making all other nations afraid of you. They will tremble with fear when anyone mentions you, and they will be terrified when you show up.

The Defeat of King Sihon //of Heshbon

(Numbers 21.21-30)

Moses said to Israel:

26 After we had crossed the Arnon and had set up camp in the Kedemoth Desert, I sent messengers to King Sihon of Heshbon, telling him that his nation and ours could be at peace. I said:
27 Please let Israel go across your country. We will walk straight through, without turning off the road.

28-29 You can even sell us food and water, and we will pay with silver. We need to reach the Jordan River and cross it, because the [Lord] our God is giving us the land on the west side. The Edomites and Moabitest have already let us cross their land. Please let us cross your land as well.

30-31 But Sihon refused to let us go across his country, because the [Lord] made him stubborn and eager to fight us. The [Lord] told me, “I am going to help you defeat Sihon and take his land, so attack him!”
32 We met Sihon and his army in battle at Jahaz, 33 and the [Lord] our God helped us defeat them. We killed Sihon, his sons, and everyone else in his army. 34 Then we captured and destroyed every town in Sihon's kingdom, killing everyone, 35 but keeping the livestock and everything else of value.

36 The [Lord] helped us capture every town from the Arnon River gorge north to the boundary of Gilead, including the town of Aroer on the edge of the gorge and the town in the middle of the gorge.
37 However, we stayed away from all the Ammonite towns, both in the hill country and near the Jabbok River, just as the [Lord] had commanded.