Deuteronomy 2

Journey past Seir

1 "Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me, and we traveled around the hill country of Seir for many days. 2 The Lord then said to me, 3 'You've been traveling around this hill country long enough; turn north. 4 Command the people: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful. 5 Don't fight with them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even an inch of it, because I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as [his] possession. 6 You may purchase food from them with silver, so that you may eat, and buy water from them to drink.

7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this immense wilderness. The Lord your God has been with you this past 40 years, and you have lacked nothing.'

Journey past Moab

8 "So we bypassed our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. [We turned] away from the Arabah road and from Elath and Ezion-geber. We traveled along the road to the Wilderness of Moab.

9 The Lord said to me, 'Show no hostility toward Moab, and do not provoke them to battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, since I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.'"
10 The Emim, a great and numerous people as tall as the Anakim, had previously lived there. 11 They were also regarded as Rephaim, like the Anakim, though the Moabites called them Emim.

12 The Horites had previously lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out, destroying them completely and settling in their place, just as Israel did in the land of its possession the Lord gave them.
13 "[The Lord said,] 'Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.' So we crossed the Zered Valley. 14 The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley was 38 years until the entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.

15 Indeed, the Lord's hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp until they had all perished.

Journey past Ammon

16 "When all the fighting men had died among the people, 17 the Lord spoke to me, 18 'Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.

19 When you get close to the Ammonites, don't show any hostility to them or fight with them, for I will not give you any of the Ammonites' land as a possession; I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.'"
20 This too used to be regarded as the land of the Rephaim. The Rephaim lived there previously, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummim, 21 a great and numerous people, tall as the Anakim. The Lord destroyed the Rephaim at the advance of the Ammonites, so that they drove them out and settled in their place. 22 This was just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites before them; they drove them out and have lived in their place until now.

23 The Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, and settled in their place.

Defeat of Sihon the Amorite

24 "[The Lord also said,] 'Get up, move out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have handed Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land over to you. Begin to take possession [of it]; engage him in battle.

25 Today I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on the peoples everywhere under heaven. They will hear the report about you, tremble, and be in anguish because of you.'
26 "So I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon from the Wilderness of Kedemoth, saying, 27 'Let us travel through your land; we will keep strictly to the highway. We will not turn to the right or the left. 28 You can sell us food in exchange for silver so we may eat, and give us water for silver so we may drink. Only let us travel through on foot, 29 just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for us, and the Moabites who live in Ar, until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.'

30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us travel through his land, for the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to hand him over to you, as has now taken place.
31 "Then the Lord said to me, 'See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to take possession of it.' 32 So Sihon and his whole army came out against us for battle at Jahaz. 33 The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his whole army. 34 At that time we captured all his cities and completely destroyed the people of every city, including the women and children. We left no survivors. 35 We took only the livestock and the spoil from the cities we captured as plunder for ourselves. 36 There was no city that was inaccessible to us, from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead. The Lord our God gave everything to us.

37 But you did not go near the Ammonites' land, all along the bank of the Jabbok River, the cities of the hill country, or any place that the Lord our God had forbidden.

Deuteronomy 2

The Journey from Kadesh Barnea to Moab

1 Then we turned and set out toward the desert land on the way to the Red Seat just as the Lord told me to do, detouring around Mount Seir for a long time.2 At this point the Lord said to me,3 “You have circled around this mountain long enough; now turn north.4 Instructt these people as follows: ‘You are about to cross the border of your relativest the descendants of Esau,s who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully.5 Do not be hostile toward them, because I am not giving you any of their land, not even a footprint, for I have given Mount Seirs as an inheritance for Esau.6 You may purchaset food to eat and water to drink from them.

7 All along the way I, the Lord your God,t have blessed your every effort.t I havet been attentive tot your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I havet been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’”
8 So we turned away from our relativest the descendants of Esau, the inhabitants of Seir, turning from the desert route,t from Elats and Ezion Geber,s and traveling the way of the Moab wastelands.9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ars to the descendants of Lots as their possession.10 (The Emitess used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites.11 These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites;s the Moabites call them Emites.12 Previously the Horitess lived in Seir but the descendants of Esau dispossessed and destroyed them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land it came to possess, the land the Lord gave them.)t13 Now, get up and cross the Wadi Zered.”s So we did so.t14 Now the length of time it took for us to go from Kadesh Barnea to the crossing of Wadi Zered was thirty-eight years, time for all the military men of that generation to die, just as the Lord had vowed to them.

15 Indeed, it was the very hand of the Lord that eliminated them from withint the camp until they were all gone.

Instructions Concerning Ammon

16 So it was that after all the military men had been eliminated from the community,t17 the Lord said to me,18 “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar.s

19 But when you come close to the Ammonites, do not harass or provoke them because I am not giving you any of the Ammonites’ land as your possession; I have already given it to Lot’s descendantss as their possession.
20 (That also is considered to be a land of the Rephaites.s The Rephaites lived there originally; the Ammonites call them Zamzummites.s21 They are a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed the Rephaitest in advance of the Ammonites,t so they dispossessed them and settled down in their place.22 This is exactly what he did for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their area to this very day.

23 As for the Avvitess who lived in settlements as far west as Gaza, Caphtoritess who came from Cretet destroyed them and settled down in their place.)
24 Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon,s and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war!

25 This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the eartht with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.”t

Defeat of Sihon, King of Heshbon

26 Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoths Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace:27 “Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway.t I will not turn aside to the right or the left.28 Sell me food for casht so that I can eat and sell me water to drink.t Just allow me to go through on foot,29 just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us.”30 But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord ours God had made him obstinatet and stubbornt so that he might deliver him over to yout this very day.31 The Lord said to me, “Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession.”32 When Sihon and all his troopst emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz,s33 the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sonss and everyone else.t34 At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of themt under divine judgment,ts including even the women and children; we left no survivors.35 We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves.36 From Aroer,s which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi),t all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us – the Lord our God gave them all to us.

37 However, you did not approach the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok,s the cities of the hill country, or any place else forbidden by the Lord our God.