Deuteronomy 2

Wanderings in the Wilderness

1 "Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and circled Mount Seir for many days.2 And the LORD spoke to me, saying,3 'You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north,4 and command the people, saying, "You will pass through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful;5 do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, even as little as a footstep because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.6 You shall buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink.7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing."'

8 "So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road, away from Elath and from Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab.9 Then the LORD said to me, 'Do not harass Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.'10 (The Emim lived there formerly, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim.11 Like the Anakim, they are also regarded as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.12 The Horites formerly lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the LORD gave to them.)13 'Now arise and cross over the brook Zered yourselves.' So we crossed over the brook Zered.14 Now the time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.15 Moreover the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from within the camp until they all perished.

16 "So it came about when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people,17 that the LORD spoke to me, saying,18 'Today you shall cross over Ar, the border of Moab.19 When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not harass them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.'20 (It is also regarded as the land of the Rephaim, for Rephaim formerly lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin,21 a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim, but the LORD destroyed them before them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place,22 just as He did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them; they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day.23 And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the tCaphtorim who came from tCaphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.)24 'Arise, set out, and pass through the valley of Arnon. Look! I have given Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand; begin to take possession and contend with him in battle.25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under the heavens, who, when they hear the report of you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.'

26 "So 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 travel only on the highway; I will not turn aside to the right or to the left.28 You will sell me food for money so that I may eat, and give me water for money so that I may drink, only let me pass through on foot,29 just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross over the Jordan into the land which the LORD our God is giving to us.'30 But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today.31 The LORD said to me, 'See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to occupy, that you may possess his land.'

32 "Then Sihon with all his people came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz.33 The LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him with his sons and all his people.34 So we captured all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed the men, women and children of every city. We left no survivor.35 We took only the animals as our booty and the spoil of the cities which we had captured.36 From Aroer which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was no city that was too high for us; the LORD our God delivered all over to us.37 Only you did not go near to the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the LORD our God had commanded us.

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.