The Desert Years

2 “Then we turned and ^(A)journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, ^(B)as the Lord spoke to me, and we ^[a]skirted Mount Seir for many days.

² “And the Lord spoke to me, saying: ³ ‘You have skirted this mountain ^(C)long enough; turn northward. ⁴ And command the people, saying, ^(D)“You are about to pass through the territory of ^(E)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, ^(F)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 ^[b]trudging through this great wilderness. ^(G)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 ^(H)Elath and Ezion Geber, we ^(I)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 ^(J)Ar to ^(K)the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”

^10 (L)(The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as ^(M)the Anakim. ¹¹ They were also regarded as ^[c]giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ^12 (N)The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their ^[d]place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the Lord gave them.)

¹³ “ ‘Now rise and cross over ^(O)the ^[e]Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. ¹⁴ And the time we took to come ^(P)from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, ^(Q)until all the generation of the men of war ^[f]was consumed from the midst of the camp, ^(R)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 ^[g]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 ^(S)the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”

²⁰ (That was also regarded as a land of ^[h]giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them ^(T)Zamzummim, ^21 (U)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, ^(V)who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed ^(W)the Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day. ²³ And ^(X)the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—^(Y)the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)

²⁴ “ ‘Rise, take your journey, and ^(Z)cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand ^(AA)Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin ^[i]to possess it, and engage him in battle. ^25 (AB)This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations ^[j]under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall ^(AC)tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

King Sihon Defeated^(AD)

²⁶ “And I ^(AE)sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, ^(AF)with words of peace, saying, ^27 (AG)‘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; ^(AH)only let me pass through on foot, ^29 (AI)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 (AJ)“But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for ^(AK)the Lord your God ^(AL)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 ^(AM)give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess it, that you may inherit his land.’ ^32 (AN)Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz. ³³ And ^(AO)the Lord our God delivered him ^[k]over to us; so ^(AP)we defeated him, his sons, and all his people. ³⁴ We took all his cities at that time, and we ^(AQ)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 (AR)From Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and from ^(AS)the city that is in the ravine, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; ^(AT)the Lord our God delivered all to us. ³⁷ Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammon—anywhere along the River ^(AU)Jabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, or ^(AV)wherever the Lord our God had forbidden us.