⁸ Then Jehoshaphat asked, “What route will we take?”

“We will attack from the wilderness of Edom,” Joram replied.

The Lord’s Love for Israel

² “I have always loved you,” says the Lord.

But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”

And the Lord replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, ³ but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.”

The Bronze Snake

⁴ Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea^[a] to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey,