² Then the Lord said to me, ³ ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country ^(A)long enough. Turn northward ⁴ and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of ^(B)your brothers, the people of Esau, ^(C)who live in Seir; and ^(D)they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. ⁵ Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because ^(E)I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ^6 (F)You shall purchase 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 hands. ^(G)He knows your going through this great wilderness. ^(H)These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ ⁸ So ^(I)we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from ^(J)the Arabah road from ^(K)Elath and ^(L)Ezion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. ⁹ And the Lord said to me, ^(M)‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given ^(N)Ar to ^(O)the people of Lot for a possession.’ ¹⁰ (^(P)The Emim formerly lived there, ^(Q)a people great and many, and tall ^(R)as the Anakim. ¹¹ Like the Anakim they are also counted as ^(S)Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ^12 (T)The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, ^(U)as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) ¹³ ‘Now rise up and go over ^(V)the brook Zered.’ So we went over ^(W)the brook Zered. ¹⁴ And the time from our leaving ^(X)Kadesh-barnea until we crossed ^(Y)the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, ^(Z)until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. ¹⁵ For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

¹⁶ “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, ¹⁷ the Lord said to me, ¹⁸ ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹ And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, ^(AA)do not harass them or contend 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 ^(AB)the sons of Lot for a possession.’ ²⁰ (It is also counted as a land of ^(AC)Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— ^21 (AD)a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites,^[a] and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, ²² as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed ^(AE)the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. ²³ As for ^(AF)the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as ^(AG)Gaza, ^(AH)the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) ²⁴ ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and ^(AI)go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of ^(AJ)Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and ^(AK)contend with him in battle. ²⁵ This day I will begin to put ^(AL)the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

The Defeat of King Sihon

²⁶ “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of ^(AM)Kedemoth to Sihon the king of ^(AN)Heshbon, ^(AO)with words of peace, saying, ^27 (AP)‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. ^28 (AQ)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 (AR)as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.’ ³⁰ But ^(AS)Sihon the king of ^(AT)Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God ^(AU)hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.