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Deuteronomy 2
Lexham English Bible

2 “Then we turned and set out toward the wilderness[a] in the direction of the Red Sea,[b] as Yahweh told me, and we went around Mount Seir for many days. 2 Yahweh spoke to me, saying,[c] 3 ‘Long enough you have been skirting this mountain; turn yourselves north, 4 and instruct[d] the people, saying,[e] “You are about to cross through the territory of your brothers, the descendants[f] of Esau, who are living in Seir; they will be afraid of you, and so be very careful. 5 Do not get involved in battle[g] with them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a foot’s breadth[h] of it; since I have given Mount Seir as a possession for Esau. 6 You shall buy food from them so that you may eat; and also you shall purchase water from them with money so that you may drink. 7 The fact of the matter is, Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work you have done;[i] he knows your travels[j] with respect to this great wilderness; forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.”’ 8 And so we passed by our brothers, the descendants[k] of Esau, who live in Seir, past the road of the Arabah,[l] from Elath and Ezion Geber, and we turned and traveled along the route of the desert[m] of Moab.

9 And Yahweh said to me, ‘You shall not attack Moab, and you shall not engage in war[n] with them, for I will not give you any of his land as a possession; I have given Ar to the descendants[o] of Lot as a possession.’ 10 (The Emim previously lived in it, a people large,[p] numerous, and tall, like the Anakites. 11 They were reckoned also as Rephaim as the Anakites were; but the Moabites called them Emim. 12 The Horites previously lived in Seir, but the descendants[q] of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from among themselves,[r] as Israel did with respect to the land of their[s] possession that Yahweh gave to them.) 13 So now arise and cross over the wadi[t] of Zered yourselves; and so we crossed the wadi[u] of Zered. 14 Now the length of time[v] that we had traveled from Kadesh Barnea until the time when we crossed the wadi[w] of Zered was thirty-eight years, until the perishing of all of that generation; that is, the men of war from the midst of the camp as Yahweh had sworn to them. 15 The hand of Yahweh was against them to root them out from the midst of the camp until they perished completely.

16 “And then[x] when all the men of war[y] had died[z] from among the people, 17 Yahweh spoke to me, saying,[aa] 18 ‘You are about to cross over the boundary of Moab today[ab] at Ar. 19 When you approach the border of[ac] the Ammonites,[ad] you shall not harass them, and you shall not get involved in battle with them, for I have not given the land of the Ammonites[ae] to you as a possession; because I have given it to the descendants[af] of Lot as a possession. 20 (It is also considered the land of Rephaim; Rephaim lived in it previously,[ag] and the Ammonites called them Zamzummim, 21 a people great and numerous and as tall as the Anakites; Yahweh destroyed them from before them,[ah] and they dispossessed them and settled in place of them, 22 just as he did for the descendants[ai] of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them[aj] and dispossessed them, and then they settled in their[ak] place up to this day. 23 And also the Avvites, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, and the Caphtorim, who came out from Caphtor, destroyed them and then settled in their place. 24 Arise,[al] set out and cross over the wadi[am] of Arnon. Look! I have given Sihon the Amorite, the king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand; begin to take possession of it, and engage with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to place the dread of you[an] and the fear of you before[ao] the peoples under all the heavens. They will hear the report about you,[ap] and so they will shake and tremble because of you.’ [aq]

26 “So I sent messengers from the wilderness[ar] of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon; I sent terms of peace, saying,[as] 27 ‘Let me cross through your land and only along the road[at] I will go; I will not turn aside to the right or to the left. 28 Food for money you shall sell me, so that I may eat, and water for money you will give to me, so that I may drink; just let me cross on foot. 29 Just as the descendants[au] of Esau did for me, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, until I cross the Jordan into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us.’ 30 But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us cross through his territory because Yahweh your God hardened his spirit and made him obstinate[av] in order to give him[aw] into your hand, just as he has now done.[ax] 31 Yahweh said to me, ‘Look! I have begun to give over to you[ay] Sihon and his land; begin to take possession of his land.’[az] 32 Then Sihon and all his people came out to meet us for battle at Jahaz. 33 And so Yahweh our God gave him over to us,[ba] and we struck him down, and his sons[bb] and all of his people. 34 So we captured all of his cities at that time, and we destroyed each town of males and the women and the children; we did not leave behind a survivor. 35 We took only the livestock as spoil for ourselves,[bc] and also the booty of the cities that we had captured. 36 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the wadi[bd] of Arnon and the city that was in the wadi[be] on up to Gilead, there was not a city that was inaccessible to us; Yahweh our God gave everything[bf] to us.[bg] 37 Only the land of the Ammonites[bh] you did not approach, all along the whole upper region of the Jabbok River[bi] and the towns of the hill country, according to all that Yahweh our God had instructed.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 2:1 Or “desert”
  2. Deuteronomy 2:1 Literally “sea of reeds”
  3. Deuteronomy 2:2 Literally “to say”
  4. Deuteronomy 2:4 Or “command”
  5. Deuteronomy 2:4 Literally “to say”
  6. Deuteronomy 2:4 Or “sons”
  7. Deuteronomy 2:5 Or “provoke”
  8. Deuteronomy 2:5 Literally “a sole’s foot of space”
  9. Deuteronomy 2:7 Literally “the work of your hand”
  10. Deuteronomy 2:7 Literally “your journeying”
  11. Deuteronomy 2:8 Or “sons”
  12. Deuteronomy 2:8 Or “Jordan Valley” since the Arabah is an extension of it
  13. Deuteronomy 2:8 Or “wilderness”
  14. Deuteronomy 2:9 Or “battle”
  15. Deuteronomy 2:9 Or “sons”
  16. Deuteronomy 2:10 Or “great” in the sense of influential
  17. Deuteronomy 2:12 Or “sons”
  18. Deuteronomy 2:12 Literally “from their presence”
  19. Deuteronomy 2:12 Literally “its/his”
  20. Deuteronomy 2:13 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
  21. Deuteronomy 2:13 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
  22. Deuteronomy 2:14 Literally “days”
  23. Deuteronomy 2:14 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
  24. Deuteronomy 2:16 Literally “And it happened”
  25. Deuteronomy 2:16 Or “battle”
  26. Deuteronomy 2:16 Literally “had finished/completed to die”
  27. Deuteronomy 2:17 Literally “to say”
  28. Deuteronomy 2:18 Literally “the day”
  29. Deuteronomy 2:19 Literally “opposite”
  30. Deuteronomy 2:19 Literally “the sons/children of Ammon”
  31. Deuteronomy 2:19 Literally “the sons/children of Ammon”
  32. Deuteronomy 2:19 Or “sons”
  33. Deuteronomy 2:20 Literally “before”
  34. Deuteronomy 2:21 That is, the Ammonites
  35. Deuteronomy 2:22 Or “sons”
  36. Deuteronomy 2:22 Literally “from the face/presence of them”
  37. Deuteronomy 2:22 Hebrew “them”
  38. Deuteronomy 2:24 Or “Get up”
  39. Deuteronomy 2:24 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
  40. Deuteronomy 2:25 Literally “your dread”
  41. Deuteronomy 2:25 Literally “upon the faces of”
  42. Deuteronomy 2:25 Literally “your report”
  43. Deuteronomy 2:25 Literally “from before you”
  44. Deuteronomy 2:26 Or “desert”
  45. Deuteronomy 2:26 Literally “to say”
  46. Deuteronomy 2:27 Literally “in the road, in the road”
  47. Deuteronomy 2:29 Or “the children/sons of”
  48. Deuteronomy 2:30 Literally “made firm his heart”
  49. Deuteronomy 2:30 Literally “to give him,” indicating purpose
  50. Deuteronomy 2:30 Literally “as it is this day”
  51. Deuteronomy 2:31 Literally “to the face of you”
  52. Deuteronomy 2:31 Literally, “take possession in order to possess his land”
  53. Deuteronomy 2:33 Literally “before us”
  54. Deuteronomy 2:33 Or “descendants”
  55. Deuteronomy 2:35 Hebrew “us”
  56. Deuteronomy 2:36 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
  57. Deuteronomy 2:36 A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
  58. Deuteronomy 2:36 Literally “the whole”
  59. Deuteronomy 2:36 Literally “before us”
  60. Deuteronomy 2:37 Literally “children/sons of Ammon”
  61. Deuteronomy 2:37 Literally “wadi,” which here refers to a flowing river
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Deuteronomy 2
Common English Bible

Journeys in Transjordan

2 Next, we turned around and headed back toward the wilderness along the Reed Sea[a] road, exactly as the Lord instructed me. We traveled all around Mount Seir for a long time.

2 Eventually the Lord said: 3 You’ve been traveling around this mountain long enough. Head north. 4 Command the people as follows: You are about to enter into the territory of your relatives who live in Seir: Esau’s descendants. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves most carefully. 5 Don’t fight with them because I will not give the tiniest parcel of their land to you. I have given Mount Seir to Esau’s family as their property. 6 Of course you may buy food from them with money so you can eat, and also water with money so you can drink.

7 No doubt about it: the Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done. He watched over your journey through that vast desert. Throughout these forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You haven’t needed a thing.

8 So we passed through the territory of our relatives who live in Seir, Esau’s descendants, leaving the desert road from Elath and from Ezion-geber. Next we turned and went along the Moab wilderness route. 9 The Lord said to me: Don’t aggravate Moab. Don’t fight them in battle because I won’t give any part of their land to you as your own. I have given Ar to Lot’s descendants as their property.

(10 Now the Emim[b] had lived there before. They were big and numerous and tall—just like the Anakim. 11 Most people thought the Emim were Rephaim, like the Anakim were. But the Moabites called them “Emim.” 12 Additionally, the Horim[c] had lived in Seir previously, but Esau’s descendants took possession of their area, eliminating them altogether and settling in their place. That is exactly what Israel did in the land it took possession of, which the Lord gave to them.)

13 “So then, get going. Cross the Zered ravine.”

So we crossed the Zered ravine.

14 It took us a total of thirty-eight years to go from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Zered ravine. It was at that point that the last of the previous generation, every one of fighting age in the camp, had died, just as the Lord had sworn about them. 15 In fact, the Lord’s power was against them, to rid the camp of them, until they were all gone.

16 Now as soon as all those of fighting age had died, 17 the Lord said to me: 18 Today you are crossing through the territory of Moab and Ar 19 and you will come close to the Ammonites. Don’t aggravate them. Don’t fight with them because I won’t give any part of the Ammonites’ land to you as your own. I’ve given it to Lot’s descendants as their property.

20 Now people thought that land was Rephaim territory as well. The Rephaim had lived there previously. But the Ammonites called them “Zamzummim.”[d] 21 They were large, numerous, and tall, just like the Anakim. But the Lord completely destroyed the Zamzummim before the Ammonites, and they took possession of that area, settling in their place. 22 That is exactly what God did for Esau’s descendants, who live in Seir, when he completely destroyed the Horites in their presence, and they took possession of the Horites’ area, settling in their place to this very day. 23 The Avvim,[e] who had lived in settlements around Gaza, were completely destroyed by the Caphtorim, who had come from Caphtor. They replaced the Avvim there.

Victories in Transjordan

24 “So get going. Cross the Arnon ravine. I have handed Sihon the Amorite king of Heshbon and his land over to you. It’s time to possess the area! It’s time to fight him in battle! 25 Starting right now, I am making everyone everywhere afraid of you and scared of you. Once they hear news of you, they will be shaking and worrying because of you.”

26 I then sent messengers from the Kedemoth desert to Sihon, Heshbon’s king, with words of peace: 27 “Please let us[f] pass through your land. We promise to stay on the road. We won’t step off it, right or left. 28 Please sell us food for money so we can eat; sell us water for money so we can drink. Let us pass through on foot— 29 just as Esau’s descendants who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me—until we cross the Jordan River into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.”

30 But Sihon, Heshbon’s king, wasn’t willing to let us pass through his land because the Lord your God had made his spirit hard and his heart inflexible so that God could hand him over to you, which is exactly how it happened. 31 The Lord said to me: Look! Right now I’m laying Sihon and his land before you. It’s time to take possession of his land!

32 Sihon and all his forces came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. 33 But the Lord our God gave him to us. We struck him down, along with his sons, and all his forces. 34 At that time, we captured all of Sihon’s cities, and we placed every town—men, women, and children—under the ban.[g] We left no survivors. 35 The only things we kept for ourselves were the animals and the plunder from the towns we had taken. 36 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Ravine, to the town that is in the valley there,[h] even as far as Gilead, there wasn’t a city that could resist us. The Lord our God laid everything out before us. 37 But you didn’t go near the Ammonite lands or hillside cities alongside the Jabbok River, in compliance with all[i] that the Lord our God had commanded.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 2:1 Or Red Sea
  2. Deuteronomy 2:10 Or Frighteners
  3. Deuteronomy 2:12 Or Cave-dwellers or Hurrians
  4. Deuteronomy 2:20 Or Mumblers
  5. Deuteronomy 2:23 Or Ruiners
  6. Deuteronomy 2:27 Heb here and through 2:29a is singular me, I.
  7. Deuteronomy 2:34 A technique of holy war that often involves total destruction, in which everything that is destroyed is dedicated to the deity who helps in the battle
  8. Deuteronomy 2:36 Heb uncertain
  9. Deuteronomy 2:37 LXX, Tg Jonathan; MT and all
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