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.