Deuteronomy 2

Legacy Standard Bible

Wanderings in the Wilderness

2 “^(A)Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way to the ^[a]Red Sea, as Yahweh spoke to me, and circled ^(B)Mount Seir for many days. ² And Yahweh spoke to me, saying, ³ ‘You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north, ^4 (C)and command the people, saying, “You are going to pass through the ^(D)territory of your brothers the sons of Esau who live in Seir; and ^(E)they will be afraid of you. So be very careful; ⁵ do not ^[b]provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, even as little as a ^[c]footstep ^(F)because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ⁶ You shall buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also bargain with them for water with money so that you may drink. ⁷ For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand; He has known your ^[d]wanderings through this ^(G)great wilderness. These ^(H)forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.”’

⁸ “So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the ^(I)Arabah road, away from Elath and ^(J)from Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab. ⁹ Then Yahweh said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of ^[e]their land as a possession because I have given ^(K)Ar to ^(L)the sons of Lot as a possession.’ ¹⁰ (The ^(M)Emim lived there formerly, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. ¹¹ Like the Anakim, they are also regarded as ^(N)Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ^12 (O)Now the Horites formerly lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, ^(P)just as Israel would do to the land of ^[f]their possession which Yahweh gave to them.) ¹³ ‘Now arise and cross over the ^[g]brook Zered yourselves.’ So we crossed over the ^[h]brook Zered. ¹⁴ Now the ^[i]time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the ^[j]brook Zered was ^(Q)thirty-eight years, until ^(R)all the generation of the men of war came to an end from within the camp, as ^(S)Yahweh had sworn to them. ^15 (T)Moreover the hand of Yahweh was against them, to bring them into confusion from within the camp until they all came to an end.

¹⁶ “So it happened when ^(U)all the men of war had come to an end in death from among the people, ¹⁷ that Yahweh spoke to me, saying, ¹⁸ ‘Today you are about to cross over ^(V)Ar, the border of Moab. ¹⁹ And you will come opposite the ^(W)sons of Ammon. Do not harass them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession because I have given it to ^(X)the sons of Lot as a possession.’ ²⁰ (It is also regarded as the land of the ^(Y)Rephaim, for Rephaim formerly lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin, ²¹ a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim, but Yahweh destroyed them before them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place, ²² just as He did for the sons of Esau, who ^(Z)live in Seir, when He destroyed ^(AA)the Horites from before them; they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. ²³ And the ^(AB)Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the ^[k](AC)Caphtorim who came from ^[l](AD)Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.) ²⁴ ‘Arise, set out, and pass through the ^[m](AE)valley of Arnon. Look! I have given Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand; begin to take possession and provoke him to battle. ²⁵ This day I will begin to put ^(AF)the dread and fear of you ^[n]upon the peoples ^[o]everywhere under the heavens, who, when they hear the report of you, ^(AG)will tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

²⁶ “^(AH)So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, ²⁷ ‘Let me pass through your land, I will ^[p]go only on the highway; I will not turn aside to the right or to the left. ²⁸ You will sell me food for money so that I may eat, and give me water for money so that I may drink; ^(AI)only let me pass through on ^[q]foot, ²⁹ just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in ^(AJ)Ar did for me, until I cross over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God is giving to us.’ ³⁰ But ^(AK)Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass ^[r]through his land, for ^(AL)Yahweh your God stiffened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to give him over into your hand, as he is today. ³¹ And Yahweh said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land ^[s]over to you. Begin to possess, so that you may fully possess his land.’

³² “Then Sihon ^[t]with all his people came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. ^33 (AM)But Yahweh our God gave him ^[u]over to us, and we ^(AN)struck him down with his sons and all his people. ³⁴ So we captured all his cities at that time and ^[v](AO)devoted to destruction ^[w]the men, women, and little ones of every city. We left no survivor remaining. ³⁵ We took ^(AP)only the animals as our plunder and the spoil of the cities which we had captured. ³⁶ From ^(AQ)Aroer which is on the edge of the ^[x]valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the ^[y]valley, even to Gilead, there was not a town that was too high for us; Yahweh our God gave all ^[z]over to us. ^37 (AR)Only you did not go near to the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the ^[aa]river ^(AS)Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God had commanded us.