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Deuteronomy 2
Modern English Version

The Wilderness Years

2 Then we turned, and set out toward the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we circled Mount Seir for many days.

2 Then the Lord spoke to me, saying, 3 “You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north. 4 Command the people, saying: You are to pass through the territory of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and they shall be afraid of you. So carefully watch yourselves. 5 Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. 6 You may buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you may also buy water from them with money so that you may drink.

7 “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the works of your hands. He knows your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”

8 So we passed by our brothers, the children of Esau, who lived in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath and from Ezion Geber, and we turned and passed by the way of the Wilderness of Moab.

9 The Lord said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot as a possession.”

10 (The Emites lived there in times past, a people as great and as many and as tall as the Anakites. 11 These people, as well as the Anakites, also were regarded as giants,[a] but the Moabites call them Emites. 12 The Horites also formerly lived in Seir, but the children of Esau dispossessed and destroyed them, and settled there in their place, just as Israel did to the land of its possession, which the Lord gave to them.)

13 “Cross over the Zered Valley.” So we went over the Zered Valley.

14 Now the length of time it took for us to come to Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war perished from among the army, just as the Lord swore to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from among their midst, until they were gone.

16 So it came to pass, when all the men of war were gone and dead from among the people, 17 then the Lord spoke to me, saying, 18 “Today, you are to pass over through Ar, the border of Moab. 19 When you come close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites as a possession, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.”

20 (That also is considered the land of giants. Giants formerly lived there, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 21 They were a great people, as numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites. Then they dispossessed them and lived in their place, 22 just as He had done for the children of Esau, who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them, and they dispossessed them, and lived in their place even to this day. 23 And the Avvites, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and lived in their place.)

King Sihon Defeated

24 “Arise, set out, and cross the River Arnon. See, I have given Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand. Begin to possess it and contend with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of you.”

26 I sent messengers out of the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon, king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, 27 “Let me pass through your land. I will only go on the main road. I will not turn aside to the right or the left. 28 You shall sell me food for money so that I may eat, and give me water for money so that I may drink, only allow me to pass through on foot, 29 just as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I pass over the Jordan into the land which the Lord our God is giving us.” 30 But Sihon, king of Heshbon, would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, so that He might deliver him into your hand as he is to this day.

31 The Lord said to me, “See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to possess it, so that you may inherit his land.”

32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. 33 Then the Lord our God delivered him over to us, and we struck him down with his sons and all his people. 34 We took all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed the men, the women, and the children of every city. We left no survivors. 35 We took only the livestock for plunder and the spoils of the cities which we took. 36 From Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, all the way to Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us. The Lord our God delivered all to us. 37 Only you did not come near the land of the Ammonites, nor to any place on the River Jabbok, nor to the cities in the hill country, nor to any place the Lord our God had forbidden us.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 2:11 Rephaites, English trans.of Heb. Rephaim, also 2:20; 3:11; Jos 13:12; 17:15.
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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 1
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.

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