Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options Listen to Deuteronomy 2
Close NASB

Deuteronomy 2
New American Standard Bible

Wanderings in the Wilderness

2 “(A)Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the [a]Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we circled (B)Mount Seir for many days. 2 And the Lord 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, not even as much as a [c]footprint, (F)because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You are to buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all [d]that you have done; He has known your [e]wandering through this (G)great wilderness. These (H)forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked anything.”’

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)Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not attack Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of [f]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 previously, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim, they too are regarded as (N)Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 (O)The Horites previously lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before [g]them, and settled in their place; (P)just as Israel did to the land of [h]their possession which the Lord gave them.) 13 ‘Now arise and cross over the [i]Wadi Zered yourselves.’ So we crossed over the [j]Wadi Zered. 14 Now the [k]time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the [l]Wadi Zered was (Q)thirty-eight years, until (R)all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, just as (S)the Lord had sworn to them. 15 (T)Indeed, the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from within the camp until they all perished.

16 “So it came about, when (U)all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, 17 that the Lord spoke to me, saying, 18 ‘Today you shall cross over (V)Ar, the border of Moab. 19 When you come opposite the (W)sons of Ammon, do not attack 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, because the Rephaim previously lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin, 21 a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before [m]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, where they remain even to this day. 23 And as for the (AB)Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the [n](AC)Caphtorim, who came from [o](AD)Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.) 24 ‘Arise, set out, and pass through the [p](AE)Valley of Arnon. Look! I have handed over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; start taking possession and plunge into battle with him. 25 This day I will begin to put (AF)the dread and fear of you upon the faces of [q]people everywhere, [r]who, when they hear the news 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 [s]travel only on the road. 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 [t]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 that the Lord our God is giving us.’ 30 But (AK)Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass [u]through his land; for the (AL)Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to hand him over to you, as he is today. 31 And the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to turn Sihon and his land over [v]to you. Begin taking possession, so that you may possess his land.’

32 “Then Sihon came out [w]with all his people to meet us in battle at Jahaz. 33 And (AM)the Lord our God turned him over [x]to us, and we [y](AN)defeated him with his sons and all his people. 34 So we captured all his cities at that time and [z](AO)utterly destroyed [aa]the men, women, and children of every city. We left no survivor. 35 We took (AP)only the animals as our plunder, and the spoils of the cities which we had captured. 36 From (AQ)Aroer which is on the edge of the [ab]Valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the [ac]valley, even to Gilead, there was no city that was too [ad]high for us; the Lord our God turned it all over [ae]to us. 37 (AR)Only you did not go near the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the [af]river (AS)Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the Lord our God had commanded us to avoid.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 2:1 Lit Sea of Reeds
  2. Deuteronomy 2:5 Or engage in strife with
  3. Deuteronomy 2:5 Lit treading of a sole of a foot
  4. Deuteronomy 2:7 Lit the work of your hand
  5. Deuteronomy 2:7 Lit going
  6. Deuteronomy 2:9 Lit his
  7. Deuteronomy 2:12 I.e., the sons of Esau
  8. Deuteronomy 2:12 Lit his
  9. Deuteronomy 2:13 I.e., dry stream bed, except in the rainy season
  10. Deuteronomy 2:13 I.e., dry stream bed, except in the rainy season
  11. Deuteronomy 2:14 Lit days in which we went
  12. Deuteronomy 2:14 See note v 13
  13. Deuteronomy 2:21 I.e., the Ammonites
  14. Deuteronomy 2:23 I.e., Philistines
  15. Deuteronomy 2:23 I.e., Crete
  16. Deuteronomy 2:24 Or wadi
  17. Deuteronomy 2:25 Lit peoples under all the heavens
  18. Deuteronomy 2:25 Lit who will hear...and tremble
  19. Deuteronomy 2:27 Lit go on the road, on the road
  20. Deuteronomy 2:28 Lit my feet
  21. Deuteronomy 2:30 Lit by him
  22. Deuteronomy 2:31 Lit before you
  23. Deuteronomy 2:32 Lit he and
  24. Deuteronomy 2:33 Lit before us
  25. Deuteronomy 2:33 Lit struck
  26. Deuteronomy 2:34 Or put under the ban
  27. Deuteronomy 2:34 Lit every city of men...
  28. Deuteronomy 2:36 Or wadi
  29. Deuteronomy 2:36 Or wadi
  30. Deuteronomy 2:36 Or strong
  31. Deuteronomy 2:36 Lit before us
  32. Deuteronomy 2:37 Or wadi
Close CEB

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
Next
Deuteronomy 1
Deuteronomy 3
Next
dropdown
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible is made available by The Lockman Foundation
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible