Edom Refuses Passage

^14 (A)Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to ^(B)the king of Edom: “Thus says ^(C)your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met:

¹⁶ but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness ^(A)to the Red Sea and ^(B)came to Kadesh. ^17 (C)Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ ^(D)but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ^(E)remained at Kadesh.

⁷ “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for ^(A)he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because ^(B)you were a sojourner in his land.

The Lord's Love for Israel

^2 (A)“I have loved you,” says the Lord. ^(B)But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau ^(C)Jacob's brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet ^(D)I have loved Jacob

Edom's Violence Against Jacob

⁹ They said to him, ^(A)“From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God. ^(B)For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt,

⁴ and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of ^(A)your brothers, the people of Esau, ^(B)who live in Seir; and ^(C)they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. ⁵ Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because ^(D)I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ^6 (E)You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. ⁷ For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. ^(F)He knows your going through this great wilderness. ^(G)These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ ⁸ So ^(H)we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from ^(I)the Arabah road from ^(J)Elath and ^(K)Ezion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. ⁹ And the Lord said to me, ^(L)‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given ^(M)Ar to ^(N)the people of Lot for a possession.’ ¹⁰ (^(O)The Emim formerly lived there, ^(P)a people great and many, and tall ^(Q)as the Anakim. ¹¹ Like the Anakim they are also counted as ^(R)Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ^12 (S)The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, ^(T)as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) ¹³ ‘Now rise up and go over ^(U)the brook Zered.’ So we went over ^(V)the brook Zered. ¹⁴ And the time from our leaving ^(W)Kadesh-barnea until we crossed ^(X)the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, ^(Y)until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. ¹⁵ For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

¹⁶ “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, ¹⁷ the Lord said to me, ¹⁸ ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹ And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, ^(Z)do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to ^(AA)the sons of Lot for a possession.’ ²⁰ (It is also counted as a land of ^(AB)Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— ^21 (AC)a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites,^[a] and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, ²² as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed ^(AD)the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. ²³ As for ^(AE)the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as ^(AF)Gaza, ^(AG)the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) ²⁴ ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and ^(AH)go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of ^(AI)Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and ^(AJ)contend with him in battle. ²⁵ This day I will begin to put ^(AK)the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

^31 (A)These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. ³² Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah. ³³ Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. ³⁴ Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. ³⁵ Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. ³⁶ Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. ³⁷ Samlah died, and Shaul of ^(B)Rehoboth on the Euphrates^[a] reigned in his place. ³⁸ Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. ³⁹ Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pau; his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.

³ And Jacob sent^[a] messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of ^(A)Seir, the country of Edom, ⁴ instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now.