²⁰ Then he said, ^(A)“You shall not pass through.” So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand.

¹¹ Thus says the Lord:

¹⁷ Then ^(A)Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let me pass through your land.” ^(B)But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the ^(C)king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ^(D)remained in Kadesh.

Edom Mistreated His Brother

^5 (A)“Because you have had an ^[a]ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, ^(B)when their iniquity came to an end, ⁶ therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will prepare you for ^(C)blood, and blood shall pursue you; ^(D)since you have not hated ^[b]blood, therefore blood shall pursue you. ⁷ Thus I will make Mount Seir ^[c]most desolate, and cut off from it the ^(E)one who leaves and the one who returns. ⁸ And I will fill its mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those who are slain by the sword shall fall. ^9 (F)I will make you ^[d]perpetually desolate, and your cities shall be uninhabited; ^(G)then you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰ “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will ^(H)possess them,’ although ^(I)the Lord was there, ¹¹ therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will do ^(J)according to your anger and according to the envy which you showed in your hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.

^20 (A)But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

¹⁸ Then ^(A)Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword.”

⁶ Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and ^(A)he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”