Edom Refuses Passage

¹⁴ From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to ^(A)the king of Edom: “Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You ^(B)know all the hardship that has befallen us, ¹⁵ that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. ¹⁶ So ^(C)we cried out to Yahweh, and He heard our voice and sent ^(D)an angel and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please ^(E)let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we pass through your territory.’”

^18 (F)Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through ^[a]us, lest I come out to meet you with the sword.” ¹⁹ Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if I and ^(G)my livestock do drink any of your water, ^(H)then I will ^[b]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, ^[c]nothing else.” ²⁰ But he said, “^(I)You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out to meet him with a heavy ^[d]force and with a strong hand. ^21 (J)Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; ^(K)so Israel turned away from him.

^17 (A)Indeed, again the Edomites had come and struck Judah and carried away captives.