Deuteronomy 2

1 “And setting out from there, we arrived at the wilderness which leads to the Red Sea, just as the Lord had spoken to me. And we encompassed Mount Seir for a long time.

Then we went back, journeying into the waste land by the way to the Red Sea, as the Lord had said to me: and we were a long time going round Mount Seir.

2 And the Lord said to me:

And the Lord said to me,

3 ‘You have encompassed this mountain for long enough. Go forth, toward the north.

You have been journeying round this mountain long enough: now go to the north;

4 And instruct the people, saying: You shall cross through the borders of your brothers, the sons of Esau, who live at Seir, and they will fear you.

And give the people orders, saying, You are about to go through the land of your brothers, the children of Esau, who are living in Seir; and they will have fear of you; so take care what you do:

5 Therefore, take care diligently, lest you be moved against them. For I will not give to you from their land even as much as the step that one foot can tread upon, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.

Make no attack on them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even space enough for a man's foot: because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for his heritage.

6 You shall buy food from them for money, and you shall eat. You shall draw water for money, and you shall drink.

You may get food for your needs from them for a price, and water for drinking.

7 The Lord your God has blessed you in every work of your hands. The Lord your God, dwelling with you, knows your journey, how you crossed through this great wilderness over forty years, and how you have been lacking in nothing.’

For the blessing of the Lord your God has been on you in all the work of your hands: he has knowledge of your wanderings through this great waste: these forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have been short of nothing.

8 And when we had passed through our brothers, the sons of Esau, who were living at Seir by the way of the plain from Elath and from Eziongeber, we arrived at the way which leads to the desert of Moab.

So we went on past our brothers, the children of Esau, living in Seir, by the road through the Arabah, from Elath and Ezion-geber. And turning, we went by the road through the waste land of Moab.

9 And the Lord said to me: ‘You should not fight against the Moabites, nor should you go to battle against them. For I will not give to you anything from their land, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.’

And the Lord said to me, Make no attack on Moab and do not go to war with them, for I will not give you any of his land: because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for their heritage.

10 The Emim were the first of its inhabitants, a people great and strong, and of such great height, like the race of the Anakim.

(In the past the Emim were living there; a great people, equal in numbers to the Anakim and as tall;

11 They were considered to be like giants, and they were like the sons of the Anakim. And, indeed, the Moabites call them: the Emim.

They are numbered among the Rephaim, like the Anakim; but are named Emim by the Moabites.

12 The Horites also formerly lived at Seir. When these had been driven out and destroyed, the sons of Esau lived there, just as Israel did in the land of his possession, which the Lord gave to him.

And the Horites in earlier times were living in Seir, but the children of Esau took their place; they sent destruction on them and took their land for themselves, as Israel did to the land of his heritage which the Lord gave them.)

13 Then, rising up so as to cross over the torrent Zered, we arrived at the place.

Get up now, and go over the stream Zered. So we went over the stream Zered.

14 Then, from the time that we advanced from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the torrent Zered, there were thirty-eight years, until the entire generation of the men who were fit for war had been consumed out of the camp, just as the Lord had sworn.

Thirty-eight years had gone by from the time when we came away from Kadesh-barnea till we went over the stream Zered; by that time all the generation of the men of war among us were dead, as the Lord had said.

15 For his hand was against them, so that they would pass away from the midst of the camp.

For the hand of the Lord was against them, working their destruction, till all were dead.

16 Then, after all the fighting men had fallen,

So when death had overtaken all the men of war among the people,

17 the Lord spoke to me, saying:

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

18 ‘Today, you shall cross the borders of Moab, at the city named Ar.

You are about to go by Ar, the limit of the country of Moab;

19 And when you have arrived in the vicinity of the sons of Ammon, be careful that you do not fight against them, nor should you be moved to battle. For I will not give to you from the land of the sons of Ammon, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’

And when you come near the land of the children of Ammon, give them no cause of trouble and do not make war on them, for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon for your heritage: because I have given it to the children of Lot.

20 It was reputed to be a land of giants. And giants lived there in times past, those whom the Ammonites call the Zamzummim.

(That land is said to have been a land of the Rephaim, for Rephaim had been living there in earlier times, but they were named Zamzummim by the Ammonites;

21 They are a people, great and numerous, and of lofty stature, like the Anakim, whom the Lord wiped away before their face. And he caused them to live there in place of them,

They were a great people, tall as the Anakim, and equal to them in number; but the Lord sent destruction on them and the children of Ammon took their place, living in their land;

22 just as he had done for the sons of Esau, who live at Seir, wiping out the Horites and delivering their land to them, which they possess even to the present time.

As he did for the children of Esau living in Seir, when he sent destruction on the Horites before them, and they took their land where they are living to this day:

23 Likewise the Hevites, who were living in small villages as far as Gaza, were expelled by the Cappadocians, who went forth from Cappadocia, and they wiped them out and lived in their place.

And the Avvim, living in the small towns as far as Gaza, came to destruction by the hands of the Caphtorim who came out from Caphtor and took their land.)

24 ‘Rise up and cross the torrent Arnon! Behold, I have delivered Sihon, the king of Heshbon, the Amorite, into your hand, and so, begin to possess his land and to engage in battle against him.

Get up now, and go on your journey, crossing over the valley of the Arnon: see, I have given into your hands Sihon, the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and all his land: go forward to make it yours, and make war on him,

25 Today I will begin to send the terror and dread of you among the peoples who are living under all of heaven, so that, when they hear your name, they may be afraid, and may tremble in the manner of a woman giving birth, and may be gripped by anguish.’

From now on I will put the fear of you in all peoples under heaven, who, hearing of you, will be shaking with fear and grief of heart because of you.

26 Therefore, I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon, the king of Heshbon, with peaceful words, saying:

Then from the waste land of Kedemoth I sent representatives to Sihon, king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying,

27 ‘We will cross through your land. We will advance by the public way. We will not turn aside, neither to the right, nor to the left.

Let me go through your land: I will keep to the highway, not turning to the right or to the left;

28 Sell us food for a price, so that we may eat. Provide us with water for money, and so we will drink. We only ask that you allow us to pass through,

Let me have food, at a price, for my needs, and water for drinking: only let me go through on foot;

29 just as the sons of Esau have done, who live at Seir, and the Moabites, who abide in Ar, until we arrive at the Jordan, and we cross to the land which the Lord our God will give to us.’

As the children of Esau did for me in Seir and the Moabites in Ar; till I have gone over Jordan into the land which the Lord our God is giving us.

30 And Sihon, the king of Heshbon, was not willing to grant passage to us. For the Lord your God had hardened his spirit, and had fastened his heart, so that he would be delivered into your hands, just as you now see.

But Sihon, king of Heshbon, would not let us go through; for the Lord your God made his spirit hard and his heart strong, so that he might give him up into your hands as at this day.

31 And the Lord said to me: ‘Behold, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land to you. Begin to possess it.’

And the Lord said to me, See, from now on I have given Sihon and his land into your hands: go forward now to take his land and make it yours.

32 And Sihon went out to meet us with all his people, to battle at Jahaz.

Then Sihon came out against us with all his people, to make an attack on us at Jahaz.

33 And the Lord our God delivered him to us. And we struck him down, with his sons and all his people.

And the Lord our God gave him into our hands; and we overcame him and his sons and all his people.

34 And we seized all his cities at that time, putting to death their inhabitants: men as well as women and children. We left nothing of them,

At that time we took all his towns, and gave them over to complete destruction, together with men, women, and children; we had no mercy on any:

35 except the cattle, which went to the share of those who plundered them. And we seized the spoils of the cities,

Only the cattle we took for ourselves, with the goods from the towns we had taken.

36 from Aroer, which is above the bank of the torrent Arnon, a town which is situated in a valley, all the way to Gilead. There was not a village or city which escaped from our hands. The Lord our God delivered everything to us,

From Aroer on the edge of the valley of the Arnon and from the town in the valley as far as Gilead, no town was strong enough to keep us out; the Lord our God gave them all into our hands:

37 except the land of the sons of Ammon, which we did not approach, and all that is adjacent to the torrent Jabbok, and the cities in the mountains, and all the places which the Lord our God prohibited to us.”

But you did not go near the land of the children of Ammon, that is, all the side of the river Jabbok or the towns of the hill-country, wherever the Lord our God had said we were not to go.