Deuteronomy 2

1 Then we turned around and headed back into the desert on the road that leads to the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me, and we wandered around 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 This is when the Lord told me,

And the Lord said to me,

3 “You have been wandering around this mountain long enough. Go back north,

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

4 and give these orders to the people: ‘You are going to pass through the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be frightened of you, so you need to be very careful.

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 Don't fight them, for I'm not going to give you any of their land, not even the size of a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau and it belongs to him.

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 Pay them with money for the food you eat and the water you drink.’

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

7 Remember that the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you've done. He has looked after you during your journey through this large desert. The Lord your God has been with you for these forty years, and you haven't lacked anything.”

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 So we passed by our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We didn't take the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. Instead we used the road that goes through 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 Then the Lord told me, “Don't cause the Moabites any trouble or fight them, for I'm not going to give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot and it belongs to them.”

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 (A strong and numerous people called the Emim once lived there. They were as tall as the Anakim,

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

11 and just like the Anakim, they were also considered as Rephaim, but the Moabites called them Emim.

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

12 Previously the Horites lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau took over their land. They killed the Horites and settled there, just like Israel did when they occupied the land that the Lord had given them.)

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 the Lord told us, “Go and cross over Zered Brook.” So we crossed over Zered Brook.

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

14 The time it took for us to travel from Kadesh-barnea to when we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years. By this time the entire generation of warriors had died and were no longer part of the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them would happen.

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 In fact the Lord worked against them to remove them from the camp, until they were all dead.

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

16 Once the people's warriors had died,

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

17 the Lord told me,

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

18 “Today you will cross out of Moab at the border near Ar.

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

19 However, when you get enter Ammonite territory, don't cause them any trouble or fight them for I'm not going to give you any Ammonite land, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot and it belongs to them.”

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 (This land was previously considered as the country of the Rephaim who used to live there. However, the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

(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 were a strong and numerous people, as tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them when the Ammonites invaded and drove them out and settled there,

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'd done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites. They drove them out and settled where they used to live, and are still there to this day.

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 The Avvim, living in villages as far away as Gaza, were destroyed by the Philistines, who came from Crete, and settled where they used to live.)

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 Then the Lord told us, “Get up, go and cross the Arnon Valley. Look, I have handed over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, as well as his land. Go and start taking it over, and fight him in battle.

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 From this day on, I'm going to make all nations on earth dread you—they will be terrified of you. Because of the news they hear about you they will tremble in terror when you appear.”

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 Moses told the Israelites, “From the Kedemoth Desert I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon, king of Heshbon, telling him,

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

27 ‘Let us pass through your land. We'll stay on the main road and won't turn off either to the right or 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 to eat and water to drink for money. Just let us pass through on foot,

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

29 just like the descendants of Esau living in Seir and the Moabites living in Ar allowed us, until we cross over the Jordan into the country that the Lord our God is giving 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 But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through, for the Lord your God gave him a stubborn spirit and an obstinate attitude, so the Lord could hand him over to you, as he has now done.

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 Then the Lord told me, “Look, I have started handing Sihon and his land over to you. Now you can begin to conquer and take over his land.”

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 Sihon and his whole army came out to fight us at Jahaz.

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

33 The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we killed him, his sons, and all his army.

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

34 We also captured all his towns, and set apart for destruction the people of every town: men, women, and children. We didn't leave any survivors.

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 All we took for ourselves was the livestock and plunder from the towns we'd captured.

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

36 No town had walls too high for us to conquer—from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley, the town in the valley, all the way to Gilead. The Lord our God handed them all over 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 But you didn't go anywhere near the country of the Ammonites—the area that borders the Jabbok River or the towns of the hill country, or any other place that the Lord our God had placed off limits.

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.