Deuteronomy 2

1 “And we turn and journey into the wilderness, the way of the Red Sea, as YHWH has spoken to me, and we go around Mount Seir [for] many days.

Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the LORD had instructed me, and for many days we wandered around Mount Seir.

2 And YHWH speaks to me, saying,

At this time the LORD said to me,

3 For you go around this mountain long enough; turn for yourselves northward.

“You have been wandering around this hill country long enough; turn to the north

4 And the people command you, saying, You are passing over into the border of your brothers, sons of Esau, who are dwelling in Seir, and they are afraid of you; and you have been very watchful;

and command the people: ‘You will pass through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful.

5 you do not strive with them, for I do not give [any] of their land to you—even the treading of the sole of a foot; I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession.

Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.

6 You buy food from them with money, and have eaten; and you also buy water from them with money, and have drunk.

You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”

7 For your God YHWH has blessed you in all the work of your hands; He has known your walking in this great wilderness these forty years; your God YHWH [is] with you; you have not lacked anything.

Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.

8 And we pass by from our brothers, sons of Esau, who are dwelling in Seir, by the way of the plain, by Elath and by Ezion-Gaber, and we turn and pass over the way of the wilderness of Moab;

So we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber, and traveled along the road of the Wilderness of Moab.

9 and YHWH says to me, Do not distress Moab, nor stir yourself up against them [in] battle, for I do not give [any] of their land to you [for] a possession; for I have given Ar to the sons of Lot [for] a possession.

Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

10 The Emim have formerly dwelt in it, a people great, and numerous, and tall as the Anakim;

(The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.

11 they are reckoned [as] Rephaim, they also, as the Anakim; and the Moabites call them Emim.

Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites.

12 And the Horim have formerly dwelt in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossess them, and destroy them from before them, and dwell in their stead, as Israel has done to the land of his possession which YHWH has given to them.

The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.)

13 Now rise and pass over the Brook of Zered for yourselves; and we pass over the Brook of Zered.

“Now arise and cross over the Brook of Zered.” So we crossed over the Brook of Zered.

14 And the days which we have walked from Kadesh-Barnea until we have passed over the Brook of Zered [are] thirty-eight years, until the consumption of all the generation of the men of battle from the midst of the camp, as YHWH has sworn to them;

The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the Brook of Zered was thirty-eight years, until that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.

15 and indeed the hand of YHWH has been against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they are consumed.

Indeed, the LORD’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp, until they had all perished.

16 And it comes to pass, when all the men of battle have finished dying from the midst of the people,

Now when all the fighting men among the people had died,

17 that YHWH speaks to me, saying,

the LORD said to me,

18 Today you are passing over the border of Moab, even Ar,

“Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.

19 and [when] you have come near the sons of Ammon, you do not distress them, nor stir yourself up against them, for I do not give [any] of the land of the sons of Ammon to you [for] a possession; for I have given it to the sons of Lot [for] a possession.

But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

20 It is reckoned [as] a land of Rephaim, even it; Rephaim formerly dwelt in it, and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,

(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.

21 a people great, and numerous, and tall as the Anakim, and YHWH destroys them before them, and they dispossess them, and dwell in their stead,

They were a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites. But the LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place,

22 as He has done for the sons of Esau who are dwelling in Seir, when He destroyed the Horim from before them, and they dispossess them, and dwell in their stead to this day.

just as He had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.

23 As for the Avim who are dwelling in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim—who are coming out from Caphtor—have destroyed them, and dwell in their stead.

And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor and settled in their place.)

24 Rise, journey, and pass over the Brook of Arnon; see, I have given into your hand Sihon king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land; begin to possess [it], and stir yourself up against him [in] battle.

“Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

25 This [is] the day I begin to put your dread and your fear on the face of the peoples under the whole heavens, who hear your fame, and have trembled and been pained because of you.

This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”

26 And I send messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, [with] words of peace, saying,

So from the Wilderness of Kedemoth I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon, saying,

27 Let me pass over through your land; in the way—in the way I go, I do not turn aside [to the] right or left.

“Let us pass through your land; we will stay on the main road. We will not turn to the right or to the left.

28 You sell me food for money, and I have eaten; and you give to me water for money, and I have drunk; only, let me pass over on my feet,

You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,

29 as the sons of Esau who are dwelling in Seir and the Moabites who are dwelling in Ar have done for me, until I pass over the Jordan to the land which our God YHWH is giving to us.

just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

30 And Sihon king of Heshbon has not been willing to let us pass over by him, for your God YHWH has hardened his spirit and strengthened his heart, so as to give him into your hand as at this day.

But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.

31 And YHWH says to me, See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before your faces; begin to possess—to possess his land.

Then the LORD said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

32 And Sihon comes out to meet us, he and all his people, to the battle at Jahaz;

So Sihon and his whole army came out for battle against us at Jahaz.

33 and our God YHWH gives him before our faces, and we strike him, and his sons, and all his people;

And the LORD our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and his whole army.

34 and we capture all his cities at that time, and devote the whole city—men, and the women, and the infants; we have not left a remnant;

At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors.

35 only, we have spoiled the livestock for ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we have captured.

We carried off for ourselves only the livestock and the plunder from the cities we captured.

36 From Aroer, which [is] by the edge of the Brook of Arnon, and the city which [is] by the brook, even to Gilead, there has not been a city which [is] too high for us; our God YHWH has given the whole before our faces.

From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.

37 Only, you have not drawn near to the land of the sons of Ammon—any part of the Brook of Jabbok, and cities of the hill-country, and anything which our God YHWH has [not] commanded.”

But you did not go near the land of the Ammonites, or the land along the banks of the Jabbok River, or the cities of the hill country, or any place that the LORD our God had forbidden.