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 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 YHWH speaks to me, saying,

And the Lord said to me,

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

You have been journeying round this mountain long enough: now go 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 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 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.

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

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

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.

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 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 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 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.

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 have formerly dwelt in it, a people great, and numerous, and 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 they are reckoned [as] Rephaim, they also, as the Anakim; and the Moabites call them Emim.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

17 that YHWH speaks to me, saying,

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

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

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

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.

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

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 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, 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, 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.

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 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.

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

Then from the waste land of Kedemoth I sent representatives to Sihon, king of Heshbon, with words of peace, 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 me go through your land: I will keep to the highway, not turning 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,

Let me have food, at a price, for my needs, and water for drinking: only let me go 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.

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 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 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 YHWH says to me, See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before your faces; begin to possess—to possess 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 And Sihon comes out to meet us, he and all his people, to the battle at Jahaz;

Then Sihon came out against us with all his people, to make an attack on 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 gave him into our hands; and we overcame him and his sons and all his people.

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

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

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

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 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 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 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.