Deuteronomy 2

1 “Then we turned around and went through the desert toward the (Red Sea/Gulf of Aqaba), as Yahweh told us to do, and we wandered in the Edom area for many years.

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.

2 Then Yahweh said to me,

This is when the Lord told me,

3 ‘You have been wandering around this hilly area for a long enough time. Now turn [and travel] toward the north.

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

4 And tell the people that they are about to travel near the land that belongs to the descendants of Esau, who are also descendants of Isaac. They live in the [hilly] Edom region. They will be afraid of you,

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.

5 but do not start to fight against them, because I am not going to give you even a tiny bit [HYP] of their land. I have given that land to the descendants of Esau.

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.

6 [When you travel near their land], buy food and water from them.’

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

7 Do not forget that Yahweh our God has blessed you in everything that you [SYN] have done. He knows [what has happened to you while] you have wandered in this huge desert. But he has been with you during those 40 years, and as a result you have had everything that you needed [LIT].

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.”

8 So we continued to travel. We avoided going through the hilly area where the descendants of Esau live. We stayed away from the road through the Jordan [River] Valley past Ezion-Geber and Elath [towns], and we turned and traveled northeast toward the desert area where the Moab people-group lives.

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.

9 Yahweh said to me, ‘Do not bother/harass the people of Moab, and do not start to fight against them, because I am not going to give you any of their land. [Do not forget that] they are descendants of [Abraham’s nephew] Lot, and I have given to them Ar [city, their capital, and the other areas in that country].’”

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.”

10 A large group of giants called Emim formerly lived there. They were strong and numerous, and as tall as the giants who were descendants of Anak.

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

11 They and the descendants of Anak are also called the Repha giants, but the people of Moab call them Emim.

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

12 The Hor people-group also formerly lived in the Edom area, but the descendants of Esau chased them out. They defeated and killed them and (settled in/occupied) their land, just as the Israeli people later expelled their enemies from the land that Yahweh gave to them.

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.)

13 [I also said to the Israeli people], “Then we crossed the Zered Gorge, as Yahweh told us to do.

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

14 It had been thirty-eight years from the time we first left Kadesh-Barnea until we crossed the Zered Gorge. During those years, all the Israeli (fighting men/soldiers) of that generation had died, as Yahweh had vowed would happen.

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.

15 They died because Yahweh opposed them, until he had gotten rid of all of them.

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

16 After all the men who had been old enough to fight in wars had died [DOU],

Once the people's warriors had died,

17 Yahweh said to me,

the Lord told me,

18 ‘Today you all must cross the border into the Moab region, near Ar, [their capital city].

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

19 When you come near the border of the land where the Ammon people-group live, do not bother/harass them or start to fight against them. They are also descendants of Lot, so I am not going to give you any of the land that I have given to them.’”

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.”

20 That region is also called the land of the Repha giants, who formerly lived there. The Ammon people-group call them the Zamzum group.

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

21 They were a large and powerful group, who were as tall as the descendants of Anak. But Yahweh got rid of them, and the Ammon people-group expelled them and took their land away from them and started to live there.

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,

22 Yahweh had done the same thing for the descendants of Esau who live in the hilly area of Edom. He got rid of the Hor people-group, with the result that the Edom people-group took their land from them and started to live there. They still live there.

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.

23 People who came from Crete [Island] got rid of the Av group [who previously lived in the land close to the Mediterranean Sea], as far south as Gaza. They took their land from them and started to live there.

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.)

24 “[After we had gone through the Moab region], Yahweh said to us, ‘Now cross the Arnon [River]. I will help you to defeat [IDM] [the army of] Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group, who lives in Heshbon [city]. So attack their army and start to take their land from them.

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.

25 Today I will begin to cause everyone, everywhere, to be afraid of you. Everyone who hears about you will tremble and be terrified.’

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.”

26 Then I sent messengers to go from the desert to King Sihon at Heshbon. I told them to give this peaceful message to the king:

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

27 ‘Please allow us to travel through your land. We [promise that we] will stay on the road; we will not turn off to the right or to the left.

‘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.

28 We will pay for any food or water that you allow us to buy. We want only to walk through your country,

Sell us food to eat and water to drink for money. Just let us pass through on foot,

29 until we cross the Jordan [River] into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us. Do for us just as the descendants of Esau who live in the Edom area and the Moab people-group did for us when they allowed us to go through their areas.’

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.”

30 But King Sihon would not allow us to go through his country. That was because Yahweh our God caused him to be stubborn [IDM]. The result was that Yahweh enabled us to defeat his army and take his land [IDM], which we still live in.

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.

31 Yahweh said to me, ‘Listen! I am about to allow you to defeat Sihon’s [army] and to take the people’s land from them. So start to occupy it!’

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.”

32 Then Sihon came out [of the city] with all his army to fight against us at Jahaz [town].

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

33 But God enabled us to defeat [DOU] them, and we killed Sihon and his sons and all his soldiers.

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

34 We captured all their cities and destroyed them all. We killed all the men and women and children; we did not allow any of them to remain alive.

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.

35 We took the valuable things that were in the cities that we captured and also their cattle.

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

36 Yahweh our God enabled us to capture [IDM] all their towns from Aroer [in the south], which is at the edge of the Arnon River [Valley], to the Gilead [region in the north]. Some of their cities had [walls around them], but we were able to [climb over them].

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.

37 But we did not go near the area where the Ammon people-group live, or the banks of the Jabbok riverbed, or the towns in the hilly area, or any other place where Yahweh our God told us not to go.”

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.