< Deuteronomy 2 >
1 And we yeden forth fro thennus, and camen in to the wildirnesse that ledith to the Reed See, as the Lord seide to me; and we cumpassiden the hil of Seir in long tyme.
“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.
2 And the Lord seide to me, It sufficith to you to cumpasse this hil;
Then Yahweh said to me,
‘You have been wandering around this hilly area for a long enough time. Now turn [and travel] toward the north.
4 And comaunde thou to the puple, and seie, Ye schulen passe bi the termes of youre britheren, the sones of Esau, that dwellen in Seir, and thei schulen drede you.
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,
5 Therfor se ye diligentli, that ye be not moued ayens hem; for Y schal not yyue to you of the land `of hem as myche as the steppe of o foot may trede, for Y yaf the hil of Seir in to the possessioun of Esau.
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.
6 Ye schulden bie of hem metis for money, and ye schulen ete; ye schulden drawe, and drynke watir bouyt.
[When you travel near their land], buy food and water from them.’
7 Thi Lord God blesside thee in al the werk of thin hondis; he knewe thi weye, hou thou passidist this moste wildirnesse, bi fourti yeer; and thi Lord God dwellide with thee, and no thing failide to thee.
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].
8 And whanne we hadden passid bi oure britheren, the sones of Esau, that dwelliden in Seir, bi the weie of the feeld of Elath, and of Asiongaber, we camen to the weie that ledith in to deseert of Moab.
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.
9 And the Lord seide to me, Fiyte thou not ayens Moabitis, nether bigyn thou batel ayens hem, for Y schal not yyue to thee ony thing of the lond `of hem, for Y yaf Ar in to possessioun to `the sones of Loth.
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].’”
10 Emyn, `that is, griseful men, weren first dwelleris therof, a greet puple, and strong, and so hiy, that thei weren bileued as giantis,
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.
11 of the generacioun of Enachym, and thei weren lijk the sones of Enachym; forsothe Moabitis clepen hem Emyn.
They and the descendants of Anak are also called the Repha giants, but the people of Moab call them Emim.
12 Forsothe Horreis dwelliden bifore in Seir, and whanne thei weren put out, and weren doon awey, `the sones of Esau dwelliden there, as Israel dide in the lond of his possessioun, which the Lord yaf to hym.
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.
13 Therfor we riseden, that we schulden passe the stronde of Zared, and camen to it.
[I also said to the Israeli people], “Then we crossed the Zered Gorge, as Yahweh told us to do.
14 Sotheli the tyme in whiche we yeden fro Cades Barne `til to the passynge of the stronde of Zared, was of eiyte and thretti yeer, til al the generacioun of `men fiyteris was wastid fro `the castels, as the Lord hadde swore; whos hond was ayens hem,
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.
15 that thei schulden perische fro the myddis of `the castels.
They died because Yahweh opposed them, until he had gotten rid of all of them.
16 Forsothe after that alle the fiyteris felden doun,
After all the men who had been old enough to fight in wars had died [DOU],
17 the Lord spak to me, and seide,
Yahweh said to me,
18 Thou schalt passe to dai the termes of Moab,
‘Today you all must cross the border into the Moab region, near Ar, [their capital city].
19 the cytee, Ar bi name, and thou schalt neiy in the nyy coost of the sones of Amon; be thou war that thou fiyte not ayens hem, nether be moued to batel; for Y schal not yyue to thee of the lond of the sones of Amon, for Y yaf it to the `sones of Loth in to possessioun.
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.’”
20 It is arettid the lond of giauntis, and giauntis enhabitiden therynne sumtyme, whiche giauntis Amonytis clepen Zonym;
That region is also called the land of the Repha giants, who formerly lived there. The Ammon people-group call them the Zamzum group.
21 a myche puple and greet, and of noble lengthe, as Enachym, whiche the Lord dide awey fro the face of hem,
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.
22 and made hem to dwelle for `tho giauntis, as he dide to the sones of Esau, that dwellen in Seire, `and dide awai Horreis, and yaf to hem the lond `of Horreis, which `the sones of Esau welden `til in to present tyme.
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.
23 Also men of Capadocie puttiden out Eueys, that dwelliden in Asseryn, `til to Gaza; which yeden out fro Capadocie, and diden awey Eueis, and dwelliden for hem.
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.
24 Rise ye, and `passe ye the stronde of Arnon; lo! Y haue bitake in `thin hond Seon, king of Esebon, of Amorreis; and his lond bigynne thou `to welde, and smyte thou batel ayens him.
“[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.
25 To dai Y schal bigynne to sende thi drede and strengthe in to puplis that dwellen vndir al heuene, that whanne thi name is herd, thei drede, and tremble bi the maner of wymmen trauelynge of child, and `be holdun with sorewe.
Today I will begin to cause everyone, everywhere, to be afraid of you. Everyone who hears about you will tremble and be terrified.’
26 Therfor Y sente messangeris fro the wildirnesse of Cademoch to Seon, kyng of Esebon; and Y seide with pesible wordis,
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:
27 We schulen passe thorou thi lond, we schulen go in the comyn weie; we schulen not bowe nether to the riyt side, nether to the left side.
‘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.
28 Sille thow metis `to vs for prijs, that we ete; yif thow watir for money, and so we schulen drynke. Oneli it is that thou graunte passage to vs,
We will pay for any food or water that you allow us to buy. We want only to walk through your country,
29 as the sones of Esau diden, that dwellen in Seir, and as Moabitis diden, that dwellen in Ar, til we comen to Jordan, and passen to the lond which oure Lord God schal yyue to vs.
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.’
30 And Seon, kyng of Esebon, nolde yyue passage `to vs; for thi Lord God made hard his spirit, and made sad in yuel `the herte of hym, that he schulde be bitakun in to thin hondis, as thou seest now.
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.
31 And the Lord seide to me, Lo, Y bigan to bitake to thee Seon, and his lond; bigynne thou to welde it.
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!’
32 And Seon yede out ayens vs with al his puple to batel in Jasa.
Then Sihon came out [of the city] with all his army to fight against us at Jahaz [town].
33 And oure Lord God bitook hym to vs, and we han smyte hym with hise sones, and al his puple.
But God enabled us to defeat [DOU] them, and we killed Sihon and his sons and all his soldiers.
34 And we token in that tyme alle the citees, whanne the dwelleris of tho citees, men, and wymmen, and children weren slayn; we leften not in hem ony thing,
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.
35 outakun beestis that camen in to the part of men takynge prey, and outakun spuylis of the cytees whiche we tokun.
We took the valuable things that were in the cities that we captured and also their cattle.
36 Fro Aroer, which is on the brenke of the stronde of Arnon, fro the toun which is set in the valey, `til to Galaad, no town was ether citee, that ascapide oure hondis.
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].
37 Oure Lord God bitook alle to vs; outakun the lond of the sones of Amon, to which lond we neiyiden not, and outakun alle thingis that liggen to the stronde of Jeboth, and outakun the citees of the munteyns, and alle places fro whiche oure Lord God forbeed vs.
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.”