Deuteronomy 2–3

2Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Jehovah spake unto me; and we compassed mount Seir many days. ²And Jehovah spake unto me, saying, ³Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. ⁴And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore; ⁵contend not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. ⁶Ye shall purchase food of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. ⁷For Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; he hath known thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Jehovah thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing. ⁸So we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion-geber.

And we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. ⁹And Jehovah said unto me, Vex not Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give thee of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession. ¹⁰(The Emim dwelt therein aforetime, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim: ¹¹these also are accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim. ¹²The Horites also dwelt in Seir aforetime, but the children of Esau succeeded them; and they destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which Jehovah gave unto them). ¹³Now rise up, and get you over the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered. ¹⁴And the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as Jehovah sware unto them. ¹⁵Moreover the hand of Jehovah was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed.

¹⁶So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, ¹⁷that Jehovah spake unto me, saying, ¹⁸Thou art this day to pass over Ar, the border of Moab: ¹⁹and when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, vex them not, nor contend with them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession. ²⁰(That also is accounted a land of Rephaim: Rephaim dwelt therein aforetime; but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, ²¹a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Jehovah destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead; ²²as he did for the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day: ²³And the Avvim, that dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, that came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.) ²⁴Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon: behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. ²⁵This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.

²⁶And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, ²⁷Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither unto the right hand nor to the left. ²⁸Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only let me pass through on my feet; ²⁹as the children of Esau that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites that dwell in Ar, did unto me; until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Jehovah our God giveth us. ³⁰But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Jehovah thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as at this day. ³¹And Jehovah said unto me, Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. ³²Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Jahaz. ³³And Jehovah our God delivered him up before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. ³⁴And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones; we left none remaining: ³⁵only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken. ³⁶From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, even unto Gilead, there was not a city too high for us; Jehovah our God delivered up all before us: ³⁷only to the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not near; all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill-country, and wheresoever Jehovah our God forbade us.

3Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Edrei. ²And Jehovah said unto me, Fear him not; for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon. ³So Jehovah our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.

⁴And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we took not from them; threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars; besides the unwalled towns a great many. ⁶And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. ⁷But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey unto ourselves. ⁸And we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon unto mount Hermon; ⁹(which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir); ¹⁰all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ¹¹(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.)

¹²And this land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill-country of Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites: ¹³and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim. ¹⁴Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth-jair, unto this day.) ¹⁵And I gave Gilead unto Machir. ¹⁶And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and the border thereof, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; ¹⁷the Arabah also, and the Jordan and the border thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward. ¹⁸And I commanded you at that time, saying, Jehovah your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all the men of valor. ¹⁹But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (I know that ye have much cattle), shall abide in your cities which I have given you, ²⁰until Jehovah give rest unto your brethren, as unto you, and they also possess the land which Jehovah your God giveth them beyond the Jordan: then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you. ²¹And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that Jehovah your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall Jehovah do unto all the kingdoms whither thou goest over. ²²Ye shall not fear them; for Jehovah your God, he it is that fighteth for you.

²³And I besought Jehovah at that time, saying, ²⁴O Lord Jehovah, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness, and thy strong hand: for what god is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy mighty acts? ²⁵Let me go over, I pray thee, and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. ²⁶But Jehovah was wroth with me for your sakes, and hearkened not unto me; and Jehovah said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. ²⁷Get thee up unto the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. ²⁸But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. ²⁹So we abode in the valley over against Beth-peor.