Deuteronomy 2:1–8

The Wilderness Years

2“Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, ^eas the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. ²Then the Lord said to me, ³‘You have been traveling around this mountain country ^flong enough. Turn northward ⁴and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of ^gyour brothers, the people of Esau, ^hwho live in Seir; and ⁱthey will be afraid of you. So be very careful. ⁵Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because ^hI have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ^6jYou shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. ⁷For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. ^kHe knows your going through this great wilderness. ^lThese forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” ’ ⁸So ^mwe went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from ⁿthe Arabah road from ^oElath and ^pEzion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.