“Then we turned and set out toward the wildernessa in the direction of the ⌊Red Sea⌋,b as Yahweh told me, and we went around Mount Seir for many days. 2 Yahweh spoke to me, ⌊saying⌋,c 3 ‘Long enough you have been skirting this mountain; turn yourselves north, 4 and instructd the people, ⌊saying⌋,e “You are about to cross through the territory of your brothers, the descendantsf of Esau, who are living in Seir; they will be afraid of you, and so be very careful. 5 Do not get involved in battleg with them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even ⌊a foot’s breadth⌋h of it; since I have given Mount Seir as a possession for Esau. 6 You shall buy food from them so that you may eat; and also you shall purchase water from them with money so that you may drink. 7 The fact of the matter is, Yahweh your God has blessed you in ⌊all the work you have done⌋;i he knows ⌊your travels⌋j with respect to this great wilderness; forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.” ’ 8 And so we passed by our brothers, the descendantsk of Esau, who live in Seir, past the road of the Arabah,l from Elath and Ezion Geber, and we turned and traveled along the route of the desertm of Moab.