^2:26Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth³⁸ Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace: ^2:27“Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway.³⁹ I will not turn aside to the right or the left. ^2:28Sell me food for cash⁴⁰ so that I can eat and sell me water to drink.⁴¹ Just allow me to go through on foot, ^2:29just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us.” ^2:30But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord our⁴² God had made him obstinate⁴³ and stubborn⁴⁴ so that he might deliver him over to you⁴⁵ this very day. ^2:31The Lord said to me, “Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession.” ^2:32When Sihon and all his troops⁴⁶ emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz,⁴⁷^2:33the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sons⁴⁸ and everyone else.⁴⁹

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Footnotes

38 Kedemoth. This is probably Aleiyan, about 8 mi (13 km) north of the Arnon and between Dibon and Mattanah.
39 Heb “in the way in the way” (בַּדֶּרֶךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, baderekh baderekh). The repetition lays great stress on the idea of resolute determination to stick to the path. §7.2.3c.
40 Heb “silver.”
41 Heb “and water for silver give to me so that I may drink.”
42 The translation follows the in reading the first person pronoun. The , followed by many English versions, has a second person masculine singular pronoun, “your.”
43 Heb “hardened his spirit” (so , , ); “made his spirit stubborn.”
44 Heb “made his heart obstinate” (so , ); “made his heart defiant.”
45 Heb “into your hand.”
46 Heb “people.”
47 Jahaz. This is probably Khirbet el-Medeiyineh. See J. Dearman, “The Levitical Cities of Reuben and Moabite Toponymy,” 276 (1984): 55–57.
48 The translation follows the Qere or marginal reading; the Kethib (consonantal text) has the singular, “his son.”
49 Heb “all his people.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon the king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, ‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. You shall 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 foot, as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.’ But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’ Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. And the Lord our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying, “Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot—as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us—until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.” But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.

The Lord said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz, the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“So I sent messengers with an offer of peace to King Sihon of Heshbon from the Wilderness of Kedemoth, saying, ‘Let us travel through your land; we will keep strictly to the highway. We will not turn to the right or the left. You can sell us food in exchange for silver so we may eat, and give us water for silver so we may drink. Only let us travel through on foot, just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for us, and the Moabites who live in Ar, until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’ But King Sihon of Heshbon would not let us travel through his land, for the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to hand him over to you, as has now taken place.

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to take possession of it.’ So Sihon and his whole army came out against us for battle at Jahaz. The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his whole army.

NLTNew Living Translation

Moses continued, “From the wilderness of Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of Heshbon with this proposal of peace:

‘Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the main road and won’t turn off into the fields on either side. Sell us food to eat and water to drink, and we will pay for it. All we want is permission to pass through your land. The descendants of Esau who live in Seir allowed us to go through their country, and so did the Moabites, who live in Ar. Let us pass through until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’

“But King Sihon of Heshbon refused to allow us to pass through, because the Lord your God made Sihon stubborn and defiant so he could help you defeat him, as he has now done.

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Look, I have begun to hand King Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to conquer and occupy his land.’

“Then King Sihon declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz. But the Lord our God handed him over to us, and we crushed him, his sons, and all his people.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon; I sent terms of peace, saying, ‘Let me cross through your land and only along the road I will go; I will not turn aside to the right or to the left. Food for money you shall sell me, so that I may eat, and water for money you will give to me, so that I may drink; just let me cross on foot. Just as the descendants of Esau did for me, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, until I cross the Jordan into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us.’ But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us cross through his territory because Yahweh your God hardened his spirit and made him obstinate in order to give him into your hand, just as he has now done. Yahweh said to me, ‘Look! I have begun to give over to you Sihon and his land; begin to take possession of his land.’ Then Sihon and all his people came out to meet us for battle at Jahaz. And so Yahweh our God gave him over to us, and we struck him down, and his sons and all of his people.

KJV 1900King James Version

And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet; (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the Lord our God giveth us. But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the Lord our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

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