Deuteronomy 2:1–37
2 “Then we turned and ajourneyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, bas the Lord spoke to me, and we 1skirted Mount Seir for many days.
2 “And the Lord spoke to me, saying: 3 ‘You have skirted this mountain clong enough; turn northward. 4 And command the people, saying, d“You are about to pass through the territory of eyour brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. 5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, fbecause I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.
7 “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your 2trudging through this great wilderness. gThese forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ’
8 “And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from hElath and Ezion Geber, we iturned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab. 9 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given jAr to kthe descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”
10 l(The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as mthe Anakim. 11 They were also regarded as 3giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 nThe Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their 4place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the Lord gave them.)
13 “ ‘Now rise and cross over othe 5Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. 14 And the time we took to come pfrom Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, quntil all the generation of the men of war 6was consumed from the midst of the camp, rjust as the Lord had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they 7were consumed.
16 “So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, 17 that the Lord spoke to me, saying: 18 ‘This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab. 19 And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to sthe descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”
20 (That was also regarded as a land of 8giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them tZamzummim, 21 ua people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, 22 just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, vwho dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed wthe Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day. 23 And xthe Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—ythe Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)
24 “ ‘Rise, take your journey, and zcross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand aSihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin 9to possess it, and engage him in battle. 25 bThis day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations 1under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall ctremble and be in anguish because of you.’
26 “And I dsent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, ewith words of peace, saying, 27 f‘Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left. 28 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; gonly let me pass through on foot, 29 hjust as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord our God is giving us.’
30 i“But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for jthe Lord your God khardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.
31 “And the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to lgive Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess it, that you may inherit his land.’ 32 mThen Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz. 33 And nthe Lord our God delivered him 2over to us; so owe defeated him, his sons, and all his people. 34 We took all his cities at that time, and we putterly destroyed the men, women, and little ones of every city; we left none remaining. 35 We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we took. 36 qFrom Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and from rthe city that is in the ravine, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; sthe Lord our God delivered all to us. 37 Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammon—anywhere along the River tJabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, or uwherever the Lord our God had forbidden us.