The Desert Years
1 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea,as theLordspoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.
2 “And theLordspoke to me, saying:
3 ‘You have skirted this mountainlong enough; turn northward.
4 And command the people, saying,“Youareabouttopass through the territory ofyour 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 youanyof their land, no, not so much as one footstep,because I have given Mount Seir to Esauasa 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 theLordyour God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness.These forty years theLordyour Godhasbeenwith 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 fromElath and Ezion Geber, weturned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab.
9 Then theLordsaid to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give youanyof their landasa possession, because I have givenAr tothe descendants of Lotasa possession.’ ”
10 (The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall asthe Anakim.
11 They were also regarded as giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
12 The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which theLordgave them.)
13 “ ‘Now rise and cross overthe Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered.
14 And the time we took to comefrom Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zeredwasthirty-eight years,until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp,just as theLordhad sworn to them.
15 For indeed the hand of theLordwas against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed.
16 “So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people,
17 that theLordspoke to me, saying:
18 ‘This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab.
19 Andwhenyou come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give youanyof the land of the people of Ammonasa possession, because I have given it tothe descendants of Lotasa possession.’ ”
20 (That was also regarded as a land of giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call themZamzummim,
21 a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But theLorddestroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place,
22 just as He had done for the descendants of Esau,who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyedthe Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day.
23 Andthe Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)
24 “ ‘Rise, take your journey, andcross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your handSihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possessit,and engage him in battle.
25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shalltremble and be in anguish because of you.’
King Sihon Defeated
26 “And Isent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon,with words of peace, saying,
27 ‘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;only let me pass through on foot,
29 just 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 theLordour God is giving us.’
30 “But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, fortheLordyour Godhardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, asitisthis day.
31 “And theLordsaid to me, ‘See, I have begun togive Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possessit,that you may inherit his land.’
32 Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz.
33 AndtheLordour God delivered him over to us; sowe defeated him, his sons, and all his people.
34 We took all his cities at that time, and weutterly 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 From Aroer, whichison the bank of the River Arnon, andfromthe city thatisin the ravine, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us;theLordour God delivered all to us.
37 Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammon—anywhere along the RiverJabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, orwherever theLordour God had forbidden us.