Deu 2 | ESV | STEP | Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea , as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir .

1 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, ^aas the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country ^blong enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of ^cyour brothers, the people of Esau, ^dwho live in Seir; and ^ethey will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do 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 ^fI have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 ^gYou 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. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. ^hHe knows your going through this great wilderness. ⁱThese forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ 8 So ^jwe went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from ^kthe Arabah road from ^lElath and ^mEzion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the Lord said to me, ⁿ‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given ^oAr to ^pthe people of Lot for a possession.’ 10 ( ^qThe Emim formerly lived there, ^ra people great and many, and tall ^sas the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as ^tRephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 ^uThe Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, ^vas Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) 13 ‘Now rise up and go over ^wthe brook Zered.’ So we went over ^xthe brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving ^yKadesh-barnea until we crossed ^zthe brook Zered was thirty-eight years, ^aauntil the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

16 “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19 And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, ^abdo not harass them or contend 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 ^acthe sons of Lot for a possession.’ 20 (It is also counted as a land of ^adRephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— 21 ^aea people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites, ^{▼▼Hebrew them} and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, 22 as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed ^agthe Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. 23 As for ^ahthe Avvim, who lived in villages as far as ^aiGaza, ^ajthe Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) 24 ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and ^akgo over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of ^alHeshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and ^amcontend with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put ^anthe dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

The Defeat of King Sihon

26 “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of ^aoKedemoth to Sihon the king of ^apHeshbon, ^aqwith words of peace, saying, 27 ^ar‘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. 28 ^asYou 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 ^atas 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.’ 30 But ^auSihon the king of ^avHeshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God ^awhardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. 31 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.’ 32 Then ^axSihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. 33 And ^aythe Lord our God gave him over to us, and ^azwe defeated him and his sons and all his people. 34 And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction ^{▼▼That is, set apart ( devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)} every ^bbcity, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. 35 Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. 36 ^bcFrom Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from ^bdthe city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. ^beThe Lord our God gave all into our hands. 37 Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river ^bfJabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us.