Deuteronomy
Chapter 2
1 We turned and traveled through the desert toward the Red Sea, as God told me to do, and we circled Mount Seir for many days.
2 God spoke to me, saying,
3 You have traveled around this mountain long enough: now go north.
4 Tell the people: You will travel through the land of your relatives, the children of Esau, who live in Seir. They will fear you, so be careful.
5 Do not interfere with them; for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to step on; because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his own.
6 You should buy food from them with money, so you can eat; and you should also buy water from them with money, so you can drink.
7 God has blessed you in all you do; he has watched over you as you traveled through this vast desert. For forty years, God has been with you; you have not been without anything.
8 When we went past our relatives, Esau’s descendants, who lived in Seir, taking the plain’s road from Elath and Eziongaber, we changed direction and traveled through the Moab desert.
9 God told me, “Do not bother the Moabites or fight with them, because I will not give you any of their land. I have given Ar to Lot’s descendants to own.”
10 Long ago, the Emims lived there, a large, numerous, and tall people, like the Anakims.
11 They were considered giants like the Anakims; however, the Moabites named them Emims.
12 The Horims also lived in Seir before; but Esau’s descendants took their place after they defeated them and lived there instead; as Israel did in the land they owned, which God gave to them.
13 I said, “Get up and cross Zered Creek.” So we crossed Zered Creek.
14 The journey from Kadeshbarnea to the Zered stream took us 38 years, until all the fighting men had died, just as God had promised them.
15 Truly, God’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the group, until they were gone.
16 So it happened that when all the soldiers had died and were gone from the people,
17 God spoke to me and said,
18 Today, you will go through Ar, the land of Moab.
19 When you approach the land of the Ammonites, do not trouble them or fight with them, for I will not give you any of their land to own. I have given it to Lot’s descendants to have as their own.
20 This land was also known as a home of giants: giants lived there long ago; and the Ammonites named them Zamzummims.
21 A large, numerous, and tall people, like the Anakim; but God destroyed them, and they took their place and lived there instead.
22 God did the same to the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he eliminated the Horims before them; they took over their land and have lived there to this day.
23 The Avims who lived in Hazerim, all the way to Azzah, were destroyed by the Caphtorims who came from Caphtor, and then the Caphtorims lived there instead.
24 Get up, start traveling, and cross the Arnon River. Look, I have placed Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land in your power. Start taking it over and fight him in battle.
25 Today, I will start making all nations under heaven fear and respect you. They will hear about you, shake with fear, and be very worried because of you.
26 I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon, the king of Heshbon, with a message of peace, saying,
27 Let me go through your land: I will stay on the main road and won’t turn right or left.
28 You will sell me food for money so I can eat, and you will give me water for money so I can drink; I will only walk through your land.
29 Like the descendants of Esau living in Seir and the Moabites in Ar helped me, until I cross the Jordan into the land God is giving us.
30 But Sihon, the king of Heshbon, wouldn’t let us go through his land: for God made his spirit stubborn and his heart tough, so He could give him to you, as you see today.
31 God said to me, “Look, I have started to give Sihon and his land to you: start to take it over so you can own his land.”
32 Sihon and all his people came out to fight against us at Jahaz.
33 God gave us victory over him; we defeated him, his sons, and all his people.
34 We captured all his cities then, completely destroyed everyone—men, women, and children—in every city, leaving no survivors.
35 We only took the animals and the things from the cities we captured for ourselves.
36 From Aroer, next to the edge of the Arnon River, including the city near the river, all the way to Gilead, no city was too strong for us; God gave all of them to us.
37 You didn’t go into the land of the Ammon people, the areas around the Jabbok River, the mountain cities, or any place God told us to stay away from.